Line #34 Literature/TheCornersvilleTraceMythos


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cornersville.png]]
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3	->The real world isn't like how Eileen Codlin wrote it. It's stranger, sadder, scarier, and smellier. But it's also the type of world where you can feel beautiful [[ItMakesSenseInContext while flinging around unicorn poop.]]
4	-->'''Jennifer Van Der Berg''', ''Extraordinary* ''
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6	''The Cornerville Trace Mythos'' are a series of young adult books by Adam Selzer that take place in the fictional town of Cornersville Trace, Iowa. They started off as a realistic fiction humor series, but have recently started entering the UrbanFantasy genre. They are, in order:
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8	* ''How to Get Suspended and Influence People'': 14-year-old Leon [[EmbarrassingMiddleName Noside]] Harris is a gifted (not to mention [[DeadpanSnarker endlessly sarcastic]]) 8th grader who is tasked with creating a sex-ed video ([[ItMakesSenseInContext long story]]). He decides to craft it as an avante-garde film, and also decides to be frank about masturbation, which angers [[MoralGuardians Mrs. Smollett]].
9	* ''Pirates of the Retail Wasteland'': Leon and his friends from the gifted pool are back, making another film, but this one is a documentary about their favorite coffee shop and the local Starbucks knockoff, Whackfords. Their plan to save the coffee shop involves, sarcasm (as usual), pirates, and accountants.
10	* ''I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It'': This is where the UrbanFantasy aspect sets in (just look at the title). Alley is a high school student living in the post-human era. Some time before, vampires, zombies, and other post-humans came out of the coffin, and now they're a normal part of life. Alley falls for Doug, a zombie, and her life takes an extremely dangerous turn.
11	* ''Extraordinary* *the True Story of my Fairy Godparent, Who Almost Killed Me, and Certainly Never Made Me a Princess'': Jennifer Van Der Berg is famous, thanks to a book that was (supposedly) written about her and her fairy "godmother" called ''Born to be Extraordinary''. The problem is that the author got everything totally wrong. The godmother was a creepy, nasty, greasy man named Gregory Grue, who, by the way, threatened to ''kill'' Jen if she didn't go along with his plan. This is Jen setting the record straight.
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14	!!Tropes used in ''How to Get Suspended and Influence People'' and ''Pirates of the Retail Wasteland''
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16	* AllMenArePerverts: Dustin. Leon, to a much lesser extent.
17	-->Now, I don't wish to imply that I don't care about sex or think about it. Hell, if I dedicated all the time I spend thinking about sex to, say, learning Italian, I would've been fluent by the end of the seventh grade. Dustin Eddlebeck, on the other hand, is just plain sick.
18	* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Leon's parents are food disaster hobbyists and gave him the middle name ''Noside'' to insult the late Thomas Edison. Need we say more?
19	%%* AsianAndNerdy: Jenny
20	%%* BetaCouple: Brian/Edie to Anna/Leon.
21	%%* BrainyBrunette: Leon is shown with brown hair on the covers of the books.
22	* BunglingInventor: "It's a good thing my dad is an accountant, because he really sucks at being an inventor."
23	%%* DeadpanSnarker: ''Everyone'' in the gifted pool, especially Leon and Anna.
24	%%* DemotedToExtra: Mrs. Smollett in ''Pirates of the Retail Wasteland''.
25	%%* DirtyCommunist: Averted with Edie who, while preachy at times, is a good person.
26	* EmbarrassingMiddleName: Noside for Leon. Even more embarrassing is its origin.
27	%%* FirstPersonSmartass
28	* GoodParents: Anna's parents, or her dad at least (we never see her mom). Leon's, too, but good luck with getting him to admit that.
29	* HairOfGoldHeartOfGold: Anna, while extremely snarky, is a good friend and generally nice girl.
30	* HateSink: Mrs. Smollett and Joe Griffin, both of whom are more minor annoyances than anything.
31	* HelicopterParents: Jenny's, who are way overprotective of her. To Jenny, ordering espresso is like ordering speed.
32	%%* LoveTriangle: In ''Pirates of the Retail Wasteland''.
33	%%* MakeOutKids: Brian and Edie apparently have no problems with PDA.
34	%%* MoralGuardians: [[InUniverse Mrs. Smollett]], much to Leon's chagrin.
35	* PutOnABus: Mrs. Smollett at the end of ''How to Get Suspended''. [[TheBusCameBack She makes a brief reappearance in the next book.]]
