The Grand Genie clapped. A huge cloud of golden mist surrounded Ali and Little Genie, and when it cleared, they found themselves back in the park next to the pink beanbag.
“Well, that was a cool adventure, wasn't it, Ali?” Little Genie said, looking very pleased.“I can be your genie and still come back to visit Genie School whenever I like!”
Suddenly a familiar orange carpet with a sign on the front reading GES zoomed out of the sky and landed on the grass next to the beanbag. Magico jumped off it. “What are you doing here?” Genie asked, surprised.
“I didn't want you to go without giving you this.” Magico gave Genie a long thin gold object. It looked a little like a pencil.
“A genie whistle!” Little Genie exclaimed. She put the whistle to her lips and a beautiful melody streamed out.
“If you ever need any help from GES, blow that whistle and I'll be there,” Magico promised.
“Thank you,” Little Genie said, blushing.
Magico gave Genie a hug. Little Genie blushed even harder.
“We'd better go,”Ali said, bouncing onto the beanbag.“Come on, Genie!”
“Bye, Magico!” Little Genie called, jumping on next to Ali.
Immediately the beanbag zoomed back up the chute, leaving Magico and Genieland far behind. As Ali clung to the sides of the beanbag, the wind whistling through her hair, she hoped they'd make it before the wish ran out. She'd break the Lava lamp if she suddenly went back to her normal size!
They whooshed straight up and landed in Genie's living room. Ali leapt off the beanbag. She looked at Genie's hourglass. There was only one grain of sand left to fall.
“Got to go, Genie!” Ali gasped.
“Okay! Good luck!” Little Genie said.“Call me if you need me!”
Ali ran through the door of the Lava lamp onto her bedside table and jumped onto the bed. Little Genie stood in the doorway and gave Ali a thumbs-up sign as the last glittering grain of pink sand fell through the hourglass. As Ali tumbled across the comforter, she shot back to her normal size. And at that very moment she heard the front door slam and voices in the hall downstairs. She'd made it!
Then Ali groaned as she heard footsteps on the stairs. It would be her mom or dad coming to check that she'd finished her homework!
Oh well, Ali thought as she jumped off the bed and sat down at her desk.Even if I get into trouble, it was worth it to be able to go to Genieland. And Little Genie can go back to Genie School and visit her friends whenever she likes….
The door opened and Ali's mom came in.
“Hi, honey, how's it going?” she asked with a smile.“Have you finished your homework?”
“Well, I haven't done as much as I could have,” Ali said, opening her notebook. “It was really—”
She stopped talking and stared down at the page. In front of her was a detailed illustration of a volcano, complete with the three types of rocks and beautiful sparkling labels explaining how a volcano erupted.
“Ali, you were teasing!” her mom exclaimed. “You have finished, and it looks great.” She peered at the drawing. “You've even put two little people on top of the volcano!”
Ali looked closely. She saw a very tall figure and a very small one with long black hair. She grinned. It was Genius and Lampella! Genie magic had finished her homework! She couldn't wait to show it off in class tomorrow, even if she couldn't tell anyone who had really done it.
“Nice work, honey,” her mom said, going over to the door. “You obviously worked very hard.”
“I guess I did,” Ali said. And that was the truth: she'd pretended to be a genie, she'd matched wits with a meanie genie,and she'd helped Little Genie save all the little genies.
After all that, homework was a piece of cake!
Ali's family is on vacation, and there's a mystery at the Wild West Ranch that only she can solve. Good thing her loyal pardner, Little Genie, has some giddyup in her magic!
About the Author
Miranda Jones lives in a regular house in
London. She's sure a genie bottle would
be much more exciting.
Published by Yearling, an imprint of Random House Children's Books
a division of Random House, Inc., New York
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 © 2008 by Working Partners Ltd.
Illustrations copyright © 2008 by David Calver
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the
written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.
Visit us on the Web! www.randomhouse.com/kids
Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at
www.randomhouse.com/teachers
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jones, Miranda.
Meanie genie / by Miranda Jones; illustrated by David Calver.
p. cm.—(Little Genie)
Summary: When Little Genie breaks her hourglass watch after granting Ali's
wish to be tiny, Genie must return to school to get the watch repaired before
she can transform Ali back to her normal size.
eISBN: 978-0-307-49655-3
[1. Genies—Fiction. 2. Magic—Fiction. 3. Schools—Fiction.]
I. Calver, David, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.J7237Me 2008
[Fic]—dc22 2007015364
April 2008
v3.0
Meanie Genie Page 5