Be First in the Universe - Brossura
Twins Tod and Tessa love going to Gemini Jack's store because of all the unusual things they can buy, but when Jack asks to meet the other set of twins in their class, mean and nasty Ned and Nancy, they wonder why Jack would want to be bothered with them. Reprint.
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L'autore:
Stephanie Spinner is the coauthor of Aliens for Breakfast and its companions Aliens for Lunch and Aliens for Dinner with Jonathan Etra. Terry Bisson's science fiction novels include Pirates of the Universe, a New York Times Notable Book.
From the Hardcover edition.
Estratto. © Riproduzione autorizzata. Diritti riservati.:
From the Hardcover edition.
They were twins, but they weren't really alike, not in Tessa's opinion. Tessa had lots of opinions, and she expressed them freely. Her brother, Tod, kept his opinions to himself. But Tessa knew him so well that she could usually tell what he was thinking, even if he didn't say a word. Right now, for example, she knew exactly what was on his mind.
A propeller.
A broken propeller.
"Earth to Tod, Earth to Tod," she said in a nasal robot voice, waiting for him to put down his pliers. It was as if he were in a trance, she thought. He was sitting in one of his favorite places, at the old Formica table under the locust tree in their grandparents' big, overgrown front yard, but he could have been in outer space.
It was always like that when he fooled around with something broken. Give Tod an old radio, a rusty windup toy, or a broken propeller like the one for his science fair project, and he got all quiet and intent until he fixed it, which could take all day.
Tessa didn't have all day. She stood over him, willing him to pay attention.
"What?" he asked, not even looking up.
"We're going!"
"Where?" It was hardly a question. His attention was on the propeller shaft, which was bent. He straightened it slowly and methodically, the way he did most things.
"Guess!"
Tod flicked the propeller and it began to turn. "Aha," he murmured, pleased. He finally looked up at her. "I give," he said.
"The mall." She grinned.
"Really?" His dark eyebrows shot up.
"Yes!"
Middle Valley Mall was the newest and biggest mall in the state. The twins liked malls a lot—when they were living at home with their parents, they went to them all the time. They even had a list of favorites, which they ranked according to Best Fast Food, Best Escalators, and Best Bathrooms.
But this year they hadn't been to a single mall, because they were living with their grandparents while their parents traveled through the Far East on business.
The twins loved staying with their grandparents. Lou and Lulu were relaxed and funny, and their ranch was a great place. It had a pond and fields and a barn with an old jukebox in it that Lou played when he milked his goats. And because it was close enough to their "real" home, the twins didn't have to change schools.
However, there were some drawbacks to living with Lou and Lulu. The twins had to do chores. They had to give up a lot of their favorite television shows because the ranch didn't have cable. And they had to deal with Lou and Lulu's only real failing—their dislike of malls. They didn't think kids should hang out in them, or even visit them.
Lots of kids at school had already been to the brand-new mall. Tessa's friend Lisa said it was vast, that you practically needed hiking shoes and trail mix to get through it. Tod's friend Spike got a free glow-in-the-dark yo-yo the day he went.
Tessa started complaining to Lulu that she had a rare disease called mall deprivation. Depression and bad moods and nail-biting were its main symptoms, she said. But this strategy didn't work. Every time she or Tod asked if they could go, Lou and Lulu came up with a reason why they couldn't. The mall was too big. Too confusing. Too expensive.
"At least they can't say it's too far," Tod had said to Tessa after their last attempt.
"A mile." Tessa had sighed dramatically. "Just one itty-bitty bike ride from here. You know," she'd added, "they never actually said they forbid us to go."
"They're the world's oldest living hippies," said Tod, who was very matter-of-fact. "They don't use words like forbid."
Their grandparents, who insisted on being called by their first names, had gone to Woodstock, traveled to India, and then moved to a commune in Vermont, where Lulu wrote and illustrated a book of organic vegetarian recipes that became a bestseller and kept selling year after year. Now, thanks to The Cosmic Kitchen, they raised goats and organic vegetables on their farm, the Double L Goat Ranch.
Lou and Lulu didn't even use credit cards, much less go to malls. When they had to buy anything they went to small stores run by people they knew.
