Two Lives Left

(Paperback)

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Description

Two thirteen-year-olds become unlikely friends when they meet in an abandoned Funland arcade.Mia is looking for a lost arcade game she used to play with her recently deceased dad and Riley is a bit lost and sheltering in the abandoned building. Unbeknown to either of them, the building is due to be demolished the next day.


Together, Riley and Mia explore Funland and bond through their shared love of the games in the old arcade. Their hunt for Mia's special game is interrupted by a security guard but they evade capture only to be discovered by the old woman who owns the arcade. She's devastated that this world she created (including the lost arcade game) is due to be demolished. Mia and Riley (and eventually the security guard) help her save some of the games but learn along the way that while things change, memories remain and that it's important to do things whilst you still have a life to live.


Child-friendly ghost movie tropes (the electricity that flickers on and off, a legend of a ghost who inhabits the building) keep the spine-tingling but TWO LIVES LEFT is a real world story about grief, accepting change and how friendships can help connect you to the past as well as the future.

Author Bio

Since he was very little, Jason Pamment has loved to dream up stories of adventures in vibrant worlds filled with strange and wonderful characters. He's a little taller now and lives in his hometown of Adelaide, South Australia with his wonderful wife, darling daughter and playful pooch. Jason's background is in animation, having designed award-winning films, children's television shows, music videos, commercials and video games.

Jason's writing takes inspiration from the places and events of his childhood, mixed with elements of mystery and adventure. His debut graphic novel, Treasure in the Lake, is set in picturesque landscapes reminiscent of the rural, mountainous regions of northern Victoria, a place Jason loved to visit as a child. In Ember and the Island of Lost Creatures, he drew from cherished holidays on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia. Jason's stories speak to our emotionally tricky paths to adulthood, and are interwoven with themes of friendship, resilience and empathy.