I crossed my arms and stared up at the top bunk. It was over. Good Luck had left me in the dust. I was all alone now. It was just me, Clara Lee.
I made a list in my head. It was called “Bad Things That Happened to Me Today.”
But the thing was, when I really thought about it, it wasn’t an altogether bad day. Some good stuff happened too. I couldn’t just forget about the good stuff. So then I made a list that was called “Good Things That Happened to Me Today.”
I figured the speech and friendship counted for more than fish soup and a hot wing fight. Maybe the good and the bad balanced each other out. Maybe there was no such thing as good or bad luck days. Maybe every day had good and bad things, and that was just the way it went.
That night, I slept and at first nothing happened. But then… I dreamed the Good Luck dream! It happened all over again, but it was a little bit different this time. There was Grandpa and me, walking to the barber shop. There was the Mustache Man, coming up behind us in a chariot, and then he threw an apple at Grandpa’s head and then Grandpa fell right over. Just like before.
When I woke up, my heart was beating so crazy, it felt like there was a pony prancing around in my chest. I almost leaped out of bed to check on Grandpa. And then I remembered. Grandpa wasn’t even the tiniest bit dead. He was only dream-dead. Besides, I didn’t think anybody could die in real life from being hit in the head by an apple.
Maybe it was just a dream. What if Max was right, and there was no such thing as good or bad luck?
But maybe not. Maybe it was a sign. And maybe, just maybe, Good Luck existed after all.
All morning, I couldn’t stop tapping my fingers and feet.
My teacher Ms. Morgan said, “Clara Lee, what’s got you so worked up today?”
I smiled at her and shrugged mysteriously. She’d know why soon enough.
Ms. Morgan smiled at me and went back to writing on the chalkboard.
Then I turned to Shayna and whispered, “I can’t wait for the big announcement!” I felt like a happy red balloon floating high in the sky.
She nodded quickly and looked back at the chalkboard.
“I really think I could win,” I continued. “So far it’s been my perfect Lucky day. Just look how good my braids are today—”
“Clara Lee! Shh!” Shayna whispered back. “I don’t want to get in trouble!”
I felt like Shayna had pricked me in my stomach with a needle. Suddenly I was a droopy red balloon with the air all sucked out. I didn’t always get Shayna in trouble, did I?
“Sorry,” I whispered.
She ignored me and copied what Ms. Morgan was writing on the chalkboard. I sighed and started copying too. I didn’t know if I could wait a whole day to find out if I was going to be on the float or not. But I guessed I’d have to.
The day crawled by slower than a caterpillar up a tree. It was the exact opposite of the day before. Reading, lunch, P.E., music, social studies. And then, at last, it was finally, finally time for afternoon assembly in the auditorium.
As we waited for Mr. Charlevoix to make the big announcement, Shayna said, “Good luck, Clara Lee.”
That is why Shayna is my best friend. Because she knows how to forgive.
“Thank you, Shayna,” I said.
Then we hooked pinkies and waited. Dionne was sitting in the row in front of us, and she turned around. “Good luck, Clara Lee.”
She gave me a sympathetic smile, like she’d already won. Maybe she already had. Since her family was so important, her mom was probably on the Apple Blossom committee. Maybe Dionne had inside info. She said, “I wish both of us could win. But if everybody got picked to be on the float, then who would be in the audience, right?”
“That’s true,” I said sourly. “Your speech was really good.”
“Thanks,” she said. She said thanks like she was used to saying it all the time, like she was used to hearing how great she was.
“Weren’t you nervous getting up in front of everybody?” I asked her. “I sure was.”
Dionne shook her head, and her curls bounced around. “Not really. I sing in my church choir all the time. I’m used to the spotlight. I was named after a famous singer. Celine Dion? Have you ever heard of her?”
“No,” I said.
“Well, my mother loves her and so do I. My mother says I have a voice like an angel and it brings people joy when I get up onstage and sing. So I try to do it whenever I can.”
When she turned back around, I wanted to yank the red ribbon out of her hair, but I didn’t. Shayna gave my pinky a squeeze, which made me feel better.
