Stella Diaz Has Something to Say Read online

  “Have you ever wanted to know what lives in the sea?” I see Ben, Lauren, and a bunch of kids nod their heads. “Well, today I’m going to tell you!”

  As usual, Nick was right about the first minute. It does get much easier! I point out all nineteen fishes on my submarine. I made more fishes than I had to for the project. With fishes with names like blobfish and wahoo, I just couldn’t help it. I get excited the more and more I talk, and when I’m done people actually applaud! I immediately run to the back to hug Mom.

  “Fantástico, Stella,” she whispers. She stays to watch Stanley’s presentation, which is pretty great, too.

  Stanley uses monkeys from the Barrel of Monkeys game to make a mobile and printed out facts about monkeys on banana shapes. Plus, he is really funny in his ape costume. He even makes monkey noises. I clap loudly for him when he finishes. He certainly didn’t need the cookies.

  Lauren’s presentation is also good. She brought in her uncle’s parrot like she said she would. But it turns out the parrot doesn’t talk, he just whistles. She still has to talk the whole time, so I make sure to smile and give her the thumbs-up while she presents.

  Jessica’s presentation is the most boring. She reads her presentation from her notebook and just flips through a slideshow of different horses. Like usual, Jessica doesn’t seem nervous at all, but I realize maybe that’s not always good. Maybe it’s good sometimes to be nervous about things because you’ll work harder at them.

  At the end of the school day, Ms. Bell hands us our grades on our projects. She gives me three gold stars and an A plus plus plus. She also wrote Wahoo, like the fish I mentioned during my presentation, on top, next to a smiley face.

  I grab my cheeks because my face hurts from smiling so much. I just can’t stop! Not only did I speak out loud in front of the whole class, I did it well. Today, I really lived up to my name. I really was an Estrella.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Even though it’s summer and we’ve finished our animal projects, I still like reading about marine life. My new favorite is the sea otter, mostly because I loved seeing several of them at the Shedd. It also doesn’t hurt that they look like teddy bears with thick, soft fur. While researching them, I found out that when they sleep, they hold on to each other’s paws so they have someone to protect them.

  I’m too old to hold hands, but if I were a sea otter I would have many people to hold paws with. I’d hold paws with Nick, Mom, Jenny, and my family in Mexico. I even think Stanley and I would be sea otter amigos. Jenny and I are also talking about doing a sleepover with Anna and Isabel. I’ve never done a sleepover that big before.

  For me, summer doesn’t officially start until my family walks to Oberweis to get ice cream. Of course we could drive there, but walking is more of an adventure. We pass through different neighborhoods where there are all types of houses. There are gingerbread-looking houses, big houses, and houses with pools. I like to imagine how different my life would be if we lived in one of those big houses. Then I look at Mom and Nick and I don’t want anything else. Our favorite game to play as we walk is spies. Mom always starts us off.

  “Okay, niños. Where is our big mission?”

  “Russia,” I say. In all the spy movies, they are in Russia.

  “Oh, good one!” says Nick. “I’ll be Boris.”

  “Call me Natasha,” I say.

  Mom laughs. Then we pretend we’re being chased. We run in between houses, and Nick tells the dogs to be quiet while we tiptoe. By the time we get to Oberweis, we’re dying for ice cream.

  I usually order lime sherbet with nuts, but today I want to try something different. I go with strawberry frozen yogurt with gummy bears. Nick always gets cookies and cream. Mom is crazy though. She likes to switch around. Sometimes it’s coffee, butter pecan, or chocolate. She puts her hand to her chin, pauses, looks at me, and says, “What do I look like?”

  “Without a doubt, butter pecan,” I answer.

  Nick rolls his eyes. “Why do I have to live with two loca ladies?”

  “We’re not crazy, we’re just creative,” I reply while crossing my arms. Then I put two little fingers above my head like an alien. Nick ruffles my hair.

  After our ice cream adventure, I meet up with Stanley and Jenny to ride bikes around the parking lot at the school.

  “Stella, can you ride your bike without holding the handlebars?” asks Stanley.

  “That’s scary!” I exclaim.

  Stanley and Jenny raise their arms for a second and howl.

  “It’s,” Stanley says, “F … U … N.”

  Jenny agrees. “Try it, Stella.”

  I feel sweaty as I lift up one arm and then the other. My arms are shaking, but it feels a little less scary than I thought.

