Hawaii! Read online

  This is dedicated to my nephew Julian, and to all the adventures that he and Jade will encounter together, just like Alfie and Emilia!

  GROSSET & DUNLAP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) LLC, 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA

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  Text copyright © 2015 by GDL Foods, Inc. Illustrations copyright © 2015 by Francesca Gambatesa. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) LLC.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

  ISBN 978-0-698-41239-2

  Version_1

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  A Note from Giada

  Special excerpt from Recipe for Adventure: Miami!

  Recipes

  Alfie and Emilia stood in the middle of the kitchen. Emilia had her hands on her hips, and Alfie had his arms crossed over his chest. They scowled at each other. The overflowing trash can sat on the floor between them.

  “It’s your turn!” Emilia cried.

  Alfie shook his head. “No, it’s not!”

  They stared each other down.

  “Well, I’m not doing it,” Emilia finally said.

  “Neither am I,” Alfie replied.

  “Alfredo!” Emilia shouted, using Alfie’s full name.

  Dad appeared in the doorway. “Quietare!” he said in Italian. “Quiet down. What’s all the shouting about?”

  “It’s Alfie’s turn to take out the garbage, and he won’t do it,” Emilia said.

  “I did it last week!” Alfie cried.

  “No, you didn’t!” Emilia stomped her foot.

  “Enough!” Dad held up his hands between them. “What’s gotten into you two lately? You can’t seem to get along for more than ten minutes at a time.”

  Alfie and Emilia were silent as they stared at the floor.

  “Alfie, pick up the bag. Emilia, go open the garbage can in the garage. You can do it together,” Dad said.

  Alfie was about to protest again when he saw the serious look on Dad’s face. Dad was not messing around. Alfie sighed, picked up the bag, and followed Emilia into the garage.

  “I know it was your turn,” Emilia whispered as she lifted the lid on the bin. “You’re just being a baby.”

  Alfie rolled his eyes. Emilia could be such a know-it-all, especially now that she’d turned thirteen. She was only a year and a few months older than Alfie, but she liked to remind him of that fact every chance she got.

  Alfie and Emilia stomped back through the kitchen and stood in the doorway to the family room. Dad had his back to them and was talking to their great-aunt Donatella.

  “Maybe this is a bad weekend for us to go on our trip,” Dad was saying. “Those two just can’t seem to get along lately.”

  “Nonsenso! Nonsense!” Zia Donatella replied, sweeping aside her long salt-and-pepper hair. “You and Arianna have waited ages to have a weekend away. You deserve it.”

  “We have been looking forward to it . . . ,” Dad said.

  “We’ll be fine here,” Zia continued. “Don’t you worry about a thing.”

  “All right, we’ll stick to our plan.” Dad picked up his briefcase. “Well, I’d better get to work. See you tonight.”

  “Arrivederci!” Zia called before turning to see Alfie and Emilia sulking in the doorway.

  “Do you think we can all get along this weekend?” Zia asked. Alfie and Emilia nodded. “Good. Now, anything you want to do while your parents are away?”

  “I want to play video games and maybe watch a movie!” Alfie said. “And we’re going to cook, right?”

  “Of course!” Zia said. Zia was an incredible cook, and ever since she’d come to stay with the Bertolizzi family, she’d taught Alfie and Emilia some amazing recipes she’d learned from her travels around the world.

  Emilia made her way over to the sofa and flopped down. “I have a history presentation I need to get started on,” she said, giving Alfie a look like she was being more responsible than he was.

  “That should be fun.” Zia perched on the arm of the sofa next to Emilia. Everybody knew that Emilia loved history. It was her favorite subject. Alfie, on the other hand, could never get enough of geography. His bedroom walls were plastered with maps of all kinds. And he was forever looking at maps online—everything from world maps to city maps—even climate maps!

  “My presentation has to be on the history of a specific city or state,” Emilia continued. “I just can’t decide which to focus on!”

  “Well, you’ve got plenty of options,” Alfie replied, smiling at Zia. He thought about all the places they’d visited and experiences they’d had thanks to Zia’s magical recipes. “You could talk about any of the cities we’ve gone to.”

