by Kara West
As I stacked the flat tires in my arms, Hugo Fast, the class bully, pushed past me.
“Well, I guess not everyone’s a natural,” he said with a snicker as he walked away.
CHAPTER 7
THE SAVE-THE-DAY DISASTER
After class was over, Allie, Penn, and I headed to our lockers.
“Don’t listen to Hugo, Mia,” Allie said. “You’ll get the hang of things.”
“Yeah, Mia,” Penn agreed. “Today was only the second class. I’m sure you’ll have more luck tomorrow.”
Penn had a huge smile. But then it went away.
“Oh no,” he said in a quiet voice.
“Oh no, what?” I asked.
“Your good luck charm . . . is missing!”
I immediately touched my neck. He was right. It was gone!
I couldn’t believe it. Did I really lose it again?
Without thinking, I rushed back to the classroom as fast as I could, with Penn and Allie right behind me.
When we got there, everything was exactly as we had left it.
A complete mess.
There were piles of loose bumpers, headlights, and windshield wipers everywhere. I took a deep breath and scanned the room.
This necklace search was going to be way harder than digging through my closet. But thankfully, I had Penn and Allie. We decided to split up to cover the most ground.
I ran over to my run-down car. I leaned in and checked the front and back seats. There were lots of loose car parts, but no necklace.
So I moved on to the next car.
Then the next.
And the next.
As I moved down the line, I stacked each car on top of one another, just like I had done with my furniture.
The necklace had to be here somewhere. But none of us was having any luck.
“I don’t get it!” I finally cried. “It couldn’t have walked out of here by itself, right?”
“Well, maybe it fell off after class, on our way to our lockers?” Allie suggested.
Oh no! The hallway?
If it was out there, who knew where it could be in this huge building?
I took a deep breath and tried to stay calm.
But that didn’t work too well. Because I ran into a random classroom in a panic.
It was packed with a bunch of students who were doing Save-the-Day rescue exercises. According to Penn, Save-the-Day exercises were used to test a student’s ability to think fast on their feet.
There were all sorts of awesome, but dangerous, rescue setups.
There was one kid stuck on a bridge.
Another one was on a water tower.
And another one was on a train!
Usually, I would totally be up for a rescue mission. But today I had my own job to complete.
As I rushed past the tall water tower, I instantly knew I was in trouble.
My jaw dropped to the floor as everything came falling down.
Oh no. I think I might have just destroyed the PITS!
CHAPTER 8
CODE MAROON
“Oh, Mia. What happened?” Dr. Sue Perb asked when she walked in.
Dr. Sue Perb was the headmistress of the PITS. She was the first superhero (other than my parents) that I met.
I really wanted to go and hide. I just searched my entire classroom, ruined another, and still didn’t have my family necklace.
But I had a feeling Dr. Sue Perb would know what to do.
I took a deep breath and told her the truth.
“My mom gave me a necklace that is really special. Her mother gave it to her, and she gave it to me. But then I lost it. I’ve been looking for it everywhere, and I might have gotten carried away.”
Dr. Perb raised an eyebrow.
“I didn’t mean to. Really! I’m sorry,” I began, looking up at her.
I was ready to be in trouble. I would be mad if I was her.
But instead, she patted me on the back and said, “I understand. A missing family necklace is, indeed, a serious situation.”
After I explained what it looked like, she pushed a few buttons on her watch and spoke into it.
“Attention, students—Code Maroon. I repeat, Code Maroon. We are opening a school-wide search for Mia Mayhem’s missing star necklace.” Dr. Sue Perb’s voice echoed through the hallways.
“Don’t worry, Mia. We’ll find it,” Dr. Perb said. “It has to be somewhere.”
“Oh, thank you SO much!” I cried.
I couldn’t believe that all these busy superheroes were going to look for my necklace. At this rate, I was sure it would pop up soon.
Penn, Allie, and I decided to retrace my steps one more time. When we got back to Professor Myte’s classroom, I was about to open the door, but Penn stopped me.
“Wait,” he said. “You know, we weren’t actually in class when we discovered it was missing.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right! We were at our lockers!” said Allie.
I was pretty sure I hadn’t taken my necklace off. But at this point, it was worth looking again.
Back at my locker, I took everything out.
I had a random dirty shoe, Chaos’s mouse toy, and even one of Eddie’s old robots. I had everything you could think of . . . except for the one thing I needed.
I was about to close the door when something caught my eye.
“Wait! I just saw a weird glow in the mirror!” I cried.
I flipped over my cape and touched around my neck.
I couldn’t believe it. My star necklace was hidden against my suit all this time!
“Oh thank goodness! We found it!” Allie cried.
Then the three of us ran to Dr. Sue Perb’s office to tell the school the good news.
CHAPTER 9
THE BIG PITS CLEAN
Dr. Perb called off the school-wide search as soon as we burst through her office door.
“Attention, students: The Code Maroon search has been solved. I repeat—the necklace has been found,” Dr. Perb announced through her watch.
Once everything quieted down, I thanked her again.
It meant a lot to me that Dr. Perb, Allie, Penn, and the whole school cared about helping me find my family necklace.
“I’m so, so happy to have my necklace with me,” I began. “But I feel a bit silly about the mess I created.”
“Oh, Mia, I am very glad we’ve located the missing necklace. But may this be a good lesson for you.”
I nodded as she patted my back.
Here’s what I’ve learned after the craziest day: When I’m panicked, I really need to learn how to breathe and stay focused.
“But as superheroes, it’s also important to help one another in times of need,” Dr. Perb continued. “You needed help looking for the necklace, and now you’ll need help cleaning up.”
Oh boy. She was right. There was a lot to fix.
