The Great Peach Experiment 1, Erin Downing [books to read romance .TXT] 📗

pools or outdoor pools, do you think?”

Dad stared at him blankly for a moment. Then he whistled, and said, “It seems I forgot to tell you the best part of this trip!” Freddy had a feeling Dad’s best part was going to be anything but. He turned to witness Lucy’s reaction to whatever Dad was about to say. “We’re going to be camping this summer! It’s much cheaper than staying in hotels, so our fun money will last longer. Plus, this way, we can be footloose and fancy-free, and we’ll sleep under the stars each night. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

“We’re camping?” Lucy asked. Freddy coughed to hide a laugh. The look on his sister’s face was priceless! “For real?”

Dad grinned. “Indeed. Some of my fondest memories from childhood are from the summer camping trips my cousins and I took. Every night, we found a new place to call home. We’ll set up shop in campgrounds where we can sleep beside lakes or rivers, and I’m pretty sure there are even a few campgrounds with outdoor pools. So, Herb,” he said, barreling on, “your summer goal to swim every day is perfectly valid. My hypothesis is, that should be doable.”

Freddy quickly spoke up. It was clear that Lucy needed a few minutes to collect herself after Dad’s latest surprise. “I’ve got a goal. So, there’s this app Ethan told me about that helps you find really cool, hidden roadside attractions—stuff like the world’s largest ball of twine. Did you know there’s not one, but two huge cherry pie pans we could stop and see in Michigan? And get this: there are, like, ten giant Paul Bunyan statues around the country. Maybe we could get that app on your phone and make it a goal to stop and see some of the weird stuff we pass along the way?”

“What a wonderful way for us to enjoy the journey!” Dad crooned.

Freddy snorted out a laugh. Their dad was acting like a total goof; for the first time in two years, he was full of smiles and enthusiasm. Freddy loved it.

Dad added, “That’s a fun goal, Freddy. Your mother would definitely like that idea.”

Freddy felt his face flush. He had to choke down the bite of pie he’d just popped into his mouth. “What about you, Lucy?” he asked, hoping to shift the attention to his sister.

Dad nodded. “Yes. Lucy: Do you have a goal for our trip? What do you want to do this summer, more than anything?”

“No goal,” she muttered. “Honestly, the only thing I wanted was to have a normal summer. My goal would be to go to the pool with my friends, and hang out in hammocks by the rose garden, and go on bike rides with lots of ice cream stops. And I want time to sit around and read, without any other stuff getting in my way.” She sighed and dropped her fork on the counter, where it landed with a plunk. “But it looks like I’m going to be standing around in a hot truck, making pies instead.”

“Interesting,” Dad said, seemingly oblivious to Lucy’s frustration. “Now, regarding this reading goal: can you be a little more specific? I’m sure you understand the importance of setting clear goals with definable outcomes, Lucy. Vague goals don’t get you anywhere.”

“Fine,” Lucy huffed. “My goal is to read every book on the seventh-grade summer reading list, even though my language arts teacher told us we only have to read two. Is that clear enough for you?”

“Perfectly,” Dad said with a distant smile. “Now…who’s ready for more pie?”

Suggested Reading List for Incoming Seventh Graders

– The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

– Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

– The Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix

– Refugee by Alan Gratz

– The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

– The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall

– One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

– Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mulally Hunt

– The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart

– Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder

– Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed

– A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

– Rebound by Kwame Alexander

– March by Jon Lewis

– The Seventh Wish by Kate Messner

– The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman

– The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

– Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

– Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O’Dell

– Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan

– Ghost by Jason Reynolds

– Genesis Begins Again by Alicia D. Williams

– Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling

– A Night Divided by Jennifer A. Nielsen

– Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan

– The Ethan I Was Before by Ali Standish

– Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

– Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George

– The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson

– Front Desk by Kelly Yang

4

  HIDDEN TREASURE

Herb’s tummy hurt. Though the youngest Peach had always liked pie, now that he’d been eating it for almost two hours straight, he didn’t think he ever wanted to eat it again. Unfortunately, Dad had announced that the Peaches would be eating nothing but pie for the next month, and no one could tell if he was joking or not. Dad wasn’t a joking kind of guy.

Herb had always believed a day filled with dessert alone would be delicious, but after just one morning shoving his face full of gooey, sticky peach pie, he was actually craving something not-so-sweet. At times like this, when he’d had too much sugar and his belly felt squirmy, he thought about one of his mom’s favorite sayings: “When life gives you lemons, make iced tea.”

Herb loved that his mom had always looked at things a little differently than the rest of the world. She said that lemonade—the star of the original saying, When life gives you lemons, make lemonade—was too sweet for her taste. (Herb agreed, but if he was being honest, he didn’t much like iced tea, either.) A few years ago, Herb and his siblings had gotten Mom’s