by Ida Siegal
Rachel Cheng the reporter was there, too—and she interviewed me again for the real news! After we finished our Thanksgiving dinner at home that night, we sat down to watch the news.
“You might remember, Las Palomas was missing a rare and beautiful drum that was supposed to be an integral part of their performance,” Rachel said in her report on TV. “It’s called a tambora drum. But in the end, they found it, thanks to this dancer, Emma Perez. She’s an ace reporter herself, and she has a team of junior journalists working with her.” Then Rachel showed all of us: me, Sophia, Javier, and Shakira. “Together they tracked down the drum in the nick of time!”
Then I saw myself on TV saying, “We just had to follow the clues and never give up. Sometimes the solution is right there in your head already. You just have to be brave and let your brain do the work!”
After the news story ended, Mom said, “Emma, I can’t tell you how proud I am of you.”
My baby sister, Mia, giggled and said in her baby voice, “Em-mama!”
“Mia’s right, mi amor,” said Papi. “That was a great job! You gave a fabulous answer to Rachel in her news report! ¡Fabuloso!”
“Papi—please can you use another word?! If I hear the word faaabulous one more time I’m gonna go nuts!”
We all started laughing. I was pretty proud of myself, too. I’m still not sure how I came up with the idea to put Shakira’s vanity mirror in the locker. It just popped into my head—even though my magic curl was trapped in my bun. I guess my brain has its own magic!
Good thing, too, because that mirror helped us out big-time. Even Javier admitted it turned out to be a pretty cool detective tool. I think Javier and Shakira both realized that even though they are different kinds of people who like different kinds of things, that doesn’t mean they can’t be friends. Javier promised not to bother Shakira about her mirror anymore. And Shakira even agreed to try out Javier’s night-vision goggles!
“Oh, Emma, I almost forgot,” said Mom. “This came for you yesterday.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. Someone slipped this envelope under our door.”
I took a look at it. The envelope said Emma Is On the Air and it was written in … pink ink. The anonymous source! But how did she know where I lived? I nervously opened the envelope. Inside was another anonymous note! It had only five words, written in pink.
Emma, I need your help …
1. Make friends with a real reporter! Real reporters are awesome. They wear brightly colored coats and know lots about the news. Sometimes they will even show you their real microphones and cameras if you ask nicely. Maybe your teacher can invite a reporter to school for career day!
2. Turn toys into tools! You never know when a bag of wooden blocks, a baby-doll stroller, or even a silly makeup mirror can help you crack a case or break a news story. Be creative!
3. Your brain has magic! Sometimes it might feel like other people’s brains work better than yours. It’s not true! All brains are like magic. You just have to think hard, and the ideas will pop right out!
4. Have all kinds of friends! When your friends like different kinds of things, you’ll never be bored! And you’ll always have cool news stories. That’s because everyone will think of something unique!
Emma will be back ON THE AIR in
Don’t miss a minute of
Ida Siegal is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and on-air reporter at NBC’s flagship station in New York City, WNBC. Ida also lives in New York City, with her husband and their two children.
Text copyright © 2015 by Ida Siegal
Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Scholastic Inc.
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First printing 2016
Cover art by Karla Peña
Cover design by Sharismar Rodriguez and Mary Claire Cruz
e-ISBN 978-0-545-68708-9
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