Riding Sound Waves

by Theanne Griffith

  How to Test a Friendship

  Brain Trouble

  Riding Sound Waves

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2020 by Theanne Griffith

  Cover art and interior illustrations copyright © 2020 by Reginald Brown

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

  Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Griffith, Theanne, author. | Brown, Reggie, illustrator.

  Title: Riding sound waves / by Theanne Griffith;

  illustrations by Reggie Brown.

  Description: First edition. | New York: Random House Children’s Books, [2020] | Series: The Magnificent Makers; 3 | “A Stepping Stone book.” | Audience: Ages 7–10. |

  Summary: “In the Maker Maze—a magical makerspace—Violet and Pablo, along with their classmate Henry, learn all about the senses and how different people might experience them.”—Provided by publisher

  Identifiers: LCCN 2019048039 (print) | LCCN 2019048040 (ebook) |

  ISBN 978-0-593-12310-2 (trade pbk.) | ISBN 978-0-593-12311-9 (library binding) | ISBN 978-0-593-12312-6 (ebook)

  Subjects: CYAC: Senses and sensation—Fiction. | Makerspaces—Fiction. | People with disabilities—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.G7527 Rid 2020 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.G7527 (ebook) |

  DDC [Fic]—dc23

  Ebook ISBN 9780593123126

  This book has been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System.

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  Penguin Random House LLC supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin Random House to publish books for every reader.

  ep_prh_5.5.0_c0_r0

  Contents

  Cover

  Other Titles

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Make Your Own Creations!

  Acknowledgments

  To all those who see

  Henry in themselves

  —T.G.

  To my brothers, Craig and Jay.

  I’m without a doubt the favorite now.

  —R.B.

  Screeeee­eeeee­ch!

  The Newburg Elementary school bus came to a sudden stop. Pablo and Violet lunged forward.

  “I thought we’d never get here,” Pablo moaned as he stretched his arms overhead. The two best friends unfastened their seat belts and looked out the window. Cars, buses, and taxis honked as they zoomed through the streets. People scurried down steps to catch the subway. The smell of hot dogs started to fill the bus. They had finally arrived in the city. Next stop, the City Science Museum!

  “Can we get off yet?” Violet bounced in her seat.

  “Hopefully,” said Pablo. “I haven’t been here since last year.”

  “Me neither. Remember how we learned about viruses? And how fast they can travel around the world?” asked Violet.

  “Yeah,” said Pablo. “I wonder what we’ll get to see this year.”

  Pablo and Violet weren’t the only ones who were excited. The bus hummed with the voices of Mr. Eng’s third-grade class. This was the first field trip of the year, and everyone had been on the bus for more than an hour.

  Mr. Eng stood up from the first row and raised his hand to quiet everyone.

  “Okay, class,” he began. “Time to buddy up. Remember the double line we practiced?”

  “Yes, Mr. Eng!” answered the class.

  Pablo and Violet were always field trip buddies. In fact, they did everything together. At recess, they either played soccer or double Dutch. And they always shared a sweet, juicy pickle from the Newburg Corner Store on their walk home from school. Recently, Pablo had started helping Violet learn Spanish. And they both loved everything about science. Pablo dreamt of being an astronaut and traveling through space. Violet was determined to become a scientist and cure as many diseases as possible.

  “Listo?” said Violet. “Are you ready?”

  “Muy bien!” replied Pablo. The Spanish lessons were working. He grabbed his best friend’s hand, and they peeled their legs from the sticky seats.

  “Come on, Henry!” Violet called toward the back of the bus. A boy wearing a tight-fitting black-and-green superhero costume sat in the last row. Two blue eyes gazed over the seats from behind a silver mask.

  “New costume?” Pablo asked with a smile as Henry made his way to the front.

  “Yeah!” replied Henry. “My other one got a hole in the armpit.”

  There was an odd number of students in the class, so Mr. Eng added Henry to Violet and Pablo’s group. Pablo always tried to be nice to Henry, who was a little different from other kids. Sometimes he would throw tantrums for no reason at all, especially during gym or recess. And he could never sit still and pay attention in class. But Pablo knew what it was like to be different. He had felt different from his classmates when he’d first arrived in Newburg from Puerto Rico. Luckily, he’d met Violet. She thought his differences were cool.

  “It’s time to take off your mask now,” Mr. Eng said to Henry as they hopped off the bus.

  Henry held the sides of his mask with both hands.

  Mr. Eng knelt down. “I know you like wearing your mask. But the rules for entering the museum are the same as the rules for entering school. No hats,” he said. “Or masks.”

  Henry’s hands didn’t budge.

  “Please?” asked Mr. Eng.

