She put the picture down and looked in the envelope. A letter.
This was it. Her big break. Her chance to meet Fortune, the woman who inspired her every day to believe in her destiny.
Cleo’s eyes gobbled up the words until she got to “Unfortunately …”
She stopped. She couldn’t read on. But she had to.
“Unfortunately, as much as I would like to, I cannot have every person on my show who writes in with a fabulous idea.”
Every ounce of excitement drained from her heart like water through a sieve.
Fortune went on to say she couldn’t help Cleo find her birth parents but wished her luck in her search; told her she must have amazing parents to have raised such a confident, articulate businesswoman; and she was sure “we will be hearing big things from Cleo Edison Oliver one day.”
Cleo felt like Mom’s statuette of a mother holding a baby after Josh hit it with his baseball—in pieces on the ground.
Mom came out the back door. “Everything okay out here?” She looked over Cleo’s shoulder. “Honey! It’s from Fortune! You heard from her!” She sounded surprised that Fortune had actually written back.
“I did.” Cleo’s voice had no bounce.
She handed over the letter and Mom scanned it. “Oh. I’m sorry, sweetie. I know you were really hoping …” Cleo waited for her to say something about Fortune’s comments about searching for Cleo’s birth parents, but she didn’t.
“Hey, what’s this about?” Mom pointed to the bottom of the page. She read the P.S. aloud. “ ‘Make sure you watch the show on Monday, October 31. I will have a special surprise. P.P.S. You won’t want to miss it!’
“That sounds intriguing,” Mom said. “We’ll have to watch.”
“Yeah, I suppose.” Cleo folded the letter and stuffed it back in the envelope. Fortune’s “surprise” was probably just another promotional scheme for FortuneTube, like the call for kid entrepreneurs to upload their business-related videos.
She handed the pile of mail, including Fortune’s letter, to Mom. She was tempted to leave the photo on the table, but she snatched it and took it to her room. She put it on her desk, then got Dad’s camera and printed out the picture he’d taken of her and Kelvin Banks. She taped it on the wall near her pillow so it would be the last thing she saw before going to sleep and the first thing she saw when she woke up.
*
Cleo told Caylee all about meeting her birth dad while they made Passion Clips after dinner that night. Cleo could make the artist palette, paintbrush, chef’s hat and spoon, and any of the simple-shaped clips like balls, pencils, and journals all on her own. She left the more complicated clips and new clip designs to Caylee.
As usual, Caylee was an excellent listener. Cleo couldn’t wait to introduce her to Kelvin Banks.
Cleo also showed her the letter from Fortune.
“So we’re watching next Monday, right?” Caylee’s eyes gleamed with excitement.
Cleo blew out her breath. “I don’t know. I … It’s just — I was so —” Her voice had started to waver. She was so sure Fortune would be more interested and supportive. After all, Cleo had been watching her since she was three years old. There was no one in the world who wanted to be like Fortune more than Cleo!
She focused harder on gluing the small pink piece of felt to the end of the pencil she was making. Gloopy’s hot glue dripped on her finger. “Ow!” She stuck her finger in her mouth then stalked out of the room to run it in cold water.
When she came back, neither of them brought up Fortune again, which was just fine with Cleo.
*
Halloween came. Cleo had been planning to dress up as Fortune A. Davies, but after receiving the bad-news letter she’d decided to reuse her Cleopatra costume instead. The bodice was a little tight and they’d thrown away her staff with the ankh after Josh had broken it in a duel with Jay, but the headdress still fit fine.
When Cleo got home that afternoon, the first thing Mom asked about was watching Fortune. Cleo just said, “I need to do my homework before trick-or-treating,” and headed to her room. She felt Mom’s eyes on her as she sulked upstairs, but she didn’t turn around and she didn’t say any more.
She sat at her desk, trying to ignore Fortune staring at her from her wall, and made herself read her newest book report book. As it neared four o’clock, her stomach grumbled. Well, she would just duck into the kitchen for a snack, and perhaps if Mom had on the TV, she might hear something, but she wouldn’t go in the family room. She wouldn’t watch.
Mom was in the living room helping Josh and Jay with their costumes. The TV wasn’t on.
Oh well. It was for the best. Cleo raided the cabinet for crackers, grabbed a yogurt from the fridge, and headed back to her room for more reading.
Four o’clock came. Then 4:01. 4:02. 4:03. The minutes ticked away on her digital clock. It was impossible to concentrate. Had the surprise happened already? Would she be terribly disappointed that she hadn’t seen it? That was silly. How could she be disappointed if she didn’t know what it was and probably never would?
