Dusssie

Book excerpt: Dusie is having a bad day of mythological proportions Dusie wakes up one morning to a hissing sound. As she catches her reflection in the mirror, she finds that her hair has turned into snakes. That’s right—snakes. But her mom seems totally unfazed. That’s because underneath the turban, Dusie’s mom has a crown of vipers. She is an immortal gorgon—a kind of goddess—and had hoped Dusie wouldn’t inherit the family curse since her father was a mortal, but it looks like Dusie is stuck with it too. Middle school is tough enough without being cursed, and Dusie—or Dusssie, as the snakes call her—is about to learn that being half gorgon comes with its own set of challenges. She tries to keep her snakes hidden, but when a boy at school nearly blows her cover, Dusie is desperate to figure out a way to control her newfound powers. Growing up, with or without snakes for hair, isn’t kid stuff.