“That’s fantastic, Rosie. It must have been hard to tell them that! What did they say?”
“I was so-o-o surprised. They didn’t even yell at me. They kind of nodded. Then my mom asked what I wanted to do, and I told her I just needed more free time. I wanted to concentrate on the things I like.”
“And they agreed?”
“Well, they didn’t seem too unhappy. Dad asked what things I wanted to do. And I had thought about it the whole week long, so I knew what to say. I told him I wanted to do one school thing, one performance thing, and one creative thing. And so I picked out my favorites — math club, violin, and art classes.”
“Art classes?” I said. “But you’ve never taken any.”
“I know,” Rosie replied. “I want to start.”
“Will your parents let you?”
“I’m still not sure. They said they’d talk things over with Ms. Yu. But I overheard my dad mention to my mom that there was this great art-supply store near where he works.”
“That’s a good sign,” I said.
“Yeah. And if they say yes, I know the perfect art teacher.” Rosie looked up at me with a hopeful grin.
“You mean — but I never —” I wasn’t expecting her to say that, but it sounded like a fun idea. “Well, okay, it’s a deal!”
“Yay!” Rosie exclaimed. “Thanks, teach.”
“Oh, by the way,” I said. “I forgot to tell you. I sold a third painting — Milk Duds, Spilled.”
“Yeah? Who bought it?”
“Janine.”
“Janine?” Rosie repeated. “That’s nice. I always liked her.”
She caught my glance, and we both laughed. Then we headed back to the Wilder house, skipping all the way.
* * *
Dear Reader,
In Claudia and the Genius of Elm Street, we meet Rosie Wilder for the first time. Rosie is not based on anyone I know. She’s completely made up. However, when I was young, just like Rosie, I enjoyed taking lessons and being involved in activities. When I was very little, I took ballet lessons and several different kinds of art classes. I was not a talented dancer, but I loved the art lessons. When I was in third grade, I began taking piano lessons, which I also loved, and continued for years. In middle school, I took exactly two tennis lessons and quit — tennis was not for me. In high school, my interests changed. I began doing a lot of volunteer work and tutoring — interests that continued throughout college. Now, as an adult, instead of doing volunteer work, I have my own foundation. I also like to cross-country ski. But guess what my favorite activities are — sewing, needlework, and crafts. I guess those early lessons paid off.
Happy reading,
* * *
The author gratefully acknowledges
Peter Lerangis
for his help in
preparing this manuscript.
About the Author
ANN MATTHEWS MARTIN was born on August 12, 1955. She grew up in Princeton, New Jersey, with her parents and her younger sister, Jane.
There are currently over 176 million copies of The Baby-sitters Club in print. (If you stacked all of these books up, the pile would be 21,245 miles high.)In addition to The Baby-sitters Club, Ann is the author of two other series, Main Street and Family Tree. Her novels include Belle Teal, A Corner of the Universe (a Newbery Honor book), Here Today, A Dog’s Life, On Christmas Eve, Everything for a Dog, Ten Rules for Living with My Sister, and Ten Good and Bad Things About My Life (So Far). She is also the coauthor, with Laura Godwin, of the Doll People series.
Ann lives in upstate New York with her dog and her cats.
Copyright © 1991 by Ann M. Martin.
Cover art by Hodges Soileau
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC, THE BABY-SITTERS CLUB, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
First edition, November 1991
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
e-ISBN 978-0-545-69042-3
Claudia and the Genius of Elm Street Page 9