The Scientific Life of Azaleah Lane

CHAPTER 1

BAD MOOD MONDAY

I hopped out of bed Monday morning like a kangaroo. I had been waiting all weekend for today!

Monday was special announcements day at school. And today’s announcements were extra special. Our principal, Ms. Li, was picking a third grader to be the STEM lab monitor for the week. Fifth graders had gotten the first turns. Then Ms. Li had picked fourth graders. The third graders had been waiting for a very long time. And guess who was a third grader? Me!

Please let Ms. Li pick me, I thought.

I washed up, got dressed, brushed my edges, and ran to the kitchen. My parents were already there. Mama had on her robe. She was staring out of the window with a cup of coffee in her hand. Daddy was at the table. He was wearing his robe too. His eyes were droopy like he was about to fall asleep.

Good morning! I said.

I sat down with Daddy. He smiled at me, but his lips were still asleep, so it was a very tiny smile.

Mama put homemade blueberry muffins, cantaloupe, and orange juice on the table. Hi, Azaleah, she said.

Guess what? I asked.

Mama took a sip of coffee. Daddy stared at his muffin. They didn’t say anything.

Since my parents didn’t guess, I kept talking. Today, Ms. Li is picking a third grader to be the STEM lab monitor for the whole week. On Friday we all wrote our names on a ticket and put them in Ms. Li’s glitter box. Today, she’s shaking the box, closing her eyes, and picking out a name.

I crossed all of my fingers and hooked my thumbs together for good luck. I held them up and showed my hands to Daddy.

He said, Mmm hmmm.

I frowned. Something wasn’t right. Daddy and I were always the earliest early birds. But today he didn’t have any energy at all.

The STEM lab monitor is very important, I explained. They take care of the STEM lab. They feed the animals and clean the cages and keep the lab clean. Sometimes they get to help Mr. Aguilar, the STEM lab teacher, set up activities.

My parents still didn’t answer me. Mama sat down and stared at her coffee. Daddy took a bite of his muffin. It reminded me of the time the batteries in my robot died. It got slower and slower, and then it stopped. My parents looked like they needed new batteries.

What’s wrong? I asked.

I’m just tired. I had a long night, said Mama. I fed a hundred people last night.

I knew Mama had hosted a private party at her restaurant, Avec Amour. It was for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. But I didn’t know it was that big. A hundred people was a lot!

Wow, Mama, I said. Avec Amour is really famous, huh?

She nodded. Poor Mama was too tired to be excited. Owning the best restaurant in Washington, D.C., and being the best chef ever was hard work.

You need a vacation, Mama, I said.

She smiled. I’m on a mini-vacation now, she said. I’m not working nights this week.

"Daddy, are you okay?" I asked.

I stayed up too late, he said. I was reading a good book. Then your sister—

Before Daddy could finish, my little sister, Tiana, came into the kitchen. Her frown looked like one of those fish with a turned-down mouth. She was holding her favorite stuffie, Greenie, and her hair was sticking up all over her head. She tried to climb into Daddy’s lap, but he