“Grateful!” spluttered Primrose. “Ella should be punished, Archangel. She’s broken the statue—”
“Primrose, that’s enough! The statue can be fixed with magic. Besides, aren’t you forgetting who the head teacher is here?” Archangel Grace said very sharply. Primrose subsided. “So, Ella . . .” Archangel Grace turned to Ella again. “The question is, what should we do with you?”
Ella hung her head. What was her punishment going to be?
“What you did was clearly wrong, but it was obviously an accident,” Archangel Grace said. “You were doing it for your friend, to cheer her up, and that shows real angel qualities. You have also demonstrated a real aptitude for glitter bomb making. Hmm . . .” She pressed her fingers together and regarded Ella. “Let me see. . . .”
“I really am very sorry,” Ella said contritely. “I promise I’ll never do it again.”
Archangel Grace’s eyes twinkled. “Then I think, my dear, we’ll say no more about it.”
“You mean I’m not going to be expelled?” Ella burst out in relief.
“No, no expulsions today,” Archangel Grace said.
“I won’t even take a halo stamp away, as you were trying to help a friend,” Archangel Grace said, “but I will have to punish you. Weeding—the whole of the vegetable patch—and by bedtime this evening.”
Ella nodded. She knew that it was more than fair.
“I’ll help you,” Tilly whispered, before turning to Archangel Grace. “So the fireworks show can definitely go ahead tomorrow?”
“It can indeed,” said Archangel Grace. “In fact, maybe Ella would like to make another bomb, seeing as she is so good at it—only with Angel Gabriella’s help this time. It can go off right at the end, as our final climax, after Primrose has performed. It seems a pity to waste such talent.”
“But Archangel Grace, that’s not fair! Ella really should lose a halo stamp as well for what she’s done,” cried Primrose.
Archangel Grace smiled and ruffled Primrose’s hair. “Oh, Primrose, you heard what I said. Ella’s going to weed the whole vegetable patch. That’s quite enough. Besides, I think we’ve had enough excitement for one day.” The head teacher paused. “Don’t you?”
Ella looked up in the sky the next evening. Whizzes and bangs filled the air and flashes of light zoomed across the night. All of the third-grade angels were great in the show. As they whizzed back and forth with the lights there were oohs and aahs from the crowd. The third graders’ glitter bombs were mounted on trees for the finale and, with Angel Gabriella conducting, the third graders all waved their wands and counted to three. The bombs exploded, sending glitter and sparkles high into the sky. Ella flew to the side and waited to set off the massive glitter bomb she and Angel Gabriella had made that afternoon. It was going to be the very last thing in the show. First, Primrose had to appear in her starring role.
“I can’t believe you’re in the finale with me!” Primrose hissed by her side. “You should have been sent home. You should have been expelled . . .”
Ella just smiled to herself. She was so delighted by the show that even Primrose wasn’t going to make her lose her temper that evening.
“You and your friends are never going to get enough halo stamps to even get sapphire halos, let alone make it to Guardian Angels. You—”
“Primrose . . . Primrose . . . Come on, or you’ll miss your moment!” called Angel Celestine.
Ella giggled as Primrose rushed forward. She’d been so busy being horrible that she’d nearly missed her cue!
Primrose was clearly flustered and, as she flew through the sky, she got into a complete mess, missing the hoops of light that she was supposed to fly through.
There was a silence and then the crowd clapped half-heartedly but there was no rousing cheer. Primrose stormed off past Ella with a face like thunder.
“Oh dear, that wasn’t a very impressive end to our show. I hope you can do better, Ella.” Angel Celestine pushed Ella on. “Show everyone what the third-grade angels can do!”
Ella felt the butterflies in her stomach as she flitted forward with the glitter bomb in her arms, but once she was out there, she forgot everything and flew across the sky, making the perfect loop-the-loop.
“Hooray!” The cries echoed in her ears.
It was now or never. Ella threw the glitter ball up as high as she could. It soared into the air. Ella waved her wand three times and counted down. “One . . . two . . . three!” she shouted.
BANG!
The bomb exploded in the sky and the words formed in glittery pinks and purples.
There was a roar from the crowd. Ella smiled.
She paused for a moment to look down at all of the happy faces beneath her, before gently coming down to land beside her family and friends to the sound of rapturous applause. It was so good to see her parents again and she gave them a big hug. Poppy, Jess, and Tilly were doing the same to theirs. It was so lovely to see them all so happy, especially Tilly, who had been so homesick at the start of the term.
“Ella . . . Ella, that was fabulous.” Her mother hugged her.
Her dad looked on proudly. “Who would have thought it?” he said. “My little Ella, the star of the show. My perfect angel.”
Ella looked across at her friends. Tilly and Poppy raised their eyebrows and Jess chuckled. If only Ella’s parents knew the truth! But they didn’t say anything.
Ella left her parents for a moment to give her friends a big hug.
“We did it!” they cheered. “Hip, hip, hooray! We really did it. Now we get to go home for the the break too!”
“And then we’ll be back at angel school for a lot more adventures—and to try and earn our sapphire halos,” grinned Ella. “I can’t wait!”
