Laura Schaefer - The Teashop Girls

illustrated by
SUJEAN RIM
LAURA SCHAEFER

SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Childrens Publishing Division

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www.SimonandSchuster.com

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 products of the authors imagintion, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Text copyright 2008 by Laura Schaefer

Illustrations copyright 2008 by Sujean Rim

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

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Also available in a hardcover edition.

Book design by Jessica Handelman

The text for this book is set in Venetian 301 BT.

The illustrations for this book are rendered in pen and ink.

Manufactured in the United States of America

First Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers paperback edition December 2009

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

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

Schaefer, Laura.

The Teashop Girls / Laura Schaefer ; [illustrated by Sujean Rim].

p. cm.

A Paula Wiseman Book.

Summary: Thirteen-year-old Annie, along with her two best friends,

tries desperately to save her grandmothers beloved, old-fashioned

teashop in Madison, Wisconsin, while she also learns to accept the

inevitability of change in life. Includes proverbs, quotations, and

brief stories about tea, as well as recipes.

ISBN 978-1-4169-6793-4 (hc)

[1. TeaFiction. 2. TearoomsFiction. 3. GrandmothersFiction.

4. Best friendsFiction. 5. FriendshipFiction. 6. Business

enterprisesFiction. 7. Madison (Wis.)Fiction.] I. Rim, Sujean, ill.

II. Title. III. Title: Tea Shop Girls.

PZ7.S33232Te 2008

[Fic]dc22

2008036158

ISBN 978-1-4169-6794-1 (pbk)

ISBN 978-1-4169-9835-8 (eBook)

To Karen Meyer
and
everyone at Imperial Garden restaurant in Middleton, Wisconsin

Id like to thank my parents, Linda and Michael Artz and Michael Schaefer, for their ongoing support and encouragement. I also want to thank all of my grandparents, my brother, David, and my extended family for cheering me on.

Thank you to my tireless and talented literary agent, Stephen Barbara, and my truly extraordinary editor, Alexandra Penfold, who saw promise in my ideas and made this book come to life. Thank you to my real-life Teashop Girls, Aimee Tritt and Nicole Soper. Finally, a big thanks to all the witty people in my life whose lines I borrow.

Instructions by annie green

Bring fresh cold water to a rolling boil, but dont let it boil for too long.

Let it come off the boil and settle down for a moment.

Pour water into a teapot containing a heaping tablespoon of your favorite loose tea leaves.

Let the leaves bloom and steep for at least three minutes.

Pour the tea into your favorite preheated cup.

Sip and smile.

My dear if you could give me a cup of tea to clear my muddle of a head I should better understand your affairs.

CHARLES DICKENS, MRS. LIRRIPERS LEGACY

Theres a right way and a wrong way to do many things, and when it comes to tea, my opinion is one should not mess around. My grandmother Louisa first taught me to brew a fine pot of tea when I was five years old. She told me what a nice job I had done, and I announced I wanted to be just like her when I grew up. Louisa laughed merrily at the time. I hoped she wouldnt laugh today. I couldnt bear the thought of being laughed at today, which is why I, Annie Green, am hiding out in the storage room of the Steeping Leaf.

Well, not hiding exactly. That would be silly. I love the Leaf, and there isnt anything out there to hide from, least of all my grandmother Louisa. But the fact of the matter is I am here in her teashop, she doesnt know it yet, and the reason for all my sneaking around is I need to psych myself up for what I am about to do.

You know how some people have weird/cool talents, like being able to wiggle their ears back and forth just by concentrating really hard? Well, I have one too. I can stand on my head forever. Like, seriously forever. My two brothers can even try to tickle my feet to knock me over, and I just make faces at them, upside down, secure in the knowledge that I am just as steady on my head as they are on their feet. Which isnt, come to think of it, as steady as, say, Louisa is on her feet, but its pretty darn good. And as a bonus, when I stand on my head, I can feel myself getting smarter and calmer. I think it has something to do with the fact that a headstand is a real yoga pose.

With two younger brothers and an older sister, its hard to ever find even half a moment alone. And the silence of the storage room is blissful. Its just me, upside down and Zenlike amidst a few dozen boxes of loose tea, some old teacups Louisa hasnt taken to St. Vinnys yet, and my Perfect Cup of Tea Instructions, which Ive written on a whiteboard that, for readabilitys sake, has also assumed the sirsha-asana pose.

I am almost ready to ask for a job here as a barista. And when I do, I will be calm, centered, grown-up, and only slightly red in the face. I am a tiny bit worried because sometimes my family doesnt take me seriously. Everyone else in my family already has their thingBeth is all college, college, college did I mention that Im going away to college in the fall? and Luke and Billy have the lock on the local emergency roomskateboarders, its like they have a death wish or something. My mom has her students, and my dad has his engineering projects. And I have tea.

Okay, Ill admit, Im interested in a lot of things and I tend to announce my newest obsessions rather frequentlybut working at the Leaf is not just a phase. Ive always loved the Leaf and confess that I consider it partly, well, mine. Am I ready to be a barista, taking money, making complex foamy drinks, and asking after the customers families like the perfect hostess? I think so. I hope Louisa does, too.

Still staring at the board and mentally picturing each and every step of brewing a pot of tea, I sighed happily and closed my eyes to fully commune with the delicious smells of the shop. Inhale. Exhale. I am one with the tea. The tea is one with me. I am one with the t