"So how come they gave in?" asked Tod now, as he and Tessa jumped on their bikes. This was another way she and Tod were different, thought Tessa. She could never wait five whole minutes, the way Tod had, to ask why their grandparents had finally changed their minds about something so vitally important.
"It was Lulu, actually," said Tessa as they pushed off. "She got a rush order for bread pudding and it turns out she doesn't have enough pans, and Trudy's is closed." Trudy's was the little general store where Lulu shopped—or bartered.
"So we have to find them at the mall. "Large, rectangular, nonstick ones,'" she recited, imitating Lulu's soft Southern accent.
The twins' grandmother was a wonderful cook who specialized in baked desserts made with homegrown, organic ingredients. The local people had always bought her muffins and fruit pies; Trudy had started selling them when Lou and Lulu bought the ranch. But a few years earlier some fancy stores in Philadelphia and New York had begun to sell them too. Now Lulu had standing orders for Piece of My Heart Chocolate Cake and Wild Thing Cannoli, her two most popular confections.
There were also people who called the ranch and ordered directly. Lulu didn't advertise or have a Web site (their computer was so old it had a black screen and orange letters), but every now and then some health-conscious person with a sweet tooth managed to track her down. They were the ones who loved her desserts so much that they got completely emotional about them, like the woman who'd called today.
"Lulu may hate malls," said Tessa, pedaling hard to keep up with Tod, "but she's a complete pushover for a customer in tears."
"The woman cried?" Tod looked shocked. Tessa rolled her eyes at his reaction. He was always surprised when people got worked up about things. Their mother was like that too—calm and businesslike. Tessa was more like their father. She liked excitement. And she was anything but quiet.
"Yes! And Lulu caved right away! Is that luck or what? Thank you, Mrs. Crybaby!" Tessa yelled, standing up on her pedals. The back road was curvy but it was flat, and they were really whizzing along.
Suddenly Tod screeched to a halt. Tessa circled around and pulled up next to him.
He pointed.
Below them lay a vast parking lot, filled with hundreds, maybe thousands of cars. It was full of people, too—carrying packages, pushing strollers, streaming into the building at the far end of the lot. The building, sky blue and painted with fluffy white clouds, was topped by a pulsing neon rainbow. Exploding neon stars, like fireworks, flashed and glittered over the entrance with its gigantic middle valley mall sign. Deep, twangy music came their way on the breeze. It was harp music.
"Yow. This is bigger than the Beverly Center," said Tessa, referring to
a shopping center in Los Angeles that was so big it was almost like a city in itself.
"It might even be bigger than Danbury," said Tod. The Danbury mall in Connecticut was as big as a city. And its Sears had the largest tool department on the East Coast, which made that mall Tod's personal favorite.
They stood there for a moment, admiring the Middle Valley Mall in reverent silence. Then Tod got back on his bike. "On your mark," he said, getting ready.
"Set." Tessa crouched over her handlebars.
"Go!" They were off.
chapter 2
A few minutes later they'd locked up their bikes and were part of the throng
hurrying through the rows of revolving doors. Once they were inside the brightly lit multilevel arcade, they quickly found the mall directory, a large sign that listed dozens of stores—from Aladdin's Cave of Carpets to Mighty Tights to Weird Houseplants of the World.
Though the harp music was softer than the roar of hundreds of shoppers on the move, the twins could hear it plinking every now and then as they looked
for the name of a store that would have cooking supplies. The tune sounded familiar to Tessa, like one of the bouncy old songs from the sixties on Lou's jukebox.
Tod pointed to one of the directory listings. "How about this one?" he asked. "Gourmet Gallery."
"Sure." Tessa saw that it was on Level 3. "Escalator!" she exclaimed, leading the way. She loved escalators, which were so much better than elevators, in her opinion, because you could look around while you were on them. Rising to Level 2, for example, they saw a mother pushing a stroller with triplets in it, somebody wearing a rooster costume, a man dressed in angel's
robes handing out popcorn, and two girls wearing grass dresses and flowerpot
hats.
"They must be from Weird Houseplants of the World," said Tessa. She could tell that Tod was enjoying the spectacle just as much as she was. His eyes were wide and his jaw had dropped an inch, which was his way of saying "Whoopee."
