Amelia Bedelia & Friends Blast Off! Read online

  Dedication

  To Andy and Sarah,

  my favorite space cadets

  —H. P.

  For Ellie and Ben, with love!

  —L. A.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Chapter 1: A (Shooting) Star Is Born

  Chapter 2: You Wished Upon a Star . . .

  Chapter 3: . . . Now Here You Are!

  Chapter 4: Planets on Parade

  Chapter 5: Remember Mnemonics!

  Chapter 6: To Florida for Fun

  Chapter 7: Not Wishy-Washy

  Chapter 8: Interplanetary Sleepover

  Chapter 9: To Saturn for Science

  Chapter 10: A Very Happy Landing

  Chapter 11: Less Moon, More Stars

  Two Ways to Say It

  Saturn Cake Pops

  About the Author and Illustrator

  Back Ads

  Acknowledgments

  Copyright

  About the Publisher

  On Monday morning, every single girl in Mrs. Shauk’s classroom found an invitation on her desk. Except for Amelia Bedelia. She didn’t need to invite herself.

  Amelia Bedelia and her friends talked about the sleepover all week, until Friday finally rolled around and the sleepover was in full swing.

  The back door flew open, and Amelia Bedelia’s mother stepped outside holding a tray full of treats. “Is everyone ready for dessert?” she called.

  “Yes!” cried Amelia Bedelia and her friends.

  “Are we having s’mores?” Daisy asked eagerly.

  “We haven’t had dessert yet!” said Amelia Bedelia. “How can we have some more?”

  “Not some more,” said Daisy. “S’mores!”

  Amelia Bedelia’s mother set down the tray full of marshmallows, chocolate bars, and graham crackers on a log by the campfire.

  “You can’t have some more s’mores until you have your first one,” Amelia Bedelia said. “So let’s go find some roasting sticks!”

  Amelia Bedelia and her friends scattered, everyone searching the backyard for the perfect stick to toast a marshmallow. It had to be the just the right length. Too long and your marshmallow might fall off into the fire. Too short would put you way too close to the flames.

  After getting into a tug-of-war with her dog, Finally, over what both of them thought was the perfect stick, Amelia Bedelia joined her friends around the campfire. She gazed at their faces, glowing in the firelight. She had invited all the girls in her class to the backyard sleepover, and to her delight, everyone was there. Even Angel, who didn’t like sleepovers very much. And Penny, who was going to have to wake up super early for her Saturday morning science class, had been determined to come anyway. Candy was the most excited. Amelia Bedelia guessed she hadn’t gone to a lot of backyard campout sleepovers in Chicago, where she used to live.

  Joy, who liked her marshmallows only lightly toasted, finished her s’more first. With a contented sigh, she leaned against a log and looked up at the sky. “Hey, I see the Big Dipper!” she said, pointing. “That’s my favorite constellation.”

  Holly shook her head. “Don’t you remember from science class?” she said. “What Ms. Garcia said was that the Big Dipper is actually an asterisk.”

  Heather laughed. “No it isn’t,” she said. “An asterisk is a symbol shaped like a star. It’s used to note something in writing.* Ms. Garcia was talking about a group of stars, usually part of a constellation. She called it an asterism.”

  “That’s right,” said Dawn, nodding. “It’s part of the constellation called Ursa Major.”

  “That means ‘great bear’ in Latin,” added Angel. “People back then thought that it was shaped like a big bear.”

  Amelia Bedelia squinted at the night sky. She could definitely make out the bowl and the handle of the Big Dipper. But a bear? She just didn’t see it. Maybe a squirrel, if she almost closed her eyes.

  Amelia Bedelia’s mother poked at the fire with a stick. Red-hot embers drifted into the air, and Amelia Bedelia watched them, transfixed. “The Big Dipper can help you find the North Star,” Amelia Bedelia’s mother said. “See the two stars on the outside of the Big Dipper’s bowl? They point to the North Star. It’s the brightest star in the Little Dipper.”

