Lucky Charm Read online

  Be sure to read all of our books:

  BOOK 1 - worst enemies/best friends

  BOOK 2 - bad news/good news

  BOOK 3 - letters from the heart

  BOOK 4 - out of bounds

  BOOK 5 - promises, promises

  BOOK 6 - lake rescue

  BOOK 7 - freaked out

  BOOK 8 - lucky charm

  BOOK 9 - fashion frenzy

  BOOK 10 - just kidding

  BOOK 11 - ghost town

  BOOK 12 - time’s up

  BOOK 13 - green algae and bubble gum wars

  BOOK 14 - crush alert

  BSG Special Adventure Books:

  charlotte in paris

  maeve on the red carpet

  freestyle with avery

  katani’s jamaican holiday

  isabel’s texas two-step

  Coming Soon:

  BOOK 15 - the great scavenger hunt

  BSG SPECIAL ADVENTURE - ready! set! hawaii!

  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 the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  ALADDIN M!X

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  Copyright © 2006 by B*tween Productions, Inc.,

  Home of the Beacon Street Girls.

  Beacon Street Girls, KGirl, B*tween Productions, B*Street, and the characters

  Maeve, Avery, Charlotte, Isabel, Katani, Marty, Nick, Anna, Joline, and

  Happy Lucky Thingy are registered trademarks of B*tween Productions, Inc.

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  ALADDIN and related logo and ALADDIN M!X and related logo are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Library of Congress Control Number 2008939755

  ISBN-13: 978-1-4391-6375-7

  ISBN-10: 1-4391-6375-8

  Visit us on the World Wide Web:

  http://www.SimonSays.com

  Katani Summers

  a.k.a. Kgirl…Katani has a strong fashion sense and business savvy. She is stylish, loyal & cool.

  Avery Madden

  Avery is passionate about all sports and animal rights. She is energetic, optimistic & outspoken.

  Charlotte Ramsey

  A self-acknowledged “klutz” and an aspiring writer, Charlotte is all too familiar with being the new kid in town. She is intelligent, worldly & curious.

  Isabel Martinez

  Her ambition is to be an artist. She was the last to join the Beacon Street Girls. She is artistic, sensitive & kind.

  Maeve Kaplan-Taylor

  Maeve wants to be a movie star. Bubbly and upbeat, she wears her heart on her sleeve. She is entertaining, friendly & fun.

  Ms. Razzberry Pink

  The stylishly pink proprietor of the “Think Pink” boutique is chic, gracious & charming.

  Marty

  The adopted best dog friend of the Beacon Street Girls is feisty, cuddly & suave.

  Happy Lucky Thingy and alter ego Mad Nasty Thingy

  Marty’s favorite chew toy, it is known to reveal its alter ego when shaken too roughly. He is most often happy.

  Contents

  Part One Dog Trouble

  CHAPTER 1 Rain, Rain, Go Away!

  CHAPTER 2 No Fair!

  CHAPTER 3 Details, Details

  CHAPTER 4 The Great Escape

  CHAPTER 5 In Search of the Great Squirrel Hunter

  CHAPTER 6 Neigh!

  CHAPTER 7 Rhyme Time

  CHAPTER 8 High Hopes

  CHAPTER 9 First…and Last Time?

  CHAPTER 10 Gone for Good?

  CHAPTER 11 The Treasure Hunt

  CHAPTER 12 Winning Streak

  Part Two Crazy Sox

  CHAPTER 13 Lucky Numbers

  CHAPTER 14 Lucky for Who?

  CHAPTER 15 Game Face

  CHAPTER 16 Extra Ticket

  CHAPTER 17 Deadlocked

  CHAPTER 18 The Best and Worst

  CHAPTER 19 Second Chance

  CHAPTER 20 Writer’s Block

  CHAPTER 21 Red Sox Fever

  CHAPTER 22 Fowl Weather

  CHAPTER 23 Horse Sense

  CHAPTER 24 Homecoming Party

  Lucky Charm BOOK EXTRAS

  Book Club Buzz

  Charlotte’s Word Nerd Dictionary

  lucky charm trivialicious trivia

  Part One

  Dog Trouble

  CHAPTER

  1

  Rain, Rain, Go Away!

