CJ's Notebooks Books

When Sherwood Smith was eight years old, a girl named Clair walked into her dreams, bringing hints of a world where girls could adventure, live on their own, and best of all, didn't have to grow up. Clair traveled about looking for girls who needed a home. She even came to Earth, where she found CJ, who did not fit. CJ found herself not only taken to another world to live, but she became the princess -- Clair's "left hand splat." One of her jobs as princess was to write down their records. Another was to serve as leader for the girls when Clair was busy learning to become queen. The girls had jobs too, as they discovered villains who thought it their business to take a kingdom away from a mere girl. From the shadowy Kwenz, a powerful mage with a very wicked past, to the usurper Glotulae and her son Prince Jonnicake, who in their ridiculous way were just as determined to boot Clair out, there were plenty of chances for adventure. And mystery, like why did kids from other times and worlds show up every now and then? These are the early stories -- how Clair found her gang of girls, and how "the M girls" developed the fine art of the Duel to the Pie.

"I am Princess Cherene Jennet Sherwood of Mearsies Heili, hater of evil, foe to all villains, and wielder of the prune pie of justice!" That's how CJ Sherwood introduces herself when she lands into her craziest adventure yet. In this, the second volume of CJ's records, she and her gang of friends gathered around the thirteen year old queen, Clair Sherwood, find themselves beset by magical spells and various villains. They still manage to have fun in the underground hideout in the middle of Mearsies Heili's woodland. CJ loves life with "the M girls" -- so she is completely unprepared to be taken away and put in a silken prison in order to forget being a princess. As CJ uses her brains and imagination to get out of trouble, she has to think about what being a princess really means. She also discovers that there are things even tougher to deal with than terrible enchantments, sinister shadows, and lurking villains: teenage boys.

CJ wrote up this adventure for her journal, though the M girls only come in at the end. It begins with two kids from Earth who discover a boy from another world being kept hostage. When they rescue him, they end up having to cross the USA before being blasted by magic to Mearsies Heili, where they meet a sailor girl who's been stuck in charge of a Mysterious Magical Object. CJ and the gang try to come to the rescue, discovering that being on the edge of big events can lead to bigger questions... leading straight to the troubles chronicled in Fleeing Peace. First written when Sherwood Smith was a teen.

CJ and the gang of girls from Mearsies Heili like their adventures fun and villains to be defeatable by a well-thrown prune pie. In fact, they laughed at the very idea of stories about kids who have to Save the World . . . Until it happens to them. Written when Sherwood Smith was a teenager, this is the story of the M girls up against the toughest challenge of their lives so far.