Blaire Cooks Up a Plan (American Girl

by Jennifer Castle

  “This looks perfect,” said the photographer, checking the display on his camera. “It should run in the paper next week, along with an article about what your students did for Helping Hands.”

  “Are you guys ready to claim your spot in the case?” Ms. Cheeger asked.

  Lots of voices shouted at once. Oh yeah. So ready! Let’s do it!

  Ms. Lewis carried a mason jar over to the case. It was like the ones we’d used, and even had an OPERATION AWESOME SAUCE label and bow on it. But instead of actual sauce, it was filled with red tissue paper and orange, yellow, green, and white paper confetti. Ms. Cheeger had made a sign that said, MS. LEWIS’S FIFTH GRADE 2019–2020, and we’d all signed our names.

  Ms. Lewis slid open the case. “Here you go, front and center.”

  Ms. Cheeger placed the sign in the spot, and Ms. Lewis put the jar of pretend-sauce below it. Then she closed the case and stepped back.

  “How’s that for our mark on Bluefield Elementary?” I whispered to Thea.

  “That jar looks really good next to the picture of George’s doghouse,” she whispered back.

  Hopefully, our display would inspire other students for their Community Service Challenge projects for years to come.

  Just then, a class of younger kids came filing past the lobby. I spotted Abby in the group. She saw me and waved.

  “It looks like Abby’s forgiven you,” Thea said.

  I nodded. “We had a great time picking more vegetables and making another batch of sauce.”

  “Hey, Blaire,” Abby called. “Don’t forget. My birthday’s on Sunday. You owe me lunch!”

  I laughed and said, “I remember.”

  “Abby!” Abby’s teacher called from the front of the line. “Stay with the group!”

  “Cake, too,” Abby called to me before running to catch up with her class.

  Back in our classroom, Ms. Lewis gathered us all on the carpet.

  “So, Blaire,” Ms. Lewis said. “What will you remember most about this experience?”

  Abby’s face popped into my head. “The people I’ve met along the way,” I said. Then I thought about Marco. “I’ll also remember that helping doesn’t have to mean one big, splashy project. Helping means showing up, again and again, until a problem is solved.”

  “Those are fantastic things for all of us to remember,” Ms. Lewis said. “Anyone else want to share?”

  Eli raised his hand. He was wearing a T-shirt that just said BLUEFIELD YOUTH SOCCER on it. It looked like he had joined another part of the community.

  “I learned that one way you can help others is to just know what they’re dealing with,” he said. “Whether that’s not having enough to eat or feeling sad about something or whatever.”

  Eli glanced at me.

  “That’s a great observation, Eli,” Ms. Lewis said. “Talking and listening and working together is what people do as a community.” Ms. Lewis looked at the clock. “Time to line up for lunch.”

  I headed to my cubby to get my lunch box. I felt someone tug on my sleeve. It was Eli.

  “Hey, what are you doing this weekend?”

  “I’m making lunch for someone special,” I said.

  Then an idea-spark burst in a million colors, and I added:

  “But it would be more fun to do it with a friend. Want to come over and cook with me?”

  Jennifer Castle grew up writing stories in her head on long school bus rides and was constantly looking for ways to turn her idea-sparks into reality. These included dozens of poems, a homemade magazine that lasted three issues, a barrette-making business, and a cruise boat made of branches and cardboard for the creek behind her house. Eventually, one of her “big ideas” became a published novel, and since then she has written more than ten books for kids and teens, including the Butterfly Wishes series, Together at Midnight, and Famous Friends. Jennifer lives among the mountains, woods, and bountiful farms of New York’s Hudson Valley with her husband, two daughters, and two striped cats, who also work part-time as her writing assistants.

  With gratitude to Lindsey Lusher Shute, Executive Director and Co-founder of the National Young Farmers Coalition and co-owner of Hearty Roots Community Farm in New York’s Hudson Valley; Dr. Amanda Cox, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology and fellow of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology; Dr. Megan Moreno, Academic Division Chief: General Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Vice Chair of Digital Health, and Principal Investigator of the Social Media and Adolescent Health Research Team (SMAHRT); and Kamille Adamany, Director of Restaurants at American Girl, for their insights and knowledge.

  Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental and not intended by American Girl or Scholastic Inc.

  © 2019 American Girl. All American Girl marks, Blaire™, Blaire Wilson™, and Girl of the Year™ are trademarks of American Girl. Used under license by Scholastic Inc.

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  First printing 2019

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-26719-8

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