Just Be Cool, Jenna Sakai Read online

  The driver made a sharp turn onto Egret Pond Road, the Koyama’s private lane. I was surprised not to hear the crunch of gravel.

  “Oh!” Dad exclaimed. “They paved the road.”

  The smooth sound of tires against asphalt was oddly foreign and jarring. Around the curve, Egret Pond came into sight, the sun sparking stars on the water’s surface. At least the view was the same. The car pulled up in front of the detached garage, and I looked up at the Koyama’s three-story colonial house, my heart pounding because I’d see Zach in moments.

  Memories swirled inside my head, threatening to rise to the surface. So many memories, sweet and sour, of this house and pond, the scent of lilacs and mud, the prickling heat. And Zach. Always Zach.

  Dad opened the door.

  “It’s go-time, I said, under my breath as I pushed the memories away and stepped out of the car.

  Copyright © 2021 by Debbi Michiko Florence

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, SCHOLASTIC PRESS, 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: Florence, Debbi Michiko, author.

  Title: Just be cool, Jenna Sakai / Debbi Michiko Florence.

  Description: First edition. | New York : Scholastic Inc., 2021. | Audience: Ages 8-12. | Audience: Grades 4-6. | Summary: When boyfriend Elliot breaks up with Jenna Sakai before Christmas break, she just about convinces herself that relationships are for suckers and she is better off without them; but unfortunately she finds herself in competition with Elliot for a journalism scholarship, and worse her first assignment for the newspaper club is to write a personal essay, which is difficult when you are someone who prefers to keep your emotions bottled up—and then there is Rin Watanabe, a boy as stubborn as Jenna herself, and a mystery that Jenna cannot help but investigate.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2020043874 (print) | LCCN 2020043875 (ebook) | ISBN 9781338671568 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781338671582 (ebk)

  Subjects: LCSH: Japanese Americans—Juvenile fiction. | Dating (Social customs)—Juvenile fiction. | Interpersonal relations—Juvenile fiction. | Self-perception—Juvenile fiction. | Best friends—Juvenile fiction. | Student newspapers and periodicals—Juvenile fiction. | CYAC: Japanese Americans—Fiction. | Dating (Social customs)—Fiction. | Self-perception—Fiction. | Best friends—Fiction. | Friendship—Fiction. | Newspapers—Fiction. | Middle schools—Fiction. | Schools—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.1.F593 Ju 2021 (print) | LCC PZ7.1.F593 (ebook) | DDC 813.6 [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020043874

  LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020043875

  First edition, August 2021

  Jacket photography © 2021 by Michael Frost

  Jacket design by Stephanie Yang

  Author photograph © 2016 by Roy Thomas

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-67158-2

  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.