Just Grace and the Terrible Tutu

Title Page

Table of Contents

Copyright

Acknowledgment

WHAT I DIDN'T KNOW I DIDN'T KNOW

Dear New Sister

WHAT YOU MIGHT SAY IF YOU ARE SURPRISED OUT OF YOUR MIND

Just Grace and the Terrible Tutu

Book 7

All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

Houghton Mifflin Books for Children is an imprint of
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

www.hmhbooks.com

The text of this book is set in Dante MT.
The illustrations are pen-and-ink drawings digitally colored in Photoshop.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Harper, Charise Mericle.
Just Grace and the Terrible Tutu / written and illustrated
by Charise Mericle Harper.
p. cm.

Summary: Eight-year-old Grace is excited to learn that her best friend, Mimi, is going to become an older sister, but when both try to be "mother's helpers" for a family renting a house on their street, little Lily likes Grace best, causing Mimi to doubt herself and Grace to form a plan to fix things.

ISBN 978-0-547-15224-0 [1. Interpersonal relations—Fiction. 2. Self-confidence—Fiction. 3. Best friends—Fiction. 4. Friendship—Fiction. 5. Sisters—Fiction.] I. Title. PZ7.H231323Juj 2011 [E]—dc22 2010006768

Manufactured in the United States of America
QFF 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
4500265471

A special thank-you to Leah and her mom!

Best friends can be full of surprises. I already knew that, but sometimes even knowing something doesn't mean it still can't surprise you when it happens. That's why I was 100 percent surprised when Mimi said she had been keeping a secret from me and wanted me to read a special letter. Even though I had to go to the bathroom I sat right down with the letter. Some things can be more important than nature—plus I'm kind of an expert at holding it.

Dear New Sister,
I can hardly wait to meet you. I am so, so, so, so excited! Mom and Dad said I had to not tell anyone about you but my brain was about to explode so they finally said I could tell Grace. Yay! But she has to promise to not tell the world—which of course she can do, because she is a good secret keeper.

Grace is my best friend in the whole world, and guess what? She lives right next door, so when you get here you can see her every day just like I do. You have to call her Grace, though, and not Just Grace like they do at school. They only do that because when Miss Lois, our teacher, was naming the four Graces in the class, she got confused and named Grace that by accident.

Grace is great—for sure you are going to like her. Mom and Dad are pretty nice too. They sometimes have rules but I am sure you will get used to them and not mind so much. Mom is really good at reading bedtime stories and Dad is an expert
swimmer. When you get old enough you can hold on to his back and he will dive up and down like a dolphin. It's really fun, but first you will have to know how to hold your breath and blow bubbles. You might have to get some lessons for that.

Mom said I get to pick out some fun stuff for your room. I can't wait to make it super cute for you.

There are some boys, Max and Sammy, that live near here too, but you don't have to play with them if you don't want to.

 

Lots of love,
Your new big sister,

 

Mimi
xoxoxoxo

 

P. S. The boys don't live in our house, but you might see them in the yard sometimes.

"Mimi! What? You're getting a sister! OMG. I can't believe it!" I had to whisper the OMG part because Dad says I'm not allowed to say that anymore. It's on his list of improper English-language words. I tried to complain to Mom, but she just said, "That's what happens when you have a dad who studied English in school. Plus it means he cares about you and how you sound." Maybe, but mostly I think he just likes making up rules.

 

I had a million and one questions for Mimi. Is your mom pregnant? How come she doesn't look fat? How do you know it's going to be a sister? When is she coming? Do you get to pick out her name? Can I help decorate the room? Wow! I flopped myself back on the bed and rested for a second. Not knowing stuff and being full of questions can really be tiring.

Mimi was excited to tell me everything. She said her mom wasn't fat because she wasn't pregnant. And instead of her mom getting pregnant and having a baby, her family was going to adopt one. The only thing she wasn't sure about was if the new sister was going to be a baby or one who could walk already. But whatever the sister was, Mimi said she was sure she would be little, sweet, and super cute. And she was 100 percent excited about it.

 

I got right to work thinking of some really good girl names, but Mimi said the little sister might come with a name already. Mimi's mom had already made some rules about the name. If the sister was two or three, they had to keep the name she came with. Mimi said they were only going to change it if the sister was still a baby.

"Wow, Mimi!" I had to say "wow" again, because stuff like a new sister does not happen very often in a life. "I know," said Mimi, and then while she waited lying on my bed, I ran to the bathroom.

WHAT IS HARD

Mimi said she could hardly wait to get her new sister, and that the waiting part was taking forever. "When do you get her?" I asked. "Can you go on Saturday?" Mostly my parents did shopping stuff and errands on Saturdays and Sundays. Once when we were getting a new kitchen table and chairs we even had to rent a trailer and stay overnight in a hotel. They were really far away, but Mom loved them, so Dad had to say yes.

Mimi said she didn't think it was that easy, because her mom and dad were still getting interviewed and tested to see if they would be good parents. Mimi said even though they were a great mom and dad to her, it wasn't good enough. "They still have to take a super-big test," said Mimi. "And write tons of e-mails, fill out lots of papers, and do lots of talking on the phone. Then at the end, after they pass, the tester people are going to come to our house and look at everything. And they'll probably even look in my room!"

Mimi seemed nervous about that, and she was right to be worried, because Mimi's room is a disaster. She has the messiest room I have ever seen. She was for sure going to have to clean it up. And just when I was thinking that, Mimi said, "I'm for sure going to have to clean up my room." It was like she could read my mind. Good friends are like that.

 

WHAT I DID NOT KNOW

After we had finished with all the new-sister stuff, I suddenly remembered the other part of Mimi's letter that I wanted to talk about. I really love dolphins, so of course I had to ask Mimi about her dad. "Can he really swim like a dolphin? You know—the up-and-down part? How about if you close your eyes—does it feel like you're riding on a real dolphin?" Mimi shook her head no but said, "It's still pretty cool. Plus you don't have to worry about sharks." "Good point," I said. I'd forgotten about sharks. Sharks can ruin everything.

 

The wrong fin can ruin your fun.