Read Online Amber Brown Is Feeling Blue by Paula Danziger - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Paula Danziger
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sounds funny.”
I nod. “He is … or, he was. I’ve only seen him twice since he moved to Paris … once in England … and a couple of weeks ago, when he came back to see about his new job … and to see ME. But we talk on the phone all the time, and he says that when he moves back, he’s going to spend a lot of time with me … he’s going to take me on trips, to the movies, to lots of places … and when he gets an apartment, it’s going to have two bedrooms so that I will always have a place to stay with him. And I can pick out all new furniture and decorate it the way I want.”
“Cool.” Brenda takes a sip of her strawberry milk. “You’re so lucky.”
I look at Brenda and think about how she has no father because he was killed in a car crash almost a year ago, before I knew her.
She looks sad.
I reach over and pat her on her hand. “When Dad moves back, I’m going to ask him if you can do some stuff with us … not as my Amber-sitter, but as my friend.”
Brenda puts her hand on top of mine. “If I had a sister, I’d want her to be just like you.”
“Me too,” I say. “If I had a sister, I’d want her to be just like you.”
I pat her hand again and then stand up. “I’ve got to get something. I’ll be right back.”
Running up the stairs to my room, I open my closet door, and take a box off the top shelf.
I haven’t shown it to anyone else yet. It’s like it was my own little secret, my own little private special thing.
There’s no way I can show it to my mom.
I don’t think she’s going to like it.
There’s no way I can show it to Max, the guy my mom is going to marry.
I don’t think he’s going to like it either. I think he’s gotten used to being the only grown-up guy in my everyday life.
Rushing down the steps with it, I put the box on the table, and open it up.
Inside is the “Countdown to Dad” book, which I got in the mail last week.
My dad made it for me.
It’s made out of construction paper and has four pages.
The first is the cover. On it, he’s written “Countdown to Dad” and drawn lots of hearts.
The other three pages are made up to look like a weekly calendar, with numberedsquares. The numbers go from twenty-one to zero. In each square is a picture of Dad and me. There’s also a tiny box where I can check off each day when it’s over. The firstphoto is of the day when he and Mom brought me home from the hospital when I was a baby. Mom took that picture (and most of the others). The rest of the pictures also show Dad and me together. As the countdown goes on, I get older and Dad gets balder. The next-to-last picture is labeled “One more day until I’m back and can hug my little girl.” It’s a picture that Aunt Pam took of my dad and me when we were in London. I have chicken-pox scabs on my face. The last picture is one that Brandi took of my dad and me at the bowling alley, when he was here to visit and work out moving back.
On the “Zero Square,” he’s written “Reunion” and he’s drawn more hearts.
Only fourteen more days to check off…. I can’t wait.
Chapter
Two
I, Amber Brown, have just seen a ghost.
Actually, I’ve just seen three ghosts.
Actually, I’ve just seen three ghosts, two werewolves, fourteen superheroes, five princesses, one devil, seven skeletons, six headless people, and a partridge in a pear tree.
I, Amber Brown, am dressed as a crayon and am handing out Halloween candy.
After school, my friend Brandi and I did our trick-or-treating, and I got three bags of stuff. So now I’m helping my mom hand out treats, and I’m still wearing my crayon costume, the one that I made all by myself.
When I was growing up, I hated my name, hated being teased about being the shade of a crayon, and I never would have dressed as a crayon.
Now that I’m in fourth grade, I, Amber Brown, am proud of my name.
It’s a very colorful name for a very colorful person…. That’s what my mom always tells me. I like
I nod. “He is … or, he was. I’ve only seen him twice since he moved to Paris … once in England … and a couple of weeks ago, when he came back to see about his new job … and to see ME. But we talk on the phone all the time, and he says that when he moves back, he’s going to spend a lot of time with me … he’s going to take me on trips, to the movies, to lots of places … and when he gets an apartment, it’s going to have two bedrooms so that I will always have a place to stay with him. And I can pick out all new furniture and decorate it the way I want.”
“Cool.” Brenda takes a sip of her strawberry milk. “You’re so lucky.”
I look at Brenda and think about how she has no father because he was killed in a car crash almost a year ago, before I knew her.
She looks sad.
I reach over and pat her on her hand. “When Dad moves back, I’m going to ask him if you can do some stuff with us … not as my Amber-sitter, but as my friend.”
Brenda puts her hand on top of mine. “If I had a sister, I’d want her to be just like you.”
“Me too,” I say. “If I had a sister, I’d want her to be just like you.”
I pat her hand again and then stand up. “I’ve got to get something. I’ll be right back.”
Running up the stairs to my room, I open my closet door, and take a box off the top shelf.
I haven’t shown it to anyone else yet. It’s like it was my own little secret, my own little private special thing.
There’s no way I can show it to my mom.
I don’t think she’s going to like it.
There’s no way I can show it to Max, the guy my mom is going to marry.
I don’t think he’s going to like it either. I think he’s gotten used to being the only grown-up guy in my everyday life.
Rushing down the steps with it, I put the box on the table, and open it up.
Inside is the “Countdown to Dad” book, which I got in the mail last week.
My dad made it for me.
It’s made out of construction paper and has four pages.
The first is the cover. On it, he’s written “Countdown to Dad” and drawn lots of hearts.
The other three pages are made up to look like a weekly calendar, with numberedsquares. The numbers go from twenty-one to zero. In each square is a picture of Dad and me. There’s also a tiny box where I can check off each day when it’s over. The firstphoto is of the day when he and Mom brought me home from the hospital when I was a baby. Mom took that picture (and most of the others). The rest of the pictures also show Dad and me together. As the countdown goes on, I get older and Dad gets balder. The next-to-last picture is labeled “One more day until I’m back and can hug my little girl.” It’s a picture that Aunt Pam took of my dad and me when we were in London. I have chicken-pox scabs on my face. The last picture is one that Brandi took of my dad and me at the bowling alley, when he was here to visit and work out moving back.
On the “Zero Square,” he’s written “Reunion” and he’s drawn more hearts.
Only fourteen more days to check off…. I can’t wait.
Chapter
Two
I, Amber Brown, have just seen a ghost.
Actually, I’ve just seen three ghosts.
Actually, I’ve just seen three ghosts, two werewolves, fourteen superheroes, five princesses, one devil, seven skeletons, six headless people, and a partridge in a pear tree.
I, Amber Brown, am dressed as a crayon and am handing out Halloween candy.
After school, my friend Brandi and I did our trick-or-treating, and I got three bags of stuff. So now I’m helping my mom hand out treats, and I’m still wearing my crayon costume, the one that I made all by myself.
When I was growing up, I hated my name, hated being teased about being the shade of a crayon, and I never would have dressed as a crayon.
Now that I’m in fourth grade, I, Amber Brown, am proud of my name.
It’s a very colorful name for a very colorful person…. That’s what my mom always tells me. I like
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