  That reminded Amelia Bedelia of something. “The North Star is also called Polaris!” she exclaimed. That was the name of her cabin at Camp Echo Woods, where she had gone last summer.

  Now Amelia Bedelia’s father joined them. “You’re right,” he said. “And did you know that from Earth, Polaris doesn’t appear to move? The rest of the sky in the Northern Hemisphere seems to circle around it as the Earth rotates. That’s because the Earth’s axis points almost directly to Polaris.”

  He glanced at the fire. “Well, it’s either time to add another log or to put it out,” he told them. “Which one is it?”

  Amelia Bedelia’s mother yawned. “I’m certainly sleepy,” she said. “Maybe it’s time for you ladies to start getting ready for bed. I’ll make sure the tents have enough stakes.”

  “Steaks?” repeated Amelia Bedelia. “It’s too late to start grilling, and we’ve already had dessert.” She shrugged and led her friends inside to wash their sticky hands and faces, put on their pajamas, and brush their teeth. By the time they came back outside, the sky had grown even darker and there were more twinkling stars to look at.

  “We’re heading in, girls,” said Amelia Bedelia’s mother. “It’s time for us to hit the hay.”

  “I thought you were tired,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  “I am very tired,” said her mother.

  “So go straight to sleep now,” said Amelia Bedelia. “The hay can wait until tomorrow to be hit.”

  Her mother gave her a good-night kiss. “Sleep well, pumpkin,” she said. “Good night, girls! Don’t stay up too late!”

  Amelia Bedelia looked at the sky, awash with stars. “Hey, I have an idea,” she said to her friends. “Before we get into our tents, let’s stretch out on our sleeping bags and look up at the stars.”

  Everyone liked that plan. They unrolled their sleeping bags, spread them out on the grass, and lay down.

  “Where’s that North Star again?” asked Holly, once everyone was settled.

  Amelia Bedelia turned on her flashlight and shined it into the heavens, the way she had learned at Camp Echo Woods. “Right there,” she said, pointing her beam of light at Polaris.

  The girls stared intently at the sky. The only sound was the crickets.

  “Do you think they can see us shining flashlights at them?” whispered Angel.

  Penny raised up on one elbow to look at Angel. “They?” she said. “Who is they?”

  “You know,” said Angel. “Whoever lives on those stars.”

  “You know that our sun is a star, right?” Penny said. Angel nodded. “And that all of those stars you see up there are even bigger and hotter than our sun?”

  “Oh. Really?” said Angel.

  “So that means no one can live on them,” Penny explained. “It’s impossibly hot.”

  “Would you get a really bad sunburn?” Angel asked.

  “Way worse,” said Penny, sitting up completely. “Think of the worst sunburn you’ve ever had, times a trillion.”

  Even though that was hotter than hot, that thought sent a shiver through Amelia Bedelia’s body. Even her hand holding the flashlight trembled. It wobbled and sent a bright beam of light right into her parents’ bedroom. Her father opened the window and leaned out. “Are you guys okay?” he called down to them.

  “We’re fine,” said Amelia Bedelia. “We’re doing a little sta
rgazing.” She aimed her light at him and he held up his hand, shielding his eyes.

  “Be careful!” he called. “Don’t shine your flashlights in a Martian’s eyes. He might crash his flying saucer. Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite!”

  “Daddy, we’re in sleeping bags!” said Amelia Bedelia. “That’s impossible!”

  It was quiet again and the crickets chirped louder than ever.

  “Do you think there’s life on other planets, like Mars?” asked Heather. “Or in other galaxies?”

  Amelia Bedelia shrugged. “Maybe,” she said.

  Just then a big bright light streaked across the whole sky, from one side to the other.

  “Ooooooooh!” The girls all gasped together.

  “What was that?” Rose asked.

  “A spaceship?” said Dawn.

  “Are aliens invading?” said Angel.

  “That was a shooting star!” Amelia Bedelia exclaimed. “The biggest one I’ve ever seen.”

  “And now we all get to make a wish!” added Heather.