The phone rang downstairs. A moment later, Mom shouted, “Cleo, hurry! Quick!”
Cleo jumped from her chair, adrenaline racing through her bloodstream as if a siren had sounded in her room. She bounded down the stairs. Fortune’s voice came from the family room. Had she just said the word clips?
Cleo rounded the corner and there on the wide-screen TV in all her glowing glory was Fortune — wearing the pyramid Passion Clips in her hair!!!
Mom handed her the phone, mouthing, “Caylee.”
Cleo shrieked into the phone, “She’s wearing our clips! She’s wearing our clips!”
Caylee yelled, “I know! I know!” and Josh and Jay were asking questions and Barkley was barking and Mom said something to her brothers and they both started cheering and jumping up and down and it was so loud Cleo couldn’t hear anything Fortune was saying and before she could get everyone to quiet down, it was time for commercials!
“What’d she say? I didn’t hear anything she said!” Cleo wailed.
“She told everyone about Passion Clips, Cleo!” Caylee’s voice was pitched high with excitement. “And where to order them on Artsy!”
“Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! We’re going to get so many orders!”
“And she said our names, Cleo! She called you the CEO and me the COO!”
“She what? She said our names?”
Mom’s eyes popped wide in surprise.
Cleo couldn’t hold it in any longer. She let out a long, loud scream. If the wild parrots had been roosting in the camphor tree over her house, they would have been frightened into flight. Josh and Jay took this opportunity to yell some more, and Barkley bayed at the top of his lungs.
The TV caught Cleo’s attention again. A girl that looked a whole lot like Lexie Lewis was on the screen. Wait a minute. It was Lexie Lewis! “Look!” she pointed at the TV. “It’s Lexie’s Sunshine Sparkle flute-fravored beverage commercial!” She laughed, releasing the nervous energy of the last few minutes.
Lexie was great. She was a natural. Cleo would be sure to tell her at school the next day.
After everyone had finally calmed down, Mom told Cleo that she had actually set the recorder to record Fortune that day, just in case Cleo changed her mind. A few minutes later, Dad got home, Caylee ran over, and they all sat down and watched the whole thing together.
Cleo watched it two more times after that, so so glad that Mom had captured this incredible moment, and knowing that one day soon, she would share it with her birth dad too.
$$$CEO$$$
Cleopatra Edison Oliver, CEO
CLEOPATRA ENTERPRISES, INC.
818 Camphor Street
Altadena Heights, CA 91120
Fortune A. Davies, CEO
Fortune Enterprises, Inc.
150 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Dear Ms. Fortune A. Davies:
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! Seeing you on TV wearing the Passion Clips™ we sent you was the highlight of my life so far !!!
Since you spotlighted our business on your show, we have received so many orders that we decided to hire an employee! Her name is Lexie Lewis and she used to be my archenemy, but it turns out she’s not so bad. She’s just been going through a rough time, although she says it’s better now that we’ve become friends. She’s also very careful when it comes to cutting and gluing on small parts, and so we gave her the job.
Also, you’re not going to believe this, but I found my birth dad! Or he found me. He is very persistent, just like me. He had some things in his life he needed to work out, but he never gave up hope that one day he would meet me and get to know me, and now that’s exactly what we are doing. He is more of a poet and a teacher than a businessman, but I am going to help him with that. That way he can get more of his poems and raps out into the world for others to read and hear. He’s got a lot of important things to say. I am very proud of him.
I wish I had a bigger way to say “thank you,” but for now, please accept the enclosed samples of my mom’s and my latest product (which will be going to market very soon) as a token of my appreciation. I know how much you love your pharaoh hound, Omar. Hopefully HE will love these fantastamazing, handcrafted dog treats, Cleo’s Canine Cookies™—made with extra protein and a lot of love!
Your friend,
Cleopatra Edison Oliver, CEO
P.S. I’ve enclosed a poem I wrote for class. My birth dad really liked it (maybe I got some of his poetry genes!). I hope you like it too.
P.P.S. I went as YOU for Halloween this year! I wore a big button that said “Delivering Destinies and Financing Futures” and carried a large book with a cover that said “Fortune Principles for How to Build Your Business and Live the Life You Want.” I was a BIG hit at every house! Thank you again!!!
“Persistent”
By Cleopatra Edison Oliver
I’m persistent as a dripping faucet:
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Dripping without stopping till my mom
Flip-flips.
