Zara's Rules for Finding Hidden Treasure by Hena Khan

Author:Hena Khan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 2022-10-18T00:00:00+00:00

“Those? Well, not that much.” I hesitate. “But I still like looking at the pictures. And my mom and dad used to read those to me when I was little.”

“Fine. Do you still want those?” Naomi points to my stuffed animals piled in a corner.

“Well…” I shrug. “Kind of.”

“All of them?” Naomi asks.

“They’re a collection.”

“I get it.” Naomi flops down onto my bed. “When we moved, my mom made me get rid of so many toys I still wanted. She said we didn’t have the space for them.”

“What’d you do with them?”

“We donated some. And gave some to my younger cousins.” Naomi sighs. “Even though I didn’t play with all of them, I still wanted to keep them. I remembered having so much fun with them.”

“Did you tell your mom?”

“I tried to. But she said that it was time to let go. And she kept talking about Marie Kondo.”

“Who?”

“This lady who’s obsessed with cleaning and getting people to fight clutter. She says to only keep things that give you joy. You’re supposed to say goodbye to the rest.”

“You mean, like, throw them away?”

“No, you’re actually supposed to say, ‘Goodbye, puzzle. Thank you for giving me something to do on a rainy day’ or ‘Goodbye, old soccer cleats. Thanks for helping me score that goal,’ ” Naomi explains.

“Did you actually do that?” I ask. It sounds weird.

“No,” Naomi giggles. “I put the things I had to give away into a box and argued with my mom about the rest of it. I cried a lot because we were moving. And I was angry at Marie Kondo.”

I bet Naano would have some words for this Marie Kondo. The thought makes me giggle too. But as I study my room, I wonder if Naano feels the same way about her things as I do. Even if she doesn’t really need them anymore, maybe they still give her joy. And maybe that’s why she isn’t ready to let go of them yet.

“Can you say goodbye to this?” Naomi holds up a key chain shaped like a chili pepper from my nightstand that Mr. Chapman, our old neighbor, brought me from Budapest.

“No way. That’s full of joy. It’s so cute.”

“Goodbye to that?” Naomi points to the empty gumball machine on my shelf.

“I love that so much! It used to have joy in it, but I ate all the gumballs.”

Naomi moans. “So, what do you want to do, then?”

“Want to get a snack?” I ask her.

“Totally,” she agrees.

I grab her arm and link it in mine, happy to leave my room, and everything in it, exactly the way it is.

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