“Our runners-up, with excellent marks for flavor, and a total profit of three thousand two hundred eighty-two: the Burger Boys! Congratulations!” A loud roar came from the Burger Boys at the other end of Delaware’s main street.
“And now, the winner of the Ohio Food Truck Festival and the ten-thousand-dollar grand prize. With perfect marks for taste and service and a total profit of three thousand three hundred and four dollars—bringing in just twenty-two dollars more than the Burger Boys—the Peach Pie Truck.”
“We did it!” Freddy screamed, overcome with emotion. “We won!”
The Peach family cheered and jumped up and down and even joined Dad in a few little Whoop whoops! All four of them squeezed into a giant hug and jumped up and down some more.
“We won,” Lucy echoed, as she lifted Herb into the air. Herb blew kisses at all the people cheering for them. “By just twenty-two bucks. Wow.”
“Yes!” Dad tossed his hat into the air and pumped his fist. “Good thing my smart kids bought that last turtle pie, or we would have come in second!”
Freddy set off to collect their prize check and certificate from the festival organizers, taking a few extra minutes to shake hands with all the judges on behalf of the family. “Thank you,” he told them. “It’s an honor.” Then he turned and bowed, accepting congratulations and pats on the back from random people in the crowd.
“So…was it worth it?” Dad asked the kids a few minutes later as they strolled together down the main street to offer congratulations to the Burger Boys, Taco Cat, and Corn Cabin. “Are you glad we did this?”
Freddy smiled at him. “Of course it was worth it.” Even though there had been plenty of challenges along the way, and even if sometimes it had been tempting to give up, and even though they had spent much of the past month stuffed inside an overly hot, cramped, and messy food truck, there was no doubt about it: this had been a crazy adventure to remember. Their summer experiment hadn’t gone exactly as planned, but it had definitely been worth it.
From now on, Freddy was committed to following Mom’s best advice: he would make sure his family tried to make the most out of life, even when the going got rough. When life gives you lemons, make peach pie. He smiled as he thought about his family’s new version of Mom’s favorite phrase.
Though they’d had a rough couple of years, and though it would certainly take time and a lot more false starts and do-overs, Freddy was certain that eventually the Peaches would be pretty incredible again.
From the Sketchbook of Freddy Peach:
OUR SUMMER ADVENTURE
27
CHANGING LUCK
After nearly a month on the road, Lucy was ready to head home. As soon as the Food Truck Festival wrapped up, the Peaches bid Lois Sibberson and their food truck farewell, rented a car to get back to Minnesota, and headed to their last campground for one final night in their tents. After stopping to take a quick swim in Delaware’s community pool to cool off, they packed everything up so they could hit the road first thing the next morning.
It was a long drive back to Duluth—more than twelve hours. Even though it was a relief to finally have a vehicle with air-conditioning, neither of the boys was looking forward to spending a whole day in their rental car. Lucy was exhausted, but she was excited to finally get some more dedicated reading time. She hadn’t read at all during the Food Truck Festival, and she was more than ready to get back to the last dozen or so books on her summer reading list.
But after a couple quiet hours on the road, Lucy’s book slipped out of her hands and she fell fast asleep. She was startled awake a few hours later when Dad pulled off the highway to get gas. Her brothers had both been sound asleep, too—Freddy had a crusty line of drool that looked like a tree branch on his left cheek, and Herb was dozing so deeply that he had to be shaken awake.
Inside the gas station, they all hit the bathroom, and then Lucy hung out with Herb while he scanned the rows of colorful lottery tickets lining the counter near the cashier. When Dad came out of the restroom, Herb pointed at the tempting line of scratch-off tickets hidden behind clear glass. “Please?” he begged. “Just one? For all of us to share?”
Dad sighed and shook his head. “Lottery tickets aren’t for kids, Herb.”
Herb nodded sadly, then perked up the tiniest bit. “Even if I use my own money? I have two dollars of my souvenir money left—you said I could spend it on whatever I want. This is what I want.”
“We’ve discussed this.” Dad said. “Lottery tickets are a waste of money, not a game.”
Lucy and Herb were almost to the door when Dad called out, “But I guess one can’t hurt. This whole trip has been a big gamble, right? A gamble that ultimately paid off.” Lucy turned just in time to see Dad pull two crumpled one-dollar bills out of his pocket and hand them over to the cashier.
“Let’s save it for when we get home,” Lucy suggested to Herb. “It will give you something to look forward to.” Herb had been waiting all month long for their dad to splurge on a lottery ticket—she trusted that he could wait a little while longer to scratch it off. So she let him take the ticket, and Herb stuffed it into his pocket, nodding solemnly.
The Peaches piled back into their rental car and buckled up. But when they pulled out of the gas station lot, Dad didn’t turn left to follow signs toward the highway home. He turned right, following a long, winding road past sandwich shops and more gas stations. “You took a wrong turn,” Lucy told him.
