Ready, Set, Dough! - Hardcover

Baptist, Kelly J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0593429176 ISBN 13: 9780593429174

Verlag: Crown Books for Young Readers, 2023

Inhaltsangabe

From Kelly J. Baptist, the award-winning author of Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero, comes a story about Zoe Sparks, an over-enthusiastic cookie-dough seller who wishes to win a laptop from her school fundraiser. Of course, there's unexpected competition, bad music, strained friendships, and over-the-top ideas that go horribly wrong.

Spunky sixth-grader Zoe Sparks has discovered a unique way to get the laptop of her dreams—to win it! If Zoe can sell more tubs of cookie dough than anyone in her school, the laptop is hers. It’s the first step to becoming a prize-winning journalist! But her win-at-all-costs attitude is starting to drive a wedge between Zoe, her best friend Felix, and her family. Zoe may be a top cookie-dough seller in her class, but is winning the prize really worth it?

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Kelly J. Baptist is the inaugural winner of the We Need Diverse Books short-story contest. Her story is featured in the WNDB anthology Flying Lessons & Other Stories and inspired her first full-length novel, Isaiah Dunn Is My Hero, which received starred reviews from Booklist and Publishers Weekly, and which the New York Times praised as “inventive and heartfelt,” and its sequel, Isaiah Dunn Saves the Day. Her middle-grade novel The Swag Is in the Socks received starred reviews from The Bulletin and Booklist, which called it “an excellent read-alike to Jacqueline Woodson’s Harbor Me or Janae Marks’ From the Desk of Zoe Washington.” Kelly is also the author of the picture book The Electric Slide and Kai and the middle-grade novel in verse Eb & Flow. Kelly lives in southwest Michigan with her five amazing children.

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Chapter 1


The Art of the Crash


This CANNOT be happening right now!

I groan and watch in horror as our ancient computer monitor flickers, fades, and dramatically dies. Okay, let’s be real: it’s not the first time this computer has betrayed me, but today I’m almost finished typing up my feature article for the school paper! Not a cool time to give up the ghost.

“Mo-om!” I yell downstairs at the exact moment Mom cheerfully calls up, “Zoe! Dinner!”

“Mom, the computer crashed again!” I say, hoping she can tell how serious this is. Maybe she’ll drop everything, speed to Office Tech, and buy the Horizon WordPro GT, my dream laptop. It’s super lightweight, comes in orange (my favorite color), and, according to WriteOn! magazine, is “the ultimate machine for serious writers.” Call me obsessed if you want, but I have pictures of the WordPro on my walls and mirror where other people have posters of singers and athletes. It’s how I stay motivated. Especially at times like this.

Unfortunately, Mom doesn’t see the computer crash as earth-shattering, and she doesn’t mention Office Tech or drop what she’s doing so we can go. In fact, she does a great job of smiling and carrying the salad bowl and a basket of rolls to the table.

“We’ll have someone come look at it,” she says breezily. I like that word, breezily, just not when it describes my mother’s tone when my life is on the line!

“Will you get the ranch dressing?” she asks, like nothing is wrong.

“And Italian,” adds my brother, Mark, who’s already heaping spaghetti onto his plate. Mark never has to be called for dinner, but you have to scream for him when it’s his turn to wash the dishes.

I go to the refrigerator, grab the dressing, and hurry to the table. Maybe if I play the “it’s for school” card.

“Mom, my feature article is due tomorrow, and I wasn’t finished typing it!”

“Hope you saved it,” says Mark, reaching for the dressing. I glare at him and set the bottle down on the opposite end of the table. Mark doesn’t even miss a beat. He just stretches his abnormally long arm across the table and grabs it. It takes a lot to get Mark upset.

“Of course I saved it,” I tell him, hoping Google has me covered on this one. I scoop up some spaghetti noodles and wait for Mark to finish drowning his plate in Mom’s special mushroom-marinara sauce. “But, Mom, we really, really need a new computer. You know I do a lot of writing.”

“Let’s say grace,” Mom says, which absolutely frustrates me because it doesn’t seem like she gets how important having a computer is. It’s hard to pay attention to her prayer because I’m trying to figure out what to say next. Mom beats me to it.

