{"product_id":"the-list-of-things-that-will-not-change-isbn-9781101938126","title":"The List of Things That Will Not Change","description":"\u003cb\u003eEIGHT STARRED REVIEWS! The reassuring book kids and families need right now.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An absolute original . . . a story that kids will love.\" --R. J. Palacio, bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eWonder\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt a time when everything is changing for Bea and her family, the important things will always stay the same. A soon-to-be classic by the Newbery Award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eWhen You Reach Me.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter her parents' divorce, Bea's life became different in many ways. But she can always look back at the list she keeps in her green notebook to remember the things that will stay the same. The first and most important: Mom and Dad will always love Bea, and each other. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen Dad tells Bea that he and his boyfriend, Jesse, are getting married, Bea is thrilled. Bea loves Jesse, and when he and Dad get married, she'll finally (finally!) have what she's always wanted--a sister. Even though she's never met Jesse's daughter, Sonia, Bea is sure that they'll be \"just like sisters anywhere.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs the wedding day approaches, Bea will learn that making a new family brings questions, surprises, and joy, and readers will discover why the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ecalled Rebecca Stead a \"writer of great feeling.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"An \u003cb\u003eundeniably beautiful \u003c\/b\u003ebook.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"No author writing today observes young lives with more clarity, tenderness, and grace.\"\u003c\/b\u003e --Newbery Medalist Katherine Applegate, author of \u003ci\u003eThe One and Only Ivan\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Stead truly understands the inner life of kids.\"\u003c\/b\u003e --Newbery Medalist Erin Entrada Kelly, author of \u003ci\u003eHello, Universe\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eYou Go First\u003c\/i\u003eAn NPR Best Book of the Year\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eThe List of Things That Will Not Change:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A fabric woven of exactly the right threads.... An \u003cb\u003eundeniably beautiful \u003c\/b\u003ebook.\" \u003ci\u003e—The New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e★ \u003c\/b\u003e“Uplifting without sentimentality, timely not trendy, and \u003cb\u003eutterly engaging.\u003c\/b\u003e” \u003ci\u003e—Kirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e★ \u003c\/b\u003e“An emotional character journey from \u003cb\u003ea middle-grade master\u003c\/b\u003e.\" —\u003ci\u003eBooklist, \u003c\/i\u003estarred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e★ \u003c\/b\u003e“\u003cb\u003eAn affecting story\u003c\/b\u003e of significant middle grade change.” —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e★ \u003c\/b\u003e“The angst and worries that middle grade readers experience are brought to life through Bea’s authentic voice in this\u003cb\u003e must-read title.” —\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003eSchool Library Journal,\u003c\/i\u003e starred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e★ \u003c\/b\u003e“The strength of this novel lies in Stead’s \u003cb\u003eauthentic, respectful, low-key \u003c\/b\u003eapproach to the emotional life of a ten-year-old as recalled from the perspective of her slightly older self.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Horn Book\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e★ “Ultimately, \u003cb\u003eBea survives, thrives, and grows as love remains constant\u003c\/b\u003e but her world gets bigger, and readers negotiating their own changing lives will relate to her challenge and applaud her triumph.” —\u003ci\u003eThe Bulletin,\u003c\/i\u003e starred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e★ “Stead \u003cb\u003emasterfully explores the internal life of a girl\u003c\/b\u003e going through both extraordinary and run-of-the-mill trials \u003cb\u003ein a way that tells readers they are not alone \u003c\/b\u003ein their complicated, contradictory feelings about the world.” —\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness,\u003c\/i\u003e starred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e★ \"A\u003cb\u003e dazzling\u003c\/b\u003e middle grade novel from Newbery Medalist Rebecca Stead.\" —\u003ci\u003eBookPage,\u003c\/i\u003e starred review\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"\u003cb\u003eAn absolute original\u003c\/b\u003e . . . a story that kids will love.\" —\u003cb\u003eR. J. Palacio,\u003c\/b\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eWonder\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \"No author writing today observes young lives with more \u003cb\u003eclarity, tenderness, and grace\u003c\/b\u003e than the one and only Rebecca Stead.\" —Newbery Medalist \u003cb\u003eKatherine Applegate, \u003c\/b\u003eauthor of \u003ci\u003eThe One and Only Ivan\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"\u003cb\u003eStead truly understands\u003c\/b\u003e the inner life of kids.\" —Newbery Medalist \u003cb\u003eErin Entrada Kelly,\u003c\/b\u003e author of \u003ci\u003eHello, Universe\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eYou Go First\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“From the moon, the wedding, and the cake, to Bea’s mind, \u003cb\u003eRebecca has captured everything so completely, so beautifully.\u003c\/b\u003e Truly a wonderful work.” —\u003cb\u003ePatricia Reilly Giff,\u003c\/b\u003e author of the Newbery Honor winners\u003ci\u003e Lily’s Crossing\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003ePictures of Hollis Woods\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “\u003cb\u003eThis is a story of love \u003c\/b\u003ethat enlarges, even though it is not always easy.  We cheer for and are cheered by Bea’s quiet triumphs because they are \u003cb\u003etriumphs of the heart\u003c\/b\u003e.” —\u003cb\u003eGary D. Schmidt,\u003c\/b\u003e author of \u003ci\u003eThe Wednesday Wars \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003ePay Attention, Carter Jones\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e “Rebecca Stead’s writing is always \u003cb\u003einfused with the tender minutiae of being alive\u003c\/b\u003e, with the price we have to pay to be human. This book, along with its perfect title, is ‘Typical Rebecca Stead.’ And that’s a heartfelt compliment.” —Newbery Medalist\u003cb\u003e Christopher Paul Curtis\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Bud, Not Buddy\u003c\/i\u003eREBECCA STEAD is the author of \u003ci\u003eWhen You Reach Me,\u003c\/i\u003e which was a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller and winner of the Newbery Medal and the \u003ci\u003eBoston Globe-Horn Book\u003c\/i\u003e Award for Fiction, and \u003ci\u003eLiar \u0026amp; Spy,\u003c\/i\u003e which was also a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller, won \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e Prize for Children's Fiction, and was on multiple state master lists and best of the year lists. Her most recent book\u003ci\u003e, Goodbye Stranger,\u003c\/i\u003e was a \u003ci\u003eBoston Globe-Horn Book\u003c\/i\u003e Honor Book for Fiction and a \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller. She is also the author of \u003ci\u003eFirst Light,\u003c\/i\u003e which was nominated for many state awards. She lives in New York City with her family. Visit her online at rebeccasteadbooks.com and on Twitter @rebstead.\u003cp\u003eAngelica \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe summer I turned ten, my cousin Angelica fell from the sleeping loft at our family’s lake cabin. Uncle Frank says her head missed the woodstove by four inches. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe hit the floor with a bad sound, a whump. Then we didn’t hear anything. No crying. No yelling. Nothing. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUntil, finally, there was the sound of Angelica trying to breathe. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDad got to her first. Aunt Ess, Angelica’s mom, called from her room. “What was that? Dan? What was that?” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe answered, “It’s Angelica--she fell, but she’s okay. She got the wind knocked out of her, but I think she’s okay.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the loft, I saw Angelica sit up, slowly. Dad was rubbing her back in circles. Uncle Frank and Aunt Ess came crashing in from their bedroom, and then Angelica started crying these short, jagged cries. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe next morning, Uncle Frank said that if her head had hit the woodstove, Angelica could have died. By that time, she looked normal. She was wearing her turquoise two-piece bathing suit and chewing her eggs with her lips sealed tight. No bruises, even--she landed on her back, Dad said, which is what knocked her wind out. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat summer, my parents had been divorced for two years already, but I still thought about when Mom used to come to the lake cabin with us. I could picture her red bathing suit on the clothesline. I remembered which end of the table she sat at for dinner. I remembered her, sitting on the dock with Aunt Ess, talking. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMom and Dad told me about the divorce at a “family meeting.” I had just turned eight. We’d never had a family meeting before. I sat on the couch, between them. They didn’t look happy, and I suddenly got worried that something was wrong with our cat, Red. That they were going to tell me he was dying. A boy in my class that year had a cat who died. But that wasn’t it. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDad put his arm around me and said that some big things were going to change. Mom squeezed my hand. Then Dad said they were getting divorced. Soon he was going to move out of our apartment, into a different one. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI said, “But I’m staying here, right?” I looked at Mom. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDad said I was going to have two homes, and two rooms, instead of one. I was going to live in both places. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI could think of only one person in my class whose parents were divorced: Carolyn Shattuck. Carolyn had a navy-blue sweatshirt with one big pocket in front. Until the family meeting, I had wanted one just like it. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI said, “What about Red?” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMom said Red would be staying with her. “With us--you and me.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYou and me. That made me feel awful. Because back then I couldn’t think of Mom and me without Dad. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDad said, “Things are changing, Bea. But there’s still a lot you can count on. Okay? Things that won’t ever change.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis was when they gave me the green spiral notebook and the green pen. (My favorite color is green.) In the notebook, they had made a list. The list was called Things That Will Not Change. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI started reading:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1. Mom loves you more than anything, always. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2. Dad loves you more than anything, always.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI skipped to the end, uncapped the green pen, and wrote:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e7. Red will stay with me and Mom.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI said, “I want my rainbow to stay here, too. Over my bed.” Dad painted that rainbow, right on the wall, when I was really little. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMom said, “Yes, of course, sweetie. Your rainbow will stay right where it is.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI wrote that down, too. Number 8.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDad moved into a different apartment a month later. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI go back and forth between them. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHere’s how it works: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMONDAY is a DAD day.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTUESDAY is a MOM day.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWEDNESDAY is a DAD day. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTHURSDAY is a MOM day. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFRIDAY is part of THE WEEKEND. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTHE WEEKEND is FRIDAY and SATURDAY. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTHE WEEKEND alternates.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSUNDAY is SUNDAY. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSUNDAY is its OWN DAY. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSUNDAY alternates.