Kimchi & Calamari
Language: English
Published by HarperCollins, 2007
- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.ThriftBooks-Atlanta
AbeBooks seller since March 24, 2009
Condition: Used - Very good
£ 5.58
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
Former library book; May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.
Seller Inventory # G0060837691I4N10
- Title
- Kimchi & Calamari
- Author
- Rose Kent
- Publisher
- HarperCollins
- Publication year
- 2007
- Condition
- Very Good
- Dust jacket
- No Jacket
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0060837691
- ISBN 13
- 9780060837693
- Item weight
- 0.8 pounds
Kimchi and calamari. It sounds like a quirky food fusion of Korean and Italian cuisine, and it's exactly how Joseph Calderaro feels about himself. Why wouldn't an adopted Korean drummer—comic book junkie feel like a combo platter given:
(1) his face in the mirror
(2) his proud Italian family.
And now Joseph has to write an essay about his ancestors for social studies. All he knows is that his birth family shipped his diapered butt on a plane to the USA. End of story. But what he writes leads to a catastrophe messier than a table of shattered dishes—and self-discovery that Joseph never could have imagined.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Kimchi & Calamari
By Rose KentHarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
Copyright © 2008 Rose KentAll right reserved.
ISBN: 9780060837693
Chapter One
Not So Happy Birthday to Me
You wake up and you're fourteen. The world is your supersized soda waiting to be guzzled, right? Wrong. My birthday tasted more like Coke that went flat.
Make that flat Coke with cookie crumbs from my little sister's backwash.
Not that I planned on a lousy birthday. After all, I'm Joseph Calderaro, eighth-grade optimist. The bag of barbecue chips is always half full in my mind. As I searched for my Yankees T-shirt that morning, I tapped out my favorite band tune with my drumsticks. I was ready to hit the halls of Johansen Middle School bursting with I'm-all-that attitude. I couldn't wait to hear "Happy Birthday to Joseph" chants from cute girls in the hallway between classes. And of course, I expected to uphold my family's tradition of gorging on my favorite dinner. Fried calamari. Eggplant Parmesan. Chocolate cake with gobs of cannoli frosting. Even the whines from Gina and Sophie couldn't ruin that meal.
Little did I know that my burned Pop-Tart breakfast would be a sign of trouble ahead. Or that the day's events would spiral downward, just like that pastry—from strawberry frosted and gooey good to black-on-the-bottom and smoking bad.
I should've known better, what with all the comic books I've read: villains wreak havoc when you least expect it. In this case, the villain struck during second period. I was tilting my desk chair back, feeling mighty proud of the "To Burn or Not to Burn" project I'd turned in, analyzing a constitutional amendment against flag desecration. I'd surrounded the poster's edges with flag toothpicks, and I'd taped power quotes from two Supreme Court justices.
With ten minutes left in the period, Mrs. Peroutka started lecturing about the upcoming unit: immigration. I was still feeling thirsty and sweaty from the mile run in gym, never mind sleep deprived from gluing toothpicks until eleven thirty last night. Nothing Mrs. Peroutka said was keeping my attention, especially with that warm breeze rattling through the blinds.
Nothing, that is, until she dropped a slab of cement on my head. It came in the form of a handout, but trust me, it caused quite the emotional concussion.
"I have an assignment for you," she announced, with a diabolical twinkle in her eye.
As soon as I read the top line of the paper, my heart started racing like I was back on the track running.
Tracing Your Past: A Heritage Essay
"Before we discuss the assignment, I'd like you to consider this: Who are your ancestors?" she asked.
Next to me, fellow drummer Steve Nestor popped his arm straight up. "Dead people with your same last name?"
Robyn Carleton chuckled in the back row. She appreciates all jokes, especially mine.
"Indeed, our ancestors are dead and related," Mrs. Peroutka replied, "but they are much more than that. Each one of your families owns a patch on America's collective immigrant quilt: the dreams and the struggles of your kin who came before you. Ancestors are your personal link to yesterday."
Ugh. Faces around the room looked pained. Honestly, who gives eighth graders an essay in May? Maybe fall, or even January, when you're guaranteed at least one snow day. But a May essay is a low blow, what with June around the corner, the month in which we break out of the middle-school penitentiary forever.
