by Tara Dairman
Gladys’s heart gave a pang for Charissa as her two friends were swallowed up in the crowd.
At the end of French class, Madame Goldstein reminded them that the French Club would meet after school as usual the following Tuesday. “And those of you who are members, please bring some ideas for our bake sale fund-raiser in two weeks!”
Gladys groaned inwardly—after soccer, Drama Club, Mathletes, and Chess Club, she had hoped to be done with bake sales for a while. But she supposed that, for the one club she actually wanted to be a member of, she could make an exception. With her green pen, she made a note on her hand to ask her aunt if she had any tips for making macarons at home.
That night, after a Gladys-cooked dinner of butternut squash soup and fresh corn bread, her mom stood up. “I believe that Gladys has some important documents to share,” she said with a smile, pulling some papers out of her briefcase.
Gladys took the pages from her mother. “It’s a lease on the old Pathetti’s Pies building,” she announced.
Aunt Lydia laughed. “On top of everything else, are you opening a restaurant?”
Gladys shook her head, then passed the papers over to her aunt. “No, Aunt Lydia. You’re opening a restaurant.”
Aunt Lydia blinked at her. “Excusez-moi?”
Gladys’s dad—who had been updated on the plan by her mom—jumped in. “Gladys has chosen to invest her Standard earnings in a local small business,” he said. “Instead of sticking them in the bank, she’s used them to lease the building. Jen and I thought it sounded like such a good idea that we’ve thrown in some of our own funds as well. Gladys requested that the lease be in your name, Lydia, and that you be given full control of the menu and décor—though she’ll be available to consult on these things if her opinion is needed.”
“It really worked out perfectly,” Gladys’s mom added. “The building’s owner doesn’t want to pay for a renovation, but Gladys said you would want to decorate the café yourself anyway. In exchange—and because, to be honest, he had no other offers—I was able to negotiate a nice discount on the rent. For our combined investment, the place is yours for six months.”
Aunt Lydia’s mouth opened and closed like she was a fish that had just been yanked out of the water.
“I know it’s not Paris,” Gladys said, “but this town’s tastes are changing. I can tell just by how busy Mr. Eng’s is now! People are cooking more, and have higher expectations of their meals. I think the time is finally right for East Dumpsford to have a decent restaurant—don’t you?”
Aunt Lydia still seemed unable to speak.
“And once my new column for the Standard starts up,” Gladys said, “hopefully even more kids around here will be interested in eating adventurously. In fact, the French Club at school is raising money for a field trip to a French restaurant. Usually they go into the city, but if your place is up and running, I bet I could get them to keep the trip here this year. Less money spent on transportation means more for cassoulet and vichyssoise, right?”
Tears streamed down Aunt Lydia’s cheeks. “I don’t deserve you,” she blubbered. “I don’t deserve any of you!”
The Gatsbys piled in on Lydia with hugs, words of encouragement, and fresh napkins into which she could blow her nose. Finally, she pulled herself together.
“I’ll pay back every penny,” she promised them. “With interest—a magnificent amount of interest. Even if this project fails, I will find a way.”
“We believe in you, Aunt Lydia,” Gladys said. “I know things were rough at your old job, and at Mr. Eng’s at the beginning, but you really thrived when he sent you out to those trade shows. You know good food, and you know how to follow your vision. You’ll be great at launching your own restaurant.”
A fresh set of tears was welling up in her aunt’s eyes, though she smiled through them. “Your faith in me means so much, my sweet star.”
“Ditto,” Gladys said. “Now, let’s start planning! Mom, do you have the keys yet? We can go in and start repainting this weekend! Dad, can we borrow some of your power tools?”
“We’ll see . . .” he replied, giving Gladys a long look. “We all know what happened the last time you got your hands on a blowtorch.”
Chapter 30
THE CAFÉ DE PARIS
The Dumpsford Township Middle School Telegraph
—January 14 issue
FRENCH CLUB MEMBERS EXPAND THEIR PALATES AT NEWLY OPENED RESTAURANT
A Special Report by Gladys Gatsby
Opened to the public only last week, Café de Paris is in the old Pathetti’s Pies building, though you would never know that from looking at it. Repainted a cheerful eggshell blue and sporting wrought-iron chairs and tables, the restaurant has instantly become the most chic dining spot our town has to offer. DTMS’s French Club took a trip there last week.
A New York native, owner Lydia Winslow has spent the last decade living in Paris, where she managed a small café in the Montmartre neighborhood. While the French Club students enjoyed an amuse-bouche (literally translated as “mouth amuser”—in other words, a small, complimentary appetizer), Ms. Winslow regaled them with tales of her years in France, peppering her speech with French phrases, much to the delight of club adviser and French teacher Lillian Goldstein.
