“What?”
“You forgot ’periwinkle.’ They are fancy-dancy periwinkle sunglasses,” I explain.
“Right,” Grandmom answers, and she pats me on the head like I am a dog. “Now come help your mother with these bags.”
I sling a pillowcase over my shoulder, and it is very heavy. I lug it slowly to the laundry room.
“Right there on the floor, next to the others,” Mom instructs, pointing. I dump the pillowcase on the floor with a crash, and this noise makes the twins start crying again.
“Mandy, be careful!” Mom calls from the kitchen, and I stick my tongue out because she is not here to see. I hear Grandmom and Dad in the twins’ room trying to make them stop crying, so I sit on the floor of the laundry room because I do not want to talk to the twins again. I place my hands in one of the pillowcases and lift a humongous handful of coins in the air. I release them and let them sprinkle back into the pile, tinkling like raindrops.
There must be thousands and millions of coins in these bags—more than enough to buy my fancy-dancy periwinkle sunglasses.
“Tim, what happened to this pizza?” I hear Mom yell from the kitchen, and then I remember that I forgot to tell on Dad for being no good at giving directions.
“Ask Mandy,” Dad calls back, so I leap to my feet real fast to close the laundry room door. I do not feel like talking about pizza points right now. Not when I have to figure out how to collect enough coins to buy my very own pair of fancy-dancy periwinkle sunglasses.
And maybe my own pizza, too.
Allison Gutknecht grew up in Voorhees, New Jersey, with three fewer siblings than Mandy Berr. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, she earned her master’s degree in Children’s Media and Literature from NYU. Allison lives in New York City with her rambunctious toy poodle, Gypsy, and her literate cat, Folly. She is a massive fan of polka dots.
Stevie Lewis grew up in Southern California and currently works in the animation industry as a visual development artist. She studied computer animation at Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, rock climbing, baking cookies, browsing thrift shops, and drinking delicious coffee! She currently lives in San Francisco with her two little dogs.
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
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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First Aladdin hardcover edition November 2013
Text copyright © 2013 by Allison Gutknecht
Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Stevie Lewis
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Also available in an Aladdin paperback edition.
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Jacket designed by Jessica Handelman
The text of this book was set in Arno Pro.
The illustrations for this book were rendered digitally.
Library of Congress Control Number 2013944030
ISBN 978-1-4424-8393-4 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4424-8392-7 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4424-8394-1 (eBook)
Don't Wear Polka-Dot Underwear with White Pants: (And Other Lessons I've Learned) Page 7