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stuff from me, they’d probably buy it somewhere else.”
    â€œMom, I’m hungry,” Hayden says as he walks into the kitchen.
    I break off part of my banana and hand it to him. “Don’t say I never gave you anything.”
    He takes a bite. “How come I taste peanut butter?”
    â€œBecause bananas and peanut butter are awesome together.” I give him the peanut butter jar. “Here, try it.”
    â€œI’d rather dip it in chocolate. Do we have any of that?”
    â€œMom, is that okay?” I ask.
    â€œSure, go ahead.”
    I take the chocolate-flavored syrup out of the fridge and pour some in a bowl. I cut up Hayden’s banana, put it on a plate, and set it all at the kitchen table.
    â€œThere you go. Dude, that’s some snack you got there. You could even dip the banana slice in peanut butter
and
chocolate. Then you’d have it all.”
    He pulls a banana slice out of the bowl of chocolate with his fingers, and I watch as chocolate drips down his arm and all over his pants.
    Mom glares at me as she grabs a towel and startscleaning up his gooey mess. “How about giving the kid a fork, Sophie? And maybe not quite so much chocolate next time?”
    As I head to the silverware drawer, I notice Mom has gathered photos of me and piled them next to the phone. “Mom, you’re not going to send all of these to Mrs. Parks, are you?”
    â€œNo, honey. I pulled them out so you could go through them and choose the ones you like the best.”
    â€œSo does this mean you and Dad have discussed it?”
    â€œYes, we have. If this is something you really want to do, we’ll support you. I’ve done some research and talked to some other clients, and Candace Parks is one of the top agents in the business.”
    â€œAre you going to be famous, Sophie?” Hayden asks before he licks the chocolate between his fingers on the hand Mom hasn’t washed yet.
    â€œHa, that’s what Isabel said. It’s fun to imagine big things happening, I guess.”
    Mom goes to the sink to rinse out the chocolatey dish rag. “How is Isabel, anyway?” she asks. “Was everyone happy for her today at school?”
    â€œNot really. Jealous is more like it. Everyone was focused on the prize money and acting like she’s rich now or something. Wouldn’t that be nice? Then their business wouldn’t be in trouble.”
    Mom frowns. “Oh no. Sorry to hear that. And what’s this about their business being in trouble? Did Isabel tell you that?”
    â€œNo, their neighbor, Stan. He let it slip when Lily and I walked over there the other day. Isabel hasn’t said a word, and I don’t know what to say.”
    â€œI’m thinking if she wants to talk about it with you, she’ll bring it up. Maybe just wait and see.”
    I grab the jar of peanut butter and a sleeve of crackers and head for my room. “Okay. Thanks, Mom.”
    Once I’m in my room, I pull out the notebook Isabel gave me and write down two more dreams.
    Dream #2 –
I dream that someday
there are no hungry
children in Africa, or anywhere else.
    Dream #3 –
I dream that tomorrow
isabel is back to her
happy self again.

Chapter 8
candy cane dipped in hot cocoa
A CHOCO-MINTY TREAT
    T here doesn’t seem to be as much drama at school today. This is good. Still, Isabel seems quieter than usual, so I ask her to come over after school, using our upcoming social studies test on ancient Rome as a good reason. Studying together is much more fun than studying alone, I tell her. Mostly I just want to try and cheer her up! She agrees, so weride our bikes to my house, then she calls her mom to let her know.
    My mom made pumpkin bread, which we slice up and take to my room, along with two mugs of steaming hot cocoa.
    â€œThis bread is so good,” I say. I hand her the plate. “Try some!”
    Isabel takes a piece. “I love this time of