Zoe Is On the Air

Author Clare Hutton
Illustrator Helen Huang
Originally Published © 2018 American Girl
ISBN 9781338115048
 

Chapter One

Zoe Martinez plops her bags down at her seat in history class. She greets Natalia, her twin, Emma, her cousin, and Caitlin, her friend. Caitlin used to only be friends with Natalia, but since Emma started school at Waverly, Emma and Caitlin have started a study group together, and Zoe and Caitlin were in The Wizard of Oz together as leads. The four of them have managed to all become friends.

They’re discussing a topic for their ancient civilizations project for history. Emma suggests looking into Ancient Egypt. Emma is a great student, a participant in both the soccer and swimming teams at school, and always makes sure she does the right thing. Natalia takes over the conversation about Egypt. She’s bubbly and exuberant, and laughs often and loudly. Caitlin taps her pencil on her notebook, eager to get a word in. Caitlin is intelligent, hardworking, and likes to be right all the time. Part of the reason she and Emma study so well together is they’re both overachievers academically.

A stream of morning announcements interrupts their brainstorm session. The eighth graders on the screen announce they’re looking for a new Wednesday short show to take the air in March. It can be focused on anything. Students who are interested can submit a video proposal to their homeroom teachers by Monday. This piques Zoe’s interest. She loved being the center of attention as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Maybe she can develop a show that would feature her.

As she gets enveloped into her own thoughts, Natalia brings her back by circling back to the topic of Ancient Egypt. The girls agree to meet at Emma’s house, Seaview House, a hustling and bustling B&B, after school to work on the project.

 

Chapter Two

Zoe awakes bright and early on Saturday morning. Each Saturday, Uncle Brian, Emma’s dad, puts on a big brunch at Seaview House, and Zoe, Natalia, and Emma all help out with the customers for some extra cash.

Zoe tucks her hands in her coat pockets as she makes her way to Seaview House. Emma is already away; she had an early morning swim practice. Natalia hurries upstairs to get started on that morning’s dog walk as Zoe heads into the kitchen for her own breakfast.

Emma is reading the paper. She shows Zoe a funny advice column in the paper. Emma reads an entry, and Zoe and Emma take turns offering advice. Then they compare their advice to the official response. It turned out their advice pretty much matched the official advice. Emma is empathetic and thoughtful, and Zoe is rational and logical.

After breakfast, the three girls and Caitlin set up in the attic, where Emma’s family lives, to work on their Ancient Egypt project. Suddenly, Zoe stops them. She announces she wants to make a video proposal for a morning announcement show, featuring her and Emma. The theme would be advice. People could write in their advice, and the girls would respond.

Emma isn’t sure if she’ll have enough time, but Zoe suggests just doing the proposal, and then they’d see if they were even accepted. Emma agrees to that. Caitlin and Natalia say they’ll help film. This is going to be great.

 

Chapter Three

On Sunday, Zoe meets up with the other girls in front of school, where they’re going to film their proposal. Emma is nervous, but Zoe reminds her that there’s no one else here… Emma is only performing in front of a couple people.

On Tuesday, Zoe is stopped in the hallway by an eighth grader named Charlotte. Charlotte tells Zoe that her idea was accepted! She has to be at the student council office Wednesday morning ready to go. If she’s late or isn’t prepared, they’ll cut her show.

Zoe and her friends agree to put up posters with a box to get some questions. If they want to be ready by Wednesday, they’d have to get questions by the weekend.

 

Chapter Four

On Saturday, Zoe and Emma open up the box. The first question they open was a joke question, most likely from an obnoxious boy. But the second question is genuine, all about a kid who feels their older sister isn’t held to the same standards as the writer.

After bouncing response ideas around a bit, Emma and Zoe agree to choose two questions, and not talk about their answers with each other until that Wednesday. That way they can have their discussion live.

At dinner, Abuelita reminds the girls that if somebody takes their advice and it backfires, the blame could circle back to the girls. Zoe isn’t worried; they’ll give great advice.

 

Chapter Five

On the bus on Wednesday, Zoe is so excited. She has a folder with the two questions they picked, and her notes. She can tell Emma is nervous—she’s staring at the seat in front of her whispering to herself.

When they arrive at the student council office, Charlotte is there and pulls them inside. She introduces them to the crew, and then explains the process. Zoe is thinking about the questions and her words when all of a sudden, they’re pulling her over and she finds herself behind a table and in front of the camera.

For a moment, Zoe forgets what she has to say. Luckily, the words surprisingly roll off Emma’s tongue. Emma introduces the show, and hands the prompt to Zoe to read the first question.

