Sofia Valdez and the Vanishing Vote

by Andrea Beaty

  Mr. Page turned to leave.

  “Wait!” cried Sofia. “You didn’t answer the question! How can you tell when news is real?”

  “Oh,” said Mr. Page, wheeling around and digging into his pocket. “That’s in my favorite book!” He held up a tiny orange book with three words on the cover: READ. QUESTION. THINK.

  “1. Read. Read everything,” he said. “If you read from a wide variety of sources, you’ll learn to spot bias. For instance, if you read ten stories and one leaves out important information or includes false statements, it will be obvious to you. Also, the more you read, the more you’ll know about the topic. You’ll get smarter, too.

  “2. Question. Question everything,” he said. “Ask questions and look for answers.

  “3. Think,” he said. “A lot of people forget to think, but it’s the most important step. Always think. Nobody can do that one for you. And you know what else?”

  “What?” asked the class.

  “Here’s what,” he said. “Nobody can think for you, but nobody can think like you, either. You are the only person who thinks the way you do. Someday, there might be a problem, and you’ll be the only person who can solve it. You’ve got to be ready for that.”

  Miss Greer nodded. “Read. Question. Think,” she said. “That’s good advice.”

  “And then . . .” said Mr. Page. “Do you know what you do?”

  “What?” asked the class.

  Mr. Page smiled. “You do it all over again! Read! Question! Think!”

  “That’s a lot of work,” said Sofia.

  “Aha!” said Mr. Page. “Isn’t everything that’s worth doing? Besides, there’s always help at the library.” He stuffed the orange book back into his pocket and pulled out a tiny black one. “And now, I leave you with a final question from my favorite book.” He thumbed through the tiny pages.

  “Where do library books like to sleep?”

  “Where?” asked Ada.

  “Beneath their covers!” said Mr. Page with a snort of laughter. “Oh geez. That’s a good one!”

  And with that, he ducked behind a bookshelf and was gone.

  CHAPTER 14

  After school, Sofia waited for Abuelo by the flagpole as always. Her brain was swimming with ideas from the field trip. She was deep in thought when suddenly she heard an angry voice behind her.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  She turned around. It was Marisella.

  Sofia didn’t have to ask what she meant.

  “If you’re in charge of the election,” said Marisella, “you could tell everyone to vote for the bird! Then, if I have to give up Pickles, the class can take care of him! It solves everything!”

  “I can’t do that,” said Sofia. “I can’t tell people who to vote for. I have to be fair.”

  “It’s not fair if I have to get rid of my pet and you won’t help me,” said Marisella. “You could if you wanted to.”

  Before Sofia could respond, Marisella turned her wheelchair and left.

  A moment later, Abuelo arrived.

  “I don’t think I like being election commissioner,” Sofia said. “No matter what I do, somebody will be mad at me.”

  “You can’t fix how other people feel,” said Abuelo. “All you can do is the right thing. Everything else will sort itself out.”

  Abuelo handed Sofia a warm cookie, and they walked home in silence.

  CHAPTER 15

  The next morning, Miss Greer’s classroom wall was covered with new articles from the class.

  Miss Greer stood back and put her hands on her hips. She smiled.

  “That’s better!” she said, clapping her hands.

  The newspaper was better, but things between Ada and Rosie were not. They weren’t even speaking to each other. They were, however, very eager to talk to Sofia.

  “Did you know that birds are hurt by the climate crisis?” Rosie whispered on her way to the pencil sharpener. “And bird populations are dropping around the world! We need to help them.”

  During spelling, Ada passed Sofia a note: Did you know that turtles have existed for 215 million years? But some are going extinct!

  Then Rosie sent a note with a drawing of a flock of birds. Ada saw that, frowned, and sent another note with a picture of Sofia holding a turtle.

  Before long, Sofia’s pockets were stuffed with notes. Sofia was relieved when it was time for the class debate. She still didn’t know who she was going to vote for, but at least the election would be over soon and things could get back to normal.

