Dream Machine

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1: What a Dream!

  Chapter 2: Robots or Race Cars?

  Chapter 3: The Robotics Team

  Chapter 4: Second Chances

  Chapter 5: Hold That Thought

  Chapter 6: Bella Breaks Down

  Chapter 7: The Dream Machine

  Chapter 8: Less Is More

  Chapter 9: The Big Day Disaster

  Chapter 10: Dreams Come True

  How to Make . . . A Balloon-Powered Race Car

  ‘DIY Pet Shop’ Excerpt

  About the Author and Illustrator

  CHAPTER 1

  What a Dream!

  Rrrrrrrrrrrrr . . .

  Bella Diaz stepped on the gas. The engine roared and the race car zoomed forward.

  Beaming happily, Bella adjusted a knob on the dashboard. She had designed and programmed the race car herself! Bella loved anything to do with computers: programming, coding, and beyond. And she’d always dreamed of being able to program her very own race car!

  She gripped the steering wheel with her purple leather racing gloves as she sped down the race track and into a tight turn.

  Just then a light flashed red. Warning! Warning!

  Oh no! She had taken the turn a little too fast. Bella spun the wheel, leaned hard, and . . .

  THUMP!

  Bella opened her eyes. She was on the floor next to her bed, twisted up in her blankets.

  For a moment she was completely confused. Then she realized what had happened.

  Whew, what a dream! Her heart was still racing, thinking about flying around the track. And thinking about that amazing car.

  She untangled herself and stood up. Glancing at her alarm clock, she saw that it was still early.

  Well, I might as well get up, thought Bella. I could grab a few more minutes of sleep, but there’s no way I’d have a dream that awesome again!

  CHAPTER 2

  Robots or Race Cars?

  That morning Bella was the first to arrive in Ms. Gibbons’s classroom. Still thinking about her dream, she pulled out a notebook. She began sketching a picture of her race car. She wanted to capture all the details before the dream faded.

  “Cool car!”

  Bella looked up. Her friend Emily Adams was leaning over the edge of her desk, trying to get a better look at Bella’s drawing.

  “Thanks,” Bella replied. “Last night I dreamed I was driving it. But it was also sort of driving itself because I wrote the code so it would follow the race course. Only I might have miscalculated the turning axis, because—”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Emily held up a hand. “Slow down, Bella. You’re light-years ahead of me when it comes to programming. Though, if you want some help with the engineering, I’m game. There are some pretty simple things you can do to make the car go faster. Like tapering the back, or adding a spoiler.”

  Bella grinned. “When I do build my dream car, I’ll definitely want you on the design team.”

  “What design team?” asked their friend Sam Sharma, who had just arrived. Sam loved to paint and draw. Clearly, the word “design” had gotten his attention.

  Before Bella could explain, the bell rang. There was a sparkly purple blur in the classroom doorway as Maddie Wilson dashed in. She was wearing a sequined dress that Bella was pretty sure had been pink the day before.

  Bella smiled. Leave it to Maddie to reinvent her outfit overnight!

  Maddie slid into her seat, turned to her three best friends, and whispered, “What did I miss?”

  “We’ll tell you at lunch,” answered Bella, Emily, and Sam at once.

  • • •

  Over sandwiches, Bella showed Sam and Maddie her race car sketch.

  “It’s from my dream last night,” she explained. “I was thinking maybe it could be the inspiration for our next project!”

  The four friends met regularly to do craft projects together, and they were always on the lookout for new ideas.

  Just then two older girls walked by. They were carrying stacks of neon green flyers. But it wasn’t just the color that caught Bella’s eye; it was the picture of a robot! If there was anything Bella loved more than the idea of programming a race car, it was robots!

  Bella watched the girls go from table to table, passing them out. She couldn’t wait until the girls got to their table.

  But by the time the bell rang, no flyer. And the girls had already left the cafeteria.

  Bella was disappointed. What was the robot flyer for? And why did the older girls skip their table? None of her friends seemed to notice—they were still discussing different types of cars they could build.

  On the way back to their classroom, a flash of neon green caught Bella’s eye. A flyer! It was taped to the wall above a drinking fountain. Bella read it quickly.

  Interested? You bet I am, thought Bella.

  CHAPTER 3

  The Robotics Team

  When the bell rang for lunch the next day, Bella told her friends to go ahead without her. She thought about inviting them to come to the meeting with her. But she decided to check it out herself. If it turned out to be as awesome as she hoped, she could always recruit them later.

  Bella found the meeting room. In her enthusiasm, she threw the door open with a BANG!

  All eyes turned toward her. There were about ten kids there already, including the two girls who were handing out the flyers. One of them gave Bella a funny look.

  “Are you lost?” the girl asked in a tone that made Bella feel like she was about five years old.

  “I . . . I don’t think so,” said Bella, now nervous. “Is this the robotics club?”

  A tall, skinny boy laughed. “It’s not a club. It’s a team,” he corrected her.

