My Summer of Pink & Green

Lisa Greenwald

Description

At the end of My Life in Pink & Green, Lucy Desberg had just won the grant that would save her family’s pharmacy—and turn it into a modern eco-spa. Now it’s summer, and the work has begun in earnest. Lucy figures that with the spa opening and her sister, Claudia, home, she’ll have a great summer. But her sister brings a new boyfriend, and their investor brings his extremely irritating daughter, Bevin. Plus there’s a new spa coordinator in charge of the plans, and so Lucy finds herself at loose ends. What’s a girl to do? A makeover, of course. But this time Lucy’s makeover skills might not smooth over the cracks in her happy family . . . Praise for My Summer of Pink & Green "Through Lucy’s perseverance and entrepreneurial spirit, Greenwald reminds readers that dreams are worth pursuing." —Kirkus Reviews "Lucy charms readers once again with her positive attitude and dedication to beauty, make-up, and environmental well-being." —School Library Journal "My Summer of Pink and Green is a relaxing, quick-paced read… Young girls will enjoy this story filled with a strong protagonist, likeable characters, and themes of friendship." —VOYA Magazine Award: Spring 2013 Kids' Indie Next List

Informations

• Publié par: ABRAMS BOOKS
• Date de parution: 19 mars 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781613123768
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

is a problem solver. She s mastered every makeup crisis in town, her best friend has her first boyfriend (thanks to Lucy s love advice), and best of all, she won a grant that will enable her family to transform their pharmacy into a modern eco-spa. Life couldn t be better for the budding entrepreneur.
But things aren t perfect for long. Lucy s sister and her best friend would rather hang out with their boyfriends than with Lucy-leaving her with the spa investor s extremely irritating daughter. Plus there s a new coordinator in charge of the renovations, who pushes her gently but firmly aside. Even with all the changes the family s going through, no one seems to want Lucy s problem-solving expertise.
What s a girl to do? It s time for another Lucy Desberg makeover. But this time, it s a life makeover.

PUBLISHER S NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for and may be obtained from the Library of Congress.
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0413-0
Text copyright 2013 Lisa Greenwald
Photography copyright 2013 Jonathan Beckerman
Book design by Chad W. Beckerman
Published in 2013 by Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. Amulet Books and Amulet Paperbacks are registered trademarks of Harry N. Abrams, Inc.
Amulet Books are available at special discounts when purchased in quantity for premiums and promotions as well as fundraising or educational use. Special editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact specialsales abramsbooks.com or the address below.
115 West 18th Street New York, NY 10011 www.abramsbooks.com

Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Acknowledgments
About the Author
but it doesn t feel like summer yet. It will soon, though. As soon as Claudia drives up and gets out of the car and runs to hug me, then it will feel like summer. The best feeling in the whole, entire world.
It s gonna be a Jetta, Yamir says. College kids always drive Jettas. We re sitting on my front porch drinking my mom s famous homemade mint iced tea: me; my best friend, Sunny Ramal; her brother, Yamir; and our friend Evan. He s pretty much Sunny s boyfriend, but we re all friends with him too. The others always turn their noses up at the mint iced tea, but once it s in the special tall glasses with little pieces of mint floating on the top, they can t resist. It s just too refreshing.
I don t think so; Jettas are fancy, aren t they? I ask. We re guessing cars because Claudia s driving home with a friend from school. If Claudia were flying home from Chicago, we d pick her up at the airport and I d even make one of those name signs that professional drivers use. But she got a ride home instead. Mom and Grandma were all worried about the long drive, and they insisted that she stop and stay overnight somewhere. Her friend Lauren is the one driving her; she lives in Fairfield, which is like an hour from here.
It s gonna be some old car, Sunny says, standing up. She wants to be the first one to see Claudia coming, but I don t see how that s going to happen if we don t even know what car she s coming in.
No way, I add. Girls named Lauren don t have beat-up old cars. Maybe a Honda, but a new one.
Maybe it s a motorcycle! Evan shouts. Wouldn t that be hilarious?
I give him a stare-down. No, Evan Mass, it would not be hilarious, because my mom and grandma would probably pass out from shock. Then we d have to take them to the hospital. I keep up my stare-down. If he s going to be my best friend s boyfriend, then he can t say dumb things like that. Motorcycles are really dangerous, you know.
He cracks up, and Sunny and Yamir do too.
I don t see what s so funny. They are. I m serious.
Sunny pats my knee. He was just kidding, Lucy.
Thankfully my mom comes out with a tray holding a full pitcher of more mint iced tea and a bowl of strawberries and breaks the tension. Hungry? she asks. When none of us answer, she says, You know, you guys can go swimming. I m sure Claudia will come on back when she gets here.
The pool! OK, I changed my mind. It will really feel like summer when we re all in the pool. Claudia will probably run inside and throw on her favorite red-and-white gingham bikini and then she ll race out to join us. We ll have diving contests and make Sunny be the judge. She always gives me a ten. And we ll go down the spiral slide a billion times. Sometimes I even sit on Claudia s lap when we go down the spiral slide. It makes Grandma nervous, but we do it anyway.
Claudia s friends will come over and BBQ like crazy-Grandma always lets them use the grill even though she says I m not old enough. They ll make hamburgers and hot dogs, and portobello burgers for their vegetarian friends. They ll hang out for hours, and they ll let me hang out with them too, some of the time.
It will feel like summer will last forever, and I ll keep telling myself that it won t last forever but that I need to appreciate it and savor every second: every sip of Mom s iced tea, every trip down the spiral slide, every diving contest.
She s here! I scream. I know it s her because the windows are rolled down and her head is out the front passenger side like she s a golden retriever.
They pull into the driveway.
A Subaru! Yamir says. We should have known. College kids always drive Subarus.
I don t even care to discuss with him about how he knows that. I m too excited to see Claudia, to give her hugs, to talk to her about everything-especially the opening of the spa-that I just don t have time to deal with Yamir.
He s been so weird lately. He doesn t get why it s such a big deal that Claudia s coming home. He takes it for granted that his sister is home all the time, but I haven t seen Claudia since September, since she didn t come home for Thanksgiving. Then she was in El Salvador over winter break, and she went to Ghana for spring break. For an eighteen-year-old, she travels a lot.
I run over to the car and Claudia hops out and we hug for a million years like I thought we would. I missed you so much, I whisper in her ear.
I missed you too, Luce!
Her friend Lauren starts unloading the trunk and I m thankful that Yamir goes over to help. He can be a gentleman sometimes, but then other times he can act like a complete doofus. Grandma says that s just how boys his age act. But I don t really believe her-can t he just act nicer? For me?
These are yours, right, Claud? Lauren asks her, holding up a duffel. Claudia looks over, and that s when I notice that there s another person here. A tall, skinny guy, standing right near the car talking to Evan about the Subaru s muffler or something.
Yeah, those are mine. Bean s are the ones in the backseat.
Bean is here? I ask without thinking.
Claudia does a head-jerk motion in his direction, trying to get his attention, and he comes over to where we re standing. I look around for Mom and Grandma. The moment we ve all been waiting for-Claudia coming home-is finally here!
You must be Lucy, this Bean guy says, with a hand up to high-five me.
I am. I smile and high-five him back. And you must be Bean? Well, duh, I mean I know you re Bean, Claudia just said that. But I remember your name. Claudia said you helped look over the grant application a few months ago.
I did. I did. He nods like he s so proud of himself. I m pre-law.
Huh?
It means he s going to be a lawyer, Lucy, Claudia explains.
I feel stupid. I could have figured that out.
But it s a dual major with the business school, Bean adds.
I nod. Bean sounds like he s on a job interview. I m not really concerned with his major right now. It s summer! He shouldn t be thinking about school anyway.
Welcome home! Mom yells, running outside, a dish towel over her right shoulder. Ma, Claudia s home! she yells back into the house.
A few seconds later, Grandma comes out, and then we re all together. I don t even realize that Sunny, Yamir, and Evan went back onto the porch until I hear the click of Yamir s iPhone camera taking a picture of all of us standing around in the driveway.
Such a photo op, he says with a grin. Right, Luce-Juice? You re all about the photo ops, especially one like this.
Sometimes I feel like Yamir knows the right thing to do and he does it, but then he says something obnoxious while doing it, and that takes all the goodness out of it.
Thanks. I put my hand on my hip and go into a model pose and he snaps another shot.
So, Mom, Grandma, Claudia starts. This is my friend Lauren, and this is Bean.
I wonder why Claudia doesn t refer to Bean as her friend.
Lovely to meet you, thank you for driving her home, Lauren, Grandma says. You probably want to get going. I bet your parents are worried sick about you doing so much driving and all the crazies on the road.
Grams, it s OK. Claudia pats her shoulder. She s meeting them nearby, and then they re going to their beach house in Newport for the summer.
That s lovely, Mom says. Everything s lovely, apparently.
I m still standing there, wondering if it s too soon to go change into bathing suits and jump in the pool. I wish Lauren and Bean would just leave already so I could have Claudia to myself.
What a lovely tote, Mom