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FOR MY NIECE LAUREL MISA PARKISON, WHO SHARES JASMINE’S MIDDLE NAME AND SPUNK! —D.M.F.
FOR DRAGO, MY DAD (WHO TELLS ME TO KEEP PRACTICING) —E.V.
1
AN EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT
Bong bong bong bing!
Ms. Sanchez, my third-grade teacher, played the start-of-the-day song on her xylophone. Everyone in room 5, including me, sat up straight at their desk and got quiet.
“Happy Monday, class,” Ms. Sanchez said. “Buenos días!”
That means good morning. Ms. Sanchez was teaching us Spanish.
“Buenos días, Señora Sanchez,” I said along with my classmates.
“We have a special guest this morning,” she said.
Just then, Mrs. Tasker, our principal, walked into the room. Even though we were already sitting up straight, we all sat up a little straighter. The principal is like the boss of the school. If a student gets into trouble, he or she gets sent to the principal’s office.
I, Jasmine Toguchi, try hard to stay out of trouble. But sometimes trouble finds me. That’s what my mom says, at least. I like to climb my neighbor’s apricot tree, play dress up with my best friend, Linnie Green, make collages, and eat brownies without nuts. Sometimes I tear my jeans while climbing, lose track of time, get glue on the table, and leave crumbs on the floor. All things my mom wishes I wouldn’t do.
“Good morning,” Mrs. Tasker said.
“Good morning, Mrs. Tasker,” I said with the rest of the class.
She had a stack of papers in her hand. Was she giving us homework? I glanced at Ms. Sanchez for a clue. She was smiling. It couldn’t be a bad thing if she was smiling. Then again, she smiled when she gave us homework. She had a strange sense of what was fun.
“I have an exciting announcement,” Mrs. Tasker said. “This Saturday, we’re having a school-wide talent show. All of your families will be invited.”
Tommy Fraser raised his hand from the front row. “What’s a talent show?” he blurted out without waiting to be called on.
“I’m glad you asked, Tommy,” Mrs. Tasker said. “A talent show is when students can show off a special or fun talent. Like singing, or playing an instrument, or reciting a poem you wrote. Anything, really! You can choose to do something on your own, with a group, or with the entire class. I’ll let Ms. Sanchez help you make that decision.”
Linnie and I smiled at each other.
“Put on your thinking caps,” Mrs. Tasker said. “Fill out the form with your special talent and get a parent to sign it. The show will be in the auditorium on Saturday night.”
Wowee zowee! This sounded like fun! I had many talents. Which one would I choose to perform for the talent show?
2
LUNCH BREAK
After Mrs. Tasker left, Ms. Sanchez began the math lesson. I was so excited I couldn’t keep the numbers in my head. At least not in the way Ms. Sanchez wanted.
Ms. Sanchez wrote the number 4 on the board. I thought about four things I could do for my talent: pound mochi, make a collage, read from my favorite book, or make up a silly dance. I looked over at Daisy Wang. She took ballet lessons. Okay, so maybe I wouldn’t dance.
After our math lesson, Ms. Sanchez said, “Let’s review this week’s vocabulary words. Choose three words from the list and write a sentence for each one. Use your very best handwriting.”
I stared at my vocabulary list.
• ability: the skill to do something
• celebration: a joyous ceremony or gathering
• journey: a long trip
• pause: to stop for a short time before going on
• wisdom: knowledge and good sense
I chose three words, thought of sentences, and wrote them down:
I have the ability to do many things in the talent show.
I will pause in my schoolwork to think of what I can do in the talent show.
I have the wisdom to decide on my best talent.
The morning took forever to go by. I couldn’t wait to talk with my friends about the talent show. When lunchtime finally came, I sat with Linnie, Tommy, and Daisy, like I did every lunch.
Linnie opened her green unicorn lunch box and took out a peanut butter and peach jam sandwich, carrot sticks, and a juice box. She handed me her yogurt and I gave her my banana. I used to bring sandwiches every day, but when my grandma visited from Japan, she made omusubi. I loved eating the rice balls wrapped in nori, or seaweed. Now whenever we have leftover rice from dinner, Mom makes omusubi for my lunch the next day. Sometimes Mom puts a treat in the middle of my rice ball, like pickled radish or a piece of roast chicken.
Tommy unpacked his usual lunch of a turkey sandwich on wheat bread, potato chips, and an apple. We all turned to Daisy. Her mother was a baker, so Daisy brought the best desserts, and she always shared. Today, she had star-shaped cookies dusted with powdered sugar.
“I can make cookies like that,” Maggie Milsap said from the table next to ours. Maggie moved here to Los Angeles from Portland, Oregon, at the beginning of third grade. She didn’t know anyone at Drake Elementary. Ms. Sanchez said to be friendly with Maggie to make her feel welcome, but sometimes it was hard. Especially when she bragged a lot.
“What are you going to do for the talent show?” I asked my friends. Ms. Sanchez
