ALSO BY SARA SHEPARD

  Penny Draws a Best Friend

  G. P. Putnam’s Sons

  An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, New York

  Produced by Alloy Entertainment

  30 Hudson Yards, 22nd floor • New York, NY 1000x21

  First published in the United States of America by G. P. Putnam’s Sons,

  an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2023

  Copyright © 2023 by Sara Shepard and Alloy Entertainment LLC

  Cover art © 2023 by Sara Shepard

  Excerpt from Penny Draws a Secret Adventure © 2024 by Sara Shepard and Alloy Entertainment LLC

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Shepard, Sara, 1977– author.

  Title: Penny draws a school play / Sara Shepard.

  Description: New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 2023. | Series: The Penny draws series | Summary: Fifth grader Penny, who doodles to cope with anxiety, is cast in her class play.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2022047551 (print) | LCCN 2022047552 (ebook) | ISBN 9780593616802 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780593616819 (epub)

  Subjects: CYAC: Doodles—Fiction. | Diaries—Fiction. | Anxiety—Fiction. | Theater—Fiction. | Schools—Fiction. | LCGFT: Diary fiction. | Novels.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.S54324 Pd 2023 (print) | LCC PZ7.S54324 (ebook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022047551

  LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022047552

  ISBN 9780593616802

  Ebook ISBN 9780593616819

  Design by Marikka Tamura and Suki Boynton

  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.

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  a_prh_6.0_144831032_c0_r1

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Also By Sara Shepard

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  The Fortune Teller

  Miss Kettle

  The Bombshell

  The Auditions

  High Dive

  The Move

  Lucky Rock

  Dartboards

  Screeching And Hammering

  The Adventures Of Penny And Chloe

  The Narrator

  The Plan

  The Picnic

  The American Cheese Incident

  Bigfoot

  Other Penny

  The Rehearsal That Wasn’T

  Nervous Nellies

  The Play

  Out Of Control

  All Alone

  Search Party

  The Noise

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  A Sneak Peek at Penny Draws A Secret Adventure

  About The Author

  _144831032_

  To Michael, the best passerby a school play ever saw.

  The Fortune Teller

  Dear Cosmo,

  I haven’t written too much lately. If I had, my entries would have been mostly about the naughty things you’ve done, like rolling in mud, barking too much, and stealing food off our plates. Which is bad, I know, but you do make the most adorable gobbling sounds.

  As for writing about myself? I haven’t had to lately. My Feelings Teacher, Mrs. Hines, said I should write in this journal every day, but things were so good that I didn’t feel the need. Fall was great. Not a single black cat crossed my path, and I didn’t freak out in our town’s corn maze.

  There was a concerning float at the Harvest Parade, I suppose.

  I just didn’t understand who that guy was supposed to be.

  Over the holidays, all my family talked about was how this time next year, there would be two new babies. My mom really is pregnant with twins. For a while, I didn’t believe she was telling me the truth. But then my parents showed me this.

  Over the fall, Mom spent time with other moms who are also pregnant, including Riley Miller’s mom. Riley Miller and I are not friends. As for my old best friend, Violet Vance—who Riley stole—we still aren’t friends. But we also aren’t really enemies these days, either. We’ll sort of say hi in the halls, but it’s not like we talk.

  Unfortunately, sometimes when the moms hang out, Riley and I are stuck together. It mostly goes like this.

  Still, I tried not to let Riley bother me. I was busy with my new friends: Kristian, Rocco, Maria, and Petra. Especially Maria.

  There were even moments when I wanted to call Maria my best friend…but I’m not sure. What happened with Violet was so…hard. Not that I think anything like that will ever happen with Maria, but I don’t want to jinx it. I think there’s a part of me that’s a little scared to call someone my best friend again—at least officially.

  Anyway, it’s January now. Things had still been great. I had absolutely nothing to worry about.

  Until earlier today.

  It all started at lunch. We were talking about the fifth-grade play, which is a tradition. Every year, my homeroom teacher, Mrs. Dunphy, is in charge of the drama unit for the whole grade. She chooses the play, sets the auditions, and casts the leads. We hadn’t heard anything about the play yet, but we all had thoughts.

  We asked Petra what she thought about the play.

  I wasn’t too worried. Mrs. Dunphy would pick a good play that everyone liked, and she knew better than to give me a part. I’m pretty anxious about getting up in front of the class. Forget about being onstage.

  After that, this kid Luke came over to our table. Luke is in our grade, and he always has some kind of business going.

  None of us were surprised that there was a cone as the bonus gift. Luke’s parents own a sporting goods store, and he was always trying to get rid of random stuff they didn’t want.