Mr. Charlevoix went up to the stage. He was holding the red sash and the apple tiara. He set them down on the podium and then he straightened his tie and cleared his throat. “Ahem. I think we all learned a little something about what makes our town so très special yesterday. Everyone did a magnifique job with the Apple Blossom Festival speeches. But there can only be one Little Miss Apple Pie. It is an honor indeed.”
Mr. Charlevoix always used such fancy words. I wished he’d just get down to business and tell us who was gonna be on that float tomorrow.
“Without further ado…”
I held my breath, and Shayna and I tightened pinkies.
“This year’s Little Miss Apple Pie is third grader Clara Lee!”
I couldn’t believe it. I really couldn’t. I felt like I might faint. Dionne looked like she was going to faint too. Shayna grabbed my arm and said, “Clara Lee, you did it!”
“Come on up, Clara Lee,” Mr. Charlevoix called out.
I hugged Shayna and then I walked up to the stage. Mr. Charlevoix put the sash on me and he placed the crown on my head. “Congratulations,” he said. “We’ll all look out for you on the float tomorrow.”
Mr. Charlevoix patted me on the back so I would go back to my seat.
But I didn’t go back to my seat. Instead, I went up to the podium. Into the microphone, I said, “Thank you for honoring me with this award, Mr. Charlevoix and teachers of Bramley Elementary School. Thank you most of all to my grandpa, who is at home right now, and to my best friend Shayna Wilkerson. I couldn’t have won this without her help.”
Shayna waved at me from her seat, and I waved back. Then I saw Dionne, and her mouth was in the shape of an O. I felt a teeny bit bad for her, even after all the mean stuff she said to me the other day. So I went ahead and gave her a friendly little wave too. She waved back. She looked sour about it, but at least she waved.
“You can go sit down now, Clara Lee,” said Mr. Charlevoix, smiling at me.
I bowed. I felt like the luckiest girl in the whole world. I felt like a candle on top of a birthday cake, burning oh-so-bright. Right then and there, I decided that from then on, I was making my own luck.
On the morning of Apple Blossom Festival, I woke up extra early. I got my red dress out of the closet and I tried to put it on, but it was a lot more complicated than I remembered. I got my arms in the jacket sleeves, but I couldn’t figure out how to tie the bow.
So I crept over to Mom and Daddy’s room and knocked on the door.
“Mom! I need your help,” I whispered loudly.
I kept on knocking until Mom came out. Her eyes were only halfway open, but even with halfway open eyes, she figured out my dress and got me looking good.
“Pretty girl,” she said.
“Thanks, Mom,” I said, and then I ran downstairs to the kitchen. I toasted myself an English muffin and poured myself an extra-tall glass of milk. I was going to need it today.
When Daddy came downstairs in his jogging clothes, he said, “Check out Little Miss Apple Pie! You look great, Clara.”
“Thanks, Daddy.” I was eating a piece of peanut butter toast, my specialty. “Daddy, you’re not gonna wear that, are you?”
Daddy looked down at his T-shirt he got for free from the bank. “You don’t like my outfit?” He made a sad face, but I knew he was just fooling.
“Just making sure,” I said. ?
??I want everybody to look good.”
Grandpa came downstairs then, wearing a red sweater-vest and a turtleneck and his good jeans. He clapped his hands when he saw me. “Clara-yah, you look like beautiful!”
“So do you, Grandpa,” I said. “Daddy, look at what Grandpa’s wearing.”
Grandpa smiled and said to my dad, “You gonna change, right?”
Daddy threw his hands up in the air and said, “I’m just going for a quick run! I’ll change when I get back, I promise.”
“You better hurry, Daddy. I’ve got to be on that float by 9 AM.”
“Okay, okay, I’m going.” Daddy gave me a kiss on the cheek, stole a bite of my peanut butter toast, and went out the back door.
“Now, down to business,” Grandpa said. “How we gonna do your hair?”
“I’m thinking two French braids would look best with my tiara,” I said. I put the tiara on. “What do you think?”