  Amelia Bedelia squeezed her eyes shut. But what should she wish for? She usually wished for a dog, but now she had Finally. She couldn’t really think of anything. . . .

  Suddenly she had an idea. She decided to wish for a perfect score on her next test. She smiled and made her wish official by opening her eyes again.

  “Is everyone done?” she asked. Her friends all nodded. Then they gathered their sleeping bags, and after a little bit of discussion about who would sleep in which tent, they settled in. Amelia Bedelia, Holly, and Heather were in one tent; Dawn, Daisy, Joy, and Penny in another; and Candy, Angel, and Rose in the third.

  Amelia Bedelia snuggled into her sleeping bag. She was warm and cozy. She could feel her eyelids growing heavy.

  “Amelia Bedelia?” Heather whispered.

  “Yes?” Amelia Bedelia whispered back.

  “Someday I’m going to find out if there is life on other planets!” she said.

  “That would be out of this world,” said Holly sleepily.

  Amelia Bedelia nodded. “Yup, it certainly would be,” she said. Then she fell asleep.

  When Amelia Bedelia walked into the classroom on Monday morning, Candy rushed right over to her.

  “Guess what?” Candy said.

  As Amelia Bedelia slipped her backpack off her shoulders, she took a wild guess. “Ummmm . . . you lost a tooth?”

  Candy gave Amelia Bedelia a funny look. “No. My wish came true!”

  “Really?” squealed Heather from across the room. “That’s amazing!”

  “What did you wish for?” asked Amelia Bedelia.

  Candy pointed to the whiteboard.

  “You wished that we’d have pizza for lunch?” said Amelia Bedelia, reading the day’s announcements.

  “No, not that,” said Candy. “That.” She pointed to another section of the board, where Mrs. Shauk had written:

  “Whoa!” said Candy. “My wish was to go to the planetarium!”

  “Wow,” said Amelia Bedelia. “That’s amazing!”

  “My wish came true, too!” said Daisy. “I wished I could see my grandma, and guess what? My parents said we’re taking a trip to see her next month!”

  “That’s so great!” said Amelia Bedelia, smiling from ear to ear. Those wishes had been made in her backyard. She felt kind of responsible.

  After lunch Amelia Bedelia and her friends headed to gym class.

  “Afternoon, everyone,” said their teacher, Ms. Chase. “Today we are going to play dodgeball. First we’ll split up into two teams, so we’ll need two captains.”

  Cliff and Clay immediately shot their arms up. Ms. Chase shook her head. “You two were team captains last week,” she said. “How about Pat and . . .” She looked around. “Joy?”

  Joy gasped and turned to Amelia Bedelia, her eyes shining. “That was my wish!” she whispered. “I’ve never been picked to be team captain before!”

  “Amazing,” said Amelia Bedelia.

  Quickly Joy assembled her team, which included Amelia Bedelia, and led them to victory.

  Joy had a huge grin on her face. “That was part of my wish too!” she said.

  After gym, it was time for science class. As Amelia Bedelia settled into her seat, she noticed that Ms. Garcia had drawn the solar system on the whiteboard using colored markers. Saturn looked especially pretty with its multicolored rings.

  “Let’s sum up what we learned about space last week,” Ms. Garcia began. “I’ll start with an easy one. Wade, you live on . . .”

  “Cranberry Lane,” he answered.

  “A little less specific,” said Ms. Garcia. “I was looking for the planet.”

  “Oh, sure! Planet Earth!” said Wade, sounding slightly embarrassed.

  Ms. Garcia continued. “As we discussed last week, our solar system is made up of one star, which we call the sun, and all the objects that revolve around it and are held in its gravity. That consists of eight planets and five dwarf planets, plus various moons, and assorted space debris left over from when our solar system was formed. And our solar system is just one small part of our galaxy. Does anyone remember what our galaxy is called?” she asked.

  “It’s on the tip of my tongue,” said Chip.

  Amelia Bedelia turned around and stared at Chip. His mouth was closed, so she could not see what was on his tongue, the tip or elsewhere.

