Here’s an excerpt from The Little Rippers:

          As the group made their introductions, Max and Molly listened closely.

          Chase Chittenden was the kid wearing tiger-print ski pants. He was a fifth grader who lived with his parents in Powderhound Village. Since he was a local, he skied with a kids group every weekend. Molly noticed that he had fancy curved race poles, so she knew that he would be fast. Plus, he had been nominated to be the Sunday Funday racer every week for the past month.

           Jenna Duke was a third grader who lived with her mom in Colorado. Her dad lived in Vermont, and she was currently visiting him for the week. She had MANY ski resort stickers on her pink helmet. She had even had a sticker from a ski area in Switzerland.

          Wyatt Evans was a fourth grader who lived in Florida but was on vacation with his family for the weekend. He was a Junior Olympic water-skier who was looking to rip up the slopes like he ripped up the lakes. He looked really athletic and strong. 

          When it was time for Molly and Max to introduce themselves, they didn’t have much to say.

          “I’m Molly. I like the color purple and playing soccer. I’m from Pennsylvania, and I don’t get the chance to ski very often.”

          “You can tell she doesn’t ski often,” Chase laughed. “Her goggles are on upside down.”

          The other kids giggled. Molly flipped around her goggles, ashamed of her silly mistake.

          Max was next to introduce himself.

          “And I’m Max, Molly’s little brother. I’m in the third grade, and I learned how to ski black diamonds last year with my Grandpa.”

          “Black diamonds are for babies,” Chase teased. “We ski double black diamonds around here.”

          “Now, Chase,” Heidi clarified, “we ski all sorts of terrain. And we all start out on warm-up runs. C’mon, let’s get on the lift.”