The two girls discuss and work through their different opinions to answer the first question, about how to get over an embarrassing thing that happened at school. The second question is from a girl who doesn’t know how to tell a boy they like them. On this question, the girls have different viewpoints, but they’re able to agree on one half of the question and pose the other half as a choice for the original writer.

At the end, Zoe feels fantastic. The whole thing ended up being fun!

 

Chapter Six

After the next show, Zoe and Emma’s popularity at giving advice has skyrocketed. In history class, Zoe is passed a note with a question from another classmate. Emma says she’s received a couple notes as well. At lunch, they see Charlotte make a grand gesture to a boy named Malcolm. Charlotte has taken some of Zoe’s advice! It seems to work well for her, since they walk off together holding hands.

After school, Zoe doesn’t hesitate to jump in giving Mateo advice on his fighting with his friend, and she even makes a suggestion for helping her Mom with the B&B. Maybe when she grows up, Zoe could be a professional advice giver. Pretty soon, everyone will come to her asking for advice.

 

Chapter Seven

The whole next week goes the same. People come up to the girls and ask them questions, and they’d give their best response. Zoe can’t help feeling like this was her place. What she says matters, and people value her opinion.

On Wednesday, the girls settle down to do their show. The first question is about two girls, and one couldn’t be invited to the others’ slumber party due to capacity limits. Now, the girl who wasn’t invited has her feelings hurt, and the other doesn’t know what to do. Zoe and Emma agree and suggest the girl who hosted the slumber party do something to show they care about the other. All’s going well.

And then, for the first time, they get a question which they disagree on. The question is on whether to give honest advice and opinions about a friend’s hard work. Emma thinks the friend should be nice and supportive, while Zoe thinks honesty is the best policy. If the friend asks for their opinion, they should give it.

They finish up the show, but Zoe feels a trickle of dread. She and Emma completely disagreed. What if Emma’s advice is the right move and hers is wrong?

At lunch, Zoe overhears Charlotte fighting with Malcolm. Zoe reminds herself that all couples fight, but she can’t help wondering that if they’re fighting, is that Zoe’s fault?

 

Chapter Eight

On the way home, Zoe asks Emma, Natalia, and Caitlin what they think about Charlotte’s fight. Natalia says she thinks it’s fine, they were holding hands after school. Pragmatically, Emma says that they can’t help when other people take their advice. They can’t be held liable for what happens when somebody does what they suggest.

When they get home, Zoe heads over to Emma’s house. They go upstairs to Emma’s bedroom. In the summer, when they decorated it, the bay was bright blue and the gardens were so colorful. The blue and white they used in the room made it feel like the room was an extension of the sea. But now, the winter makes all the colors outside dull and brown, and the room feels cold.

Zoe suggests they look for other colors to use in the room. Adding some tones of spring and summer could make the space feel warmer. The attic is filled with old stuff from the family. They find more cushions and fabric to decorate and hang on the wall. At the end, Emma feels much happier with the room. Maybe Zoe could be an advice-giver and an interior designer when she grows up.

When Zoe gets home, she’s surprised to see Caitlin running out of the house in tears. As she runs away, she remarks that she never should’ve followed Zoe’s advice.

Zoe immediately goes upstairs to find Natalia on her bed in tears. Apparently Natalia has been working on a t-shirt design to enter a contest with. Caitlin just told Natalia her true feelings about the shirt, and they came out mean and insensitive. Caitlin was the person who asked for advice about giving honest opinions.

Zoe agrees with Natalia that Caitlin can be brusque, but also reminds Natalia that she probably didn’t intend to be mean. Zoe offers to take a look at Natalia’s work.

Natalia’s idea is a great concept, but the art is pretty horrible. Zoe compliments Natalia’s idea, and she kindly offers to help Natalia fix up the artwork. They’re twins… that’s what twins do for each other.

 

Chapter Nine

The next day is when the girls are supposed to give their presentation on Ancient Egypt. They have a model of a tomb with a sarcophagus in it, and they each have a few paragraphs of a speech about a different aspect of Ancient Egypt.

At her locker, Caitlin comes up to Zoe. Caitlin asks if Natalia is still mad at her. Zoe doesn’t see any reason to sugarcoat the truth. Caitlin doesn’t understand why Natalia’s upset—she was just trying to be honest. Zoe calmly explains that she still thinks Caitlin did the right thing, but the way it came out hurt Natalia’s feelings. Zoe suggests that Caitlin apologize.

