We have another Aru-themed treat coming your way! To help you all get into the spirit, we’re sharing this special Aru Shah Halloween bonus scene from Aru Shah and the Song of Death by the author of one of the Top 100 Fantasy Books of All Time, Roshani Chokshi. Enjoy!

ALL BY MAH-SELLLF

Things that Aru would choose over a Halloween middle school dance:

1. An encounter with a rabid demon.

2. Her mother’s “vegan special” dinner.

3. Dismemberment.

Once again, Aru was faced with the fact that the universe didn’t particularly care what she preferred. The last time she’d gone to a school dance, she’d stuck it out for twenty minutes before demanding that her mom take her back home. As for Halloween, Aru hadn’t gone trick-or-treating in ages. For the past two years, she’d spent the evening helping her mom run the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture’s Halloween fund-raising gala.

Last year, her mom had forced her to dress up as a witch (boring) after the previous costume debacle, forever known in museum circles as the “Blue Monkey Scandal.” Aru’s costume hadn’t dried in time, and she might have gotten paint all over the patrons….

“For a bunch of art people, they really don’t appreciate art,” Aru had argued. Her flying-blue-monkey outfit had taken three weeks to put together, and she was still pretty proud of it. This year, though, Aru really had the perfect costume. She, Mini, and Brynne had coordinated their efforts. If they could’ve just stayed in the museum and thrown their own party, that would’ve been fine. But noooo. In less than fifteen minutes, she’d be stuck at the Otherworld’s middle-school dance. Boo was a chaperone and had to report early for duty, so he’d already left. Mini and Brynne were going separately. Aiden was supposed to walk across the street so he and Aru could go through the elephant portal together. Which was another issue…

As she waited for him, Aru bounced Vajra, in Ping-Pong-ball form, off the tile floor. The curled-up lightning bolt hummed, as if deep in thought.

It was a party. There would be dancing. Her best friends would all be dancing. But would they be dancing with each other? It’d be fine if Aiden asked any of them to dance, including Aru.

But what if he didn’t?

Read More