For Ages
8 to 12

Two kids face off in an epic battle to see who can sell the most slime, while navigating sticky situations with friends and family.

Alex Manalo and his dad have just moved back to Sacramento to revive their extended family's struggling Filipino market. While Alex likes helping at the store, his true passion is making slime! He comes up with his own recipes, playing with ingredients, colors, and textures that make his slime truly special. Encouraged by a new friend at school, Alex begins to sell his creations, leading to a sell-off battle with a girl who previously had a slime-opoly. Winner gets bragging rights and the right to be the only slime game in town.

But Alex's dad thinks Alex should be focused more on "traditional" boy pastimes and less on slime. As the new soccer coach, Dad wants Alex to join the team. 

Alex is battling on multiple fronts—with his new friends at school and with his dad at home. It will be a sticky race to the finish to see who oozes out on top.

An Excerpt fromHow to Win a Slime War

Classic Slime 

1 eight-ounce bottle of white glue 

1 tablespoon of baking soda 

1/2–2 teaspoons of contact lens solution 

A few drops of green food coloring

  

The world has plenty of twelve-year-olds who’ve accomplished amazing things, like: 

Hoisting 308 pounds in one clean lift. 

Inventing a braille printer from a Lego set. 

Making millions of dollars from candy that’s good for your teeth. 

 

I wish I could add myself to this list, but I can barely lift a fifty-pound bag of rice, when I play with Legos I usually lose the pieces, and when it comes to candy--especially my favorite kind, with an edible wrapper--I’d rather eat it than sell it. 

I do have one hobby I’m not bad at: 

Making slime. 

I’m stellar at slime challenges. This morning my best friend, Raj, and I are doing one final face-off before my dad and I move from San Jose to Sacramento. It’s our way of saying goodbye. 

I lay out the ingredients, a couple of bowls, and some fat wooden stirring sticks. Raj sets my laptop on the kitchen counter, raises the volume, and cues up a video: 

Slime…

Under the Cover