But when Caitlin tries to apologize, it comes out all wrong, and she accuses Natalia of being overly sensitive and unable to handle criticism. The apology has completely backfired, and Natalia and Caitlin are out of sorts and are barely able to finish their Ancient Egypt presentation.

In the cafeteria, Natalia and Caitlin sit on opposite sides of the table. Zoe chooses to sit next to Natalia, after all, they are sisters and she needs to support her sister. Emma also sits next to Natalia. Zoe feels bad for Caitlin, she doesn’t want her to feel pushed out.

In the distance, Zoe can hear Charlotte and Malcolm fighting again. This time, it sounds like they’re breaking up for good. Zoe puts her head on her arms. She’s no good at this advice thing.

 

Chapter Ten

Now it’s Friday, and the situation between Natalia and Caitlin has gotten worse. They’re not speaking to each other, and Caitlin is sitting at a table on the other side of the cafeteria. On the bus ride home, Zoe and Emma talk more freely about the argument.

Emma suggests doing something to try to help them. They decide to look at the problem as if it is another letter asking for advice from an anonymous stranger. Zoe suggests that they try to get the two of them to talk. Emma suggests having a sleepover, and secretly inviting both Caitlin and Natalia. They believe that if given the opportunity to talk, they’ll soon realize how much they miss each other.

That evening, Zoe tells Natalia about the sleepover at Emma’s house… she doesn’t mention Caitlin. But Natalia is still feeling glum. She mentions how she misses Caitlin, but she’s still hurt by Caitlin’s mean comments. Natalia says Caitlin’s apology was basically just an insult. She’s adamant that Caitlin was meaner than Natalia was.

Zoe really hopes the slumber party idea works.

 

Chapter Eleven

As soon as Caitlin and Natalia see each other, the smiles on their faces fade. Caitlin suggests going home, but Emma and Zoe convince her to stay. However, Caitlin and Natalia just ignore each other.

Zoe’s hopes rise when all four girls laugh and have fun making custom pizzas. Emma suggests watching a gushy movie. After the movie finishes, they’re laughing and talking. But then, Natalia makes a joke… that’s not really a joke. She comments that Caitlin shouldn’t take any more of Zoe’s advice, because she evidently cannot follow directions.

And then before they know it, the topic has rolled back around to the old argument from days ago. In a huff, Caitlin calls her dad to pick her up. Natalia goes into Emma’s room and shuts the door.

Zoe resigns herself to never give advice ever again.

 

Chapter Twelve

It’s the day of Emma and Zoe’s last advice-giving show. Zoe is hesitant about whether she wants to do it anymore… she doesn’t trust her own advice. Emma’s trying to convince her it’s okay, that it isn’t their fault what happens after somebody takes their advice, but Zoe isn’t biting the bait.

Then, a girl comes up to Zoe. She says that she wrote the question about the girl who couldn’t come to the slumber party. She tells Zoe that she followed Zoe’s advice, and it worked out swimmingly! Zoe’s advice probably saved their friendship.

Zoe realizes that Emma is right. They are helping people. And Zoe has an idea. Zoe decides at the last minute to add a question to that week’s show.

Before their time to go on, Charlotte announces the winner of the t-shirt competition on the morning announcements. Another student named Elise wins, but they give a few candidates honorable mention, including Natalia and Zoe! “Honorable mention is pretty great,” Zoe thinks. Natalia will be pleased.

The question Zoe added is basically the whole situation between Caitlin and Natalia, but from Emma and Zoe’s perspective. Live on the air, Emma and Zoe both agree that they can’t make their two friends get back together. They need to trust that their friends are true friends, and true friends don’t try to hurt the other persons’ feelings. True friends will get back together eventually, if given time and space. All they can do is support each other.

After school, Natalia catches up with Zoe and Emma. They congratulate each other on the honorable mention from the t-shirt competition. Then, Natalia apologizes to Emma and Zoe for ruining the sleepover.

Then, they see Caitlin down the street. Caitlin apologizes to Natalia for her words being mean. She genuinely explains that she didn’t intend it to be mean, but she knows it came out that way anyway. Natalia echoes the sentiment, and apologizes for the mean things she told Caitlin back.

Natalia and Caitlin may disagree on a lot, but one thing they can agree on is that they’re glad they asked Zoe and Emma for help. Without their advice, Natalia wouldn’t have realized how much more work her t-shirt needed. They’re true friends, and that means they don’t mean each other harm, and they’re bound to come back together eventually.

Zoe grins, and looks at her three friends. They’re all friends together again. All’s well that ends well.

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