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Overview
Chosen Girls is a dynamic new series that communicates a message of empowerment and hope to Christian youth who want to live out their faith. These courageous and compelling girls stand for their beliefs and encourage others to do the same. When their cross cultural outreach band takes off, Trinity, Melody, and Harmony explode onto the scene with style, hot music, and genuine, age-relatable content. In Double-Booked, Harmony finds that a three-way friendship is challenging, with Trinity befriending a snobby clique and Mello all negative. Through a series of mistakes, Harmony unwittingly unites the two against her and learns that innocent comments hurt more than you think. Ultimately, the Chosen Girls are united again in time to sing for a crowd that really needs to hear what they have to say.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780310868514 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Zonderkidz |
| Publication date: | 12/15/2009 |
| Series: | Chosen Girls |
| Sold by: | HarperCollins Publishing |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 144 |
| File size: | 4 MB |
| Age Range: | 9 - 12 Years |
About the Author
Michael and Beth Gordon own and operate G Studios, LLC, a new media content development company and leading provider of inspirational family lifestyle brands. Visit www.chosengirls.com.
Read an Excerpt
Double-Booked
By Cheryl Crouch
Zonderkidz
Copyright © 2007 G Studios, LLCAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-310-71268-8
Chapter One
Tuesday, Early Morning
The scariest moment of my life? My first time in the James Moore cafeteria.
I searched frantically for an amiga.
I practically heard the clock on the wall ticking. I could only stand there holding my tray for so long.
I didn't dare sit next to the windows. I'm not an outcast, but I'm not one of the Snob Mob, either.
I finally spotted some girl I remembered from third grade. I walked over, said "Hi, I'm Harmony," and sat down. She didn't even smile, but it beat sitting alone.
Anyway, all that happened ages ago.
This year my best friend Mello is in my lunch. So is our new friend, Trin, who moved here this summer.
We're not sitting by the windows or anything, but becoming rock stars and superheroes over the summer didn't hurt us any.
So, I'm thinking this is going to be the best year of my life - if Trin and Mello don't drive each other loco ...
* * *
I played a repeating pattern on my bass guitar while we waited in the shed for the TV film crew.
"Cool frijoles!" I said. "I'm so pumped. I set the DVR to record channel 9 already, just in case they come early."
"Channel 9?" Mello asked, dropping her drumsticks. "I thought Doc Wazzup was on channel 6. My parents arerecording channel 6!"
"Run! Tell them to change it," Trin yelled.
"Fine," Mello snapped. "Just don't be so bossy in front of the TV guys."
Even though Mello's house is only fifty feet away from the shed where we practice, it made me nervous to see her heading out the door.
"Uno momento," I cried. "Use my cell. He could be here any minute."
Mello made the call, tossed my phone back, and flounced onto her big tan couch, separated from Trin by a pile of throw pillows.
"I am definitely not excited about this," Mello said. "I wish we could just get it over with." Then, for the third time, she asked, "What time is it?"
"It's two minutes since the last time you asked," Trin answered, whapping Mello's shoulder with a pillow. "Raise your hand if you think Mello is the only person in the world who doesn't want to be on TV. Ohwow, I can't believe Doc Wazzup is coming to the shed! Is my hair OK?"
"Definitely," Mello answered. "It's still pink and perfect, just like the last time you asked - two minutes ago!"
I actually felt glad to see Lamont appear in the doorway. Mello and I used to send her next-door neighbor away, but those days were as ancient history as elementary school.
"What about mine?" Lamont asked, rubbing his black curly hair, so short you could almost see his scalp. "I didn't have time to do much with my hair today."
Trin threw the pillow at him with a hard overhand, but Lamont ducked, and the ocean-blue missile sailed above his head.
It smacked Doc Wazzup right in the face. I almost dropped my guitar.
Our famous guest took a step back and put his hands up like a shield in front of him. "Hold your fire," he said. "Is it safe to come in?"
"Ohwow, I'm so sorry," Trin answered. "I didn't mean to hit you in the face. I mean, I didn't mean to hit you at all. I meant to hit ... Ohwow." She hid her face in her hands.
I elbowed Lamont out of the way and held out one hand to the TV host. He didn't look much taller than me. I looked into his bright blue eyes and said, "Welcome to the shed. I'm Harmony - a big fan of yours."
He smiled and shook my hand.
Doc didn't look like a TV news anchor. He didn't have a million-dollar smile. (His teeth were a little crooked.) He didn't have slick black hair. (His was light brown and a little messy.) He looked more like somebody's big brother.
I thought, That's why everyone loves him.
I heard someone on the driveway call, "I take it we finally found the right place. Where do we set up, Dan?"
Doc Wazzup turned around and called, "Come on inside."
Lamont and I got out of the way. Doc was followed by a tall, blonde woman and a short, bald man with a bunch of equipment. They had headsets on and looked very official.
The woman looked around and smiled. "Nice place. Who did your decorating?"
Mello lit up like a Christmas tree, but she didn't say anything.
I pointed to her. "Mello did it all by herself."
Lamont started coughing and sputtering until Mello finally said, "Lamont helped a little."
He shrugged. "Just a few touches here and there. Nothing major."
The crew set up equipment. The man erected huge bright lights on tall silver poles. The woman worked on a little sound system and a computer monitor. They kept running in and out, bringing in more stuff and more extension cords. Every couple of minutes the bald man would yell.
"Twelve minutes!"
"Ten minutes!"
"Eight minutes!"
