Anastasia's Chosen Career by Lois Lowry

and was putting it into the oven. "I think her real name was probably Stephanie, but she liked to be called Stevie."
    "I know a girl named Nicky at nursery school," said Sam, "but I hate her."
    "Don't say 'hate,' sweetie," Mrs. Krupnik told him. "It's okay to say that you don't care much for her, but 'hate' isn't a nice word."
    Sam scowled. "I know a girl named Nicky at nursery school," he repeated, "and I don't care for her so much that I would like to run over her with a very big truck."
    Mrs. Krupnik adjusted the temperature of the oven. "Well," she said, "that's a slightly better way of putting it, I guess."
    "Go on, Anastasia," said her father. "More about your day."
    Anastasia told them about Bambie and her monologue from
Romeo and Juliet.
Her parents laughed and laughed.
    "We always watch Bambi on the VCR at my school," Sam went on. "Bambi is my very favorite VCR thing, except maybe Dumbo."
    "Bambie with an 'e,'" Anastasia reminded him. "Not the deer Bambi."
    "Do you hate her?" Sam asked. "I mean, do you not care for her very much?"
    Anastasia frowned. "I guess that's right. I don't care very much for Bambie."
    Then she told them about Helen Margaret.
    "Do you not care for her very much?" Sam asked.
    "She's okay," Anastasia said. "I guess I'm worried about her. I think she's going to flunk poise. She can't do the looking-people-in-the-eye part. It's not easy to look people in the eye. But if you force yourself, you should be able to do it."
    "I can do it easy," Sam said. "Watch me." He came to stand beside Anastasia's chair and leaned forward until his forehead touched hers. He stared at her without blinking for a long moment. "See? I can do it."
    "Right," Anastasia told him. "But Helen Margaret can't. She tries, but then she always looks away, down at the floor."
    "It sounds as if she's terribly shy," Mrs. Krupnik said. "Maybe by the end of the week she'll relax a little."
    "I hope so," Anastasia said. Then she told them about Robert Giannini.
    "
Robert Giannini?
" Mrs. Krupnik said. "I can't believe that Robert Giannini actually enrolled in modeling school. He was such an odd little boy, though. I guess I shouldn't be surprised at anything he does."
    "Do you not care for him very much?" Sam asked.
    "You got it, Sam," Anastasia said, laughing. "I don't care for Robert Giannini so much that I wish his dumb growth spurt would work in reverse and make him grow smaller and smaller until he disappears."
    "I remember, Anastasia," said her mother, "that there was a time—it was when you were in sixth grade—that you kind of
liked
Robert Giannini. He was sort of your boyfriend."
    Anastasia groaned. "
Mom,
" she said, "I was young then. And completely without poise."
    "Well," Anastasia's father said, "the whole modeling course experience is interesting, but I'd like to hear about your interview with Barbara Page."
    "Can we eat first? I'm starving. And also, it's complicated. Barbara Page is a terrific person, Dad. She's probably one of the
nicest
people I've ever met. She's ... well, what would you call someone who loves everybody and wants to make everybody happy and doesn't mind giving stuff away in order to do that?"
    "Generous," suggested Mrs. Krupnik.
    "Looney Tunes," suggested Dr. Krupnik.
    "Nope," said Sam. "I know what you would call that person because we have a story at school about it. It's called 'The Person with the Heart of Gold.'"
    Anastasia stared at Sam. She nodded. "That," she said, "is what Barbara Page should have named her bookstore."

    "Tell me all about it. I want to know every detail. And also, what did your family have for dessert tonight?" Sonya Isaacson was on the telephone.
    Anastasia giggled. "Lemon meringue pie. Sam is into imaginary skiing, so he asked Mom to make a dessert that looked like snow. She considered baked Alaska, but that's too complicated to make, and so she made lemon meringue pie instead. Why?"
    Sonya sighed. "I'm going to Weight Loss Clinic this week. Great vacation, huh? Every