Douglas W. Martin

Benny Buggles Douglas W. Martin

SOME TERMITES WANT MORE FOR THEIR LIVES THAN TO JUST EAT YOUR HOUSE. While other termites were busy foraging for cellulose, Benny Buggles dreamed of becoming an artist. But worker termites had limited roles to play in the smalltown colony in Kansas, and making sculpture was not one of them. When his friend Twiggy mentions an audacious plan to escape out to California, Benny jumps at the chance. Arriving at the renowned art academy Auriana, Benny is welcomed as the prestigious institution's newest student and does his best to fit in, finding his rival in three-time Elimination champion James Maximilian, a snobbish termite who looks down on Benny as an untested newcomer pretending to the crown. The manipulative Tiffani Hardwood sees fame and fortune in each of the two promising rivals, playing both sides in the run-up to the biggest art competition of the year. Back home in Kansas, Cassie ? working in Brood but harboring dreams of becoming a queen ? never loses hope that Benny will return and they will be together again someday. But events soon take an unexpected turn for the worse, and Benny and his friends are tested as never before. Enduring both tragedy and triumph, Benny learns that ? win or lose ? the things that matter most in life aren't always what they seem, and one's place needn't be so very far away. Benny Buggles and the Termite Elimination is an inspirational story for both young adults and the young at heart. And who knows, it just might inspire a little softness in your local exterminator's heart as well.