by Jill Diamond
2. Make a loop in each end of your wire. Twist the loop around itself a few times to secure the loose ends of the wire. Do this for both loops. When you’re finished, set your wire aside.
3. Trim your flowers so that each bloom has about 2 inches of stem left.
4. Make small bunches of 3 or 4 flowers, like miniature bouquets. Wrap tape around the stems to secure each bunch. Repeat this step until you have 5 or 6 separate bunches.
5. Now pick up your looped wire. Lay one flower bunch against the wire, starting at one end (blooms pointing toward the loop). Tape the stems along the wire, wrapping the tape around several times until the bouquet feels secure. Repeat this step, overlapping the next bunch of flowers with the stems of the first bunch, facing the same direction. Be sure to keep the bunches close together so there aren’t any gaps in your crown.
6. When you reach the other end and tape your last bunch on, it’s time for ribbon! Thread the ribbon through both loops at the back of the crown. Place the crown on your head, or on the head of your best friend or other wearer. Pull the ribbon tight to fit the crown, and tie a bow to fasten it.
Enjoy your beautiful corona de flores!
LOU LOU & PEA’S
Words to Know in Spanish
Note: Nouns in Spanish carry genders. Sometimes, one noun has two different genders to reflect the subject in question. If the suffix is an a, then it’s a female noun. If it’s an o, it’s a male noun.
abuela – grandmother
adiós – goodbye
almuerzo – lunch
amiga / amigo – female friend / male friend
mi amiga / mi amigo – my friend
año(s) – year(s)
artista – artist or performer
bien / buena(o) – well, good
bienvenidas(os) – welcome
bisabuela – great-grandmother
bonita(o) – beautiful
buenas noches – good evening, good night
buenas tardes – good afternoon
calaveras – sugar skulls
camelia – camellia
cena – dinner
chicas / chicos – girls / boys
claro – of course
¿cómo estás (tú) / cómo está (usted)? – how are you?
de nada – you’re welcome
desayuno – breakfast
Día de los Muertos – Day of the Dead
flor(es) – flower(s)
gata(o) – cat
gracias – thank you
¡hasta luego! – see you later!
hola – hello
hoy – today
intuición – intuition
lista(o) – ready
lo siento – I’m sorry
luz – light
mamá – mother
mañana – tomorrow
mascota – pet
mucha(s) / mucho(s) – many, a lot
muy bien – very good
niñas / niños – girls / boys
nosotros – we
papá – father
papel picado – cut tissue paper
pasteles – pastries
perdón – excuse me
pero – but, however
perra(o) – dog
por favor – please
preciosa(o) – precious
prima / primo – cousin
problema – problem
quinceañera – fifteenth-birthday party
señora / señor – woman / man
sí / no – yes / no
suerte – luck
taqueria – taco shop
teléfono – telephone
tengo – I have
tía / tío – aunt / uncle
tiempo – time
tú – you, informal (friends and siblings)
usted / ustedes – you, formal (parents and adults, singular) / you, formal (parents and adults, plural)
yo – I
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Muchas gracias to my amazing editor, Grace Kendall, and my agent extraordinaire, Jennifer Rofé, for their wisdom and insight, good humor, and enthusiasm for Lou Lou and Pea. Also, to everyone else at FSG who made this book a reality. Thank you to my critique group/band of cheerleaders, and to my friends and family for their feedback and encouragement. To my dad, Stephen Diamond, who has believed in my writing since my first poem in elementary school. Finally, to my husband, Ernst Schoen-René, for being a considerate critic and my biggest fan, and for keeping me sane while encouraging me to be crazy.
About the Author
Jill Diamond has loved children’s literature for as long as she can remember, thanks to her school librarian mother and long, cold winters in Maine. She presently lives in San Francisco, where, when she’s not writing, she practices law and hangs out with her husband and cat. You can sign up for email updates here.
About the Illustrator
Lesley Vamos studied at the College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, where she earned a BA with distinction in digital media. She loves telling stories, cooking, travelling, and eating eggplant. She resides in Sydney, Australia. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedications
CHAPTER ONE: PSPP
CHAPTER TWO: Sparkle ’N Not-So-Clean
CHAPTER THREE: Elmira the Candle Lady (Part One)
CHAPTER FOUR: Helado the Bunny
CHAPTER FIVE: Saturday in the Garden
CHAPTER SIX: Elmira the Candle Lady (Part Two)
CHAPTER SEVEN: A Planticide!
CHAPTER EIGHT: School Is for the Birds
CHAPTER NINE: Suspect Sunday
CHAPTER TEN: A Very Bad Monday for Danielle Desserts
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Danielle Desserts’s Day Gets Worse
CHAPTER TWELVE: Sugar Skulls
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Seeing Stars and Finding Flowers
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: A Surprise Encounter at the Candle Shop
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Rosa’s Mascota
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Ella Divine Sings the Blues
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Poor Elmira
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: A Funeral for Dear Pinky
CHAPTER NINETEEN: The Mural Mystery Matrix
CHAPTER TWENTY: An Altar Is Born
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: A Storm for Sugar Skulls Sarah
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Hallow-What?
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: Cats, Hats, and Bats
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Almrei
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: The One That’s Missing
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: Procession Preparation
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: Día de los Muertos (Part One)
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: Día de los Muertos (Part Two)
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: Día de los Muertos (Fin)
CHAPTER THIRTY: PSPP
Pea’s Pinky Pan de Muerto
Lou Lou’s Garden Flower Crown
Lou Lou and Pea’s Words to Know in Spanish
Acknowledgments
About the Author and Illustrator
Copyright
Farrar Straus Giroux Books for Young Readers
175 Fifth Avenue, New York 10010
Text copyright © 2016 by Jill Diamond
Art copyright © 2016 by Lesley Frances Vamos
All rights reserved.
First hardcover edition, 2016
eBook edition, October 2016
mackids.com
The Library of Congress has cataloged the pri
nt edition as follows:
Names: Diamond, Jill, 1978– author. | Vamos, Lesley, illustrator.
Title: Lou Lou and Pea and the mural mystery / Jill Diamond; illustrated by Lesley Vamos.
Description: First edition. | New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2016. | Summary: “Two best friends with a flair for adventure use their gardening and art skills to catch a criminal during Día de los Muertos”—Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015036151 | ISBN 9780374302955 (hardback) | ISBN 9780374302962 (ebook)
Subjects: | CYAC: Best friends—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | All Souls’ Day—Fiction. | Mexican Americans—Fiction. | Mystery and detective stories. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / Friendship. | JUVENILE FICTION / People & Places / United States / Hispanic & Latino. | JUVENILE FICTION / Humorous Stories.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1.D498 Lo 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2015036151
Our books may be purchased for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945 ext. 5442 or by e-mail at [email protected].
eISBN 9780374302962
Special thanks to Patricia Williams Sánchez for her careful proofreading of the Spanish text