  Is it supposed to rain tomorrow, too?” Avery asked. Her first sip of hot chocolate left her with a frothy white mustache.

  She licked it off with her tongue and grinned. Whipped cream was her absolute favorite topping.

  Nick, who worked in his family’s bakery after school and on some weekends, nodded toward the window. “Sorry, weatherman says it is.”

  “No!” Maeve gasped. “It can’t. Tomorrow’s the first day of the Brookline 300 Festival. I totally love street fairs.”

  “Will they cancel it?” asked Isabel.

  “I doubt it,” Nick said. “It’s a rain-or-shine event.”

  “No one wants to go on rides in a downpour.” Katani shook her head, disappointed.

  “Don’t worry. If it rains, you can stop at the Montoya’s Bakery booth,” Nick offered. “We’ll have a ton of hot chocolate and warm apple cider. Of course, in the morning, we’ll have fresh warm donuts. And there’s biscotti in the afternoon.” He folded his arms and smiled.

  Charlotte felt like he was looking only at her. Maybe he’d be able to get away from working at his parents’ booth long enough to go on a couple of rides with me. She crossed her fingers as he walked away from the table.

  “I really hope it doesn’t rain. Everything would be ruined.” Katani sighed. “I was looking forward to seeing how the craft people market their stuff. I thought maybe next year…I mean, if I got my act together, I might be able to have a booth at the festival to sell my Kgirl accessories.”

  “Well,” Maeve said, “if anybody our age could do that, it would definitely be you.”

  “Personally, I’m looking forward to the arcade games,” said Avery, slurping her hot cocoa with her spoon. “I rock at the ball toss! And I heard they’re going to have a real batting cage. I can’t wait to try it out. In fact, it might be better if it does rain! Less of a line!” Avery picked up her spoon, held it like a bat, and pretended to hit a home run.

  “I adore carnivals,” Maeve said with a dreamy sigh. “I just saw Carousel with Gordon MacCrae and Shirley Jones…”

  Avery dropped the spoon to the table. “Who?”

  “Don’t tell me you never heard of Gordon MacCrae and Shirley Jones!” Maeve was aghast.

  “Is this one of your old-time black-and-white silent movie things?” Avery asked.

  “No…it’s a musical. In Technicolor! I love the carousel scene…it’s dreadfully romantic. ‘I hope I never fall in love on a carousel,’” Maeve quoted dreamily.

  “Promise me you won’t sing tomorrow,” Avery said. “It might improve your chances.”

  Maeve threw a piece of biscotti at a grinning Avery.

  “Just promise me it won’t rain tomorrow,” Katani said.

  “If it does…I’ll sing ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ instead and dance just like Gene Kelly,” Maeve replied.

  “You mean like the little elephant in the GE commercial?” Katani asked. “My sister Kelley loves that commercial. She doesn’t watch programs, she watches commercials. T
he singing, dancing elephant is one of her favorites.”

  “I love that elephant!” Avery exclaimed.

  “It’s almost as cute as Gene Kelly,” Maeve added.

  “Who’s she?” Avery asked.

  “He!” Maeve stressed. “Geesh, Avery. Gene Kelly was a totally famous dancer and actor. Everyone in Hollywood knows him.”

  “Whatever, Maeve…not everybody lives above a movie theater,” Avery said.

  “I don’t want to do ANYTHING in the rain—and that includes singing,” said Katani, who detested getting wet. “What about you, Charlotte? Will you go if it rains?” she asked.

  Charlotte pondered this for a moment, then replied, “If it rains, I’ll probably stay home and work on my article for the Sentinel. It’s due in a week.”

  “That’s not a bad idea!” Isabel said. “I have three cartoons due for the paper and I haven’t even started thinking about them.” Isabel’s cartoons were a big hit in school. She even had a growing fan club that included several teachers.

  “Did you get an interesting assignment for your article, Charlotte?” Maeve asked.