Read on for a sneak peek at Ella’s angel-tastic adventures in:
New Halos
HAVE YOU HEARD THE NEWS?” whispered Ella Brown in excitement, as she sat down next to her friend, Poppy, in morning assembly.
“What news?” Poppy demanded.
“It’s angel-tastic! Someone in our grade has . . .”
“Sssh!” Tilly, one of their other friends, hushed them hastily. She nodded to the stage where Archangel Grace, the head of the Guardian Angel Academy, was waiting for silence. Archangel Grace was a plump angel with wise eyes, enormous gossamer wings, and dark hair that was pulled back into a bun on the back of her head.
Ella fidgeted in frustration on the bench. She was longing to tell Poppy what she had just overheard on the way into the hall, but she didn’t want to be lectured by Archangel Grace. She pushed her shoulder-length brown hair behind her ears and tried to concentrate.
“Good morning, angels,” Archangel Grace said, smiling around at the school. “Now, before I make the morning announcements, I have some good news,” she paused. “A third-grade angel has just completed her first halo card!”
“That’s what I was going to tell you!” hissed Ella, elbowing Poppy in the ribs, as excited gasps filled the air.
“Who is it?” whispered Poppy eagerly.
“I don’t know!” Ella replied. All the angels at the academy had a halo card and were awarded halo stamps for good behavior. When an angel’s halo card was completely filled in, the angel’s halo would change color and her wings grow bigger. The white halos all the angels started with changed to sapphire, which changed to ruby and so on, all the way up until the final level was reached—the diamond level. Only the very best, most angelic angels ever got a diamond halo. Ella longed to have one.
She looked at the rest of the third graders, sitting on the bench. They all had white halos at the moment. Which of them had filled in their card? She knew that it wasn’t one of her best friends. Poppy, whose messy blonde curls were half hanging out of her ponytail and whose white dress was covered in splotches of ink, was lovely but she was very clumsy and scruffy—neither of which were perfect angel qualities. Tilly and Jess found it easier to get halo stamps—they were both quieter and more well-behav
ed—but Ella knew Jess needed another four halo stamps and Tilly another two. Ella touched her own halo card in her pocket and sighed. One thing was for sure—it definitely wasn’t her. She still had ten halo stamps to get!
Halo stamps were awarded for being good and doing kind deeds and, although Ella liked to think she was kind, she definitely wasn’t always good! She just couldn’t help herself. She always tried her hardest, but somehow she couldn’t stop herself from getting into trouble!
“Olivia Starfall, would you like to come up here?” Archangel Grace called over to where a sweet-looking angel with long dark hair and bright blue eyes was sitting, a little way down from Ella, her ankles crossed and her hands folded neatly in her lap.
Olivia! Of course! Ella wasn’t surprised as Olivia stood up, blushing. Olivia was lovely—always happy to help out if you got stuck, but modest too. She could fly the most perfect loop-the-loop, her silver linings were careful and tidy, and her hair neatly combed. Ella smiled and applauded with the others when Olivia flew up to the stage, her tiny wings fluttering.
As she landed beside Archangel Grace, all of the angels cheered loudly. Well, nearly all of them—Ella caught sight of another angel at the far end of the third-grade bench who didn’t look pleased at all. With her golden hair curled into ringlets, big blue eyes, and spotless uniform, you would have thought she was a perfect angel, if it wasn’t for the scowl on her face. Primrose!
As Primrose leaned in to whisper to the red-haired angel beside her, she covered her mouth with her hand and her eyes narrowed spitefully. Ella sighed. She was sure that Primrose wasn’t saying anything nice about Olivia. Ella turned back. Olivia was standing next to Archangel Grace now, her face pink with embarrassment. Archangel Grace raised her wand.
“Good shall be rewarded, virtue too, white halo change to shining blue. . . .” She waved her wand in the air three times and a small cloud of glittering silver angel dust cascaded down from it, landing on Olivia’s halo. Instantly it turned to deep glowing sapphire and Olivia’s white uniform became the pale blue of a spring sky.
A chorus of gasps and sighs filled the room.
“Wow, isn’t that amazing!”
“She looks really beautiful!”
“Oh, I remember getting my sapphire halo when I was a third grader!”
Ella fluttered her own tiny little wings. She wanted to be up on that stage so badly. “I hope I get a sapphire halo soon,” she breathed.
As Olivia flew back to her place, Archangel Grace called for silence again. “And now, on to another matter. A rather less happy one. As you all know, we make our very own angel dust here at the school. It comes from glitter flowers, which are very rare, and it has come to my attention that we’re very low on stock. We’ve planted a new crop of flowers in the school greenhouse but it will take some time before they bloom. Isn’t that right, Angel Celestine?” Archangel Grace turned to a pretty, dark-haired teacher who was seated with the other teachers at the back of the stage.
“It is indeed,” said Angel Celestine, the gardening teacher. “The crop needs to flower before the glitter can be harvested, which can be tricky. Conditions need to be just right. Hopefully, we should be able to renew our supply of angel dust soon.”
