Emma Jean Lazarus Fell in Love

Table of Contents

 

 

 

DIAL BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

A division of Penguin Young Readers Group

Published by The Penguin Group • Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014, U.S.A. • Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) • Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) • Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa • Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

Text copyright © 2009 by Lauren Tarshis
Illustrations copyright © 2009 by Kristin Smith

 

 

.S.A.

 

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Tarshis, Lauren.

Emma-Jean Lazarus fell in love / Lauren Tarshis.
p. cm.

Summary: Seventh grader Emma-Jean Lazarus uses her logical, scientific
mind to navigate the mysteries of the upcoming Spring Fling, her friend
Colleen's secret admirer, and other love-related dilemmas.

eISBN : 978-1-101-04649-4

[1. Interpersonal relations—Fiction. 2. Problem-solving—Fiction.
3. Middle schools—Fiction. 4. Schools—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.T211115El 2009
[Fic]—dc22
2008046260

For Dionisia Severino

E
mma-Jean Lazarus knew very well that the seventh-grade boys at William Gladstone Middle School behaved like animals at times. They threw fruit in the cafeteria and stampeded through the hallways. They chased balls on the blacktop and laughed in a howling manner when Mr. Petrowski discussed a certain part of the digestive system in science.

But none of this particularly troubled Emma-Jean. She had been observing her fellow seventh graders for many years, trying to understand them better. And she had long ago concluded that it was simply the boys' nature to be rambunctious on occasion. She also had a compelling theory about this, which she was pleased to share with her four new friends one afternoon as they sat together in the cafeteria.

It was a bright Monday in May, and Emma-Jean had been quietly sipping her tomato soup and listening as the girls engaged in their usual lively lunchtime chatter. Already they had covered an impressive range of topics, from the wart on Kaitlin's finger to the Spring Fling, an upcoming formal dance sponsored by the PTA, for which the girls were expected to invite the boys.

After weeks of heated discussion and debate, the girls had determined that they would not attend the dance. As a festive alternative, Colleen had proposed a sleepover party, where she would serve chocolate fondue. She supplied daily updates on the status of her preparations, including today's announcement that her mother had successfully purchased a fondue pot at a tag sale.

“I just wish you would come, Emma-Jean,” Colleen said, holding out a container of neatly trimmed carrot sticks to share.

“It is not possible,” Emma-Jean said.

“Why not?” Valerie asked.

“My bird becomes agitated when I am not with him overnight,” Emma-Jean explained, thinking fondly of Henri, her beloved parakeet, whose roomy and immaculate cage was just a few feet from her bed.

“Oh, that's so sweet,” Colleen said. “Piggy was the same way.”

Kaitlin, Valerie, and Michele nodded solemnly at the mention of Colleen's beloved hamster, whose untimely death five years before still haunted Colleen. But the moment of remembrance was interrupted by an eruption of hoots and bellows from the nearby boys' table. Will Keeler and his friends were engaged in a boisterous game of table hockey, in which they were using plastic knives as sticks and a chicken nugget as a puck. Apparently Brandon Mahoney had scored a point, which was now in dispute.

The girls looked on with bemusement, clucking their tongues and rolling their eyes like mothers watching their toddlers squabble over a toy truck.

“When will they grow up?” said Valerie with an indulgent sigh.

“They're really immature,” Colleen said.

“Why are they so out of control?” Kaitlin asked, peering thoughtfully into a bag of popcorn as though an answer might be etched on one of the buttery kernels.

Emma-Jean didn't usually contribute to these lunchtime conversations, but now she felt she could offer some enlightening insights.

“They are trying to call attention to themselves,” Emma-Jean said.

The girls looked at her with great interest.

“What do you mean?” Michele said.

“Adolescent males engage in conspicuous displays to attract the attention of females,” Emma-Jean continued.

“Like when lizards puff out their necks?” Valerie said. “I saw that on
Nature.
”

“Or when roosters strut around?” Kaitlin added, rotating her shoulders and turning her neck in a rooster-like fashion.

“They're doing this for us?” Colleen said with disbelief.