  “Not really.” Charlotte moaned. “I suggested a piece on that ninth grader Hilary Tamarack who’s involved with the rescue of animals from hurricane areas. Her group rescued lots of dogs and cats and brought them to the Boston area in search of new homes after that last big hurricane.”

  “I heard about that,” Avery said. “Those poor animals.”

  “I know,” Maeve said. “It makes me think of how horrible it would be if Marty were lost in a flood.”

  “There are thousands of lost and abandoned pets up for adoption. Maybe we should adopt a friend for Marty. What do you think, Charlotte?” Avery asked.

  “I’m already pushing it with Marty, Ave,” Charlotte said.

  Marty, the Beacon Street Girls’ mascot, was a wiggly, cuddly, always getting into trouble, but so cute he got away with it, dog. The BSG found Marty in the park at the beginning of the school year when the girls were just getting to know one another. Avery wanted to keep him for herself, but her mother was allergic to dogs. That’s how the little dude came to live with Charlotte in the first place.

  “Boston rescuing hurricane pets—I think that’s a really cool idea for your article,” said Avery.

  “Yeah, but I’ve been assigned a piece on the upcoming International Club dinner instead,” answered Charlotte.

  “How come?” Maeve asked.

  Charlotte shrugged and looked down at her hands.

  “Because,” Isabel interjected, “Jennifer Robinson took the idea that Charlotte proposed. She wants to use it as the cover story, and SHE’S going to write it.”

  “No FAIR!” Avery growled.

  “She can’t do that,” Katani said, slamming her hand on the table.

  “She’s the editor and an eighth grader,” Charlotte said with a shrug, “so she gets to decide who writes what.”

  “Well, I think it’s kind of mean of her,” huffed Maeve.

  “I think…” Isabel stumbled for words, “…I think Jennifer is a little jealous of Charlotte if you ask me. And I bet she’s embarrassed because Ms. Rodriguez said she was disappointed with the quality of the writing from the eighth-grade staff, except she was full of praise for Charlotte.”

  “Really?” Maeve’s eyes widened. “Our little Charlotte. Pray tell…what did Ms. Rodriguez have to say?”

  “Maeve!” Charlotte wasn’t sure she wanted everyone to hear the story, but Isabel was already telling what happened.

  “Well, Ms. R likes to recap the most recent issue at the beginning of our Sentinel meetings. Also, she tries to focus on one aspect of journalism. Well, last time, we focused on interviews. She said that Charlotte was the only one who had nailed the assignment.”

  “Well…that’s not exactly how she put it…” Charlotte said, blushing.

  “No, what she actually said was that everyone could learn a lot from the only seventh-grade feature writer,” Isabel proudly reported.

  Charlotte could feel her ears burn bright red from embarrassment, but she also felt a rising swell of pride inside.

  “Really? She said that?” Katani asked.

  “Yeah. Jennifer was steaming,” Isabel said.

  “Oh?” Charlotte asked. “I missed that.”

  Isabel turned to Charlotte. “That’s because you were sitting behind her,” Isabel said. “It was pretty obvious that she was…well, jealous. She then gave Charlotte what she thought was the worst assignment for the last issue. She told her to interview the janitor,” Isabel explained.

  “And the article turned out to be awesome,” Maeve said.

  “Yeah,” Katani said. “Mr. Hewitt is an interesting man. I can’t believe he was a flier in Vietnam and helped build the World Trade Center in the seventies.”

  “I think that’s why she took your new idea for herself,” Isabel noted.

  “Well, whatever her reason, I have to find a way to make the International Club dinner sound exciting,” said Charlotte.

  “So, let me get this straight. You’re not going to the festival if it’s still raining?” Avery asked.

  “I didn’t say that. I said MAYBE I’d work on my article instead,” Charlotte clarified.

  “Well, I think we should go rain or shine, like Nick suggested,” Avery added.

  “I guess if I wore something a little more weather-friendly, it wouldn’t be too bad,” Katani said, inspecting her pants for water marks.

