Sweet-and-Sour Summer Read online

  Table of Contents

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  chapter 1

  chapter 2

  chapter 3

  chapter 4

  chapter 5

  chapter 6

  chapter 7

  chapter 8

  chapter 9

  chapter 10

  chapter 11

  chapter 12

  chapter 13

  Teaser chapter

  Instant messaging and e-mail dictionnary!

  For Carla—D.M.

  Special thanks to the real Jeannette—Jeannette Louh—and to Gu Song.

  GROSSET & DUNLAP

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  2007 Edition

  Text copyright © 2003 by Diane Muldrow. Interior illustrations copyright © 2003 by Barbara Pollak. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap. a division of Penguin Young Readers Group. 345 Hudson Street. New York. New York 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. S.A.

  eISBN : 978-1-101-15332-1

  eISBN : 978-1-101-15332-1

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  chapter 1

  “Molly! Finally!Where have you been?” Amanda Moore exclaimed to her twin sister.

  “Sorry!” Molly shouted breathlessly. She ran up to Amanda and the twins friends Shawn Jordan. Peichi Cheng, and Natasha Ross. They’d been waiting for Molly at the flagpole in front of Windsor Middle School. “It’s majorly embarrassing—I spaced out in class, and Mr. Epstein busted me! I stayed after to apologize.”

  “Always daydreaming—that’s Molls,” Amanda teased her sister.

  “I’m not ready to start my homework,” Shawn said with a sigh. She hoisted her heavy messenger bag onto her shoulder. “Let’s go to Harry’s. I’m starving!”

  “Me, too,” echoed Natasha, squinting in the bright sunlight. The five girls set off for Harry’s, their favorite hangout in their Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood of Park Terrace.

  “Mmmm, it definitely feels like summer! exclaimed Molly, as she felt the June sun on her face. ”I’m so glad tomorrow’s Friday. After that, there’s only three more days of sixth grade! Woo-hoo!”

  “I know!” exclaimed Peichi. “I can’t wait! We leave for China in nine days! I was gonna start packing last night, but my mom told me it was too soon. Can you believe that ? So I just figured out what I want to bring on the plane instead—my Discman, a bunch of CDs, a book, a couple magazines. And some snacks, I think...” As Peichi paused to take a breath, the friends smiled at one another. Peichi was the most upbeat—and talkative—person they knew.

  “This is a good time to have that Dish meeting we’ve been trying to schedule,” remarked Molly, as the girls headed down the hill.

  “Yeah, we’ve been too busy cooking lately to talk about the business side of things!” exclaimed Peichi.

  Dish was a cooking business that Molly and Amanda had started with their friends the previous summer. It all started when Molly and Amanda were totally bored one day—and not looking forward to the take-out food their busy parents were bringing home for dinner yet again. Molly had the great idea of cooking dinner for their family that night—and the twins actually pulled it off! After that, the twins took some cooking classes with Shawn, Peichi, and Natasha, and once again, Molly had a great idea—to form a cooking club.

  It wasn’t long before the cooking club turned into a cooking business. The Moores weren’t the only family in Park Terrace that was too busy to make dinner every night, and that’s where Dish came in. People called Dish whenever something came up that kept them out of the kitchen—business trips, new babies, moving—or when they were just tired of take-out or frozen food. Dish would quickly deliver a few nights’ worth of dinners, which included everything from a home-cooked main course and side dishes to scrumptious desserts. Sometimes the Chef Girls, as they called themselves, cooked for free as a nice gesture when a local family needed help. And sometimes they got exciting jobs, like catering fancy parties! Best of all, the five friends had a great time whenever they got together to cook.

  Within a few minutes, the girls had arrived at Harry’s, a cool coffehouse that the twins had discovered last summer. A hundred years ago, it was a pharmacy, but it had been turned into a coffeehouse with round marble tables, comfy chairs and couches, and funky mismatched china. The girls always felt more grown-up when they spent time at Harry’s among the college students, writers, and artists

  who hung out there. But the best part about Harry’s was the food. Molly went for the delicious wraps, Peichi loved the fresh fruit smoothies, and the other girls couldn’t resist the poppy-seed cake and double-fudge brownies (Shawn’s favorite).

  The girls carried their food over to a table near the front window, while Amanda searched for an extra chair.

  “So, here’s the deal,” Molly began. “Shawn’s going to cheerleading camp, and Peichi is going to China. That leaves Dish without two chefs. I was thinking—”

  “Oh, about cheerleading,” Shawn interrupted, leaning over to rummage through her messenger bag. “I have your tickets for the Brooklyn’s Best Junior Cheerleaders Competition this Saturday. It’s gonna be awesome! I’m so glad you guys are coming.”

  “Oh, absolutely,” said Molly, tucking her ticket into her MetroCard holder. “I can’t wait to see you in it!”

