Read The Second Life of Abigail Walker Online
Authors: Frances O'Roark Dowell
The Second Life of Abigail Walker (18 page)
You flew?
Crow asked, sounding doubtful.
You flew up into the air, flew over the desert, and landed here?
The fox looked around her. She had to admit the field didn't look like much. It was a different place now, here in the first days of winter. Most of the weeds were gone. All that was left were clumps of brown grass stirring in the chilly breeze. No flowers, no birds. The trees remained, but their branches were bare.
Well.
Crow sniffed.
Not much to look at. Let's move on.
The fox nodded. Time to find a new story.
Crow flew above her as the fox began to trot in the direction of the creek.
My natural habitat is the prairie
, she bragged to Crow.
Wide fields, big skies.
My natural habitat is in dreams
, Crow retorted.
In every mind, in every eye, Crow flies.
The fox snorted.
You sound like a raccoon, the way you spout nonsense.
Crow took to the sky.
Let's see how you fly, Fox! Let's see you sprout wings.
Who needs wings?
the fox thought, and she began to run, the wind brushing back her fur, her paws thudding against the hard clay dirt. She closed her eyes. She leaped into the invisible air.
The author would like to thank Caitlyn M. Dlouhy, who makes everything so much better, and Ariel Colletti, for batting cleanup. Thanks also to Justin Chanda for his unflagging support, and Kaitlin Severini for her copyediting eagle eye. The author owes a huge debt of gratitude to Jennifer Gardner at Prettyfab PR, and sends big hugs to her homegirls, Amy Graham, Danielle Paul, and Sarah Schulz, for
their
ongoing support. Thanks to Virginia Hall, fifth-grade history teacher extraordinaire, who got her family all excited about the Lewis and Clark expedition, and thanks, too, to poet Campbell McGrathâ
not only for his book
Shannon
, but for all his books, from
Capitalism
on, which have made this writer's world a better place to be in. Finally, she is full of love and wonder when she thinks about those boys she lives with, Clifton, Jack, Will, and Travis the dog, i.e. the Dowells, otherwise known as her own ones.
FRANCES
O'ROARK
DOWELL
is the bestselling and critically
acclaimed author of
Falling In
;
Shooting the Moon
, which was awarded the Christopher Medal;
Dovey Coe
, which won the Edgar award;
Where I'd Like to Be
;
Chicken Boy
; the
Phineas L. MacGuire series; the bestselling
The Secret Language
of Girls
, and its sequel,
The Kind of Friends We Used
to Be
; and most recently the teen novel
Ten Miles Past
Normal.
She fell in love with the Lewis and Clark expedition when her son
Jack studied it in his fifth-grade history class (thanks, Mrs. Hall!) and dreams of
one day following their trail west in an Econoline van. Frances has always liked
foxes and frozen grapes. She lives with her husband and two sons in Durham, North
Carolina. Connect with Frances online at
FrancesDowell.com.
Jacket design by Sonia Chaghatzbanian & Michael
McCartney
Jacket illustration of girl copyright © 2012 by Greg
Call
Hand-lettering copyright © 2012 by Karl Kwasny
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Simon & Schuster â¢
New York
Meet the author,
watch videos, and get extras at
Dovey Coe
Where I'd Like To Be
The Secret Language of Girls
Chicken Boy
Shooting the Moon
The Kind of Friends We Used to Be
Falling In
Ten Miles Past Normal
From the Highly Scientific Notebooks
of Phineas L. MacGuire
(Illustrated by Preston McDaniels)
Phineas L. MacGuire . . . Erupts!
Phineas L. MacGuire . . . Gets Slimed!
Phineas L. MacGuire . . . Blasts Off!
ATHENEUM BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real
people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places,
and incidents are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance
to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely
coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Frances O'Roark Dowell
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part
in any form.
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THENEUM
B
OOKS
FOR
Y
OUNG
R
EADERS
is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Book design by Sonia Chaghatzbanian
The text for this book is set in Horley Old Style
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dowell, Frances O'Roark.
The second life of Abigail Walker / Frances O'Roark Dowell. â1st
ed.
p. cm.
Summary: Bullied by two mean girls in her sixth-grade class, a lonely, plump
girl
gains self-confidence and new friends after a mysterious fox gently bites
her.
ISBN 978-1-4424-0593-6 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4424-0595-0 (eBook)
[1. Self-confidenceâFiction. 2. FriendshipâFiction. 3.
Overweight personsâFiction.
4. Human-animal relationshipsâFiction.] I.
Title.
PZ7.D75455Sd 2012
[Fic]âdc23
2012010646
