“They said the story wouldn’t come out,” I told her. “I guess they knew what they were talking about. What does it say about Yin?”
She scanned the article until she found it. “ ‘Yae’s illness was attributed to exhaustion, and the thirteen-year-old wunderkind will recuperate indefinitely back home in Nanjing, China, where his parents are both music professors.’
“Wunderkind?” she said with a funny look. “I’m not sure what that is, but I think I want to be one.”
“Trust me,” I said. “You most definitely are.”
Later that week, Yin stopped by to tell us good-bye. We were at Margaret’s house practicing for the talent show, and he helped her make a few tweaks to the song.
“Are you happy with how everything turned out?” I asked.
“Very much,” he said. “The president himself worked it out with the ambassador. I finally get to go home and be with my family again. I get to be normal.”
Margaret laughed. “I hate to break it to you, Yin, but with your talent, you’ll never be normal.”
We all laughed.
“Everything worked out and I owe it all to you,” he said. “Both of you and Lucy. Thank you so much.”
“It was our pleasure,” I told him. “I’m only sorry we won’t get to hear you play anymore.”
“Maybe someday,” he said. “But before I go, I wanted to give you both something.”
He reached into his backpack and pulled out a pair of Baltimore Orioles baseball caps.
“Here you go,” he said. “Because now you are songbirds too.”
Hat or not, I didn’t exactly feel like a songbird two weeks later as I stood backstage the night of the talent show. Despite numerous practices, we hadn’t been able to quite figure out exactly what I should do while she played.
“Ready to go on?” asked Margaret. “We’re next.”
I looked around and came to the quick conclusion that the auditorium at Deal Middle wasn’t quite on par with the concert hall at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. But it was still exciting, and appropriate for the level of “talent” I was bringing to the stage.
“I think I’m ready,” I told her.
“Have you looked out into the crowd?” she asked. “It’s packed.”
We moved to a spot in the wings from where we had a good view of the audience.
“Our parents are sitting together,” I said, pointing to the four of them, Margaret’s dad ready to go with his video camera.
“And there are Marcus and Kayla,” she said. “Fourth row center.”
“Looks like a date to me.”
“Looks like one to me, too,” she said, and laughed.
Then she gave me a goofy smile.
“What?” I said.
“I keep waiting for you to notice something, but for a detective you sure do miss a lot of clues,” she replied. “Look up there.”
I looked into the balcony and saw a pair of people. They were just above the lights, so it took me a moment for my eyes to adjust so I could recognize the faces. It was Malena Sanchez and Lucy Mays.
“What’s she doing here?” I asked. “She hates me.”
Margaret shrugged. “ ‘Hate’ is a strong word. She was angry with you. But friends forgive each other. So maybe this means she’s a friend.”
“Imagine if the president’s daughter became my best friend,” I said.
She gave me a look—that Margaret look—and said, “I’m going to act like you never said that.”
I laughed. “I mean, second best friend.”
An eighth-grade magician finished his act and the stage manager signaled us to get onstage. We pushed the piano out to its position and Margaret sat at her bench.
“You know what friends do?” I asked.
“What?”
“They look foolish for each other.”
“Does that mean you’re going to do the interpretive dance?”
“Not that foolish!” I said.
Just then the curtain started to rise and the crowd applauded. The lights were blinding, but I wasn’t worried about getting lost. I just listened for my best friend on the piano and reminded myself to go with the flow and trust the river.
Acknowledgments
There are so many people to whom I am indebted for this wonderful adventure in writing books for kids. First and foremost is the team at Aladdin, led by my editor Fiona Simpson and publisher Mara Anastas, who have created an ideal environment that is supportive and creative, understanding and collaborative. Joining them in that endeavor is a roster of Simon & Schuster all-stars that includes: Lucille Rettino, Mary Marotta, Christine Pecorale, Michelle Leo, Anthony Parisi, Carolyn Swerdloff, Jodie Hockensmith, Shifa Kapadwala, Laura Lyn DiSiena, Tricia Lin, Stephanie Evans, and Paul Hoppe.
This book is dedicated to my amazing literary agent, Rosemary Stimola, who is to writers what Tom Hagen was to Vito Corleone. (Although, unlike Tom, she’s straight up Italian.) I’m so happy to be a member of the literal and figurative family that is the Stimola Literary Studio.
My quest for accuracy was greatly aided by principal James Albright and the wonderful faculty, staff, and students at Alice Deal Middle School. Also huge thanks to Taylor Hartley, Kim Peter Kovac, and the staff at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, as well as Gail Samuel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
None of this would have been possible if it weren’t for the incredible educators, librarians, and booksellers who fight the battle to get books into the hands of young readers. And it certainly wouldn’t have been near as much fun without the friendship, counsel, and input of coconspirators such as Laurie Halse Anderson, Stuart Gibbs, Wendy Mass, Andrea Beatty, Donna Gephart, Liesl Shurtliff, Christina Diaz Gonzalez, Lisa Leicht, Kevin Sands, Tyler Whitesides, and the incomparable Suzanne Collins. Writers rock and I am so lucky to have a place among them.
Most of all, I am thankful for the family that continues to be the reason and inspiration for everything in my world. How lucky I am that I get to spend my life with you.
About the Author
James Ponti grew up in Atlantic Beach, Florida, where his favorite book was From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg. He decided to become a writer during Mr. Prothro’s fifth-grade English class, and other than a few summers telling jokes as Davy Crockett at Walt Disney World, that’s all he’s ever done. He’s visited forty states and nineteen countries; written television shows for Nickelodeon and Disney Channel; and spent way too much time cheering the Boston Red Sox. He is also the author of the Dead City trilogy. James loves travel, writing, and watching mystery shows with his amazing wife. He lives with his family in Maitland, Florida.
ALADDIN
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ALSO BY JAMES PONTI
Framed!
The Dead City trilogy
Dead City
Blue Moon
Dark Days
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.
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First Aladdin hardcover edition August 2017
Text copyright © 2017 by James Ponti
Jacket illustration copyright © 2017 by Paul Hoppe
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Jacket designed by Laura Lyn DiSiena
Interior designed by Laura Lyn DiSiena and Steve Scott
The text of this book was set in Jansen.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ponti, James, author.
Title: Vanished! / by James Ponti.
Description: First Aladdin hardcover edition. | New York : Aladdin, 2017. |
Series: A Framed! mystery ; 2 | Summary: In Washington, D.C., twelve-year-old Florian Bates, a consulting detective for the FBI, and his best friend Margaret must uncover the truth behind a series of private middle school pranks that may or may not involve the daughter of the President of the United States. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2016041962 (print) | LCCN 2017013550 (eBook) | ISBN 9781481436335 (hc) | ISBN 9781481436359 (eBook)
Subjects: | CYAC: Mystery and detective stories. | United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation—Fiction. | Practical jokes—Fiction. | Preparatory schools—Fiction. | Schools—Fiction. | Washington (D.C.)—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Mysteries & Detective Stories. | JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General. | JUVENILE FICTION / Humorous Stories.
Classification: LCC PZ7.P7726 (eBook) | LCC PZ7.P7726 Van 2017 (print) | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016041962
James Ponti, Vanished!
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