I wished I could put everything back together on my own. But there were so many things I didn’t know how to do.
Like how to fix broken glass.
Or a water leak.
Or how to rebuild a bridge.
So Dr. Perb sent out another message to the entire school for volunteers.
Then she and Professor Myte split up the clean-up tasks in each room.
Some kids lifted heavy things (like me, Allie, Penn, and even Hugo) while other kids glued broken glass back together . . . restored metal, and even cement bricks!
Pretty cool, right?
Clearly there are so many powers I still need to learn. But for now, I’m pretty happy about the fact that I can lift this car and put it back down in one piece. Without breaking anything else.
It turns out that Allie, Penn, and Eddie were right: All I needed was a bit of practice to figure out the perfect balance.
CHAPTER 10
ONE LAST THING
When I got home, I was so ready to flop right onto my bed and relax.
But I couldn’t because I left my room looking like this!
My whole room was still a massive disaster. And of course, Chaos was curled up on my bed, taking a nap, as if she had nothing at all to do with the mess.
The good news is that I don’t think my parents noticed. If they did, I definitely would have heard about it.
The cleanup at the PITS was a job for many, but I knew I could handle this mess on my own.
I easily moved my dresser, chair, and bed back into place.
Then I gathered all my dirty clothes and put them in the hamper.
I was just finishing up when there was a knock on my door.
“Come in!” I said.
Mom walked in and looked around my room.
I held my breath. Maybe she did know about the huge mess!
But then she just said, “Wow, Mia. Nice work. Your room looks great!”
I grinned widely and snuck Chaos a little wink.
“You’re wearing the necklace! It looks terrific on you.”
“Thanks, Mom. I love it!” I said.
Then she sat down on the bed next to me.
“You know, I remember the exact day your grandma gave it to me. But here’s a little secret between you and me: I loved it too . . . but I lost it all the time!”
“What? No way!” I cried.
“Oh yeah!” my mom replied. “One time I broke the girls’ bathroom and even broke an entire obstacle course at the PITS because I thought I lost it!”
My jaw dropped to the floor. I couldn’t believe it.
That sounded way too similar to the day I just had. I knew that our superpowers ran in the family. But I didn’t know that my mom was known for causing trouble like me. Does that mean it also runs in the family?
Whatever the case, if there’s anything that today has taught me, it’s that practice makes perfect.
I know I’ll need some help along the way, but there are plenty of things I can now do on my own. Like fly, run, and lift huge things!
And when I need just a little bit of luck, I’ll take out and wear my beautiful blue necklace.
But for the sake of avoiding another bathroom disaster story, I think it’d be best to keep this necklace tucked away for now. I have a funny feeling I’ll know exactly when I really need it.
Keep reading for a preview of
Mia Mayhem Stops Time!
by
Kara West
“Mia Macarooney, why are you late again?” asked Mrs. Cruz.
That was a very good question.
I was standing in her office as she wrote me another tardy slip. She was the principal of Normal Elementary School.
“Mia, this is the fourth time this week,” she continued.
“I’m sorry. I’ll try to make sure it won’t happen again,” I replied.
Mrs. Cruz paused, waiting for me to say more.
But I couldn’t make any hard promises.
Because every day this week, something weird has happened to make me late. And I couldn’t tell her why.
Why not, you ask?
Well, because . . . I’ve been using my superpowers!
Yeah, you heard me right.
My name is Mia, and I. AM. A. SUPERHERO!
Right now, during regular school, I’m Mia Macarooney.
But when the school bell rings, I go by MIA MAYHEM.
I’m still really new at being super—that’s why I go to the Program for In Training Superheroes, aka the PITS! The PITS is a top secret superhero-training academy. And thanks to the things I’ve learned, I’ve been able to save the day before school even starts!
Continue Reading…
Mia Mayhem Stops Time!
Kara West
ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND ILLUSTRATOR
KARA WEST would love to be a superhero, mostly so she could ask squirrels what they’re so nervous about. She lives in Chicago with her own cats, who, unlike Chaos, spend more time sleeping than causing trouble. Thank goodness.
LEEZA HERNANDEZ has illustrated several books for young readers including New York Times bestselling author John Lithgow’s Never Play Music Right Next to the Zoo. Mia Mayhem is her first chapter book series. When Leeza isn’t causing her own mayhem, she’s hiding in her art lair and drawing. Her tabby sidekick, Jaspurrpurr, is usually supernapping close by. If Leeza were granted a superpower, she’d speak and understand any language in the galaxy.
Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Kara-West
Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Leeza-Hernandez
Little Simon
Simon & Schuster, New York
IntheMiddleBooks.com
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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First Little Simon hardcover edition July 2019
Copyright © 2019 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Also available in a Little Simon paperback edition
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Designed by Laura Roode
Jacket design by Laura Roode
Jacket illustrations by Leeza Hernandez
Jacket illustrations copyright © 2019 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: West, Kara, author. | Hernandez, Leeza, illustrator.
Title: Mia mayhem breaks down walls / by Kara West ; illustrated by Leeza Hernandez.
Description: First Little Simon paperback edition. | New York : Little Simon, 2019. | Series: Mia mayhem ; 4 | Summary: Unable to control her superstrength, Mia accidentally causes mayhem at school and must rely on her friends to help her repair things.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019011417 | ISBN 9781534444768 (paperback) | ISBN 9781534444775 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781534444782 (eBook)
Subjects: | CYAC: Ability—Fiction. | Self-control—Fiction. | Superheroes—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | Schools—Fiction. | African Americans—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General. | JUVENILE FICTION / Readers / Chapter Books.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.W43684 Mf 2019 | DDC [E]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019011417