CONTENTS
Chapter 1: It’s a . . . Brushbot!
Chapter 2: What’s Your Talent?
Chapter 3: Out of Ideas
Chapter 4: Inspiration Strikes!
Chapter 5: Cereal Boxes and Jingle Bells
Chapter 6: A Leaky Disaster
Chapter 7: Starting All Over
Chapter 8: Practice, Practice, Practice!
Chapter 9: Four Surprises
Chapter 10: Rock On!
How to Make . . . A Cereal Box Guitar
'Tie-Dye Disaster' Excerpt
About the Author
Chapter 1
It’s a . . . Brushbot!
“Should we just . . . start?” Bella Diaz asked, glancing at her watch.
“Let’s wait a few more minutes,” Emily Adams suggested.
“Yeah,” agreed Maddie Wilson.
The three friends were at their craft clubhouse—formerly known as the old shed in Bella’s backyard. Usually, it was four friends, but Sam Sharma was nowhere in sight.
The craft clubhouse was filled with all sorts of materials the kids used for their crafty projects. They had a Sewing Station, where Maddie could often be found. There was a Coding Corner, with a computer that Bella had installed. Emily’s Carpentry Cabinet contained tons of tools, gadgets, and materials like nuts and bolts. And Sam’s Painting Pavilion housed different color paints and about a million brushes of different sizes.
But where was Sam?
“Sorry I am late!” someone shouted as the shed door flew open. There was Sam, breathless. “I had to clean my hamster’s cage. It takes forever!” he explained.
Maddie nodded sympathetically. “I know what that’s like,” she said. “I mean, having to do chores. It’s my job to set the dinner table every night!”
“You’re both lucky,” said Bella. “Since my dad is a chef, he uses every pot and pan when he cooks. And guess who has to clean up? But the other night, doing the dishes actually gave me an amazing idea for a new crafting project. Behold!”
Bella handed an object to each of her friends.
“Scrub brushes?” asked Sam, confused.
“Right now, yes,” said Bella. “But we’re going to transform them into: Brushbots!”
Bella opened her notebook to a diagram. “A Brushbot is a battery-powered scrub brush that can move on its own,” she explained.
“And sort of looks like a robot! That’s genius!” exclaimed Sam.
The first step was for each of them to attach a battery pack to a scrub brush. The kids continued working, carefully following Bella’s instructions.
“Before we decorate them, let’s try them out!” Bella suggested. “On the count of three. One, two . . .”
“THREE!” everyone yelled, flipping the switches.
Nothing happened.
“What did we do wrong?” Maddie asked.
“Maybe these batteries are duds?” suggested Emily.
Bella looked concerned. “But they’re brand-new,” she said.
“Are they the right kind of batteries?” asked Sam.
Bella pulled out a battery and examined it. Then she started to laugh. “I think I know what went wrong. You see how each battery has a plus sign at one end and a minus at the other?”
The other three nodded.
“Well, to make the connection, positive and negative need to be in the right positions. Once we do that . . .”
The friends rotated the batteries and flipped the switches. The Brushbots started working immediately!
Next they got to work on decorations. The hours flew by as they glued, sewed, and painted. When they were done, they set the Brushbots on a shelf to dry. Sam’s looked like a metal insect, with bug eyes and antennae cut from an old hanger. Maddie’s was wearing a beret and a coordinated outfit. Emily’s had nuts and bolts glued on in cool patterns. And Bella’s looked like a real robot, with electric wires wrapping around in all different directions.
“Bring on the dirty dishes!” said Bella.
Maddie laughed. “I think I like mine too much to use it for chores!” she admitted.
Emily and Sam nodded in agreement.
“You guys!” said Bella, though she knew her friends were right. Her Brushbot had turned out really cool too.
Looked like she’d have to keep doing the dinner dishes the old-fashioned way . . . for now.
Chapter 2
What’s
Your
Talent?
At school the next day, the kids gathered for the Monday-morning assembly. Onstage, their principal, Ms. Park, began announcements.
“I have some exciting news!” she said. “Mason Creek Elementary will be hosting a school-wide talent show. Students can participate on their own or in groups.”
Bella, Emily, Maddie, and Sam exchanged knowing looks. Sure, they would need to figure out what to do, but even without discussing it they knew they would work on their act together.
Principal Park continued, saying, “You can perform a song or a dance, read a story or a poem, juggle, or even help out backstage. This is an exciting event that will showcase the talents of our entire school community!”
At recess, the four friends gathered on the playground.
“What should we do for the talent show?” asked Maddie.
“Not singing, please,” said Bella. “I don’t even sound good when I sing in the shower,” she added with a sheepish smile.
“Not dancing, either,” said Emily. “My fancy footwork is strictly for the soccer field.”
“I’m going to twirl my baton,” their classmate Joelle said, marching by and flipping her baton into the air to demonstrate.
“I’m going to do magic,” proclaimed Lyle, another classmate. He pulled out a deck of cards and fanned them in front of the friends.
“And I’ll be his magician’s assistant!” said Lyle’s best friend, Cory.
Alana and Kai, two other classmates, came running up. “Maddie!” said Alana. “We’re going to write a play for the talent show. Would you do the costumes?”
Maddie was really flattered. “I’m sorry!” she said. “But I already have a group.”
“That’s okay! What are you guys doing?” asked Kai.
The four friends looked at each other.
“Well . . . we’re not sure yet,” Sam finally answered.
Kai frowned, then brightened up. “I’m sure it will be something great!” she said enthusiastically.
The school bell rang just then, and Kai and Alana hurried off.
“So . . . meet at the craft clubhouse after school?” Bella asked.
The other three kids couldn’t have said “Yes!” faster.
Chapter 3
Out of Ideas
That afternoon at Bella’s house, the four friends grabbed their go-to