  I let out a small howl. It feels great!

  I raise my arms higher above my head. Then Stanley and Jenny join me, and the three of us howl together.

  Author’s Note

  Stella Díaz Has Something to Say is based on my childhood. How much is true? Well, if I had to say, it’s 82.9 percent true, to be exact.

  Like Stella I struggled with my English and Spanish, took speech classes for three years, and had a Vietnamese best friend. I had a pretty good older brother, a fun mother, and a not-so-great dad. I was also born in Mexico and loved the library. I did not grow up near Chicago, but I just love the Shedd Aquarium. It’s my favorite aquarium. My brother’s name is Alejandro, not Nick, and my best friend’s name is Mimi, not Jenny. I do love fishes, but not as much as Stella does. The biggest difference between Stella and me is, unlike Stella, I love coffee and do not think it is gross at all.

  I wrote Stella Díaz Has Something to Say to share some of the wonderful memories of my childhood, but also to share some of the challenges of being different and the frustrations of being misunderstood. Like Stella, it took me a while to realize people are just people even if they seem cooler, smarter, or more interesting than you. You never know until you talk to them.

  More than anything, I hope that after reading Stella Díaz Has Something to Say, you might discover your own inner starfish. I know I did. Stella gave me the motivation to take Spanish classes and finally begin to feel comfortable with the language. Never forget that you’re so much stronger than you realize. You’ll be surprised by what you can accomplish.

  Acknowledgments

  I’ve always loved reading the acknowledgments in books. They are little windows into how a book was created. But mostly I read them hoping that, maybe one day, I’d be able to write my own.

  Well, amazingly, here I am writing them for the first time—and hopefully not the last!

  First, I’d like to acknowledge my dear friend Erika Lutz for reviewing the first drafts of this book when it was a picture-book dummy and for reading all my early stories back in San Francisco. She’s one of those people you can always count on, and for that she’ll be a lifelong friend. Second, I’d like to thank Linda Pratt, my literary agent. She gave me the confidence to return to my cast-aside picture-book idea about a shy girl named Stella and turn it into a chapter book. Without her and her priceless feedback, I’m not sure if I would have ever taken the plunge.

  Then I’d like to thank my amazing, extraordinary editor, Connie Hsu. I have to admit I was overwhelmed when she first suggested my story needed to be at least three times longer, but I’m eternally grateful she did. Thank you for working with me for nine months before the book was even under contract, and for all your guidance afterward, too. This book wouldn’t exist without you. Huge thanks to everyone at Roaring Brook, especially Kristie Radwilowicz, Elizabeth Holden Clark, Aimee Fleck, and Megan Abbate. A big shout-out to Ruth Chan and Eda Kaban for reading nearly every draft of the story (and there were many). Also, I have to thank my boyfriend, Kyle, for making me albóndigas and for his support while I worked on the final art.

  I must thank the following people who helped inspire this story: my lovable big brother, Alejandro, Chris Pollard, Mimi Le, Anna Gonzalez,
Isabel Roxas, my father, my teachers, and all the real-life Stanley Masons who made me turn roja.

  Last, the biggest thank-you goes to my mom. Thank you, Mom, for always believing in me, for reading every single draft, and for your strength, inspiration, and continued support. I love you more than I love albóndigas, and, as you know, that means a lot.

  About the Author

  Angela Dominguez was born in Mexico City, grew up in the great state of Texas, and now resides on the east coast. She is the author and illustrator of several books for children including Maria Had a Little Llama, which received the American Library Association Pura Belpré Illustration Honor. Recently, she received her second Pura Belpré Honor for her illustrations in Mango, Abuela, and Me written by Meg Medina. When Angela is not in her studio, she teaches at the Academy of Art University, which honored her with their Distinguished Alumni Award in 2013. She also enjoys presenting at different schools and libraries to all sorts of ages. Angela is a proud member of SCBWI, PEN America, and represented by Wernick and Pratt Literary Agency. As a child, she loved reading books and making a mess creating pictures. She's delighted to still be doing both. You can sign up for email updates here.

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Author’s Note

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Copyright © 2018 by Angela Dominguez

  Published by Roaring Brook Press

  Roaring Brook Press is a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership

  175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010

  mackids.com

  All rights reserved

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2017944674

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  eISBN 9781626728592

  First hardcover edition, 2018

  eBook edition, January 2018