“Zoe, after dinner Mark can take you to the library to finish your report,” she says.

“It’s an article, Mom,” I say with a sigh. Why does no one care about my writing?

“Okay, Zoe,” Mom says. “You can finish your article at the library.”

“I have practice tonight, Mom,” Mark says, his mouth full of Mom’s homemade roll. And, of course, his stupid band will probably take priority over what I need to do.

“Hmm.” Mom thinks for a moment as she nibbles on her salad. “Are you all practicing at Chad’s?”

“Mm-hmm.” Mark nods.

“Do they have a computer and printer?” Mom asks.

“Yeah, probably.” Mark shrugs. He’s obviously not getting it, but I see exactly where this is going.

“Well, can your sister go with you and use their computer while you guys practice?”

“Mom, no!” I say. I can’t believe she’d rather have me around four rowdy teenage boys than safe in my own room with a Horizon WordPro GT!

Surprisingly, Mark doesn’t protest the way I do, because as long as he gets to play his music, he doesn’t really care what else is happening around him.

“I’ll text Chad,” he says, before heaping more food onto his plate.

“Mom, can’t Daddy just take me to the library?”

And then to Office Tech. . . .

“He’s working late tonight,” Mom says, and her face changes a tiny bit before going back to normal. It’s like when a cloud moves in front of the sun for a second, so I call it her Shadow Face. She’s been getting it more and more lately.

“So why don’t you just go with Mark tonight, Zoe,” Mom continues, her Shadow Face gone, “and I’ll work on getting the computer fixed for next time.”

I sigh loudly, but I know my fate has been sealed and there’s no use protesting anymore. I’ll work on Daddy in the morning. He’s usually bright and sunny once he gets his cup of coffee. And hey, he recently bought this expensive coffee machine because he loves coffee, so he of all people should understand how much I need the WordPro because I love writing. Plus, the WordPro isn’t that expensive, so it should be easy to convince him.

“Let’s go, Zo,” Mark says, his plate completely clean. His guitar and amp are already placed neatly by the door, so all he has to do is throw on his coat. I, on the other hand, have half a plate of spaghetti left, and unlike Mark, I actually like to taste my food while I’m eating it.

“Can I at least finish my food?” I ask, chewing slowly.

“Mom, if she’s going with me, we gotta leave now. Chad’s parents only let us play till eight,” Mark says.

“I don’t blame them,” Mom says under her breath. No one really knows how Chad’s parents survive the noise of the so-called band.

“Zoe, just take your plate with you,” she says, which is a total shock.

“I thought we weren’t allowed to eat in the car,” I reply.

“I’ll make an exception since your brother’s doing me a favor. Get your coat so you don’t make him late.”

Are you kidding me? No one shows any real concern for a school-related article I need to write, but I have to break rules and risk indigestion and possible hearing loss for Mark’s stupid band rehearsal? Not fair!

I sigh loudly again, but this time Mom gives me the look, so I cut it short. I call it her Buttons Face, as in, Keep pushing my buttons and see what happens. You don’t mess with the Buttons Face.

“Bye, Mom,” I say as I drag myself to the garage, where Mark already has the car on and his music cranked up loud.

“Bye, sweetie,” she says with a smile. “And no worries; we’ll have the computer up and running in no time.”

But that’s exactly what I’m worried about. Because if they do fix the Crash Machine, the only WordPro I’ll have is the one that’s taped on my wall.




Chapter 2


Saved by the CRIM


So much for a cozy evening of writing. I barely have my document opened on the Whitfields’ computer when the noise starts up. Even though I’m way upstairs in the loft area, and the band is way downstairs in the basement, I can hear Beanie’s loud mouth as if he were right here screaming in my ear. I think they should be a band that just plays instruments, but sometimes Beanie gets the urge to “sing,” as he calls it.

Beanie’s the bass player of the...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Crown Books for Young Readers
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2023
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593429176
• ISBN 13: 9780593429174
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 176
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: KreGa Onlinehandel GmbH; 4950000000000; info@krega-onlinehandel.de; ; Birkenweg 31; Brakel; 33034; Deutschland