  “That’s . . . uh . . . that’s what I meant,” stammered Bella.

  “You can’t join. You’re too young,” said the girl who had asked if Bella was lost.

  “Yeah, no little kids allowed,” added the tall boy.

  “Oh . . . okay,” said Bella, completely embarrassed. She turned around to leave. But then she stopped herself. She really wanted to know more about this robot-building contest.

  Bella turned back around and took a deep breath. “But . . . the poster said all interested students,” she managed to say.

  “Bryce? Naomi? She has a point,” said someone from the back of the room. Bella looked and saw that there was a teacher there. “The rules state that the contest is recommended for students ages ten to twelve, but that’s only a guideline. So, it’s not against the rules for younger students to participate.”

  “But, Mrs. Jacobs . . . ,” complained Naomi.

  The teacher held up a hand. “Let’s not waste time arguing. We have a lot to get done. Naomi and Bryce, as team captains, will you please explain the rules of the contest?”

  Bella felt her heart racing as the two older students rattled off the rules of the robot-building contest. She saw some of the other kids taking notes, so she pulled out her notebook and did the same.

  When they got to the end of the rules, Mrs. Jacobs asked, “Any questions?”

  Several hands shot up.

  “Are they going to provide us with a field set-up kit?”

  “Can we use a smartphone as the controller?”

  “Is there a limit to how many team members can be in the pit?”

  Bella’s eyes widened. It seemed like everyone had been on a robotics team before. Everyone except her.

  Finally the meeting ended. As Bella put her notebook away, she couldn’t help noticing a couple of the kids whispering. Were they talking about her?

  Bella sighed. She trudged back to her classroom, feeling defeated. Maybe she should have just walked away the first time.

  CHAPTER 4


  Second Chances

  When school let out, Bella went home, changed her clothes, and then went to wait for her friends at the craft clubhouse in her backyard. As soon as Sam, Maddie, and Emily arrived, the four of them fell into their familiar habit of joking, laughing, and sharing new craft project ideas.

  Bella smiled. It felt so much better to be at this meeting.

  “Where were you at lunch, Bella?” asked Maddie. “We came up with the best idea and you totally missed it.”

  Bella hesitated. Did she even want to tell her friends about her embarrassing experience with the robotics team? She settled on a shortened version of the story and just told her friends that she’d seen the flyer about a robotics team so she’d gone to check it out.

  “There’s a robotics team?” asked Emily. “Are you going to join?”

  “Probably not,” said Bella breezily. “Anyway, what’s our idea?”

  “Well, we still want to make a car,” said Sam. “But we came up with the idea of using lighter materials and making a bunch of small model cars. That way, we could power them with balloons and race them.”

  “What do you think?” Maddie asked Bella.

  Bella hesitated. Balloon-powered cars couldn’t do nearly as many cool things as computer-powered cars. But racing sounded fun, and they had to start somewhere!

  “Sounds great,” she told her friends. “Let’s go look for materials!”

  After a trip to Bella’s kitchen recycling bin and a spin through the craft supply containers in the clubhouse, the friends had assembled lots of good items for their project: plastic bottles and wood scraps for the car frames, plus bottle tops, jar lids, and big buttons from Maddie’s stash of sewing supplies for wheels. They also collected all sorts of decorations, paints, and fasteners.

  While Bella was organizing everything into neat piles, Sam came over to her.

  “Are you really not going to join the robotics team?” he asked. “That sounds like your dream team!”

  Bella shrugged. “All the kids were older than me. And they’ve probably all built tons of robots before,” she said.

  “Bet they haven’t starred in a rock band or tie-dyed a shirt for the mayor,” Sam said with a wink.

  Bella laughed. Maybe Sam was right. Maybe she was psyching herself out. Maybe . . . she’d give the robotics team another shot.

  CHAPTER 5

  Hold That Thought

  And Bella did give it another shot. The following week, she was back in Mrs. Jacobs’s classroom.

  “Glad you came back,” said Mrs. Jacobs with a smile.

  Bella smiled, but she wondered if Mrs. Jacobs would be the only one who was happy to see her.

  This time Bella had made a point of getting there early and finding a good seat. As the older kids arrived, though, she couldn’t help but notice that none of them said hello or sat down near her.

  “Okay, let’s get started,” said Mrs. Jacobs. “So, the contest challenge has been announced and it is a ‘green’ one. This means our robot will need to do two things to help the environment. Why don’t we start by brainstorming ideas?”

  Bella may have been obsessed with all things computer and electronics, but she also definitely cared about the environment. She raised her hand.

  Mrs. Jacobs asked the robotics team captains to run the brainstorming session. Naomi called on people to share their ideas, and Bryce wrote the ideas down on the board.

  “Let’s see,” said Naomi, looking around the room. “Kimaya?”

  “Our robot could monitor sunlight and move plants in response, so they get the optimum amount of sunlight.”

  “Great idea,” said Naomi. Bella waved her hand, but Naomi called on a boy named Angelo instead.