“Precisely,” Emma-Jean said.

“Wow,” Michele said. “I never knew that.”

“You're so smart, Emma-Jean,” Colleen said.

Emma-Jean nodded, pleased to share her knowledge with her new friends, and to see the appreciative smiles they offered her in return.

It had only been eleven weeks since a series of most unexpected events had propelled Emma-Jean into the midst of these fine girls. Never before had Emma-Jean experienced friendship with people of her own age, and the girls had overwhelmed her at first—their flowery and fruity smells, their bright and sparkling clothing, their shrieks and giggles, their shoulders and elbows bumping against her as she walked through the hallways.

But with each passing week, Emma-Jean was more at ease. Like the moons of Jupiter, Colleen Pomerantz, Kaitlin Vogel, Valerie Rosen, and Michele Peters moved together in harmony through the chaotic universe of William Gladstone Middle School. And if Emma-Jean did not share their exact orbit, she was very pleased nonetheless to sit with them at their lunch table.

The period was winding down, and the girls took their last sips of chocolate milk and brushed crumbs from their laps. Emma-Jean tightened the lid of her thermos and was about to stand up when Valerie leaned forward, her amber-colored eyes shining portentously.

“Okay, now I have to tell you all . . . something . . . about Jeremy. Don't get mad!”

Jeremy Alvarez was a boy with whom Valerie had gone to drama camp during the summer. Last month, for Valerie's birthday, he'd sent her a silver bracelet adorned with a large heart-shaped charm. The bracelet had been passed around the lunch table with reverent gazes and delicate fingers, as though it were the egg of an endangered bird.

“I asked him to the Spring Fling,” Valerie blurted out.

“Oh my gosh!” Colleen gasped.

Nobody spoke for a moment, and the lunchtime din of shouts and scraping chairs and clattering trays seemed very far away.

“Well,” Kaitlin said, her blond, frizzy curls quivering with excitement, “maybe I'll ask Neil. He always tries to be my partner in science.”

“And I could ask Leo,” Michele said tentatively, eyeing Leo Daniels, who sat with his friends from the school jazz ensemble. As usual, their trays of food remained untouched as they drummed their fingers on the table and tapped their sneakers percussively against the tile floor.

The girls regarded one another gravely, like explorers about to trek through uncharted and possibly dangerous territory.

Emma-Jean was leaning forward in a state of such riveted attention that she nearly slipped off the edge of her chair.

“What about you, Coll?” Kaitlin said abruptly. “We can still do the sleepover. And who are you going to ask? There are so many boys who would die to go with you!”

All eyes settled on Colleen, who wore an alarmed expression.

“Oh . . . well . . .” Colleen stammered, blinking her eyes very rapidly. “I guess . . . but . . . only if Emma-Jean goes.”

“Will you go, Emma-Jean?” Valerie asked.

“You should!” Michele said.

“Who would you ask?” Kaitlin said.

Emma-Jean's gaze was pulled, as if by magnetic force, to Will Keeler. Just then Will smiled broadly at his band of admiring friends. He had stuffed an entire orange section into his mouth, peel intact, which gave him the appearance of an ape with bright orange teeth.

The girls had followed Emma-Jean's gaze and were now looking at her in wide-eyed amazement.

“You want to go to the Spring Fling with Will Keeler?” Valerie whispered.

Emma-Jean considered the question. She disliked dances, but the idea of standing close to Will Keeler for any length of time was appealing. Despite his untidy appearance, he had a pleasing smell, like pine needles and pennies. And she knew from personal experience that Will was an honorable person.

“Perhaps,” she said.

“Oh gosh, Emma-Jean,” Colleen said, her hands fluttering over her heart. “You and Will?”

“Oh no,” Michele said.

“He's not right for you,” Valerie said.

“And what about Laura!” Kaitlin said in a fearful whisper.

The girls looked cautiously across the cafeteria at Laura Gilroy, who was standing in line at the vending machine tapping her foot, her small eyes fluttering with impatience. The girls watched Laura with a mixture of awe and fear, as one might regard a beautiful but venomous snake.