  We talked Luke into telling our fortunes in exchange for Rocco’s leftover cookies. Luke’s “fortune teller” was just a folded-paper thingie that we’d made in art class a few days ago. Most of my friends’ fortunes were silly…but then we got to mine.

  And that, Cosmo, is why I need to start writing to you again.

  Miss Kettle

  Dear Cosmo,

  Unexpected surprises? I mean, surprises are bad enough…but unexpected ones? It’s way better to know exactly what’s coming. I know you agree. You eat the same kind of dog food out of the same blue plastic dog bowl every day. Mom takes you for a walk at the same time every morning, and you sniff the same pee spots. You even sleep in the same position every night on my bed—which forces me to scrunch up my legs.

  What could the fortune mean? I already know about the twins. That was a surprise when I found out, but it isn’t an unexpected one anymore. So, is something else going to happen? How am I supposed to prepare for it?

  Over the weekend, I tried not to worry about the fortune. I mean, Luke wasn’t actually a psychic. I also saw him on Saturday, and he’d already moved on to selling balloon animals. Well. Sort of.

  On the other hand, I’ve heard those folded-paper fortune thingies NEVER LIE. In second grade, this girl Maddy did one, and her fortune said she was VERY UNLUCKY. After recess that same day, our teacher picked Maddy to sit with the giant stuffed animals during circle time. This was supposed to be a treat, but Maddy was terrified of those animals. We all were.

  So, okay, I was a little bit worried about my fortune. And on Monday morning, when I got to school, I worried it was coming true.

  When I got into my class, my teacher, Mrs. Dunphy, wasn’t there. It was our principal, Mr. Mortion, instead.

  I’ve never known what to think about Mr. Mortion. Here’s why:

   He’s very serious about everything. For instance, a lot of the male teachers at my school wear funny ties. But even Mr. Mortion’s ties are serious.

  Some kids think he’s from outer space because his name—Mr. Mortion—sounds like Mr. Martian. Also, someone swore they overheard him in in the parking lot talking in an outer space language that sounded like a computer mixed with a squirrel. But I don’t know if that’s true.

  Other kids swear they’ve seen Mr. Mortion at the local indoor pool, getting lessons from Bertha, this lady in our town who teaches toddlers to swim.

  But I don’t know if that’s true, either.

  At the start of the day, Mr. Mortion told us somethi
ng surprising: Mrs. Dunphy needed emergency hip surgery, so she would be out for the rest of the school year to recover. So we would be getting a new teacher. She was coming that afternoon.

  A new teacher? In the fall, I had been disappointed I got Mrs. Dunphy for fifth grade, since she’s known as the “strict one.” But I like her now. She gets me. She never questions when I say I have to go to Mrs. Hines. She also gave me an A in math last marking period, not because I know all my math facts—I don’t—but because she knows I’m trying my best.

  For the rest of the day, Mr. Mortion led us through the lessons. Maybe he is an alien, because he said everything in the same tone of voice.

  Eventually, it was almost time for the last bell. I started to wonder if maybe the new teacher wasn’t coming—though maybe that wouldn’t be so great, because that might mean we’d be stuck with Mr. Mortion for the rest of the year. And then who’d be the principal?

  Just then the door opened, and someone new walked through.

  Hand puppets?

  This Miss Kettle person seemed completely serious. She went on to say we were going to have so much fun together this year. Actually, she said that more to Puppet Steve. The two of them seemed like best friends.

  Then she started talking about how she had a college degree in theater as well as teaching, which made her the perfect person to take over our upcoming drama unit.

  The Bombshell

  Dear Cosmo,

  When the day was over, I walked home from school with Kristian. He lives a few streets over from me, and we’ve been walking together for a few months now.

  I told him about my new teacher. Kristian has Ms. Letts for homeroom, so this was big news for him.

  I also mentioned how Miss Kettle said we all had to be in the play. What did that mean? We all had to speak? Would we fail the drama unit if we didn’t? But I wasn’t sure I could get onstage. What if I literally exploded from nervousness? I heard that actually happened to a kid a few towns over.

  However, when I got home, I realized that Miss Kettle and the play were the least of my problems.

  Things started out okay. My grandma Mimi was waiting on the front porch.

  For the record, I am Grandma Mimi’s only granddaughter—for now, anyway. There will be new babies soon. But I’m happy I’m her favorite all the same.

  Then Grandma Mimi went through what I call “Grandma Mimi’s Grandma Mimi-isms.” They’re things she says to me every time she comes over.