Another minute and they were on Level 3, which looked just like Levels 1 and 2, except for the stars in the blue domed ceiling that flashed in time to the music.
"Right or left?" asked Tessa as they stepped off the escalator. They could always find each other if they split up—it was an odd gift they had—but she'd promised Lulu that she and Tod wo...
A propeller.
A broken propeller.
"Earth to Tod, Earth to Tod," she said in a nasal robot voice, waiting for him to put down his pliers. It was as if he were in a trance, she thought. He was sitting in one of his favorite places, at the old Formica table under the locust tree in their grandparents' big, overgrown front yard, but he could have been in outer space.
It was always like that when he fooled around with something broken. Give Tod an old radio, a rusty windup toy, or a broken propeller like the one for his science fair project, and he got all quiet and intent until he fixed it, which could take all day.
Tessa didn't have all day. She stood over him, willing him to pay attention.
"What?" he asked, not even looking up.
"We're going!"
"Where?" It was hardly a question. His attention was on the propeller shaft, which was bent. He straightened it slowly and methodically, the way he did most things.
"Guess!"
Tod flicked the propeller and it began to turn. "Aha," he murmured, pleased. He finally looked up at her. "I give," he said.
"The mall." She grinned.
"Really?" His dark eyebrows shot up.
"Yes!"
Middle Valley Mall was the newest and biggest mall in the state. The twins liked malls a lot—when they were living at home with their parents, they went to them all the time. They even had a list of favorites, which they ranked according to Best Fast Food, Best Escalators, and Best Bathrooms.
But this year they hadn't been to a single mall, because they were living with their grandparents while their parents traveled through the Far East on business.
The twins loved staying with their grandparents. Lou and Lulu were relaxed and funny, and their ranch was a great place. It had a pond and fields and a barn with an old jukebox in it that Lou played when he milked his goats. And because it was close enough to their "real" home, the twins didn't have to change schools.
However, there were some drawbacks to living with Lou and Lulu. The twins had to do chores. They had to give up a lot of their favorite television shows because the ranch didn't have cable. And they had to deal with Lou and Lulu's only real failing—their dislike of malls. They didn't think kids should hang out in them, or even visit them.
Lots of kids at school had already been to the brand-new mall. Tessa's friend Lisa said it was vast, that you practically needed hiking shoes and trail mix to get through it. Tod's friend Spike got a free glow-in-the-dark yo-yo the day he went.
Tessa started complaining to Lulu that she had a rare disease called mall deprivation. Depression and bad moods and nail-biting were its main symptoms, she said. But this strategy didn't work. Every time she or Tod asked if they could go, Lou and Lulu came up with a reason why they couldn't. The mall was too big. Too confusing. Too expensive.
"At least they can't say it's too far," Tod had said to Tessa after their last attempt.
"A mile." Tessa had sighed dramatically. "Just one itty-bitty bike ride from here. You know," she'd added, "they never actually said they forbid us to go."
"They're the world's oldest living hippies," said Tod, who was very matter-of-fact. "They don't use words like forbid."
Their grandparents, who insisted on being called by their first names, had gone to Woodstock, traveled to India, and then moved to a commune in Vermont, where Lulu wrote and illustrated a book of organic vegetarian recipes that became a bestseller and kept selling year after year. Now, thanks to The Cosmic Kitchen, they raised goats and organic vegetables on their farm, the Double L Goat Ranch.
Lou and Lulu didn't even use credit cards, much less go to malls. When they had to buy anything they went to small stores run by people they knew.
"So how come they gave in?" asked Tod now, as he and Tessa jumped on their bikes. This was another way she and Tod were different, thought Tessa. She could never wait five whole minutes, the way Tod had, to ask why their grandparents had finally changed their minds about something so vitally important.
"It was Lulu, actually," said Tessa as they pushed off. "She got a rush order for bread pudding and it turns out she doesn't have enough pans, and Trudy's is closed." Trudy's was the little general store where Lulu shopped—or bartered.
"So we have to find them at the mall. "Large, rectangular, nonstick ones,'" she recited, imitating Lulu's soft Southern accent.