36	* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: The gifted pool, which includes [[DeadpanSnarker Leon,]] [[LittleMissSnarker Anna,]] [[{{Pyromaniac}} Brian]], [[AllMenArePerverts Dustin]], [[AsianAndNerdy Jenny]], and [[DirtyCommunist Ed]][[AvertedTrope ie]].
37	%%* SickeninglySweethearts: Brian and Edie.
38	%%* TeenGenius
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40	!!Tropes used in ''I Kissed a Zombie, and I Liked It''
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42	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Doug dies, but Will is defeated and Alley has changed for the better.]]
43	%%* CameBackWrong: Zombies as a general rule.
44	* DiedInYourArmsTonight: Doug crumbles in Alley's arms.
45	%%* DeadpanSnarker: Alley
46	* HorrorDoesntSettleForSimpleTuesday: [[spoiler:The shit goes down on prom night, of all times.]]
47	* IHaveManyNames: Alley can be called Algonquin (her full name), Alley, Al (but not Music/WeirdAlYankovic), Gonk, and Quinn.
48	%%* OlderThanTheyLook: Vampires.
49	%%* PerkyGoth: Doug is a pretty normal guy for a ''zombie''.
50	* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Several vampires, including Mrs. Smollett.
51	%%* SchoolNewspaperNewshound: Alley has a music review section.
52	%%* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture
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54	!!Tropes used in ''Extraordinary* ''
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56	* TheAllegedCar: The Jenmobile.
57	-->''I got it for two hundred and fifty at an auction, and I probably overpaid.''
58	* AllForNothing: [[spoiler:Turns out Gregory Grue is a vampire, not a fairy, ergo, Jen was never in danger.]] They all still think it was WorthIt.
59	* AscendedExtra: Fred and Cathy, both of whom made their first appearances in ''I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It''.
60	* BigBad: Gregory Grue, with Mutual's parents as his CoDragons. [[spoiler:But, due to the fact that Gregory was hired by Mutual's parents, one could argue that ''they're'' the true villains of the story, and Gregory is merely TheDragon, albeit an important one.]]
61	%%* ShowWithinAShow: ''Born to be Extraordinary''
62	%%* CallBack: A few to the events of ''I Kissed a Zombie''.
63	* CatchingUpOnHistory: In the DistantFinale, Mutual is mentioned to have spent a lot of time catching up on what he missed, since he spent seven years on his parents' farm in Alaska with no contact with the outside world. At one point he managed to get his hands on a couple music and celebrity gossip magazines, which helped a little, but after he escapes he has to spend a lot of time using the internet and TV to catch up on the pop culture and history he missed. As his girlfriend Jen puts it, "The week he discovered ''Maxim'' magazine was not my favorite week."
64	* ChildhoodFriendRomance: It, [[spoiler:along with the fact that Mutual's parents want him to become a vampire]], gets the plot going.
65	%%* DeadpanSnarker: Jen. Noticing a pattern here?
66	* DefeatMeansFriendship: [[spoiler:Jen and Cathy have called a truce by the end, due to what they had to go through.]]
67	* FullNameBasis: Gregory Grue is always Gregory Grue.
68	%%* ManipulativeBastard: Gregory Grue. As well as Mutual's parents.
69	* MindRape: A diciotto essentially does this to a human who vampires are trying to convert. You have to get permission from the vampire council to use one, but one gets the sense permission isn't too hard to obtain.
70	%%* NerdsAreSexy: [[InUniverse Jen's opinion of Mutual]].
71	* NoBodyLeftBehind: [[spoiler:Once the council is done with him, all that remains of Gregory Grue is his hat.]]
72	%%* PerkyGoth: Amber
73	%%* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Gregory Grue delivers a rather brutal one to Jen.
74	%%* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler: Poor Fred.]]
75	* ScrewDestiny: [[spoiler:Jen doesn't give a damn what Gregory says, she's not becoming a vampire OR dying OR leaving Mutual for Fred.]]
76	%%* TookALevelInBadass: Mutual
77	%%* TrueCompanions: Jen, Amber, Jason, and Mutual.
78	%%* TwoGirlsAndAGuy: Amber, Jen, and Jason, prior to Mutual returning to Cornersville.
79	%%* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: The InUniverse book about Jen, ''Born to be Extraordinary''.
80	%%* WorthIt: Jen and her friends's opinion on [[spoiler:Jason flashing the crowd on the red carpet.]]
81	* YouAreNotAlone: Amber, Jason, and Mutual help Jen through everything, no matter how much danger it puts them in.
82	%%* YouCantFightFate: Gregory tries this on Jen.
83	%%* ZanyScheme
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