  “Come on…who cares? What’s a little rain? I mean none of us is going to melt or anything,” Avery retorted.

  “Not unless you’re the Wicked Witch of the West,” Maeve pointed out.

  “And we’re not,” Isabel responded quickly.

  “We should definitely get there early!” said Maeve.

  “Yeah! Before all the donuts are gone,” Avery suggested.

  “Good idea,” agreed Charlotte.

  The girls gathered up their things and headed for the door.

  As Maeve buttoned up her raincoat and stuffed her red hair into the hood of her jacket, she started humming “Singin’ in the Rain.”

  By the time they were ready to leave, all the girls were humming madly.

  “Can I borrow your umbrella?” Maeve asked Charlotte.

  Curious, Charlotte handed it over. And before she knew it, Maeve jumped into a Gene Kelly dance sequence. She hooked the end of the umbrella around the lamppost, swung around the post, and deftly landed back onto the sidewalk.

  “Let me try that,” Avery said holding out her hand.

  Katani looked down at her wet pants in dismay. “Can we save the dance lessons for a time when it’s NOT pouring out?” she asked.

  “Okay…okay…just one more…” Avery said, swinging out over the gushing water and landing easily back onto the sidewalk. “You try it, Charlotte.”

  “I don’t think…” Charlotte started.

  “Come on, it’s easy!” Avery did it again.

  Charlotte had to admit that it did look easy and fun, too. She grabbed the closed umbrella and hooked the end around the light pole. Launching herself across the water, she swung up and out. But, the umbrella slid down and off the pole, and Charlotte toppled into the gutter and the rushing water with a splash.

  “Oh gosh! Charlotte, are you all right?” Maeve asked, kneeling on the curb.

  “So much for singing in the rain,” Charlotte said as the water swirled around her. “I’m singing in the gutter.” The klutz-factor had kicked in again. Unfortunately, not only was Charlotte sitting in a torrent of water, but when she looked up she could see Nick standing in the window of the bakery watching her. Yikes! Somehow that boy always seemed to catch her at the worst possible moment.

  “Come on…let’s get Twinkle Toes out of the gutter and on her way home to dry clothes.” Katani giggled, offering Charlotte her hand. Isabel rushed forward and the two of them hauled Charlotte out of the gutter.

  Charlotte didn’t dare look back at
the bakery window. She hoped that by now Nick was taking an order or washing down the counter or doing SOMETHING else besides watching her humiliating escapade.

  Breathe, breathe, Charlotte. No one ever died from embarrassment, Charlotte whispered under her breath. Did they?

  This was something her father told her all the time. He had to be right, because if people died of embarrassment, she would have died back in France when the billy goat tore the bottom from her pants…and she had to walk home from school with everyone knowing she had on days-of-the-week underwear that said “Sunday”—and it was Wednesday!

  CHAPTER

  2

  No Fair!

  Katani was surprised to find herself in an empty house when she arrived home. Her Grandma Ruby, the principal at Abigail Adams Junior High, had stayed late at school with her sister Kelley. Her parents were both still at work, and her sister Patrice was probably at basketball practice. “Wow, it’s all mine.” She hugged herself and twirled around.

  Katani was the youngest in a family of four girls. Her family sometimes teased her about being the baby, which was funny because Katani was the tallest of them all. Even though she was the youngest, Katani sometimes felt that she had the most responsibility. After all, she was the one who spent more time looking after her sister Kelley than anyone. Not only did they both go to the same school, but they also shared a room. When Avery first heard about Kelley being autistic, she’d rolled her eyes and said, “Yeah, I hate being around those artsy types.”

  “Not ARTISTIC,” Katani stressed. “AUTISTIC.”

  Then Katani had patiently tried to explain to her friends about a disability that even the experts still don’t completely understand. She always described it the way Grandma Ruby did. As we grow, most of us learn to filter out most of the things our senses pick up. That way we can learn to focus on what’s important to us. Autistic people have a faulty filter system. They live in a blizzard of sights, sounds, smells, and textures, so ordinary situations can become very overwhelming. Kelley was especially sensitive to sound and color.