  “Windsor hasn’t hosted the meet in five years,” Shawn continued. “It’s, like, a huge honor to be the host school. We’ve been practicing so much that I can’t believe it’s actually happening in two days!” She glanced at her watch. “We have practice this afternoon at four o’clock, so I need to leave around three-forty-five.”

  Just then, Amanda joined the group, dragging a chair up to the table. “The meeting can start now,” she joked. Amanda plopped into her chair and quickly took a big bite of a warm piece of crumb cake. “Mmm, this is delicious,” she mumbled with her mouth full, closing her eyes. The Chef Girls cracked up. Amanda could be very dramatic—especially about sweets!

  “Okay, okay. Back to Dish,” Molly said seriously. “What should we do without Shawn and Peichi? Last summer, things got incredibly busy.”

  “I think they’ll be even crazier this summer—especially since we were on Good Day, America,” Natasha
remarked. The other girls nodded in agreement. They’d recently appeared on national TV to do a cooking segment for a morning news show, and now they were swamped with orders. They couldn’t believe they’d had to turn down jobs.

  “Molly, Natasha, and I can handle one or two orders a week,” said Amanda. “Hey, I wonder if Justin will be around this summer. We could always call him to help if we get super-busy.”

  The other girls giggled. Amanda had had a crush on cute Justin McElroy since he and his family had moved to Park Terrace a year ago.

  “We don’t want our regular clients to forget about us,” Molly remarked.

  “I don’t want you guys to forget about me!” Peichi exclaimed. “Part of me wishes that I could just hang out with you guys! Last summer was the best.”

  “Remember that tea party at Natasha’s house?” Amanda asked, giggling. “When her dog chased the squirrel and it jumped onto the plate of cookies?” The girls cracked up.

  “That was hysterical!” Natasha exclaimed. “Remember the look on my mom’s face?”

  “And remember when Molly and I went to Chinatown and found that stolen necklace?” Peichi asked.

  “And got in trouble for going by ourselves,” Molly reminded her.

  “I remember when Detective McElroy came over in the middle of Peichi’s pool party to investigate!” cried Amanda.

  “Yeah, probably because you wished he had brought Justinwith him!” cracked Molly. Amanda rolled her eyes and nudged her sister.

  “But this summer will be good, too,” stated Molly. And she meant it. While she knew she’d miss Shawn and Peichi, Molly had been looking forward to summer vacation since the start of sixth grade last September.

  For a while, though, Molly had been worried about this summer. In the spring, Amanda had fried out for Spotlight Arts Camp, an eight-week summer camp in California for kids who love acting. Ever since Amanda had performed in two plays at Windsor Middle School, acting had become her favorite activity. Molly dreaded the thought of summer without her twin.

  But Amanda hadn’t been accepted to the competitive, audition-only camp. She’d been majorly disappointed, of course, but she wasn’t about to let it ruin her summer. She got over it fast—or at least she put it behind her by planning other great things to do. And now she and Molly wanted the same thing for their summers: to hang out, have fun, and cook—a lot!

  After the girls had finished devouring their snacks and complaining about their upcoming final exams, Shawn hurried back to school while Peichi, Natasha, and the twins walked partway home together. The girls’ parents allowed them to roam around Park Terrace without an adult, as long as they were in a group—the bigger the group, the better. After saying good-bye to Peichi and Natasha, the twins walked up tree-lined Taft Street toward their tall brick townhouse. When they got home, their mother was waiting for them with their seven-year-old brother, Matthew.

  “Hi, girls,” Mom said as she opened the front door, her brown eyes twinkling like she knew a secret. “How was school?”

  “Ugh,” groaned Molly. “I have a ton of studying to do before exams next week. I’m so ready for summer vacation!

  “Me, too,” Amanda agreed. “I can’t wait to hit the beach with Poppy!” Poppy was the twins’ grandfather. He lived at the Jersey Shore, and the Moore kids loved visiting him—especially during the summer. when they could go bodysurfing, collect shells, and hang out on the boardwalk.

  “Well, Amanda, you’ll definitely get to the beach this summer,” Mom said with a big grin. “But I’m not sure if will be in New Jersey.”

  “Huh?” asked Amanda, looking confused. “What do you mean?

  Mom opened her mouth to respond, but Matthew beat her to it.

  “You’re going to that camp in California!” he yelled.

  Molly inhaled sharply. What? Oh, no!

  “Spotlight Arts Camp called this afternoon, sweetie. One of the other campers can’t attend after all, and they were wondering if you still want to go,” Mom explained.

  The expression on Amanda’s face changed from confusion to surprise to joy as she took in the news. “Ohmigosh!” she squealed, jumping up and down. “Really? Really?I can go? Ohmigosh!”

  “You can absolutely go, sweetie,” Mom said with her loud laugh as she hugged Amanda. ”Congratulations!”