Mrs. Peroutka droned on, her voice deep like a narrator on the History Channel. Then she gave us the dirty details. Required words: fifteen hundred. Double-spaced. Blah blah blah. She stood poised by the chalkboard, her hand clutching a pen in midair like the Statue of Liberty, and rambled on about digging out old photos and interviewing family members. But I tuned out right after hearing "your ancestors." I didn't know diddly about my ancestors.
Right before the bell rang, Mrs. Peroutka told us the essay was part of a Celebrating Your Heritage campaign that had kids across America tracing their lineages back to over 175 countries.
"Like that's supposed to make us want to join hands with other eighth graders from sea to shining sea," Steve whispered to me.
After class I waited at the lockers for my buddy Nash, and we walked to the cafeteria together. I told him this birthday felt as lousy as the woodwinds playing "Rock with Bach." Nash is in band too—he plays trumpet—so he totally got what I meant.
"I can't believe we have to do a social studies essay in May," I complained.
He groaned. "How many words?"
"Fifteen hundred."
Nash uses the bazooka technique for writing papers. He strings together all these run-on sentences that stretch longer than a wad of bubblegum—just to hit the required word count.
"What kind of teacher serves up a paper after a pro-ject?" Nash said, shaking his head.
I told him the topic of the essay was part of the problem too. "You know what I wanted to tell Mrs. Peroutka? I don't need fifteen hundred words. Two will wrap it up nicely: I'm adopted."
As soon as I sat down at the lunch table, more bad fortune revealed itself from under the plastic wrap. Mom had mixed up my sandwich with Gina's. I was stuck with peanut butter and banana slices, a hideous combo surely created to make POWs talk.
Nash caught my disgusted look and stared down at my sandwich. "Yuck. That looks nasty. Poor you."
"So much for special treatment on my birthday," I said.
He passed me some pretzels. "Your lunch might stink, but at least your mom's making your favorite dinner, right?"
I nodded, thinking about Mom in the kitchen slicing and salting eggplant and sprinkling cheese. She'd taken a day off from the hair salon to shop and cook.
I shoved the sandwich back in the bag and bit into a pretzel. "You're right, Nash. I won't let old Peroutka be the Grinch who steals my birthday. So come over tonight ready for one grandioso Calderaro feast."
Continues...
Excerpted from Kimchi & Calamariby Rose Kent Copyright © 2008 by Rose Kent. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
ThriftBooks-Atlanta
AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since March 24, 2009
Shipping rates within U.S.A.
| Item | 4 to 8 business days | 4 to 8 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | £ 0.00 | £ 0.00 |
Payment methods
Store description
ThriftBooks is a fully independent seller of used books, having sold more than 160 million used and new books since we started in 2003. Each quality used book is sorted, graded, shelved and shipped by hand by our team of dedicated employees in our seven warehouses across the US. We have the best selection of books, in the right condition and format, at everyday low prices. We also have a dedicated, US-based Customer Service team, ranked in the top three by Newsweek for Best Customer Service in 2018 and 2019, so you can shop with confidence. We support and invest in our employees, appreciate and value our customers, and truly believe in the power of the written word to educate, energize, and engage readers of all ages and interests.…
Seller's business information
Thrift Books Global, LLC
18300 Cascade Ave S, Ste 150
Seattle, WA U.S.A. 98188
Terms of sale
We guarantee the condition of every book as it's described
on the Abebooks website. If you're dissatisfied with your
purchase (Incorrect Book/Not as Described/Damaged) or if the
order hasn't arrived, you're eligible for a refund within 30
days of the estimated delivery date. If you've changed your
mind about a book that you've ordered, please use the "Ask
bookseller a question link to contact us" and we'll respond
as soon as possible.
Right of withdrawal
If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.
Information regarding the right of withdrawal
Statutory right to withdraw
You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.
The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.
To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.
To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.
Effects of withdrawal
If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).
We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.
We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.
We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.
We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
You shall send back the goods or hand them over to ThriftBooks-Atlanta, Dallas, Texas, U.S.A., without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.
Exceptions to the right of withdrawal
The right of withdrawal does not apply to:
- The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
- The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.
Shipping terms
All domestic Standard and Expedited shipments are distributed from our warehouses by OSM, then handed off to the USPS for final delivery.
2-Day Shipping is delivered by FedEx, which does not deliver to PO boxes.
International shipments are tendered to the local postal service in the destination country for final delivery – we do not use courier services for international deliveries.