“Did I?” Dad asked.
“The highway is thataway,” Herb announced from the back seat.
“Well, maybe we should just see what’s down here,” Dad said. “I think there might be an interesting road-side attraction down this way, and we have Freddy’s summer goal to keep in mind.” He peered into the rearview mirror and attempted a wink. Moments later, he eased the car into a narrow space on the far end of a giant parking lot.
“Why are we stopping again?” Freddy yawned, covering his face with his sweatshirt.
“I’m a little tired of driving,” Dad said in a funny voice.
The kids all exchanged confused looks.
“Maybe we should just stop here for the night?” Dad suggested.
“Where are we?” Herb asked, peering out the window.
Lucy guessed there were hundreds—maybe thousands—of cars parked all around them. It was like a car zoo.
“Wisconsin Dells,” Dad said simply. “Waterpark Capital of the World.”
Lucy watched Herb’s face light up at the promise of waterslides and pools galore. But then his expression grew dark again. “You’re joking.”
“That’s not funny, Dad,” Lucy said.
“I’m actually very serious,” Dad said. “I took part of my Food Truck Festival winnings and booked us a room at a water park hotel tonight. I thought we could finish our drive tomorrow, and spend the rest of this afternoon riding waterslides instead? After all, I did promise Herb he could go swimming every day, and we have a few dry days to make up for. Hopefully this will do the trick?”
There was a momentary pause, then all three Peach kids screamed at once.
Dad covered his ears. “I’m going to take that as a yes.”
* * *
That night, after they’d spent hours going down waterslides and drinking more fruit smoothies by the pool than anyone was willing to admit, the Peaches went out for pizza at one of the hotel’s many theme restaurants. A friendly waiter set a gleaming silver pan atop a giant can of stewed tomatoes, and everyone slid a gooey slice of pizza onto their plates.
While Herb waited for his pizza to cool, he reached into his shorts pocket and pulled out the lottery ticket Dad had bought for them earlier that afternoon. “I almost forgot!” he said. “We were going to wait to scratch this until we got home. But since we’re not going home yet, maybe we could just do it here instead?”
“Why not?” Dad said with a shrug. He read the lottery ticket instructions aloud: “To win, you must match the symbol in one of the picnic baskets to the winning symbol shown in the prize box.”
Dad pulled a coin out of his pocket and scratched the foil off the “prize” box. “The winning symbol is a pie!” he announced, obviously delighted.
“That’s serendipity!” Herb declared.
Next, Freddy scratched the silver foil off one of the picnic baskets. “I got a stupid fish,” he said. “Not a winner.”
One by one, each Peach took turns scratching another box on the ticket. “I got a flower,” Lucy announced.
“A campfire,” Dad groaned.
“I got a hot dog,” Herb said. He pushed the ticket into the center of the table. “There’s one picnic basket left to open. Who wants to scratch it?”
“Let’s call this one Mom’s box,” Lucy suggested. “Maybe she’ll have more luck than the rest of us did. You can scratch it for her, Herb.”
“For Mom,” Herb said seriously. Then he pursed his lips together and scratched off the last bits of silver. “It’s a pie!” he shrieked. “We won two dollars!”
They all cheered, celebrating almost as vigorously as they had after winning the Ohio Food Truck Festival. Then Herb stood up on the seat in their booth and kissed the winning lottery ticket. “I love you, I love you, I love you!”
“You know, I’m starting to think our luck might be changing,” Dad said, laughing. “We’ve got good stuff on the horizon.”
“I think you’re right,” Lucy said. Though they weren’t anywhere near perfect, and it was obviously going to take a long time for them to patch up all the cracks in their fractured family, Lucy finally felt like they were making progress. And even more important, she was starting to trust that their dad might eventually figure out how to lead their family in his own kind of way. For the very first time since their mom had died, Lucy was proud to be a Peach.
“It’s not luck,” Freddy said, pounding the table so hard the plates rattled. “It’s Peach power!”
“Peach power!” Dad and Herb repeated, pumping their fists.
Then they all looked at Lucy, eyebrows lifted expectantly. As Herb tackled her into a huge hug, Lucy laughed and shrieked, “Peach power!” In that moment, Lucy felt something she hadn’t in a long while: she felt like part of a complete family. A sweet, perfectly messy peach pie of a family.
My dearest Lucy and family,
Welcome home! I have some news. After living in this giant house for the past fifty years (with only the dogs to keep me company for the last ten of them!), I’ve decided the time has come for me to find a home more suitable to a single woman of my age. I’ve rented an apartment in the same “old folks” complex where my best friend lives. (Lucky for me, the facility is also filled with card players, so I can play Hearts all day and night, if I so choose!)
I can’t stomach the idea of someone outside the family taking over this wonderful old mansion and moving into my family’s home. Because the four of you are the only family I have remaining in Duluth—and because your mother always told me she dreamed of one day living here (and possibly turning the extra rooms into a bed-and-breakfast?!)—I’ve decided it makes sense to pass the house on to your father to enjoy with you three kids.