Archangel Grace nodded. “And in the meantime, the remaining angel dust must be used sparingly. As you all know, we were going to have the school Spring Picnic next weekend but I’m going to have to cancel it for the time being to save on magic.”
“Oh no . . .” There were groans from around the room.
Ella had never actually been to the Spring Picnic but she’d heard all about it and had been looking forward to it too. Disappointment flooded through her.
Archangel Grace held up her hands again and silence fell. “I know that this will be a huge disappointment to you and I’m really sorry for that, but I am sure you can all understand that we must be sensible. If we run out of angel dust, we won’t be able to do any angel magic and that would be a catastrophe.”
The angels in the room nodded understandingly.
“We shall have the picnic when the flowers can be harvested,” said Archangel Grace. “In the meantime if anyone would like to help out in the greenhouses, looking after the plants, then I am sure Angel Celestine would be very grateful. Now, let us all stand and sing Glad Tidings and Silver Linings.”
When assembly was over, Ella filed out of the hall with the other angels. As soon as they were away from the teachers’ watchful eyes, she crowded around with her friends.
“Isn’t it amazing about Olivia?” burst out Tilly.
“Just glittersome!” said Poppy.
“It’ll be us next,” joined in Jess, flicking her long dark ponytail over her shoulder.
“Well, maybe you and Tilly,” sighed Ella. “But Poppy and I have quite a few more halo stamps to get, don’t we, Poppy?”
But Poppy wasn’t listening. She was looking at the other side of the room where Primrose was now standing with her arm linked through Olivia’s. “Primrose is unbelievable,” she said, shaking her head. “Yesterday, she made a fuss because she didn’t want to sit with Olivia in forgetting spell class because she said Olivia was boring. Now, she’s acting like they’re best friends!”
Primrose fawned as people came up to congratulate the other girl. “Oh, I always knew darling Livvy would be the first to get her sapphire halo,” she said loudly. “She’s wonderful, isn’t she?”
Olivia gave Primrose a very surprised look.
Ella snorted. “If getting a sapphire halo means having Primrose hanging around, then maybe I don’t want to fill my halo card after all.”
“Ssh! They’re coming over!” hissed Jess.
Olivia headed in their direction, with Primrose holding tightly to her arm.
“Congratulations, Olivia,” Ella smiled.
“Thanks, Ella,” said Olivia shyly. “I can’t believe I was the first to get my sapphire halo. It was a real fluke.”
“I was just saying how amazing Olivia’s sapphire dress and halo look on her, don’t you agree?” Primrose gushed. “It’s cherub-azing!”
“Er, thank you,” said Olivia, clearly flustered by Primrose’s attention. “Well, I’ve got to get something from my dorm. I’ll . . . um, see you later.” She managed to extract herself from Primrose’s grasp and hurried away.
“Don’t be long! I’ll save you a seat in class!” Primrose called sweetly after her.
“What’s going on, Primrose?” Ella demanded. “Since when have you saved Olivia a seat in class?”
Primrose gave her a wide-eyed look. “I’m just being thoughtful.”
“Thoughtful!” spluttered Ella. “You’ve never said two words to Olivia before but suddenly she gets a sapphire halo and you’re her new best friend. I bet you just want to hang around with her now because everyone’s giving her loads of attention.”
“What a mean thing to say!” Primrose looked shocked. “And when I was only trying to do a kind deed. You know the School Handbook says perfect angels are always kind.” She gave Ella a snooty look. “Though why I should expect you to know anything about being the perfect angel, I don’t know. How many halo stamps do you still have to get before your card is full, Ella? Is it five? Six? Oh, sorry, I think it’s ten, isn’t it? Ten!” She rolled her eyes. “And I need . . . hmm, just four. Well, never mind. I’m sure you’ll complete your first halo card one day—even if the rest of us have our diamond halos by then! Now, please excuse me or I will be late for class.”
Putting her nose in the air, she flew away.
Ella let out a frustrated exclamation. “Halos and wings! Primrose is so annoying!”
“Calm down,” said Tilly, putting a hand soothingly on Ella’s arm. “She’s not worth getting upset over.”
“Definitely not,” declared Poppy. “You’ll fill your halo card up quickly. We all will. Who cares who gets there first?”
“Soon we’ll all have sapphire halos like Olivia,” said Jess happily. “But Primrose
was right about one thing—we’d better not be late for Angel Gabriella or we’ll lose some of the halo stamps we’ve already got!”
“Come on!” she cried, whizzing into the air. “Let’s go!”
MICHELLE MISRA has written many stories for kids, including the Magic Ballerina, Battle Champions, and Wild Friends series. She lives in London, England, with her family.
ALADDIN
Simon & Schuster, New York
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN
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First Aladdin hardcover edition June 2016
Originally published in Great Britain by Simon & Schuster UK, Ltd.
Text copyright © 2013 by Michelle Misra and Linda Chapman
Interior illustrations copyright © 2013 by Samantha Chaffey
Jacket illustration copyright © 2016 by Christina Forshay
Also available in an Aladdin paperback edition.
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