I won’t give up. I’ve got big dreams.
I have a for-sure destiny …
At least that’s what it seems.
I’m like a dentist with a scaler,
Cleopatra is my name.
I’m a dog who’s caught a scent—
hunting fortune and my fame.
I’m a seed in rocky dirt
growing up into a flower.
I’m the Itsy-Bitsy Spider
and I’ve got Persuasion Power!
I’m thankful to the people who make it possible for me to continue doing what I love. To those at Scholastic who work so hard to get stories into the hands of kids, thank you for all that you do. A special thank you to Arthur A. Levine, whose incisive, “no punches pulled” input helped me to find the deeper, more touching story. Also, huge thanks are due to editorial assistant Weslie Turner for her enthusiastic support, affirming feedback, and diligence with the details. Thanks to Rebekah Wallin for overseeing production; Erica Ferguson for her careful reading of the manuscript; Mary Claire Cruz for her attention to the book’s design; and Jennifer L. Meyer for her lovely and whimsical illustrations, which add so much to the finished product. Thank you to my agent, Regina Brooks, for always being for me (and Cleo).
Of course my goal is to connect with kids first and foremost. I’m grateful to my third- and fourth-grade focus group, who gave me honest feedback about what was (and was not) working in this story (over plentiful Jelly Bellies, of course): Skye Frazier, Kaya Terada, Lily Hall, Kahea Lum-Lung, Ruby Lopez, Amina Barga-Smith, and Rosa Saulter-Edwards (honorary second-grade member). Thank you to Angela Tucker, star of the beautiful documentary Closure, about her reunion with her birth family and host of The Adopted Life Episodes, for her helpful feedback on this manuscript. Also to Jill Dziko for answering questions regarding adoption processes, and to Johanna Hernandez, teacher extraordinaire, for assistance with fifth-grade classroom and curriculum questions. Written acknowledgment is long overdue to my own fifth-grade teacher, Janet Mansfield, who first encouraged my love of creative writing and planted the seeds of my career by telling me that I was good at it.
To my dear friends, the Arnolds, and my sister, Fina Arnold, thank you for being my inspiration in more ways than one. Finally, love and gratitude to my husband, Matt, for prompting me to renew my resolve and commit to my calling, and to my daughters, Skye and Umbria: May you discover, love, and use your superpowers.
Sundee Frazier is the author of Cleo Edison Oliver, Playground Millionaire, which received a starred review from Booklist. She won the 2008 ALA Coretta Scott King / John Steptoe New Talent Award for her first novel, Brendan Buckley’s Universe and Everything in It. Frazier graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in broadcast journalism in 1991 and earned her MFA in Writing for Children from Vermont College in 2004. She currently lives near Seattle with her husband and two daughters.
Text copyright © 2017 by Sundee T. Frazier
Illustrations by Jennifer L. Meyer copyright © 2017 by Scholastic Inc.
This book is being published simultaneously in hardcover by Arthur A. Levine Books.
All rights reserved. Published by Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, the LANTERN LOGO, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Frazier, Sundee Tucker, 1968– author.
Title: Cleo Edison Oliver in Persuasion power / Sundee T. Frazier.
Other titles: Persuasion power
Description: First edition. | New York, NY : Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., 2017. | Summary: Successful businesswoman Fortune A. Davies has announced a new website where “kidpreneurs” can upload ads for their businesses and Cleo and her friend Caylee are sure this is the their big break to get funding for their personalized barrettes, Passion Clips—but producing an internet ad using their classmates is proving difficult, and Cleo is further distracted by her desire to find her birth parents.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016017797| ISBN 9780545822404 (pbk : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Adopted children—Juvenile fiction. | Birthparents—Juvenile fiction. | Internet advertising—Juvenile fiction. | Money-making projects for children—Juvenile fiction. | Racially mixed families—California—Juvenile fiction. | Best friends—Juvenile fiction. | CYAC: Adoption—Fiction. | Birthparents—Fiction. | Advertising—Fiction. | Business enterprises—Fiction. | Entrepreneurship—Fiction. | Family life—Fiction. | Best friends—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | African Americans—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.F8715 Cj 2017 | DDC 813.6 [Fic] —dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016017797
Cover art © 2017 by Jennifer L. Meyer
Cover design by Mary Claire Cruz
First printing 2017
e-ISBN 978-0-545-82241-1
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, 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 hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding
permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.
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