  Rosie had brought Gizmo to add some interest to her presentation. Ada had borrowed a turtle named George from her cousin and had him in a small pen on the floor.

  Ada and Rosie stood beside each other but didn’t look at each other. Miss Greer introduced each of them, and their teams cheered. Then she called on Sofia to say a few words and ask some questions the class had written.

  Sofia walked to the front of the class. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her folded speech. As she did, her friends’ notes tumbled to the floor.

  Sofia unfolded her speech and began to read. “We, the students in Miss Lila Greer’s class, stand here today on the brink of a new era in Grade Two!” she began. “Never before has any class . . .”

  She looked at the scraps of paper on the floor.

  “Never before has any class . . .”

  Sofia paused. She looked again at the scraps on the floor.

  “Never . . .”

  Suddenly, Sofia refolded her speech. She looked at Ada and Rosie and her classmates with their Bird and Turtle buttons. She looked at Miss Greer.

  “Go ahead,” said Miss Greer.

  “My speech was fancy and talked about why elections are important and their history,” Sofia said, “but I forgot something.”

  She took a deep breath and continued.

  “Actually,” Sofia said, “ we forgot something.

  “We forgot something important,” she continued. “We got so excited about the election that we forgot why we’re having one. Our election isn’t about birds or turtles or pets at all. It’s about deciding on something we care about together.”

  Sofia smiled. “Together,” she said. “That’s the important part.

  “In a community, we have to care about each other and listen to each other,” she continued. “Otherwise, we won’t want to be a community anymore, and it won’t matter if we have a bird or a turtle. Or even if we have a pet at all.

  “Well,” Sofia finished quietly, “that’s all I wanted to say.”

  The class burst into applause. Miss Greer nodded and smiled. Ada and Rosie looked at each other and then looked at Sofia. Then they squished in for a big hug.

  “I’m sorry,” whispered Rosie.

  “Me too,” whispered Ada.

  They both hugged Sofia, who felt a big wave of relief wash over her. It was going to be okay after all. Rosie and Ada stepped out of the huddle and shook hands, and the debate began.

  CHAPTER 16

  “The first question goes to Ada,” said Sofia. “Why would a turtle be a good pet?”

  Ada picked up George. “Just look at that face!” she said.

  The turtle pulled back its head and snapped its shell shut.

  “We can’t even see its face!” said Rosie.

  “I know!” said Ada. “Turtles are mysterious and wonderful! What do turtles do in their shells? How do they know when it’s safe to come out? How do they eat without teeth? There are so many things to learn about them. Isn’t that a good thing for a classroom pet?”

  The class nodded.

  “That’s a good point,” someone whispered.

  Ada put the turtle back into the pen.

  “Rosie,” said Sofia. “Same question. Why would a bird make a good class pet?”

  Rosie held her bird, Gizmo, on her finger.

  “Birds make great pets,” said Rosie. “Because they are beautiful and they can do something we could never do by ourselves: They
can fly.”

  Gizmo lifted off her finger, looped around the room, and settled back onto her shoulder.

  “We could learn a lot about flying by watching a bird in our classroom,” she said. “And they sing, too.”

  Team Bird cheered. Team Turtle nodded.

  The debate continued, with Sofia reading questions and Rosie and Ada answering in turns. Then they responded to each other’s comments with questions or comments of their own. Sofia made sure they each had equal time to answer.

  Each girl made her case before the voters. They talked about caring for the pets and what to expect from a pet bird or a pet turtle. The debate helped everyone understand what was involved with caring for birds and turtles.

  At last, Ada and Rosie shook hands and sat down. The class cheered. Finally, it was time to vote. Though she couldn’t tell anyone, Sofia had made up her mind. She knew which pet she wanted for the class.

  CHAPTER 17

  “Now, the moment we’ve all been waiting for,” said Miss Greer. “Let the voting begin!”

  Sofia wheeled the voting booth to the front of the room.

