Shadows Under the Gym
Book Three of The Black Hollow Chronicles Dodgeballs fly like angry hornets.
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What’s inside
Page count
46 pages
Age range
Ages 7–10
Read-aloud time
~11 min
Values taught
Every tough opponent has a weak spot — stay calm, look for it together, and even tangled-up trouble can be sliced through.
Three sample pages
About this story
Dodgeballs fly like angry hornets across the gym during PE when DONG! — the massive gym clock shudders, and the floor tiles under the bleachers shimmer green like spilled lime slush. Adventure number three is locked in: bleachers after everyone leaves. When the gym empties, Alex, Jamie, and Sam find a metal grate with green vine tips poking through like nosy fingers. Jamie's echo dust sizzles the metal open, revealing a tunnel of thick crystal vines pulsing green — and whispers floating through the air: 'Play with us... or else.' Five steps in, SNAP! The vines snag their ankles like silly string and start tickling. But Sam spots the weak spots — faint glows like bruise-marks on the thick stems — and with a stick dipped in echo dust, Alex slices the first vine with a pop. Deeper in, the tunnel opens into an amazing underground gym with a crystal canopy, vine swing-ropes and balance beams, and a huge green orb pulsing at the center. Theo's whisper sets the challenge: Vine Olympics — swing to the orb and dim its roots.
- Bleachers — the big benches you sit on in a gym
- Grate — the metal grid over an opening
- Tendril — a thin, curling vine tip
- Pulse — to throb with light, like the vines and orb
- Weak spot — the soft place where a strong thing can be beaten
- Arc — a smooth curving swing through the air
- Canopy — a glowing roof overhead
- Challenge — a task a hero is asked to try
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After reading this, my daughter started asking about how lighthouses work and we ended up looking up videos together. Anything that gets her that curious is a win in my book.
The rhythm of this book is so soothing. It's become our Sunday-morning read. The river metaphor opened up a real conversation about listening to nature with my kids.
A beautiful, quiet story. On high-energy days my 6-year-old can't sit through it, but on calm evenings it's perfect. The language is genuinely lovely.
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