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBefore Dad moved out, I thought of the weekend as Saturday and Sunday. Now I think of the weekend as Friday and Saturday. And I think of Sunday as SUNDAY. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRight after the family meeting, I found Red asleep in the laundry basket and carried him to my room, where I opened my new notebook. I looked at the list of Things That Will Not Change.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMy parents had written:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1. Mom loves you more than anything, always.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2. Dad loves you more than anything, always. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e3. Mom and Dad love each other, but in a different way. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e4. You will always have a home with each of us. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e5. Your homes will never be far apart. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e6. We are still a family, but in a different way.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter that, I carried the green spiral notebook everywhere. I asked a lot of questions. I used the green pen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOur first summer at the lake cabin without Mom, there were Mom-shaped reminders everywhere, like her blue Sorry! pieces and the chipped yellow bowl she always used for tomato salad. The Mom–reminders were all over the place, but I was the only one who saw them. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThat summer, Dad explained to everyone at the cabin--Uncle Frank and Aunt Ess, and my cousins, James, Angelica, and Jojo--that he is gay. I already knew. My parents had told me at the one and only family meeting, when they gave me the notebook. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Will you be gay forever now?” I asked Dad at the meeting. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYes, he told me. He would always be attracted to some men the same way that some men were attracted to some women. It’s the way he’s felt since he was little. I uncapped my green pen and wrote it down right away on the list of Things That Will Not Change. It’s number nine: Dad is gay.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter Dad explained about being gay to everyone at the lake cabin, he asked if anyone had questions. No one did. Then Dad and Uncle Frank walked down to the dock and sat with their feet in the water. I watched from the porch, where I was sitting on the edge of Uncle Frank’s favorite chair. After a while, they stood up and jumped in the lake. They were splashing each other like little kids, laughing. I remember being surprised, because Uncle Frank never swims. He always says the water in that lake is too cold. Most of the time, he just sits on the porch, in his chair, in the sun. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“So, you live with your mom now?” my cousin James asked me that night in the sleeping loft. James is four years older than I am. I was eight that first summer without Mom, so he was twelve. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI explained to him about the days of the week. When I was done, we got into our beds, and Angelica tickled my arm for a while. (Usually, I tickled her arm, and then she would say she was too tired to do mine.) \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRight around then, James started calling me “Ping-Pong.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe had really weird nicknames for his little sisters--he called Angelica “BD,” which was for “bottom drawer,” because she’d once stepped into an open dresser drawer to reach something on a shelf and fallen over, cutting her lip. And James called Jojo “Speaker,” short for “speakerphone,” because when she was a baby she used to cry if she heard Uncle Frank’s voice but couldn’t see him anywhere. The names were kind of mean, but I had secretly wanted a James nickname for a long time. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI couldn’t remember doing anything Ping-Pong-related that James might be making fun of me for, but I didn’t care. I actually liked the name Ping-Pong, until Aunt Ess heard him down at our dock and told him to march himself up to the porch so they could “have a chat.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Aunt Ess, I don’t mind it!” I called after them. But she ignored me. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“You mean you like being a Ping-Pong ball?” Angelica said. Angelica is a year and a half older than me. We were trying to teach Jojo, even though she was only five, to play volleyball on the little beach where we kept the boats pulled up next to our dock. Now Angelica was tapping the dirty volleyball with the tips of her fingers. She had it trapped between a hip and an elbow. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“What?” I felt my eyes narrowing. I hated it when I didn’t understand something right away. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“You go back and forth, right? From your mom’s to your dad’s? Like a Ping-Pong ball.” She smiled. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI was on top of her in three steps. First, I yanked her ponytail, and then I smacked that ball off her hip, down to the dirt. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Bea!” Aunt Ess shouted down from the porch. I guess she’d been yelling at James and watching over us at the same time. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAngelica just stood there smiling. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI stomped to the water and floated on my back with my ears under the water so that I couldn’t hear. Angelica was stuck waiting for me to get out because we were swim buddies. James didn’t call me Ping-Pong again. Or anything else.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen my parents were together, two weeks at the lake with my cousins was never enough for me. After the divorce, it felt about a week too long. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt felt too long the summer I was eight, when my cousin Jojo was finally old enough to stay up and play Sorry! with us after dinner. Green is Jojo’s favorite color, too, so I let her have my pieces, and I took Mom’s blue ones. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt felt too long the summer I was nine. That was the summer the chipped yellow bowl broke. I don’t know how it happened; I just saw the pieces in the garbage.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt felt especially too long the summer I was ten. The summer Angelica fell. When those two weeks were finally over, I was in the back seat of our car even before Rocco, our dog, could hurl himself in there. And Rocco loves the car.