Authors: Sara Pennypacker

Summer of the Gypsy Moths (19 page)

“No.” George put his hands up. “No,” he said again. “That's not how it's going to be, Stella by Starlight. You're a child still, and
that's
how it's going to be. The blueberry patch is yours, a course. You earned it. But I'm going to cook and I'm going to manage the cottages, and we're going to hire a cleaning service for the changeovers. Like Louise saidâyou need some taking care of, and I think I'm the one who's supposed to do it.
I
will make a home for
you
.” He took a deep breath. Then he asked me, “Well?”

I looked out over the blueberry bushes George had just given me. Louise's pretty dresses were a little faded now,
but they still fluttered like blossoms above them. I could almost see my mother's little-girl hands helping plant them, and Louise's rough hands tending them for twenty years. Then my hands, and George's hands, and finally Angel's hands, all saving them over and over this summer.

I walked over to the closest bushâa Northern Beauty, perfect for pieâand began to untie the onion bags. I freed branch after branch after branch, each one heavy with ripe fruit.

I crooked my finger at George to call him over.

“Well?” I said, handing him a bag. “These blueberries aren't going to pick themselves, you know.”

About the Author

SARA PENNYPACKER
is the author of the award-winning,
New York Times
bestselling Clementine chapter-book series as well as the picture books
PIERRE IN LOVE
and
SPARROW GIRL
. She lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. You can visit her online at www.sarapennypacker.com.

Credits

Jacket design by Sarah Hoy

Copyright

Balzer + Bray is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

SUMMER OF THE GYPSY MOTHS
. Copyright Â© 2012 by Sara Pennypacker. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

www.harpercollinschildrens.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pennypacker, Sara, date

The summer of the gypsy moths / Sara Pennypacker.â1st ed.

p. cm.

Summary: A foster child named Angel and twelve-year-old Stella, who are living with Stella's great-aunt Louise at a cottage colony on Cape Cod, secretly assume responsibility for the vacation rentals when Louise unexpectedly dies and the girls are afraid of being returned to the foster care system.

ISBN 978-0-06-196420-6 (trade bdg.)

[1. SecretsâFiction. 2. Loss (Psychology)âFiction. 3. Great auntsâFiction. 4. DeathâFiction. 5. Cape Cod (Mass.)âFiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.P3856Su 2012

[Fic]âdc23

2011026095

CIP

FIRST EDITION

EPub Edition Â© FEBRUARY 2012 ISBN: 978-0-06-211451-8

12 13 14 15 16

About the Publisher

Australia

HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.