  Henry sighed and slowly removed the mask. He shook out his wavy blond hair as he gave the mask to Mr. Eng.

  “Thank you.” Mr. Eng smiled.

  “It’s so loud out here,” Henry complained, covering his ears.

  Violet smiled and grabbed Pablo’s and Henry’s hands. “Come on, then! Let’s go,” she said. The trio hurried inside.

  “Roar!” growled Violet. She held up her hands, imitating the towering T. rex standing in the middle of the museum lobby.

  Henry jumped. “Hey! Don’t do that.” He frowned. “You scared me.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to,” replied Violet.

  “Yeah, she was just joking around,” said Pablo.

  “Okay…but…it’s loud enough in here,” said Henry. The building was huge, with high ceilings and
tall stone columns. Laughter and screams echoed from the planetarium on the second floor.

  Mr. Eng removed a pencil from behind his ear and waved it in the air. Then he pointed to a brightly colored section of the museum with various rooms waiting to be explored. “Today in the Kids’ Corner, you’re going to learn all about our five senses. Can anyone remind the class what they are?”

  Pablo’s and Violet’s hands shot into the air.

  Mr. Eng called on Violet.

  “Hearing, taste, smell, sight, and…” She forgot the last one.

  “Touch!” added Pablo.

  “Great job!” said Mr. Eng. “Now, who’s ready to have some fun?”

  “We are!” the class cheered, and then scattered.

  “Vamos!” said Pablo. He ran toward a room with a giant eye painted on the door. Violet and Henry followed.

  “Whoa!” said the trio as soon as they entered. The room was white with black lines drawn all over it. Even the floor was covered with lines that swirled and twisted.

  “It looks like the walls are curved,” said Pablo, reaching out his hand. “But they’re not. They’re flat!”

  “This is so weird. I think my eyes are confused!” said Violet with her arms stretched out to her sides.

  “I’m getting dizzy,” said Henry as he wobbled around.

  “Me too,” said Pablo.

  The buddies slowly wandered back out into the lobby. Henry covered his ears. “Let’s find a new room,” he said.

  “Look over there!” Pablo pointed to a door with a giant nose hanging over it.

  “I hope that thing doesn’t have boogers!” said Violet, scrunching up her face.

  “Gross!” Henry said, pulling on the sleeves of his costume.

  “Better hurry! Don’t want any snot falling on you!” said Pablo.

  They were greeted with a sweet smell as they entered.

  “Mmmmm,” said Violet, rubbing her belly. “It smells like—”

  “CAKE!” Pablo blurted out.

  He pointed to the middle of the room, where a three-layered chocolate cake sat on a stand inside a clear glass box. Colorful noses made of icing decorated each layer. There were cards hanging from plastic cords on a bar that surrounded the stand.

  “They’re scratch-and-sniff!” Henry said, holding a card in his hand. “It says here that each card smells like an ingredient used to make the cake.”

  Violet scratched one and sniffed. “Eeeew! This smells nasty! If the cake tastes like this, then I don’t want any.” She let the card drop.

  Henry picked it up. “Yuck!” He pinched his nose. “Smells like vinegar.”

  Pablo examined the next card. Just as he was about to sniff, he noticed a riddle written on the back.

  “Violet, look!” Pablo’s voice squeaked with excitement. “I think it’s from Dr. Crisp!”

  “Who’s Dr. Crisp?” asked Henry.

  “Oh, she’s just the coolest scientist ever!” replied Violet.

  “And she runs the Maker Maze,” Pablo explained. “It’s this magical makerspace.”

  Henry’s face lit up. “Really?”

  Violet tucked her wild, curly hair behind her ears. “Yup. And we get there through a portal of purple light. But we have to answer this riddle first.”

  She read it aloud:

  Violet bit her lip. “Well, the last one is obvious,” she said. “Taste!”

  “And you hear a bell chime,” added Pablo.

  “Henry, do you think…,” Violet began. But Henry wasn’t paying attention. He was over by the door, looking into the giant nose.

  “Hey, Henry! Come back,” Pablo called across the room.

  “Don’t yell at me!” said Henry. His eyebrows squished together.

  Pablo glanced at Violet. “Uh…I was just trying to get your attention,” he said. “We need to figure this out.”

  Henry fiddled with his costume sleeve and walked back over to the group.

  “You feel by touching,” continued Violet.

  “What about the other two?” asked Pablo.

  Henry shrugged. “I don’t like riddles,” he said. “They’re confusing.”

  Violet bit her lip. “I think the first one is sight!”

  “Sounds right. And you start to smell a cake when it’s almost done!” added Pablo.