Meanwhile, Doc Wazzup talked to us. "My name is Dan Miller. Doc Wazzup is kind of a stage name I use for these interviews."
I nodded like I knew that all along.
He told us to get in place with our instruments, and he showed Lamont where to sit on the edge of the couch. He said to go with the flow and act natural.
Mello tripped on the way to her stool, and she fell into her drum set, making so much noise that I jumped and the tall blonde screamed.
"Hey, you said to act natural," Lamont said with a smirk. "Tripping is as natural for Mello as it gets."
Mello stuck her tongue out at him and sat down.
The bald man said, "This is live, so we only get one shot at it. Lela will count down with her fingers when we're ready."
The bald man pointed the camera at us, and Mello tapped on her legs. Trin wound her hair around her finger. I tried to signal them to relax.
Then Mello looked at me and pulled on her ear. She doesn't usually pull on her ear when she's nervous. How weird. I'm the one who pulls on my -
Oh. I let go of my ear, adjusted my glasses, and put my hands in my lap.
"One minute!"
I realized that I really needed to go to the bathroom.
"Thirty seconds!"
Oh, well.
Lela stared at the monitor. She held up her hand. Three fingers. Two fingers. One finger.
The camera light glowed red.
Doc - or Dan - smiled into the camera. "Hello, Los Angeles! Doc Wazzup coming to you live and on location from the ..." He looked around the shed. "From the backyard recording studio of the hottest new teen group in Southern California: the Chosen Girls. And we're here to find out, wazzup?"
He reached his mike out to Trin. "Introduce yourself."
Trin turned on her movie star smile. "I'm Trin Adams."
"And you play ...?"
She held her guitar up a little. "I play electric guitar and sing lead."
He rubbed his nose, looked at the camera, and said, "She also throws a mean pillow."
Trin turned bright red. I choked back my laughter because I knew it would make me snort, but Mello cracked up.
"Could I try a lick on your guitar, Trin?" Doc asked.
"Sure." She handed it over.
He struck a rock star pose and said, "I always wanted to be in a band." He played a couple really bad notes and said, "Anytime Trin is sick, you can call me." He handed back the instrument as he pointed the mike toward me. "And you are ...?"
My throat felt dry, and my head pounded louder than Mello's bass drum. Pretend it's just Lamont filming again. I looked right at the camera and said, "I'm Harmony Gomez. I play bass guitar."
"Play something, Harmony," he said.
I repeated my favorite bass line, and he did some scary dance moves (like a rapper doing ballet) that made everyone laugh again.
"And on drums we have ..." he stuck the mike under Mello's mouth. I half expected her to hide under her drum set, but she sat up and smiled. "I'm Melody McMann."
"Will you let me play your drums?" he asked.
She nodded.
"Any tips?" he asked as he took her place on the stool.
She shook her head. "Just have fun."
He tapped the edge of a snare and yelled, "One. Two. Three. Four." And then he went crazy. Bass, high hat, snares, toms - he must have hit all of them four times each in about ten seconds.
He stopped and said, "Oh, yeah! So, Mello, tell me how you girls started your band."
Mello? I thought. She didn't even want to be on TV. Why did he pick her for the good question?
She said, "Trin found out there was a music video contest. She and Harmony wanted to enter. They talked me into it."
Doc laughed. "So you didn't want to do it at first?"
Mello said, "No. I don't like being in front of people."
"So you probably weren't too excited about this live interview with me, were you?"
Mello's turn to go red.
He laughed again. "It's OK. I won't take it personally." He turned to Trin. "So, Trin, part of what made your video entry special is who made it. Can you tell me about that?"
Trin said, "Our friend Lamont Williams did our video."
The bald guy swung the camera toward Lamont. Lamont waved.
Doc said, "I've seen the video you made. It's amazing. You turned these girls into superheroes. How did you do that?" Lamont said, "I used my laptop and some video editing software. I also used some free graphics I downloaded. With computer graphics, the hardest thing is -"
"Whoa, there, Lamont. Don't give away all your secrets." Doc faced me again. "So, Harmony, what's the best thing about the Chosen Girls?"
Crud. He asked me the hardest question. I have to say something brilliant and make our band stand out. This could be the defining moment for us - our chance to catch some agent's eye.
I stared at the blinking light on the camera. It kind of hypnotized me.
"I guess there are so many good things, it's hard to narrow it down, huh?" Doc prompted.
Come on! I begged myself. Say something. Anything!
Finally, I had a thought. "I think the best part is that we aren't just a band. We're best friends."
"How great is that?" Doc said. "On that note, I'm going to let these musicians play a song for you. I hope they do okay without my help. This has been Doc Wazzup - live and on location - and these are the Chosen Girls."
He pointed to us, and Mello tapped four beats. Then she and I started in. On the third measure, Trin joined in on electric. Trin sang, and Mello echoed. It sounded awesome. We got halfway through the chorus when the light on the camera went out and the tall lady said, "Cut."
We stopped. Trin asked, "What's wrong?"
My face felt hot. "Did we mess up?"
"No. Nothing's wrong. You sounded great. That's just all we had time for. The network cut to a commercial," she explained.
Doc Wazzup walked around bonking fists with us. "So I guess you have to get to school now, huh?" he asked.
I groaned.
A live TV interview ... cool frijoles.
Being in a rock band with my best friends ... incredible.
Another day of school ... boring.
It didn't take long to find out I was wrong about that.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Double-Booked by Cheryl Crouch Copyright © 2007 by G Studios, LLC. Excerpted by permission.
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