I paused and held up a finger. “And for the record, I didn’t actually spit on anyone.”
The audience laughed again, and it sounded so wonderful echoing off the walls. There was much more I wanted to say, about the struggles we’d gone through and the fears we were fighting just to be on that stage.
But the story wasn’t all mine to tell. Behind the heavy velvet curtain waited a crowd of talented and underappreciated actors, eager to share their voices.
It was time to let them speak.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” I said, the curtain creeping open behind me, “the Melodramatics of Carnegie Arts Academy are proud to be . . . Wicked.”
The orchestra blasted the opening chords over thunderous applause, and I ran offstage to let the show begin.
THE END
Jo Whittemore is the author of Front Page Face-Off and Odd Girl In, both with Aladdin M!X. She currently lives in Texas and is an active member of the Texas Sweethearts, a group of Texas-based children’s book writers that makes appearances at panels and conferences throughout the country.
Meet the author, watch videos, and get extras at KIDS.SimonandSchuster.com
WWW.JOWHITTEMORE.COM
ALSO BY JO WHITTEMORE
Front Page Face-Off
Odd Girl In
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN M!X
Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
First Aladdin M!X edition August 2012
Copyright © 2012 by Jo Whittemore
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
ALADDIN M!X and related logo are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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Designed by Hilary Zarycky
Cover designed by Jessica Handelman
The text of this book was set in Berkeley Old Style.
Library of Congress Control Number 2012938568
ISBN 978-1-4424-4152-1
ISBN 978-1-4424-4153-8 (eBook)