The Newsy News Newsletter by Karen English Read Free Book Online

the street they look. Nothing,
nada.
    "What are we going to do, Deja?" Nikki asks. "We have to get the newsletter done by tomorrow afternoon."
    "I don't know." Deja taps her forehead, as if that will give her an idea or two. "Let's see if we can go to the store."
    Deja goes into her house to get permission from Auntie Dee, and Nikki runs next door to her own house to ask her mother.
    "We have to walk directly there and directly back," Nikki says when she returns.
    "Yeah, that's what Auntie Dee said, too."

    They start toward Maynard and Mr. Delvecchio's market. Just as they are passing Antonia's house, the door opens and out comes Antonia's mother, her arms loaded with stuffed animals. She puts them in the trunk of her car, slams it closed, and gets in the driver's seat. She starts up the car and drives off, not looking at them once.
    "I know why Antonia hasn't been at school," Deja says excitedly.
    "How do you know?"
    "Don't you get it?" Deja asks. "Didn't you see what she just did?"
    "She put some stuffed animals in her trunk and drove away."
    "Right. She and Antonia have moved. She probably has to get those so Antonia will feel at home at their new place. Where she and Antonia live now."
    Nikki thinks about this.
    Deja goes on. "And now only Antonia's father lives there. That's why Antonia hasn't been at school. She's moved away."
    This kind of makes sense to Nikki, but there is just one question. "Why do they live somewhere else?"
    "Because they had a big fight and Antonia's mother is mad and Antonia is on her mother's side."
    "Antonia's parents had a big fight?" This
makes Nikki feel uneasy. She immediately thinks of her own parents.

    "A really big fight," Deja says with certainty.
    They walk back home in silence—a serious silence—but with a bag of hot chips from Mr. D's market between them.
    "We'll see if she comes to school tomorrow," Deja says.

    The next morning, they take their seats and watch the door of their classroom as each straggler walks in. Ralph is tardy as usual and is looking sheepish. He always ducks his head as he enters late. Then there is Ayanna coming in with a tardy slip extended toward Ms. Shelby. She's usually not late. "Where's your tardy slip, Ralph?" Ms. Shelby asks. He makes a U-turn back out the door. After a few moments, Nikki and Deja look at each other. No Antonia. This is news.
    As soon as the class is let out at recess, they make a beeline for the outdoor lunch benches. Those with snacks are confined to that area during recess.
    "Let's add Antonia to our list," Deja says. "Take out your pad."
    "What list?" Nikki asks, but takes out her pad anyway.
    "For our newsletter. We're going to put Antonia in it."

    As soon as they get home, Nikki makes an appearance at her house and then runs over to Deja's. They have work to do. First, they start with their headlines.

SNEAKY THIEF IN ROOM TEN!
BUG PROBLEM AT THE DENVERS'
NEW SCHOOL FOR ANTONIA
MISS IDA VISITS NIECE
(Deja heard this from Auntie Dee.)
STILL NO SKATEBOARDING FOR DARNELL
OVERPRICED FOOD AT SIMPLY
DELICIOUS HEALTH FOOD STORE
(Again, overheard from Auntie Dee.)
GREASY FOOD AT PUERTO NUEVO
    (Yet another item Deja overheard when Auntie Dee was on the phone with her friend Phoebe.)
    Deja looks over her headlines with a smile. She was the one who came up with them. Nikki is glad that Deja remembered a couple of choice items from Auntie Dee's telephone conversations with Phoebe to fill up the last part of the second page.
    They work until almost dinnertime, then print out a copy. Nikki looks it over and finds the typos and misspellings. Once Deja makes the corrections, she prints out the rest of the copies
in color. Auntie had replaced the color ink after puzzling over how fast it had been used up.

    "Auntie Dee," Deja says from the kitchen doorway. Auntie is chopping zucchini for a vegetable casserole.
    "What, honeybunch?"
    "Can we go out and deliver our newsletter? Just on this block," Deja adds quickly.
    "Newsletter?"