  Suddenly, everything in the room began to shake! The scratch-and-sniff cards danced along the bar.

  “What’s going on?” said Henry. His voice trembled with the rest of the room.

  “Are you okay?” asked Pablo. Henry was crouched on the floor with his hands over his ears.

  Violet tapped Henry on the shoulder. He looked at Pablo and Violet and slowly lowered his hands. He stood up and crossed his arms. “What was that?” he asked.

  “It was the portal. It opened,” Violet replied.

  “It sounded like the portal exploded,” said Henry as he fixed his costume.

  Pablo and Violet giggled. Then Pablo saw a purple light near the door. “This way!” he said, rushing out of the room.

  “What happened to everyone?” asked Henry.

  Their classmates were scattered throughout the Kids’ Corner. But they weren’t moving. Smiles were stuck on the students’ faces.

  “Time stops when the portal opens,” explained Violet. “Look at Deepak!” She pointed to one of their classmates. He was frozen in the air! It looked like the spaceships on his sneakers were blasting him into space.

  Pablo smiled as he tapped Violet on the shoulder.

  “No way! We have to enter through there?” asked Violet. She shivered. “Not cool, Dr. Crisp.”

  The giant nose hanging over the door was glowing within a ring of purple light.

  Pablo laughed. “Look at your hair!”

  Violet’s curls were sticking straight up! She giggled. “Your hair’s doing it, too, Henry!”

  “It must be the portal,” said Pablo. He patted his head. “My hair is too short.”

  “I think it will suck us up if we jump high enough,” Violet said, biting her lip.

  “Will the portal make that exploding noise again when we go through it?” asked Henry nervously.

  “No,” replied Violet. She thought for a moment. “But it will feel like a hug that tingles.”

  “Ready?” asked Pablo. The trio joined hands and squatted before leaping into the air.

  BIZZAP!

  Pablo, Violet, and Henry landed on the floor of the Maker Maze. They dusted themselves off and stood up.

  “This is even cooler than I imagined!” said Henry.

  Pablo and Violet gave Henry a tour of the main lab. They showed Henry the robots that were unpacking a box of supplies near the huge microscope. They walked between the long tables, where colorful liquids bubbled in flasks and strange plants jiggled and danced.

  “What’s that?” asked Henry, pushing his face against a giant glass jar. Inside, a blue three-winged beetle flew in circles.

  “No idea,” replied Pablo. “But these are my favorite!” He pointed to the floating crystals in the zero gravity chambers.

  “Dr. Crisp, we’re here!” Violet shouted down a long hallway lined with doors.

  “We go through one of those doors to start the challenge,” explained Pablo.

  Then a voice behind them said, “Well, hello, Makers!”

  The trio turned around. Dr. Crisp stood tall with her wild rainbow hair and bright purple pants. The Maker Manual was tucked under her arm. A name tag was fastened to her white lab coat.

  “Lovely seeing you two, as always.” She winked at Pablo and Violet. “And nice to meet you, Henry! Cool outfit!”

  “You know my name?” said Henry with a big smile. He stood proudly in his costume.

  “O
f course!” she replied.

  “Is that your special power? Are you a superhero?” asked Henry.

  Dr. Crisp laughed. “Superhero, no. Super-scientist, YES!” She put her fists on her hips and puffed out her chest.

  Henry looked at his feet and tugged on the sleeves of his costume. “What else do you know about me?” he asked.

  Dr. Crisp tapped her chin with her fingers. “I know the Maker Maze thought you’d be the perfect person to help Pablo and Violet today!” She took the Maker Manual from under her arm. It snapped open to a page with the day of the week at the top. Below were pictures of Pablo, Violet, and Henry! “You see?” She pointed with her pencil to the name under each picture.

  “Since we have the book open,” Pablo said, “let’s start the challenge!”

  “Yeah!” agreed Violet.

  Dr. Crisp flipped the pages of the glittery golden book to one with a large question mark. She explained the rules to Henry. “All you have to do is tell the Maker Manual what you want to learn about today. The Maze will design a challenge with three different levels. You’ll have one hundred twenty Maker Minutes to finish, and—”

  “Henry! This is important,” said Pablo.

  Henry had wandered toward the robots.

  “We only have one hundred twenty Maker Minutes to get back to the museum before everyone unfreezes.” Pablo pointed to the screen above them. It showed the Kids’ Corner, where the students were as still as the T. rex.

  Henry blushed as he walked back over to the group.

  “Sorry,” he said.

  “That’s all right.” Dr. Crisp smiled. “Sometimes I get distracted by the cool stuff in the Maze, too.” She tapped the Maker Manual with her pencil. “So, Makers, what’s today’s science topic?”