Umbrella Summer

by Lisa Graff

  Maybe it only took one person to open an umbrella and stick it up in the air to block out the rain, but it took a whole lot of people to close it. And even though I was pretty sure I still had a few more inches to go, I knew that once my umbrella was all the way closed, I was going to keep it like that for a long time.

  Because as it turned out, I sure did like the sunshine.

  Acknowledgments

  Many thanks are due to Dr. Daniel Danila and Dr. Patrick Kemper for their expert medical advice, and to Minna Balbas and Janine O’Malley for putting me in touch with them.

  I owe countless cups of coffee to each of my fellow “Longstockings”—Kathryne Alfred, Coe Booth, Daphne Grab, Lisa Greenwald, Jenny Han, Caroline Hickey, and Siobhan Vivian—for their constant encouragement and brilliant advice. And I thank my lucky stars for Beth Potter and Salem Whalen, good friends with great ideas, and for Melissa Sassin, whose late-night pep talks proved even more effective than mint chip ice cream. Thanks to Dad, whose uncanny knowledge of obscure diseases finally came in handy, and to Mom, of course, for being Mom.

  Last but not least, I am filled with gratitude for Stephen Barbara, who is almost certainly the world’s best agent, and to the ever-patient Jill Santopolo, editor extraordinaire.

  About the Author

  Lisa Graff is the author of THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF BERNETTA WALLFLOWER and THE THING ABOUT GEORGIE, which was named to five state reading lists, including the Bluebonnet master list. Lisa grew up in a small California town very much like the one in this novel and received an MFA in writing for children from the New School in New York City. When she’s not writing her own books, she spends time helping other people’s books get published. You can visit her online at www.lisagraff.com.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

  Also by Lisa Graff:

  THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF BERNETTA WALLFLOWER

  THE THING ABOUT GEORGIE

  Credits

  Jacket art by Jennifer Rozbruch

  Umbrella image © Peter Dazeley/zefa/Corbis

  Jacket design by Carla Weise

  Copyright

  UMBRELLA SUMMER. Copyright © 2009 by Lisa Graff. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  Adobe Digital Edition May 2009 ISBN 9780061912597

  Version 09282012

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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