  “Maybe our robot could run on solar power?” he suggested.

  “Very cool,” said Naomi.

  Finally, Naomi pointed at Bella.

  “Me?” asked Bella, feeling a little self-conscious. “My name is Bella. You guys have a lot of great ideas. I have one to add, which is that our robot could—”

  RIIIIIIINNNNGGGG!

  At the sound of the bell, everyone jumped up and grabbed their things. Everyone except Bella, who just sat there in disbelief.

  Mrs. Jacobs came over and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll bet you had a good idea. Can you hang on to it for next time?”

  Bella nodded, but she wasn’t sure. The older kids probably wouldn’t even like her idea. Plus, they had so many good ideas of their own, they didn’t need a little kid’s help.

  Almost as if she had read Bella’s mind, Mrs. Jacobs added, “ ‘Though she be but little, she is fierce.’ ”

  Bella looked up, confused.

  “It’s from Shakespeare,” explained Mrs. Jacobs. “It’s my way of saying that you matter. So, don’t doubt yourself, okay?” She winked at Bella.

  “Okay,” said Bella. But she didn’t wink back.

  CHAPTER 6

  Bella Breaks Down

  After school, Bella and her mom went to the supermarket. Bella’s mom did the grocery shopping, but she left the cooking up to Bella’s dad, who was a chef.

  In the produce aisle, Mrs. Diaz suggested, “Why don’t you get the fruits and I’ll get the veggies.”

  “Okay,” said Bella. She selected a pineapple, a bunch of bananas, and a bag of apples. Then she saw that mangoes were on sale. But as Bella took a mango from the display pile . . .

  THUMP! SPLAT!

  Several mangoes rolled off and landed on the floor. One was overripe and burst when it hit the ground, splattering Bella and other shoppers with sticky juice.

  “I’m so sorry!” Bella bent down to pick up the mangoes. As she did, she dropped everything else she was trying to balance: the pineapple, the bananas, and the bag of apples. The fruit went flying in different directions.

  “Are you okay, sweetie?” asked a store employee, coming over to help.

  Bella nodded. The employee was just trying to be nice, but he made Bella feel like a helpless little kid.

  Just then Bella’s mom appeared, holding a bunch of kale.

  “Bella, que pasó? What happened?” she asked.

  “I . . . I was just getting some mangoes, but then everything fell. . . .” Bella felt so frustrated. She couldn’t do anything right, and now here she was about to bawl like a baby in the middle of the produce aisle!

  Her mom helped her collect everything. “There we go!” she announced once all the fruit was in the shopping cart.

  “What’s wrong, Bella?” asked her mom after they moved on to the bread aisle. “You’re so quiet today.”

  Bella shrugged, but said nothing.

  They passed a shopping cart with a little boy in the seat. Bella’s mother smiled at him, then turned to Bella. “I don’t remember you ever sitting still in the cart. You just wanted to push the cart. You used to pretend it was a race car, remember?”

  Bella smiled at the memory. But then it made her think of building the race cars, which made her think of Sam’s suggestion about the robotics team, which made her think about that team meeting again. And that memory didn’t make her smile.

  “It’s just hard sometimes,” she told her mom. “I’m too big for little kid stuff, but I’m too little for anyone to take me seriously.” And the next thing Bella knew, it all came tumbling out: the flyers, the robotics team meeting, everything.

  “I should probably just quit,” she told her mom. “I mean, it’s not like they’re going to let me do anything—they didn’t even want to hear my ideas! And they don’t need a little kid messing things up. I mean, you saw what happened with the fruit. I’d probably drop their robot or break it—”

  Bella’s mom cut her off. “Do you know how your father got his big break?” she asked.

  “No,” said Bella. “How?”

  “Well, he was in culinary school, and every student was required to prepare the same dish for a famous chef. Your father read the instructions again and again, but something didn’t look right
to him. The recipe called for a tablespoon of salt, and your dad was pretty sure this would be overpowering. Finally, he trusted his intuition and made the adjustment—to a teaspoon of salt—and turned in his dish.”

  “What happened?” asked Bella.

  “The famous chef went down the line of dishes like this.” Bella’s mom pretended to take a spoonful of soup, then made a pained face. “Again and again, until he came to your father’s dish.”

  Bella’s mom took another pretend sip. This time, she beamed happily. “That famous chef offered your father his very first job. And you know what he told your dad? ‘Anyone can chop up ingredients. But a true artist uses his mind, not just his hands.’ ”

  “That’s true when it comes to programming, too,” said Bella. She thought for a moment. She’d give the robotics team one more shot.

  CHAPTER 7

  The Dream Machine

  That Saturday the craft clubhouse came to life—loudly—as all four friends sawed, sanded, painted, and decorated their race cars.

  Emily, the master builder, was in charge of wheel alignment. She carefully inspected each car to ensure a smooth ride. When she finished, the friends lined up their cars to admire them.

  Sam’s was, of course, beautifully painted with bright swirls of color. He had named his Rainbow Racer.