  One by one, Sofia’s classmates went into the booth, closed the curtain around it for privacy, and voted. As they came out, Sofia gave each student a special I VOTED sticker from Clerk Clark at City Hall.

  When the voting was done, the vote counting began. Sofia opened the box and took out a ballot.

  “Bird!” she said.

  Miss Greer made a mark on the board in the Bird column.

  Team Bird cheered.

  “Turtle!” said Sofia, reading the next ballot.

  Team Turtle cheered.

  Sofia tallied the votes. At first, the Bird team led three votes to one. But soon, Turtle caught up. Then it took the lead.

  Turtle—5

  Bird—4

  The voting continued. Once again, Bird took the lead, but not for long. Turtle caught up again.

  Turtle reached eight votes. Bird had six.

  “One more to win!” said Ada. “Go Turtle!”

  “C’mon, Bird!” said Rosie.

  Sofia pulled out the next vote.

  “Bird!” she said. “Eight Turtle to seven Bird!”

  She unfolded the next vote.

  “BIRD!” she said again. “It’s a tie! And the final vote will be the winner!”

  The class stood up and eagerly watched as Sofia reached into the box for the final vote.

  “The winner of the election,” she said, “and our new class pet is . . .”

  The class leaned closer.

  Sofia felt around inside the box.

  “Is . . .”

  She opened the lid of the box and looked inside.

  “Is . . .”

  “Is?” asked Miss Greer.

  A terrible look crossed Sofia’s face.

  “Is nobody!” she said.

  She flipped the box upside down. Nothing fell out.

  One vote was missing!

  “It’s been stolen!” someone yelled.

  The class erupted into chaos.

  “Thief! . . . It’s unconstitutional! . . . Call the police! . . . Call Congress! . . . Call the president! . . . Call the free press!”

  The confusion startled Gizmo. She flapped frantically around the room and landed on Miss Greer’s hair.

  “Good gracious!” said Miss Greer, trying to shoo Gizmo away. “Double dear me!” She twirled around and bumped into the turtle cage.

  Gizmo flew to the tiptop of the window frame and chirped loudly while seventeen cheering students and a flustered teacher tried to coax her down. Nobody noticed George make his escape down the hall.

  It took the whole school the rest of the afternoon to find the turtle, who had fled all the way to the music room and hidden in the big bass drum.

  Sofia left school angry and disappointed. She had worked hard to make sure the election went as smooth as silk, but instead it was bumpy as the bumpiest thing in the world. Sofia was so mad she couldn’t even figure out what that was.

  Abuelo watched Sofia as they walked home together. He could tell she didn’t want to talk. He knew all of Sofia’s expressions. This look told him she was thinking. They walked together silently. At last, they passed the library. They were almost home.

  “I know just the thing for you,” Abuelo said.

  “What?” asked Sofia.

  “You’ll see.”

  CHAPTER 18

  Sofia knew exactly what he meant when she walked in the door. Abuelo had started a batch of bread earlier that afternoon, and it was Sofia’s job to knead the dough before it could rise again and be baked for dinner. Kneading dough was the best way in the world to get rid of a bad mood. As Sofia put on her apron and washed her hands, she told Abuelo about the voting catastrophe and the runaway turtle.

  Abuelo tried to hide a laugh.

  “It’s not funny,” said Sofia with a frown. Her cheeks burned, and she felt her anger rising.

  “A runaway turtle is a little funny,” said Abuelo. “Like a superhero! La Tortuga Rapida! Maybe she had jets in her shell!”

  He was trying to cheer her up, but Sofia didn’t want to be cheered up. She frowned harder.

  Abuelo hugged her. “I’m sorry. You are right about the vanishing vote,” he said. “That is very bad, Sofia. But the turtle? That is a little funny.”

  “Well,” said Sofia. “Maybe a little. It was really fast!

  “But what about the vote?” she asked. “I counted the ballots three times. It’s gone! That makes me so mad!”

  “Here you go,” said Abuelo. “Give this a punch.”