  I asked Grandma Mimi what she was doing at our house. Don’t get me wrong, I love when she comes, but it’s a random Monday, and she usually has a packed weekday schedule of Grandma Activities—Romance Novel Club, Krochet Korner, and this martial arts class that sounds a little dangerous for a grandma.

  Wait, we had to go somewhere? That was a red flag. I had a feeling my mom was going to ambush me with a dentist’s appointment or a flu shot.

  It seemed I had no choice, though. Even stranger, we all got in the car—Mimi, Mom, my dad, Juice Box, and me.

  Oh, to be carefree like Juice Box.

  My dad drove. We wound out of our neighborhood, but we didn’t go onto the main road that led to the dentist or the doctor. Instead, we drove into this other neighborhood, parked at this random house, and got out. Then Mom looked at Juice Box and me and made an announcement.

  I stared. Then I laughed. It was a joke, right? But Mom wasn’t laughing with us. She seemed serious. Then she explained that she and Dad had been thinking about getting a bigger house for a while. This past weekend was the first time they actually went looking at houses for sale…and, well, they found one they really liked. She also said that she had wanted Juice Box and me to see the house before they made a decision, but all these other families wanted the house, too, and they had to say yes or no before someone else bought it instead.

  Inside, I was feeling like this.

  I couldn’t believe this was happening.

  Mom wanted to show us around, so we went inside.

  The front room was bigger, but I liked our old cozy living room, too.

  I thought my brother would be freaked out about moving, but all my parents had to say to him was this, and he was on board.

  Traitor.

  Dad, Juice Box, and Grandma Mimi went outside to pick a good tree. Mom asked that I stay inside so she could take me on a personal tour.

  Her voice got more and more high-pitched with every room we visited. I think she could tell I had my doubts, but I could also tell she wanted me to be okay with this. This big…unexpected…surprise.

  See? Those fortune-teller things never lie.

  Then Mom led me upstairs and said I should walk to the end of the hall, where my new room would be. I guess she thought I might want to have some time alone in there, because she left me to it and went back downstairs.

  I pushed open the door. Inside, I saw this.

  It was big. And what was that chandelier doing in there? It was pretty, like being in a ballroom. Only…did I want to be in a ballroom? What if one of the chandelier crystals fell on my head in the night? What if one of them impaled my eye?

  I went back downstairs. I felt shaky and confused. If all of that wasn’t bad enough, Mom took a deep breath and dropped THIS final bomb on me.

  The Auditions

  Dear Cosmo,

  I hope you slept better than I did after the huge news. I was up all night, my head swimming with questions. I couldn’t believe my parents were doing this. Who can move in a week? Why did we have to move at all?

  My mind went to some dark places.

  My parents assured me everything would be just fine.

  But I wasn’t so sure.

  I was exhausted by the time I got to school. Luckily, I saw Rocco on the sidewalk—I needed someone to talk to. I told him everything about the shocking news.

  I’m glad he understood. See, it was bad enough I had to deal with a new neighborhood and a new house. It was also upsetting that I would be leaving behind all the great memories I made in my old house. On top of all of that, though, I also worried about hurting my old house’s feelings.

  Like, what if my old house felt mad that we were moving? What if its new owners were messy or painted its walls hideous colors? I didn’t want to be responsible for my old house’s horrible new life. I also didn’t want my old house to blame me. It was a lot to keep track of!

  I wasn’t looking forward to the day. We were going to start our drama unit. And Miss Kettle was my teacher instead of Mrs. Dunphy.

  In class, Miss Kettle—and her puppet—were bubbling over with excitement. Ms. Letts’s and Mr. Glenn’s classes were filing into the room and taking seats on the rugs.

  When everyone settled in, Miss Kettle called Petra up to the front. That was a surprise.

  I was thrilled for Petra. I had no idea she had written a play. Although…I kind of figured Petra would write a play about Pokémon—or maybe Bug Man, her secret identity. Also, being the playwright probably meant she wouldn’t have to get onstage and speak. Lucky! Why hadn’t I thought about writing a play?

  Miss Kettle said we would hold auditions today for the parts with lots of lines. This included the vampire; his best friend, Tyler; his boss at a pizza place; and his love interest, Clara Sue. Riley immediately raised her hand.

  Apparently, Riley took an acting class last year and was in a camp production of The Little Mermaid. So now she thinks that makes her a total expert.

  Everyone got up to audition. Well, those who wanted to try out for the big parts—like Maria, who has no trouble speaking in front of people. I stayed in my seat. I felt jittery. Miss Kettle said we all had to be in the play. What if she just assigned me a random part? What if I had to sing?