Princess Angelica, Junior Reporter by Monique Polak

Author:Monique Polak
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459823600
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2019-11-30T16:00:00+00:00

After lunch we head to the library. Joon and I want to borrow a DVD to watch later. But we can’t agree on the kind of movie we want to see. I want a comedy. Joon wants a horror movie. “Maybe,” I suggest, “we can manage to find something in between.”

We’re not the only kids who want to watch a movie today. Lots of kids are milling around, talking about movies they have seen and movies that are supposed to be good.

When one of the assistant librarians comes over, I think it’s because she wants us to whisper. At the old library we weren’t allowed to raise our voices. Somehow everything about this library feels different. The assistant librarian just wants to know if there are other movies we want the library to order.

Because there are so many kids looking for movies, Joon and I go downstairs to visit the rare-books room.

The room smells like old paper. There are several glass cases with books inside. I spot an old copy of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, opened to the first page. “Look,” I say to Joon, “it’s signed by the author!”

“That book must be worth a fortune,” Joon says. “No wonder the library keeps it under glass.”

We hear someone in the hallway just outside the room. It’s Eloise. She has a pile of posters hanging over one arm.

“Jelly and Joon!” she says when she sees us. “I’m glad you came. There’s something we need to talk about, Jelly.”

“Do you want to talk to Jelly about how she saved the day and found your mother’s missing earring?” Joon asks.

“No, it isn’t that,” Eloise says. The way she is looking at me makes me think something is wrong.

Eloise puts her posters down on one of the display cases. “Is it true, Jelly, that you’ve won many awards for your newspaper stories?”

“I don’t like to boast,” I say, “but yes, I have won a few awards.”

“You have?” Joon says. “You’ve never mentioned that before.”

“I don’t like to boast,” I say again.

“What kinds of awards have you won?” Joon asks.

“I won the…”—I have to think quickly—“the award for most promising young journalist in Canada. And also an award for investigative reporting.”

“That’s amazing,” Joon says. “I’m so proud to be your friend, Jelly.”

“Investigative reporting?” Eloise is watching my face in a way that makes me nervous. “I heard that Angelica Ledoux won a national newspaper award for writing feature stories.”

“Feature stories,” I say. “I don’t know why I said investigative reporting. I meant feature stories.”

“What did it feel like to win such an important award?” Joon asks.

“It was amazing,” I tell her. The story is bubbling in my head the way soup or spaghetti sauce bubbles on the stove. “There was a prize banquet in Toronto. I went there by train. First-class, of course. I had three strawberry milkshakes.”

“Did you get motion sickness?” Joon asks.

“Not at all,” I tell her.

Eloise shakes her head. “I smell something suspicious.”

“All I smell is old paper,” I say.

Eloise picks up one of the posters and unrolls it.

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