  He dumped a puffy blob of bread dough onto the flour-covered counter in front of Sofia. She punched her fist into the warm dough. It deflated like a thick, sticky balloon. She punched the dough again and again as hard as she could. Then she flopped the dough over and punched it some more. She picked the whole blob up and slapped it down on the counter, just like Abuelo had taught her to do.

  WHAP! PUNCH! FLIP!

  Sofia did it again.

  WHAP!

  “Who would steal a vote?” she asked.

  PUNCH!

  “Why would they do that?”

  FLIP!

  WHAP!

  Sofia kneaded the dough as hard as she could. As she punched and pushed and pulled and flipped the dough, her anger melted away, and she felt calmer.

  Abuelo dumped another bowl of dough onto the counter beside Sofia and kneaded it quietly for a few minutes. Then he spoke.

  “You know, I came to this country as a young man,” he said softly. “I didn’t speak much English, but I knew how to bake. My grandmother taught me just like I’m teaching you.”

  “Abuela Garces?” asked Sofia.

  Abuelo nodded as he stretched the dough and flipped it over.

  WHAP!

  “It was a time when the migrant farmworkers were not treated right. They didn’t get paid enough to feed their families,” he said. “They didn’t have good water to drink or good housing. But they were growing food for the whole country. The whole country! Imagine that! It wasn’t fair. So they decided to do something.”

  “What did they do?” asked Sofia.

  THWAP!

  “They got everybody to stop eating grapes,” he said.

  “That would be easy,” said Sofia. “I don’t like grapes.”

  “It was very hard,” said Abuelo, giving her his you need to eat more fruit look.

  “People love grapes,” he said. “But liking grapes was not the point. The strikers got the whole country to stop buying grapes so the companies would pay attention and treat the workers better.”

  “Did it work?” asked Sofia.

  “Yes!” said Abuelo with a smile. “It did. But it was very hard and took a long time. I wasn’t a farmworker, but I was mad about how they were treated. It was not fair or right. Then I remembered what Abuela Garces had told me. And I’m going to tell it to you.” He looked straight at Sofia. “She told me, ‘Mijo, ta
ke your anger and make something good from it.’ So I did!”

  “What did you make?” asked Sofia.

  “Bread,” said Abuelo. “I found a job in a grocery store, and I saved my money and bought flour and butter. Every night, I went home after work and I baked. I took all my anger and used it to make the dough soft and delicious. Just like you are doing now. I made pan dulce and orejas and bread and all the things Abuela had taught me. Then I took them to the families of the striking workers who needed it.”

  “Did they like it?” asked Sofia.

  “Of course!” said Abuelo with a wink. “You’ve tasted my baking! And you know, some of those people became friends, and still are! There is always a way to help, Sofia. You just have to figure it out.

  “Mad can be a bad thing,” he went on. “And mad can be a good thing. What you do with it decides.”

  They worked in silence for a few minutes, kneading their dough until it was smooth and soft. Then they shaped the dough into evenly-sized rolls and put them into a buttered pan to rise once more before baking.

  “I know what I’m going to do,” said Sofia, rolling the last bit of dough into a ball. “I’m going to find out who stole the vote!

  “But first,” she added. “I have just the thing for you, Abuelo.”

  Sofia pulled, pinched, and squished the dough. At last, she handed her creation to Abuelo.

  “It’s the world’s newest superhero!” she said. “La Tortuga Rapida!”

  “A hero for the times,” said Abuelo. “Or at least for dinner.”

  CHAPTER 19

  The next morning, everyone was talking about the stolen vote and the runaway turtle.

  “Yesterday did not go as we had planned,” Miss Greer said. “It was rather stressful, but I think it will be okay. Like I said to myself this morning, ‘Lila, those shoes don’t match!’ But that’s not important. The other thing I said to myself was ‘Democracy is important, and we will figure this thing out!’ So today we will learn what we can and go from there. Like Rosie says, ‘The only true failure can come if we quit.’”

  The class cheered.

  Miss Greer continued, “Before we start, let’s do one final search to see if that ballot can be found.”