Read Online An-Ya and Her Diary by Diane René Christian - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Diane René Christian
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Anyway, they all talked to me like I was their friend. I just listened and said—
Nice to meet you .
Levi has dark brown hair that falls over his eyes a lot. When he talks, he sweeps his hand across his forehead and brushes his hair off of his face. His eyes are bright blue and when he looks at me, it makes my ears burn.
98
Dear Penny,
The other thing that happened yesterday was this girl who showed up at our house. I was standing in the kitchen and I heard Angel Bones begin to bark. If a stranger comes to the door, Angel Bones gets excited and has this big loud bark. I don’t know how such a loud bark comes out of such a little dog. Anyway, I went to the door, and there was a girl my size with dark brown skin and lots of hair braids that were tied with green bows.
What’s up? —She said
I said— The sky.
Daddy told me that joke, and this girl thought it was the funniest thing she ever heard. She laughed and laughed and said—
You must be An-Ya. I’m your new neighbor. My name is Sitka Bailey and I live down there.
She pointed down the hill toward the lake. I asked her how she knew my name, and she said that her family met Wanna at the market and Wanna told them that I would be thrilled to have a neighbor my own age.
What? Why would Wanna say that?
I asked the girl about her name…Sitka. What did it mean?
She said that her mommy gave birth to her under a gigantic tree that was called a Sitka spruce. Her Mommy wanted Sitka to grow up big and strong just like the beautiful tree.
I asked the girl what her mommy was doing giving birth to her under a big tree. She said her parents were out hiking and that was when she was born. She said that she was born a preemie and was small. Preemie was a new word to me. Sitka said preemie means born early. She said that her daddy and mommy were doctors, so it was no big deal. They knew what to do.
Sitka asked me what my name meant, and I told her. In Chinese the An means peaceful and the Ya means elegant.
I never told someone the meaning of my name before. My name means something.
Sitka said it was a cool name, and I told her that her name was interesting too. Oh, Sitka also really likes Angel Bones, and Angel Bones seems to like Sitka too.
99
Dear Penny,
Today Sitka came over and asked if I wanted to go for a walk. I asked Wanna and she said that it was fine as long as I took Ellie too. It didn’t seem fair to me, but I wanted to get out of the house, so I took her.
Sitka changed her hair bows to red to match her shirt. I asked her if it hurt having her hair in all of those braids. She said it hurt when her mommy was braiding it, but after it was finished, it wasn’t too bad. I told her that I was growing my hair out and maybe I would try braiding it when it got a little longer. She said she would teach me and that it was easy to do, but since I was Chinese and not African, I might look dumb with a lot of braids. I agreed. It would probably look dumb.
I told Sitka that people in China don’t ever see people who look like her with such dark skin and that people in China like their skin really white. Sitka asked me if I thought the same thing—if I thought it was better to have really white skin. I lied and I said no.
It was hard to have a good conversation with Sitka since Ellie was constantly interrupting and Angel Bones was pulling me all over the place. I really need to teach Angel Bones how to walk on the leash better.
Sitka likes Ellie and holds her hand and gives her piggy back rides and tells her jokes. I don’t know why she likes her so much, but Sitka makes me laugh too, so I will just deal with it. Everyone seems to like Sitka. I don’t know what it is about her, but it is hard not to like her.
100
Dear Penny,
Today Daddy had a talk with me and Ellie. We sat on the sofa and he said that he had some bad news. He said that our family was having money problems. Daddy said that a lot of people were having money troubles in America and that meant
Nice to meet you .
Levi has dark brown hair that falls over his eyes a lot. When he talks, he sweeps his hand across his forehead and brushes his hair off of his face. His eyes are bright blue and when he looks at me, it makes my ears burn.
98
Dear Penny,
The other thing that happened yesterday was this girl who showed up at our house. I was standing in the kitchen and I heard Angel Bones begin to bark. If a stranger comes to the door, Angel Bones gets excited and has this big loud bark. I don’t know how such a loud bark comes out of such a little dog. Anyway, I went to the door, and there was a girl my size with dark brown skin and lots of hair braids that were tied with green bows.
What’s up? —She said
I said— The sky.
Daddy told me that joke, and this girl thought it was the funniest thing she ever heard. She laughed and laughed and said—
You must be An-Ya. I’m your new neighbor. My name is Sitka Bailey and I live down there.
She pointed down the hill toward the lake. I asked her how she knew my name, and she said that her family met Wanna at the market and Wanna told them that I would be thrilled to have a neighbor my own age.
What? Why would Wanna say that?
I asked the girl about her name…Sitka. What did it mean?
She said that her mommy gave birth to her under a gigantic tree that was called a Sitka spruce. Her Mommy wanted Sitka to grow up big and strong just like the beautiful tree.
I asked the girl what her mommy was doing giving birth to her under a big tree. She said her parents were out hiking and that was when she was born. She said that she was born a preemie and was small. Preemie was a new word to me. Sitka said preemie means born early. She said that her daddy and mommy were doctors, so it was no big deal. They knew what to do.
Sitka asked me what my name meant, and I told her. In Chinese the An means peaceful and the Ya means elegant.
I never told someone the meaning of my name before. My name means something.
Sitka said it was a cool name, and I told her that her name was interesting too. Oh, Sitka also really likes Angel Bones, and Angel Bones seems to like Sitka too.
99
Dear Penny,
Today Sitka came over and asked if I wanted to go for a walk. I asked Wanna and she said that it was fine as long as I took Ellie too. It didn’t seem fair to me, but I wanted to get out of the house, so I took her.
Sitka changed her hair bows to red to match her shirt. I asked her if it hurt having her hair in all of those braids. She said it hurt when her mommy was braiding it, but after it was finished, it wasn’t too bad. I told her that I was growing my hair out and maybe I would try braiding it when it got a little longer. She said she would teach me and that it was easy to do, but since I was Chinese and not African, I might look dumb with a lot of braids. I agreed. It would probably look dumb.
I told Sitka that people in China don’t ever see people who look like her with such dark skin and that people in China like their skin really white. Sitka asked me if I thought the same thing—if I thought it was better to have really white skin. I lied and I said no.
It was hard to have a good conversation with Sitka since Ellie was constantly interrupting and Angel Bones was pulling me all over the place. I really need to teach Angel Bones how to walk on the leash better.
Sitka likes Ellie and holds her hand and gives her piggy back rides and tells her jokes. I don’t know why she likes her so much, but Sitka makes me laugh too, so I will just deal with it. Everyone seems to like Sitka. I don’t know what it is about her, but it is hard not to like her.
100
Dear Penny,
Today Daddy had a talk with me and Ellie. We sat on the sofa and he said that he had some bad news. He said that our family was having money problems. Daddy said that a lot of people were having money troubles in America and that meant
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