“Thanks.”
José took a few steps into the room and fiddled with their mother’s childhood collection of Precious Moments figurines sitting atop the dresser. He stared at the floor like he was thinking about something else.
“What’s wrong?”
José shrugged.
“I know something’s wrong. Tell me,” Zoey said, worried.
“I’m okay. Enjoy your dinner. You deserve it,” José said, turning to go.
“No! I can’t go knowing there’s something wrong. I’ll be wondering what it is all night. Just tell me.”
José spun around. “I just, I guess I miss Mami a lot sometimes,” he said, glancing at the pictures of their mom when she was a kid still taped to the dresser.
“Yeah,” Zoey said, suspecting that wasn’t all that was bugging her brother. “What do you miss specifically?”
“Everything,” he said, exhaling.
Zoey waited for him to elaborate. He sighed.
“I just wish I could get Mami’s opinion about girl stuff. I don’t have any women to talk to,” José said finally.
“You wish you knew what Mami would tell you to do about Toni-Ann, like whether to break up, because you’re falling in love with her. Am I right?”
José raised an eyebrow at her. “How’d you know?”
“It’s obvious, duh,” Zoey said.
José grimaced.
“Yeah, I am. But I leave for school in just a few weeks. And I can’t give up college. No way. I also don’t want to break up. But have we even been dating long enough to try long distance?” José ran a hand through his hair.
“Yes,” Zoey said simply.
José looked at her and laughed.
“It’s not that easy, Zo. Long distance is ridiculously hard. What if she breaks my heart, and I end up too depressed to study enough to keep my scholarships? I’ve been working to be an engineer, like, my whole life. I can’t get distracted now by some girl. Except that—”
“She’s not just some girl,” Zoey finished for José. “She’s Toni-Ann.”
“Right.” José took a deep breath.
“Still sounds like an easy decision to me,” Zoey said, studying her new mascara and wondering whether to try some on for the first time, but hesitating. If she messed up the mascara it might mess up the rest of her eye makeup too.
“Can I tell you a secret?”
“Of course,” Zoey said, breaking the mascara out of its packaging and feeling just the tiniest bit of a thrill.
“I’m afraid of being like Dad,” José whispered. “You know? Jumping from one thing to another all the time. Chasing a million different things, and never committing long enough to make a success out of any one dream.”
“Oh, I know. Same here,” Zoey said, feeling lighter as she admitted the words out loud to the only other person who’d grown up with Dad and could really understand. “But we’re not Dad. We’re our own people. And we’re allowed to have more than one dream at a time.”
Zoey remembered how she’d once thought she couldn’t be girly if she liked sports or didn’t know fashion, or how she’d worried she was too American or second-generation to be Cuban at the same time. But Isa had been right—why couldn’t she or José be all the things?
“You’re allowed to go to college and have a girlfriend.” Zoey smiled, opening the mascara tube and examining the wand.
Trying not to smear it, she brought the wand up to her eyes but barely touched it to her lashes. Then grew braver and brushed on a bit more. She studied her handiwork in the mirror. Wow. A little mascara went a long way. Her lashes were suddenly thick and long. So much so that she became aware of their presence: A black fringe suddenly curtained the top of her sightline. Zoey blinked a couple of times. Wearing mascara might take some getting used to.
José smiled back. “I’m no expert. But you’re doing a pretty good job with the makeup.”
“Thanks.” Zoey was inordinately proud she hadn’t smudged on her first go-round. Though she wasn’t sure if she’d make mascara a regular part of her makeup routine. Unless she could figure out a way to apply it without obstructing her vision. She made a mental note to ask Lacey and Isa for tips, then reflected on how much had changed so fast. Before moving to the Jersey Shore, she hadn’t had any other girls in her life she could talk to about this stuff.
“Thanks for the advice, too,” José said. “What am I going to do in college without your sage counsel?”
“Ah, but you need not go without, mi hermano. Call me. Text me. Video message me. There are so many ways to keep in touch,” Zoey said.
“Fair enough. But you promise to do the same too, okay? Keep me in the loop on Gonzo’s and go visit Toni-Ann once in a while. Make sure she’s thinking of me.”