The place needs work—a lot of work. Frankly, it’s become a bit of a pit, since I really only spend time on the main floor these days. And the dogs will have to stay put. My new apartment doesn’t allow animals, and these hairy little wig-stealing beasts need more entertainment and attention than this old lady can provide.
But after reading all the postcards you sent during your family’s great summer adventure, I think you’re up to the task and the challenge. Please come by the house to talk further about the next Great Peach Experiment just as soon as you’ve unpacked from your travels….
Much love, Your
Great Aunt Lucinda
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Please be aware that I took significant liberties with the actual laws, permits, regulations, and day-to-day operations of a food truck. Of course, I did extensive research into this type of business venture and used real laws to help guide my writing, but I also chose to ignore or change some of the information I found. For the sake of a fun story, I made a lot of things up (and exaggerated or ignored some facts) along the way.
If you ever consider starting up a food truck, please do more research and planning than the Peach family did. This book is a work of fiction, and in the real world, this business would have taken much longer to get off the ground, and a start-up like this likely would have fared much, much worse in real life.
The best part of writing fiction is, you get to make stuff up. So I did just that. And I certainly hope you enjoyed the adventure.
* * *
Writing a great book, like many of life’s best adventures, requires the assistance, company, and support of many other people. The first draft of this story came together really quickly, but the revisions and recipe refinement for the Peach family’s adventures took years. My editor (and great friend!) Bethany Buck deserves a lifetime supply of perfect pie for her spot-on advice, encouragement, and editorial direction for this story.
My agent, Michael Bourret, has been with me for the long haul on this publishing journey, and always keeps me from taking a wrong turn, even when the going gets rough and I’ve clearly lost my way.
My family—Greg, Milla, Henry, Ruby, and my snuggly pup, Wally—inspired many of the events and adventures in this story and make life perfectly peachy every single day. My talented son, Henry, drew all of Freddy’s art for this book, Ruby helped me write Lucy’s letters, and all three of my kids came up with the unique Blues Festival beards and helped me develop many of the best plot twists in the story. Your creativity and cleverness astound me, kids; may the three of you always be so funny and cheerful and clever.
My mom—Barb Soderberg—read at least twenty drafts of this story and helped out in some way at every stage. My dad—Kurt Soderberg—helpfully read a few drafts, too, and pointed out some of the things that were too weird, even for him (truth be told, there’s not much that’s too weird or quirky for me and my dad!).
I couldn’t survive this sometimes-lonely job without my crew of writer friends—Cathy Clark, Anica Rissi, Robin Wasserman, Laura Zimmermann, my fellow Renegades of Middle Grade, and many others—who read drafts, brainstorm, commiserate, and cheer me on.
A few real-world places and people unknowingly helped out with this story, and I’d like to say thanks: to Mike Lowery (whose magnificent and fun random facts books helped inspire that slice of Freddy’s character); to the real-world Betty’s Pies and my late Grandma Wilma (for making me a pie-lover); to the Sasquatch Food Truck (for letting me roam around and investigate your truck, as well as for answering a bunch of food truck–operating questions while you whipped up my yummy order).
Many teacher friends have supported and encouraged me over the years by sharing my books with their students, inviting me for school visits, and passing along tons of recommendations for books I would enjoy reading—Melissa, Lesley, Kristen, Jason, Michele, Julie, Sandy, Kurt, Carrie, Beth, Pam, Jennifer, Niki, Laura, John, Susan, Franki, Katie, and so many more. I can’t possibly thank you all individually—and I know some of you don’t like to be mentioned by name in the back of a book—so just know that I’m thinking of you, too! I do, however, want to express special recognition to the four teachers who invited me into their classrooms as part of the #KidsNeedMentors program the past few years. So, thanks to Tracey Maniotis, Kristen Loiacono, Leigh Ann Salas, and Vi Figueroa for the friendship and writing connection with your bright and inquisitive students. Also, a shout-out to my teacher friend Patrick Andrus, who has brought me into his classroom every year for his breakfast book club and has shared and discussed early drafts of many of my novels wit
h his students.
Huge thanks to my publishing partners at Pixel+Ink —including brilliant copyeditor Susan Wilkins, Raina Putter, Lisa Lee, Terry Borzumato-Greenberg, Michelle Montague, Cheryl Lew, Nicole Benevento, Emily Mannon, Miriam Miller, Julia Gallagher, Adrienne Vaughan, Derek Stordahl, Andy Ball, Hannah Fine, Jessica Dartnell, Alison Weiss, and Kyra Reppen. Also the Penguin Random House sales and distribution team. Finally, a word about this book’s talented designer, Michelle Cunningham: your design is like the ice cream on top of a warm slice of apple pie—you really took this book to the next level and made it shine. It’s been such a delight going on this journey with all of you, and I look forward to our next great adventure.
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