On Pins and Needles Read online

The congratulations kept coming. Zoey fell asleep to the glow of the laptop screen, dreaming of endless rows of fabric and twirling dress forms. Now that was awesome.

  Don’t miss a stitch . . . of the story!

  Turn the page for a sneak peek at the next Sew Zoey book:

  Lights,

  Camera,

  Fashion!

  To Thine Own Self Be . . . Blue?

  When I thought seventh grade would be so much better than sixth grade, I forgot that CERTAIN PEOPLE—mostly one certain person—would still think their job is to make life at Mapleton Prep difficult. Everyone always says you just have to ignore those people, but it’s not easy, because they’re in school every day. When I feel blue about it, Dad says I should follow Shakespeare’s advice and “Above all, to thine own self be true”, which is a fancy way of telling me to be myself and stop caring so much what everyone else thinks. It’s easy for him to say—he’s not in middle school.

  Speaking of being true to yourself, Aunt Lulu took me to see a Frida Kahlo exhibit at the art museum over the weekend. Her life was so sad, but her art, WOW! It jumped off the walls and hit you in the face as if it was saying, “This is me. Deal with it!”

  Anyway, what I loved the most was that her self-portraits showed off her style: She mixed and matched bright colors, paired embroidered square tunics with lace-trimmed skirts, and wore flowers or ribbons in her hair (which kind of made it look like she was wearing a crown, at least, to me.) I loved it all, and would give just about anything to go shopping in her closet. And I totally want to wear flowers in my hair from now on.

  I also want to go to Mexico someday to visit Frida Kahlo’s house, La Casa Azul. There are so many places I want to go! But the only place I can go right now is to bed. Dad just shouted “lights out” since it’s a school night. Feeling less blue already! Thanks for listening.

  “I think you’re going to love this one,” Ms. Brown said, winking at Zoey as she handed her a copy of the next class read. Zoey turned the book over. When she saw the title, The Misfits, her heart sank. Language Arts was her favorite class and her teacher, Ms. Brown, one of the few who seemed to really understand her. Did Ms. Brown think she was a misfit?

  Zoey turned to the description on the back of the book and scanned the synopsis, and she thought, “Okay, maybe it’s worth a try.”

  Just then the loudspeaker hissed to life. “Good morning, Mapleton Prep students,” Ms. Austen’s melodious voice crackled. “I have a special annoucement. The upcoming fall dance is going to be a Sadie Hawkins Dance.”

  From the murmurs of “What’s that?” and “Sadie who?” Zoey could tell she wasn’t the only one who didn’t know what that meant.

  “A Sadie Hawkins Dance is also called a Vice Versa dance, because instead of the boys asking the girls to the dance it’s vice versa. Tickets go on sale tomorrow,” Ms. Austen continued.

  The class erupted as soon as the announcement ended.

  “Why do we have to wait for the girls to ask us?” Joe Latrone complained. “That’s not fair!”

  “Do we have to ask a boy?” Shannon asked. “Can we just wait for them to ask us?”

  “You don’t have to ask a boy,” Ms. Brown told her. “You can go with a group of friends. And Joe, why is it any more fair for a girl to wait for you to ask her?”

  “I don’t know,” Joe shrugged. “That’s how it usually happens.”

  “Well, this time it’ll happen differently,” Ms. Brown said. “If we always stuck to the status quo, we’d still have slavery and women wouldn’t have the vote. Sometimes change is good.”

  Ms. Brown started class, but as soon they broke into their small group discussions, talk turned to the dance and what to wear. Ivy was in the group next to Zoey’s. Zoey heard her boasting that she had the perfect dress. Zoey wondered what that looked like.

  Suddenly Ivy turned around and said, “I bet you’re going to turn up in one of those stupid craft projects from your blog. That’ll attract a lot of dates!”

  Zoey lifted her chin and tried to ignore Ivy and the giggles she heard from the other kids in Ivy’s group, which hurt her just as much. She tried to remind herself of all the great comments she got about her designs from her blog readers.

  “I’ll go with Zoey,” said a voice. Zoey turned to see who it was . . . .

  Chloe Taylor learned to sew when she was a little girl. She loved watching her grandmother Louise turn a scrap of blue fabric into a simple-but-fabulous dress, nightgown, or even a bathing suit in an instant. It was magical! Now that she’s grown up, she still loves fashion: it’s like art that you can wear. This is her first middle grade series. She lives, writes, and window-shops in New York City.

  Nancy Zhang is an illustrator and an art and fashion lover with a passion for all beautiful things. She has published her work in the art books L’Oiseau Rouge and Street Impressions and in various fashion magazines and on websites. Visit her at her blog: www.xiaoxizhang.com. She currently lives in Berlin, Germany.

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  SIMON SPOTLIGHT

  Simon & Schuster, New York

  SewZoeyBooks.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  SIMON SPOTLIGHT

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  Copyright © 2013 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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

  SIMON SPOTLIGHT and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Text by Lara Bergen

  Designed by Laura Roode

  Jacket design by Laura Roode

  Jacket illustrations by Simon and Schuster, Inc.

  ISBN 978-1-4424-7936-4 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-4424- 7937-1 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4424- 7938-8 (eBook)

  Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2013935205