by Debbie Dadey
“I love that Rays song,” Echo said. “Have you heard their newest one?”
Kiki shook her head, pushed her long black hair out of her face, and took a bite of her crab casserole.
“Sing it for her, Shelly,” Echo said, giving Shelly a little nudge with her shoulder.
Shelly sang,
“Shake your tail
Shake, shake, shake your tail
Let’s bubble down and make like a whale
Shake, shake, shake your tail.”
Shelly was probably the best singer in the whole school—maybe in the entire merkingdom. She was so good that everyone in the cafeteria stopped to listen to her. When Shelly finished, Kiki clapped and the rest of the school joined in. Everyone but Pearl.
Shelly’s face turned red. She quickly scooped up a big bite of her longhorn cowfish and ate it without looking up. Her long hair partly covered her crimson cheeks.
Pearl floated over to their table and pointed her nose up in the water. “Did you know that the Rays are performing a concert in Poseidon tomorrow?”
“Really?” Echo asked. Poseidon was the town right next to Trident City, where they lived.
Pearl nodded. “Yes, and my father is taking me to see them. I bet I’m the only one in the whole school who will go. The tickets are very expensive.”
Shelly, Echo, and Kiki looked at one another without saying a word. Pearl’s parents were rich, and they lived in one of Trident City’s biggest shells. Everyone knew Pearl always got want she wanted. Many Trident City merfolk thought Pearl’s parents spoiled her.
Kiki felt like telling Pearl that it wasn’t nice to brag, but Pearl wasn’t finished. “I’m going to write the Rays a poem song. I’ll give it to them, and I bet they’ll sing it just for me.”
“That’s great idea,” Echo said.
Kiki looked at Echo in surprise. Kiki knew Echo didn’t like Pearl’s bragging either.
“I’m going to write a poem song too,” Echo continued. “Maybe the Rays will like mine and make it famous throughout the merworld.”
Pearl frowned. “But I thought of it first!”
Pearl’s friend Wanda swam up beside Pearl. “It is a great idea. I’m going to write a song for the Rays too.”
Pearl gave Wanda a dirty look and swam off to her own table, leaving a trail of bubbles behind. Wanda followed with a worried look on her face.
“Let’s meet at my shell after school,” Shelly told her friends. “We can work on our poems and poem songs together.”
“I can bring the snacks,” Kiki suggested. “I just got a trunk full of treats from home. My mom sent lots of sea cucumbers.”
Unlike Shelly and Echo, who lived close to Trident Academy, Kiki’s family lived far across the ocean, so she stayed in the school’s dormitory. Kiki’s mom often sent her care packages filled with goodies.
Shelly grinned. “Yum! I love those!”
“Oops!” Kiki said. “I forgot that I have vision practice with Madame Hippocampus after school today.”
“Just come over when you’re done,” Shelly said.
“Hey, do you know the best part about writing a poem song for the Rays?” Echo asked her friends.
“What?” Kiki asked.
“Making Pearl mad without even trying,” Echo replied with a giggle.
All three girls turned to look at Pearl. She was staring at them from across the room with a big frown on her face.
“Oh my Neptune!” Shelly said. “We don’t want to make Pearl angry at us.”
Kiki nodded. “Pearl does seem to like trouble.”
Echo shrugged. “I know, but how much trouble could she really cause us?”
Debbie Dadey is the author and coauthor of more than one hundred and fifty children’s books, including the series The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids. A former teacher and librarian, Debbie and her family split their time between Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and Sevierville, Tennessee. She hopes you’ll visit www.debbiedadey.com for lots of mermaid fun.
Aladdin
SIMON & SCHUSTER, NEW YORK
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Also by
Debbie Dadey
MERMAID TALES
BOOK 1: TROUBLE AT TRIDENT ACADEMY
BOOK 2: BATTLE OF THE BEST FRIENDS
BOOK 3: A WHALE OF A TALE
BOOK 4: DANGER IN THE DEEP BLUE SEA
BOOK 5: THE LOST PRINCESS
BOOK 6: THE SECRET SEA HORSE
BOOK 7: DREAM OF THE BLUE TURTLE
BOOK 8: TREASURE IN TRIDENT CITY
BOOK 9: A ROYAL TEA
Coming Soon
BOOK 11: THE POLAR BEAR EXPRESS
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 author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
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This Aladdin paperback edition January 2015
Text copyright © 2015 by Debbie Dadey
Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Tatevik Avakyan
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Also available in an Aladdin hardcover edition.
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Book design by Karin Paprocki
Jacket designed by Karin Paprocki
Jacket illustrations copyright © 2015 by Tatevik Avakyan
The text of this book was set in Belucian Book.
Library of Congress Control Number 2014936935
ISBN 978-1-4814-0258-3 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4814-0257-6 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4814-0259-0 (eBook)