  Molly finally found her voice. “Yeah, congratulations, Manda! That’s so—awesome.” She managed a weak smile, trying to hide her disappointment.

  Had Amanda completely forgotten about all the plans they’d made for Dish just that afternoon? As Molly watched her twin jump around with excitement, she could tell that Dish was the last thing on Amanda’s mind. But, Amanda was too caught up in the good news to notice Molly’s feelings.

  “I have to call everybody!” Amanda said. “This is so amazing!” She rushed off to get the phone, leaving Molly standing with Mom and Matthew in the front hall.

  Molly glanced up to see Mom watching her with a knowing expression on her face. “You okay, Molly?” Mom asked lightly.

  “Oh, yeah. This is awesome for Amanda,” Molly replied, trying to sound normal. “She’s so happy.” But I wish she could be just as happy staying here for the summer, Molly thought. Oh well, I guess Natasha and I can handle Dish by ourselves. Bul Dish won ’t be the same without my twin. Nothing will!

  When Natasha got home from Harry’s that afternoon, the first thing she noticed was her parents loud voices. Great,she thought. Mom and Dad are fighting. She trudged up to her room on the third floor to start studying for her exams. Her parents room was right next to hers, and she could hear their voices even louder now. I hope Elizabeth and Paula aren’t home, Natasha thought. Mr. Ross had recently started his own law practice after being unemployed for several months. To help cover expenses, the Rosses had converted the fourth floor of their brownstone into an apartment and rented it to Paula Derring, a preschool teacher, and her niece, Elizabeth, who was in sixth grade at Windsor Middle School. At first Natasha had been upset about having people move into her house, especially because she’d had to give up her amazing room on the fourth floor. But Natasha and Elizabeth had become friends, which had made everything easier. Sometimes Natasha even forgot that people lived up there—until her parents started fighting and she started worrying that the Derrings could hear their arguments.

  Oh, right, Natasha suddenly remembered. Shawn told us the cheerleaders were having an extra practice this afternoon, so Elizabeth must not be home. And her aunt Paula’s probably at work. At least I’m the only one who will hear the fight. Elizabeth was a talented cheerleader who had quickly become one of the stars of Windsor’s squad when she joined it a few months ago.

  Natasha was about to put on some music to drown out her parents’ argument when she heard something that grabbed her attention.

  “David, I wantthis. It’s been such a long time since we’ve done something special as a family. I don’t want to wait until next summer!”

  Whoa, Natasha thought. What’s Mom talking about? She walked over to the wall between the two bedrooms so she could hear her father’s response.

  “Natalie, how many different ways can I say this? We don’t have the money!”

  Money again, Natasha thought. Ever since her dad had lost his job, her parents often argued about money. She had hoped that this would change once he started his own practice and they rented out the fourth floor, but it hadn’t.

  “We can buy the airline tickets with your frequent-flyer miles. And I think we should use the money that we’ve been saving to renovate the kitchen. That will pay for the hotel ... there are ways to make this happen. Please David-it’s been such a long time since I’ve been to Paris!”

  Natasha inhaled sharply. But what about the new kitchen? For more than a year, her parents had been planning to renovate their boring brown kitchen. Natasha was so excited about the new kitchen—she and her parents had looked through lots of decorating books, and Natasha couldn’t wait to have the Chef Girls over for a da
y of cooking once the renovation was finished.

  “But don’t you want a new kitchen this year? We’ve been planning it for months. I thought this was something you really wanted.” Mr. Ross sounded surprised.

  “I want this more. I can wait another year for a new kitchen, but Natasha’s growing up right before our eyes. Soon she’ll be in high school, then college...Also, last year was terribly stressful for this family—we deserve a little vacation!”

  “Oh, so it’s my fault now?” Natasha’s dad shot back. “Maybe I can’t just up and leave my new practice on your whims—it’s only been running for two months!”

  “David, I never said it was your fault. Please, please try to understand how important this is to me—to have this time with my daughter, to make these memories now.

  There was a long silence. At last, Mr. Ross spoke.

  “All right,” he said with a sigh. “We’ll figure something out. But there’s no way I can go, Natalie. I’m sorry.”

  “Are you sure? Not even for a week?” Mrs. Ross asked.

  Natasha couldn’t hear her father’s answer.

  But then her mother said, “I really wish you could, but I understand. Being able to spend this time with Natasha means the world to me. Oh, David, thank you so much!”

  Slowly, Natasha exhaled. She hadn’t realized that she’d been holding her breath during the argument. So that’s it, she thought. Mom and I are going to France. Without Dad. Her exams completely forgotten, Natasha reached for her journal and a pen and started writing:Mom and Dad just had another fight. And now Mom and I are going to France this summer—without Dad! I can’t even believe it. Sometimes Mom and I don’t get along very well How will we make it through a whole trip to France, just the two of us?