“Definitely. Gonzo’s will be named Fulco’s though. And remember you’re coming back to visit here too. Thanksgiving. Winter break. Spring break. Not just Toni-Ann. You have to come back and visit me too. You know—your totally awesome hermanita who’s full of the good advice?”
“I will. I promise. Aw, come here, Zo.” José pulled Zoey into a great big hug and rested his chin on her dark brown hair.
“Hmm. It appears I’m going to miss my little sister more than I thought when I go to college.”
Zoey smiled into José’s navy polo shirt. She’d spent so much of the summer feeling like she was going to be miserable missing José when he went to school, while he wouldn’t miss her at all. Now she knew the missing would go both ways—what a relief. Plus, she’d made friends. And he’d met Toni-Ann. For once, the Finolio siblings weren’t all alone. They’d both found more people to care about this summer. People who genuinely cared about them back.
“I’ll miss you too. But we’re going to be okay,” Zoey said, realizing that for the first time, maybe ever, she was the one reassuring José instead of the other way round.
So she said the words again, believing them.
“We’re going to be okay.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First and foremost, eternal thanks to my brilliant editor, Catherine Laudone, whose insightful vision and beautiful editing truly made The Dream Weaver. I am so grateful to be on your team.
To my amazing agent, Rebecca Podos: Thank you so much for being the first person in publishing to believe in me as an author, and for your steadfast faith and support. I’m so grateful I get to work with you, and eternally thankful to DVpit for connecting us.
A million thanks to everybody at Simon & Schuster: Beth Adelman—copyeditor, Hilary Zarycky—interior designer, Jenica Nasworthy—managing editor, Martha Hanson—production manager, Shivani Annirood and Milena Giunco—publicists, and Justin Chanda—publisher.
Extra-special thanks to Lucy Ruth Cummins for designing such a stunning cover and to Elizabeth Stewart for the gorgeous illustrations.
Thank you, Alaina Lavoie, JoAnn Yao, and We Need Diverse Books for a lovely cover reveal on social media and allowing me to guest blog, and also for all the incredible work WNDB does to support diverse authors.
To Las Musas, I’m incredibly humbled and grateful to be part of this talented group of exceptional and brilliant writers. Thank you so much for the thousand ways you all inspire me with your stories, humor, and strength.
To my mom, thank you for taking me to the library all those weekends when I was a kid to check out piles upon piles of books.
To my husband and children and our entire family, I love you all more than words can say. Thank you for everything.
To all the kids and kids at heart who pick up this story, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading. I hope all your dreams come true soon and bring every happiness when they do!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
REINA LUZ ALEGRE lives in the Miami area with her family. She’s dreamed of becoming an author since the second grade, and grew up to work on various other professional dreams—including as a freelance journalist and lawyer—before debuting her first novel, The Dream Weaver. Wh
en she’s not writing, Reina loves to read, sing, and salivate over baking shows. Follow her on Twitter at @ReinaLuzAlegre.
Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids
www.SimonandSchuster.com/Authors/Reina-Luz-Alegre
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Simon & Schuster, New York
SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
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.
Text copyright © 2020 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Jacket illustration copyright © 2020 by Elizabeth Stuart
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected].
The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event.
For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.
Jacket design by Lucy Ruth Cummins
Interior design by Hilary Zarycky
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Alegre, Reina Luz, author.
Title: The dream weaver / Reina Luz Alegre.
Description: First edition. | New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, [2020] | Audience: Ages 8–12. | Audience: Grades 4–6. |
Summary: “Twelve-year-old Latinx Zoey navigates the tricky waters of friendship and family while searching for a way to save her grandfather’s bowling alley from closing”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019037535 (print) | LCCN 2019037536 (eBook) | ISBN 9781534462311 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781534462335 (eBook)
Subjects: CYAC: Friendship—Fiction. | Family life—Fiction. | Cuban Americans—Fiction. | Coming of age—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.A43435 Dr 2020 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.A43435 (ebook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019037535
LC eBook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019037536
The Dream Weaver Page 18