Grandpa looked me over, very serious-like. “I agree. Two braids is best.”
When Emmeline came downstairs with Mom, she was wearing her red dress with the navy blue jacket, almost the exact same as mine. I opened my mouth to yell. And then she said, “Clara Lee, when I’m in third grade, I want to be Little Miss Apple Pie just like you.”
Mom said, “You girls look adorable.”
I closed my mouth and sighed. So what if we were wearing almost the exact same dress? It was Apple Blossom Festival, and I was Little Miss Apple Pie, and that was plenty good enough.
My family dropped me off at the floats, and they said they’d be standing near Cooper’s Drugstore, and to be sure to wave extra hard. Emmeline said I should throw her extra candy, and I said I would. Grandpa said to stand tall.
I climbed up the float, careful not to scratch my red tights. Miss Apple Pie was there wearing a long red dress, and it was silky. Her hair looked stiff, like she’d used a whole can of hair spray, and boy, was her apple tiara beautiful up close. “Hi there,” she said. “So you’re my little helper.”
I felt shy all of a sudden. I wasn’t used to hanging out with high school girls and adults. The mayor was on the float too; he was up front fixing the banner. “Uh-huh,” I said.
“I love your dress,” she said. “Where did you get it?”
I smoothed the skirt proudly. “My grandpa bought it for me in Korea.”
“Wow! I’ve barely even left Bramley,” she said, and I could tell she was really impressed and not just pretending to be impressed because I was a kid. “That’s very cool.”
I smiled big and held out my hand. “I’m Clara Lee, American as apple pie.”
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Discussion Guide
1. Clara Lee declares that “Fall is a time of change” (here). Do you agree with Clara Lee’s statement? How does her life change during the book? Does your life change each fall?
2. The Apple Blossom Festival is an event unique to Clara Lee’s town. Why does her town have the Apple Blossom Festival every year? Does your town or school have a unique event similar to the Apple Blossom Festival? If so, what makes it unique and what is being celebrated?
3. Clara Lee is Korean American. What did you learn about Korean American culture from reading this book?
4. Clara Lee has a scary dream (here). Why does this dream scare her so much, and why is she reluctant to tell her grandpa about it? What does her grandpa say her dream means? Do you think there is meaning to be found in dreams?
5. What events occur in Clara Lee’s life that she considers good luck? Clara Lee’s friend Shayna tells her, “My grandma says we make our own luck” (here). What does Shayna’s grandma mean by this? Whom do you agree with, Clara Lee or Shayna’s grandma, and why?
6. Why does Clara Lee want to be Little Miss Apple Pie? What scares her about trying out for Little Miss Apple Pie? Why does she decide to try out? Have you ever talked in front of an audience? Were you scared? How did you get through it?
7. What does Dionne say to Clara Lee on the playground? How does Dionne make Clara Lee feel? From what Dionne said, do you think Clara Lee deserves to try out for Little Miss Apple Pie? Why?
8. Clara Lee decides that her Little Miss Apple Pie speech will be about what makes her town special. What makes your town, or neighborhood, special and what do you like most about it?
9. Why does Clara Lee get upset with her sister at the dinner table in chapter 12? How would you have handled the situation if you had been Clara Lee?
10. Clara Lee has the scary dream again in chapter 14. How does it affect her this time?
11. Clara Lee meets Miss Apple Pie on the float. How does Miss Apple Pie make Clara Lee feel? Has anything ever happened to you that made you feel the same as Clara Lee?
Contents
COVER
TITLE PAGE
WELCOME
DEDICATION
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
DISCUSSION GUIDE
COPYRIGHT
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
Copyright © 2011 by Jenny Han
Illustrations © 2011 by Julia Kuo
Discussion Guide copyright © 2011 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream Discussion Guide prepared by Ellen Greene
Cover art © 2014 by Julia Kuo
Cover © 2014 Hachette Book Group, Inc.
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at
[email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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Hachette Book Group
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Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.
First ebook edition: January 2014
ISBN 978-0-316-24307-0
E3
Jenny Han, Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream
(Series: # )
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