  “I’m pretty sure it has something to do with chocolate,” Chip said.

  Ms. Garcia laughed. “That’s a good way to remember it,” she said. “Can you recall what kind of chocolate?”

  Heather raised her hand. “The Milky Way?” she said.

  “That’s right!” said Ms. Garcia. “There are around 100 billion stars in the Milky Way, which is only one of trillions of galaxies. So that will give you an idea of just how many stars there are in space.”

  “Wow,” said Joy. “Just wow.”

  Angel raised her hand. “So how does a star become a shooting star?”

  Ms. Garcia shook her head. “Would you believe that a shooting star isn’t actually a star? It’s a meteor.”

  “I can’t believe it!” said Skip. Then he thought for a minute. “Um, what’s a meteor?”

  “A meteor is a space rock that enters the Earth’s atmosphere,” explained Ms. Garcia. “It gets really hot as it travels and starts to burn up, and as it burns, it leaves a glowing trail behind it.”

  “Do meteors ever reach the Earth?” Penny wondered.

  “Occasionally meteors are so big that they do make it all the way down to Earth before they completely burn up,” said Ms. Garcia. “Those are called meteorites. They have a fine specimen at the planetarium. We’ll see it this Friday!” She clapped her hands together excitedly. Clearly, she was as thrilled as Amelia Bedelia and her friends about their upcoming field trip.

  The bell rang, and Ms. Garcia positioned herself by the door. “Don’t forget to bring in your permission slips!” she called as everyone trooped out. “Also, we’ll be having a test on our solar system on Monday.”

  As Amelia Bedelia headed out of the classroom, she crossed the fingers on both hands for good luck. A science test! She hoped that her wish would come true next.

  At last Friday morning arrived. Amelia Bedelia, her friends, and Ms. Garcia were standing in front of Fisher Planetarium, waiting for Mrs. Shauk, who was inside getting their tickets. Amelia Bedelia craned her neck to look up at the big building.

  “We’ve got an hour before we head into the planetarium for the show,” said Ms. Garcia. “You’re in for a treat!”

  A treat! This was good news to Amelia Bedelia. Breakfast felt like a long time ago already, and a snack sounded like an excellent idea.

  Penny poked her in the back. “Look at my new sneakers!” she said, pointing proudly at her feet.

  “Super cool,” said Amelia Bedelia, admiring her friend’s bright pink high-tops.

  Penny nodded. “They’re what I wished for!” she s
aid.

  “Oh, wow,” said Amelia Bedelia. So many of their wishes were coming true! She wondered whose wish would be next.

  “We’re all set,” said Mrs. Shauk, joining them. “Now, I expect everyone to be on their best behavior today. Let’s file in, please. One at a time. No pushing!” Slowly the class shuffled past her as they headed inside. “That’s right,” said Mrs. Shauk. “Keep filing, keep filing.”

  Cliff was behind Amelia Bedelia in line. He laughed. “Keep filing,” she heard him say under his breath. “That’s how the Hawk gets her nails so sharp.”

  Amelia Bedelia glanced at Mrs. Shauk’s pointy, blood-red fingernails and nodded. They sure looked sharp.

  “Nails?” scoffed Cliff. “When you’re the Hawk, they’re called talons!”

  “Shhhhh! No talking. Keep filing,” said Mrs. Shauk.

  Amelia Bedelia stepped inside. Her stomach growled, but she didn’t see any snacks.

  “Excuse me,” she said to a security guard. “Where are the treats?”

  “There is no food allowed in the exhibit area,” the guard replied.

  Amelia Bedelia’s stomach growled at the guard, loud enough to make him look around for the noisemaker.

  Amelia Bedelia was disappointed, but not for long. The planetarium had gotten a spiffy new update since her last visit, and there was so much to see. Large, colorful models of the planets hung from the soaring ceilings. There was a meteorite to touch and a moon rock to admire—so many cool-looking interactive exhibits that she didn’t know what to do first.