MARSER: A Troubled Teenager
Fifteen-year-old Marser discovers he can transform. The hard part is figuring out what to do once everyone starts paying attention.
Meet Marser
About the book
Fifteen-year-old Marser is trying to figure out school, family, friendships, and what he wants from life. When he discovers he can transform, his world opens up in ways he never imagined. Suddenly, there seems to be so much more waiting for him.
New friendships and unexpected opportunities arrive alongside more attention than Marser knows what to do with. Strangers want photographs, videos, and demonstrations. Meanwhile, life at home and school keeps moving. He still has personal struggles to face, relationships to navigate, and choices nobody can make for him.
With a whole city to explore and a future he’s only beginning to imagine, Marser wants to make the most of his extraordinary life. Figuring out how is another adventure entirely.
MARSER: A Troubled Teenager begins a young adult fantasy series about growing up, friendship, identity, and finding your own way in a big world.
- Paperback ISBN
- 9798140603748
- Chapters
- 15
Meet the characters
Marser
A quiet fifteen-year-old artist who keeps redrawing the hands on his blue red panda–raccoon character. He wants to see more of the city.
Naomi
Marser’s friend is working on a local-history display. She’s trying to match an old bus-turnaround photo to the street it used to serve.
Eli
Marser’s older brother teases him about his drawings. His memory of the walk home gives Marser a place to start looking.
Ms. Reyes
Marser’s art teacher spots the work in his sketchbook and encourages him to put a drawing in the school’s Art Night exhibition.
Ms. Park
The city librarian helps Naomi research the bus turnaround and points them toward records of the school grounds.
Mr. Alvarez
The school groundskeeper is repairing the path by the field when Marser and Naomi return to look at the stones.
Book One lore
- Somewhere Else
- Marser’s Art Night drawing shows his blue character holding a drink. He pictured someone who could walk into a room, order one, and stay as long as he liked.
- The school garden
- Curved stones by the field fence are what’s left of an older garden. A photograph at the city library helps Marser and Naomi place it.
- The old bus turnaround
- Look near the laundromat. A dip in the curb and a high square window help Naomi match an old bus photo to the street today.
- Art Night
- The school exhibition gives Marser a chance to show his original drawing. It also forces him to decide how much of himself he wants people to see.
Clues and hints
Open each hint after you’ve reached its chapter.
The blue paintChapters 1–2
Watch Marser’s left wrist after he washes away the paint. What can he see when he turns his arm into the light?
The missing walkChapters 1 and 4–5
Put Eli’s account next to the reply Naomi got. Both record something Marser can’t remember doing. Which parts can he verify himself?
The measuring cupChapter 7
Marser is drying a cup when he sees the blue again. Compare what Dad catches at the edge of the sleeve with what Marser sees and remembers.
The cropped photographChapter 8
The chip faces the other way in the old picture. The longer stone beside it still matches Marser’s sketch. Try counting the petals from what Naomi can make out.
Journal G-17Chapter 9
The first surviving page after the gap shows a hand with a blue line by the thumb. Look again at the writer’s words this time. What do they suggest about the entries we still have?
After the last chapter
Chapter 15 spoilersOpen after finishing Book One
The journal. Mr. Alvarez recognizes the nick in the cover and tells Marser it was his. His account connects the garden to an earlier change. The missing leaves remain unexplained.
The mountain report. The newspaper account predates Marser. Its witness remembers a blue figure with the brightest color at the wrists, then remembers being home. Read that beside the first chapter and see which details recur.