Littman - Taming of the Shoe

Also by

SARAH DARER LITTMAN

Charmed, Im Sure

Fairest of Them All

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the authors imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ALADDIN

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing Division

1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020

www.SimonandSchuster.com

First Aladdin paperback edition August 2019

Text copyright 2019 by Sarah Darer Littman

Cover illustration copyright 2019 by Angela Navarra

Also available in an Aladdin hardcover edition.

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

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Book designed by Laura Lyn DiSiena

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

Names: Littman, Sarah, author.

Title: Taming of the shoe / by Sarah Darer Littman.

Description: First Aladdin hardcover edition. | New York : Aladdin, 2019. | Sequel to: Fairest of them all. | Summary: Thirteen-year-old Araminta Robicheaux, Cinderellas daughter, embarrassed by her family, seeks to make her own fairy tale come true by showing her shoe designs to boy-band megastar Theo Downey.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019003805 (print) | LCCN 2019006627 (eBook) |

ISBN 9781534431584 (eBook) | ISBN 9781534431560 (pbk) | ISBN 9781534431577 (hc)

Subjects: | CYAC: Middle schoolsFiction. | SchoolsFiction. | AuntsFiction. | Bands (Music)Fiction. | Characters in literatureFiction. | New York (N.Y.)Fiction. | Humorous stories. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Fairy Tales & Folklore / General. | JUVENILE FICTION / Humorous Stories. | JUVENILE FICTION / Family / General (see also headings under Social Issues).

Classification: LCC PZ7.L7369 (eBook) | LCC PZ7.L7369 Tam 2019 (print) | DDC [Fic]dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019003805

To my beloved aunt, Barbara Garrison, the first childrens book illustrator I ever met

MY MOTHER IS TRYING TO ruin my life. Not only did we have to move to New York City for her business, but also she aired the commercial for her latest cleaning product, the Crud Crusher, the night before I start at Manhattan World Themes Middle School. To top it off, its halfway through the school year.

Couldnt you have waited till Ive been there a month or two before running that ad? I asked.

Were gearing up for the global launch, Araminta, Mom said. Of course we couldnt wait.

Whats the big deal? Dad asked. Its just a commercial.

My parents are so clueless. They have no idea what its like to be starting at a new school in the middle of the year, while bearing the surname Robicheaux, as in House of Robicheaux, purveyor of superior cleaning products to royaltyand to you!

If I could have legally changed my last name before I walked in the doors of my new school this morning, I would have done it in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, the law says I cant till Im eighteen. Trust me, I checked last night after Moms commercial aired.

Its one of the many reasons Im hesitating outside the doors of my first class, social studies, wondering how long it will be before Im outed as the daughter of Robert and Ella of Robicheaux. You probably know Mom by the name my two aunties came up with to torment her when they were all youngerthat would be Cinderella.

Taking a deep breath, I walk into the room and approach the teacher, who my schedule tells me is named Mr. Falcone.

Hi, Im AramintaI whisper my last nameRobicheaux.

Aromatic Robot Shoe? he says, looking very confused. I wonder if hes hard of hearing.

The kids who are already in the classroom start to laugh. I, however, do not.

Its Robicheaux. I spell it for him, sotto voce, and I see a flash of recognition appear on his face.

Ah yes, Araminta Robicheaux, he says. You just moved here, correct?

I nod. Yes. Also, I prefer to go by Minty.

Ill make a note, Mr. Falcone says.

Robicheaux? a guy sitting near the front of class says. Are you related to the hot lady in the commercial? But wait, theres more! For just an extra nineteen ninety-nine plus shipping and handling, you can get the Soot Slaughterer. But thats not all! Well throw in the Dust Decimator for no extra charge!

Its the first class in the first hour of my first day at this new school and Im already known as my mothers daughter, thus slaughtering and decimating whatever chance I had of developing my own identity. Still, I cant help thinking this kid must watch waaaaay too much TV if hes got Moms infomercial pitch memorized. Also, is he referring to my mom as the hot lady? Eeeewwwwwwww!

Yes. Shes my mother, Im forced to admit. Why wasnt I born a better liar?

I just saw an ad for the Crud Crusher last night! a girl says. Crush the crud that makes your castle a dud, with the Crud Crusher, from House of Robicheaux.

That makes two commercials, and I havent even sat down yet.

I saw your parents on Barracuda Tank ! a girl in the back says.

I did too, Mr. Falcone says.

From the chorus of me too it sounds like most of the class did. Who knew that so many middle school students watched that show?

It was weird enough growing up seeing Mom doing infomercials. When I was little, I thought that everyone saw their parents when they turned on the TV. But things got really crazy after Mom and Dad went on Barracuda Tank last season. They emphasized the rags-to-riches (well, for Mom at least) and love-at-first-sight parts of their story. They played so well with viewers that their pitch segment got the highest ratings in Barracuda Tank history. The Barracudas totally ate up the fact that Mom took everything she learned when her stepmother and stepsisters turned her into an unpaid house servant and used her painfully acquired knowledge to create a successful line of cleaning products. The Barracudas love those pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps stories. It didnt hurt that Moms married to Dad, who just so happens to be a prince through accident of birth. As Barracuda Raymond Jack noted, Royal titles are excellent marketing tools. All the Barracudas fought to give them the funding they needed to expand, but they ended up going with Tori Fournier, aka the queen of BSC, the Big Shopping Channel.

The products did so well on the Big Shopping Channel that Tori told my parents they should move the company headquarters from Robicheaux, the tiny kingdom ruled by my grandfather, to New York City to facilitate the planned global expansion. At least thats the excuse my parents gave me for why Im stuck starting a new school in the middle of the year.

Take a seat, Miss Robicheaux, and share a book with the person next to you, Mr. Falcone says. Theres an empty desk in the back. Ill get a book for you tomorrow.

The back sounds perfect. I just want to blend in and feel normal, which isnt the easiest thing to do when the story of how your parents met is the subject of not just one but two romantic tales, and theyve been on one of the highest-rated shows on television.