The four-course menu featured something for every palate, beginning with an enticingly flavored cold vichyssoise (potato soup). The club’s outing was funded by the proceeds from their November bake sale, which introduced middle-school students to macarons and madeleines, two delicate French confections. It also raised the club’s profile at the school and increased membership by 50 percent.
One of the newest members is Hamilton Herbertson, who is actually homeschooled because of his busy career as a best-selling author. “I recently learned that homeschooled students in East Dumpsford are permitted to participate in public school extracurricular activities!” he told the Telegraph excitedly. “So I signed up for French Club right away. I toured in France, you know, so I picked up a bit of the language.” When asked how the Café de Paris stacked up to some of the French restaurants he ate at during his tour, he said, “Oh, this café can stand with any of them. In fact, I’d say it’s superior to most—and much more romantic.”
Another new French Club member is Elaine de la Vega, editor in chief of the Telegraph. “It’s nice to enjoy a night off from reporting,” she said, slurping her soup, “especially now that I have trustworthy staffers covering news for the paper.”
The French Club members were not the only patrons visiting the café on the night in question. While they dug into their main course of cassoulet (a stew from the southern region of France consisting of white beans and various flavorful meats), a mother and son sitting at a smaller table by the door were finishing their dinner with a cheese plate.
“It’s been just lovely,” local resident Jayne Anderson replied when asked about her experience dining at the café. “Every course cooked to perfection.” Her son, eleven-year-old Sandy, seemed to agree. Although his mouth was full of cheese when asked what he thought of the food, he uttered the word odoriferous! with gusto. He was later observed asking Ms. Winslow for a doggy bag of her stinkiest chèvre to take with him into school the next day.
Other patrons that night included Robert Eng, owner of Mr. Eng’s Gourmet Grocery. “I supply the produce for this restaurant,” he told the Telegraph proudly. “Ms. Winslow is a former employee of mine, and I’m happy to see her running her own establishment—and making such nice use of my shop’s gourmet ingredients.” He was enjoying a frisée salad with a delicate poached egg on top.
When surveyed, all but one of the French Club members said that they would be happy to return to the restaurant and try more dishes. The only holdout was Parminder Singh, who did not touch a bite, despite the coaching of her friend Charissa Bentley. When asked whether she thought her tastes might change in the f
uture, she shrugged.
It’s been a long journey for Ms. Winslow, but she told the Telegraph that she’s “happy to be home at last.” And East Dumpsford is très heureux (that is, very happy) to have her.
To see Café de Paris’s hours and find a coupon for a 20 percent student discount, please turn to the restaurant’s full-color ad on page 3.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
WRITING GLADYS GATSBY’S STORY HAS been an incredibly sweet undertaking for me, and once again I’m happy to acknowledge the many people who made this series possible.
Huge thanks to my editor, Shauna Rossano, for her endless enthusiasm for Gladys’s continuing adventures. Striving to write to her high standards has made these books immeasurably better. Kelly Murphy has once again elevated Gladys’s story with her beautiful cover art. Thank you also to Susan Kochan, Katherine Perkins, Amanda Mustafic, and the entire team at Penguin Young Readers for everything you do to get these books out into the world and into the hands of kids and kids at heart. And thank you to my agent, Ammi-Joan Paquette, who has believed in Gladys since day one.
Jessica Lawson, Rebecca Behrens, and Lauren Sabel—I’m so grateful for your speedy beta reads and generous feedback on early drafts of this book. Stars So Sweet will be in exalted company on the shelves beside your 2016 novels! And thank you to the Paul sisters for your feedback and encouragement at crucial moments.
I’m indebted to the many friends on Facebook and Twitter (and the couple I randomly accosted at a coffee shop in Denver) who gamely quizzed their kids and reached back to their own childhoods to respond to my crowdsourcing queries about middle-school life.
I wrote and revised much of this book as I traveled and held events to promote The Stars of Summer, and I could not have managed that schedule without a lot of help from family and friends. Andy Cahill, Barbara and Fred Dairman, Judy Gruber, Brooke Dairman and Aaron Hollon, Heidi and Matt Cahill, and Katie Wade, thank you for the cooking, chauffeuring, guest beds, your (sometimes forcible) recruiting of event attendees . . . and most importantly, your love and support.
Finally, to the readers, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and book club leaders who have championed the All Four Stars series, thank you for accepting Gladys and her friends into your hearts.
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