The twins' grandmother was a wonderful cook who specialized in baked desserts made with homegrown, organic ingredients. The local people had always bought her muffins and fruit pies; Trudy had started selling them when Lou and Lulu bought the ranch. But a few years earlier some fancy stores in Philadelphia and New York had begun to sell them too. Now Lulu had standing orders for Piece of My Heart Chocolate Cake and Wild Thing Cannoli, her two most popular confections.
There were also people who called the ranch and ordered directly. Lulu didn't advertise or have a Web site (their computer was so old it had a black screen and orange letters), but every now and then some health-conscious person with a sweet tooth managed to track her down. They were the ones who loved her desserts so much that they got completely emotional about them, like the woman who'd called today.
"Lulu may hate malls," said Tessa, pedaling hard to keep up with Tod, "but she's a complete pushover for a customer in tears."
"The woman cried?" Tod looked shocked. Tessa rolled her eyes at his reaction. He was always surprised when people got worked up about things. Their mother was like that too—calm and businesslike. Tessa was more like their father. She liked excitement. And she was anything but quiet.
"Yes! And Lulu caved right away! Is that luck or what? Thank you, Mrs. Crybaby!" Tessa yelled, standing up on her pedals. The back road was curvy but it was flat, and they were really whizzing along.
Suddenly Tod screeched to a halt. Tessa circled around and pulled up next to him.
He pointed.
Below them lay a vast parking lot, filled with hundreds, maybe thousands of cars. It was full of people, too—carrying packages, pushing strollers, streaming into the building at the far end of the lot. The building, sky blue and painted with fluffy white clouds, was topped by a pulsing neon rainbow. Exploding neon stars, like fireworks, flashed and glittered over the entrance with its gigantic middle valley mall sign. Deep, twangy music came their way on the breeze. It was harp music.
"Yow. This is bigger than the Beverly Center," said Tessa, referring to
a shopping center in Los Angeles that was so big it was almost like a city in itself.
"It might even be bigger than Danbury," said Tod. The Danbury mall in Connecticut was as big as a city. And its Sears had the largest tool department on the East Coast, which made that mall Tod's personal favorite.
They stood there for a moment, admiring the Middle Valley Mall in reverent silence. Then Tod got back on his bike. "On your mark," he said, getting ready.
"Set." Tessa crouched over her handlebars.
"Go!" They were off.
chapter 2
A few minutes later they'd locked up their bikes and were part of the throng
hurrying through the rows of revolving doors. Once they were inside the brightly lit multilevel arcade, they quickly found the mall directory, a large sign that listed dozens of stores—from Aladdin's Cave of Carpets to Mighty Tights to Weird Houseplants of the World.
Though the harp music was softer than the roar of hundreds of shoppers on the move, the twins could hear it plinking every now and then as they looked
for the name of a store that would have cooking supplies. The tune sounded familiar to Tessa, like one of the bouncy old songs from the sixties on Lou's jukebox.
Tod pointed to one of the directory listings. "How about this one?" he asked. "Gourmet Gallery."
"Sure." Tessa saw that it was on Level 3. "Escalator!" she exclaimed, leading the way. She loved escalators, which were so much better than elevators, in her opinion, because you could look around while you were on them. Rising to Level 2, for example, they saw a mother pushing a stroller with triplets in it, somebody wearing a rooster costume, a man dressed in angel's
robes handing out popcorn, and two girls wearing grass dresses and flowerpot
hats.
"They must be from Weird Houseplants of the World," said Tessa. She could tell that Tod was enjoying the spectacle just as much as she was. His eyes were wide and his jaw had dropped an inch, which was his way of saying "Whoopee."
Another minute and they were on Level 3, which looked just like Levels 1 and 2, except for the stars in the blue domed ceiling that flashed in time to the music.
"Right or left?" asked Tessa as they stepped off the escalator. They could always find each other if they split up—it was an odd gift they had—but she'd promised Lulu that she and Tod wo...
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- EditoreYearling Books
- Data di pubblicazione2001
- ISBN 10 0440416396
- ISBN 13 9780440416395
- RilegaturaCopertina flessibile
- Numero di pagine133
- Valutazione libreria
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