Bewitched in Oz by Laura J Burns cover illustration by Liam Peters Capstone Young Readers
Prologue Zerie Greenapple Why aren’t you done sweeping yet Mama called Zerie laughed Her mama’s voice sounded amused She knew perfectly well that Zerie was daydreaming again Every time it was her turn to sweep the porch Zerie mostly stood there and stared down the red dirt path in front of the house If she squinted she could just make out where it met up with the road of yellow brick out at the edge of town Zerie liked to dream about what kinds of people she might meet if she ever went down that road But her mother and her five older siblings liked to have the front porch clean when they ate dinner
there on summer evenings Zerie I’m coming out there in two minutes and you’d better be sweeping Mama called With a quiet sigh Zerie picked up the broom again Her oldest sister Zelzah used to tell Zerie that sweeping was the most important job in the Greenapple house But now that she was fourteen years old Zerie realized that her sister had tricked her Zelzah just didn’t want to do the boring housework herself She preferred to be out picking apples from the family’s orchard because that’s where her new boyfriend worked I have a feeling you could do that a little faster if you wanted to said a voice behind her Zerie jumped in surprise Grammy I didn’t see you come outside she cried Her grandmother smiled contentedly rocking back and forth on the old wooden porch chair I