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNews\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI like to dance. Not “dance” dance, with mirrors and leotards, but secret dancing in my room with my earbuds in. I don’t know how it looks, but I know how it feels. It feels like I know exactly what to do. I know when to turn or sidestep, when to take it easy and when to go a little crazy. It doesn’t matter whether I’m at my mom’s or at my dad’s. I keep my eyes closed, and I’m wherever I’m supposed to be.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut when I’m dancing, I’d rather be at my dad’s, because my mom doesn’t believe in bedroom-door locks. And she has a way of flinging my door open as if she’s trying to catch me at something.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Bea, you have a fever. You should be resting.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Mom!” I was breathing hard from dancing. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“What?” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Privacy?” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe made a face. That’s what Mom thinks of privacy. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Dad just called,” Mom said. “Sheila’s on her way.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis was at the beginning of fifth grade, when I was ten. Right after Jesse moved in with Dad and me. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is all part of the story about the sound of corn growing. Believe it or not.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI’d stayed home sick, so my babysitter, Sheila, was picking me up from Mom’s apartment, instead of at school. Sheila picked me up on my “Dad days”--Mondays and Wednesdays and every other Friday. She also used to clean Dad’s apartment. And she walked our dog, Rocco. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn Tuesdays and Thursdays and every other Friday, Mom picked me up at school. Mom cleans our apartment herself because she doesn’t believe in paying someone else to pick up your mess. Or your dog’s. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDad doesn’t believe in ten-year-olds going to PG-13 movies, and Mom doesn’t believe in cereal with more than three grams of sugar per serving. Dad doesn’t believe in curse words, and Mom doesn’t believe in going to school with a temperature above 98.6. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDad thinks anything below 100 is fine. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMom doesn’t believe in wasting money, but Dad says it’s fine to splurge once in a while. When he bought me a puffy purple swivel chair for my room at his apartment, Mom muttered about it, and I went online and found out it cost almost 200 dollars, and after that I felt weird. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDad believes in allowance for chores. Mom believes in free allowance and doing chores for nothing. But Dad’s allowance is a dollar higher. Confused? Welcome to my life. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSometimes when I’m dancing at Dad’s with the door locked tight, I slam myself into that puffy purple swivel chair and just spin. Everything is a blur, and my feet kick off the floor, shooting me around, and around, and around. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt Mom’s, I do my spinning on my feet, with my arms stretched out.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe doorbell rang, and I heard Mom let Sheila in. My temperature was only 99.3. Even after a lot of dancing, I couldn’t get it up to Dad-sick, so I knew I was going to school the next day. Thursday. Spelling-test day. I looked on my desk for my word sheet. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI picked up my backpack and started throwing stuff in: word sheet, math workbook, planner, colonial-breakfast folder (with butter recipe), and the only barrette I had that actually stayed in my hair. Most of them fall straight down. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSheila knocked on my bedroom door, and I yelled “Come!” which is what Captain Picard always says on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Sheila and I used to watch that show together at Dad’s. (Eventually, we streamed all seven seasons. That’s a lot of Star Trek.) \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnyone would like Sheila--she has pink glasses and big hair, and she wears a lot of bracelets. And cowboy boots, even in summertime. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“You’re sick?” Sheila said. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Mom-sick.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe nodded. Sheila got it, even though her parents were never divorced. They stayed married until they died. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Got your medicine?” Sheila said. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Yep.” I patted my bag. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Shall I set a course for Ninety-Ninth Street, Captain?” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI tugged down the front of my shirt with both hands. “Make it so!”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSheila was the one who noticed that Captain Picard was always tugging on his uniform, pulling it down in front like he was trying to cover his stomach. She heard the actor being interviewed on TV, and he said it was because they made the costumes a little too short. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eI hugged Mom goodbye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I’ll see you after school tomorrow,” she said, squeezing me. My face was mushed against her, so one ear heard the regular way, and the other one heard through her body. When we let go, I saw her see the rash on my neck, which itched.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Got your medicine?” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Yes!” I hated being asked things twice. Even by two different people.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Don’t shout at me, Bea.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I’m not.” \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd Sheila said, “Let’s go, Captain.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Yearling","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46305227112677,"sku":"NP9781101938126","price":8.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781101938126.jpg?v=1767740251","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-list-of-things-that-will-not-change-isbn-9781101938126","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}