  “I know,” Emilia replied. “I just can’t decide if I should present somewhere we’ve already been or somewhere new we might go!”

  Zia nodded. “That’s a tough decision.”

  “Not to me!” Alfie said. “I’d definitely give a talk about somewhere we’ve been. That’s much easier. You could talk about the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, or the Eiffel Tower in Paris!”

  Just then Mom walked down the stairs. “Who’s going to the Eiffel Tower?” she asked.

  Alfie looked at Zia, who busied herself picking lint off the arm of the sofa. Mom and Dad didn’t know about any of Alfie and Emilia’s adventures. It was their and Zia’s little secret.

  “Uh, no one,” Emilia replied. “We were just talking about my history presentation.”

  “Oh, I just love Paris!” Mom gushed. “Eating fresh croissants every morning and going to all those sidewalk cafés . . .”

  “And the markets!” Alfie chimed in; then his eyes widened as he realized what he’d said. “I mean, you know . . . I remember how Zia was telling us about the markets . . .”

  Mom nodded, but looked a little confused.

  “Well,” Zia said, straightening the brightly colored stone necklace she always wore, “aren’t you two goi
ng to be late for school?”

  Mom glanced at the clock on the mantel. “Oh, goodness! It is late. Grab your stuff, kids. We’ve gotta go!”

  “Bye, Zia!” Emilia said, giving her a quick hug.

  “Bye!” Alfie gave Zia a grateful smile before slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

  Zia winked. “Have a good day, bambini!”

  The next morning, Alfie rubbed his eyes as he shuffled into the kitchen, ready for breakfast. Every Saturday morning, Zia, Mom, and Dad made breakfast together. What they made was always a surprise, and it was always delicious—whether it was lemon-ricotta pancakes or breakfast burritos. But the kitchen was empty. Only silence filled the air—not a single mouthwatering food smell.

  “Mom? Dad? Zia?” Alfie called, confused. Nobody answered.

  Emilia burst through the kitchen door. “Where is everyone?” she asked. “What’s for breakfast?”

  “I don’t know,” Alfie said. “I’m going to check the garage.”

  “I’ll go,” Emilia said, jostling toward the door.

  “No, I got it!” Alfie said, elbowing past Emilia.

  Alfie and Emilia pushed through the door at the same time and spilled into the garage. The garage door was open, and Dad and Zia were standing in the driveway packing the car. Mom hustled past them with another bag.

  “I’m ready!” she sang.

  “You’re leaving already?” Alfie asked, stepping lightly across the concrete in his bare feet.

  “We want to get an early start, champ,” said Dad. “It’s a bit of a drive to the cabin.”

  “But we haven’t had breakfast together yet!” Emilia said.

  “Don’t worry,” Zia said. “We’ll make breakfast as soon as they get on the road.”

  Alfie looked at Mom and Dad. Dad whistled as he packed the car. Mom couldn’t stop smiling. “Well, have a good time, I guess,” Alfie said.

  Mom swooped in and kissed Alfie’s forehead. “We will! And you two be good for Zia. I don’t want to hear about any more bickering, either, understood?”

  “Yes, Mom,” Alfie and Emilia said together.

  Dad opened his wallet and pulled out what Alfie thought were several twenty-dollar bills. “Here’s a little something extra for the weekend,” he told them. “In case you guys want to take Zia out for a treat or something.” Then he handed the cash to Alfie.

  Alfie grinned and put the money in the pocket of his pajama pants. “Thanks, Dad!”

  Emilia glared at Alfie for pocketing the money, but then managed a smile. “Yeah, thanks, Dad.”

  “Be good,” Dad said, looking them both in the eyes.

  “We will,” they responded together.

  Zia put her arms around Alfie’s and Emilia’s shoulders as they watched the car back down the driveway. Dad honked the horn, and Mom waved before they pulled away.

  “Now, let’s go see about that breakfast, shall we?” Zia asked.

  Back in the kitchen, Zia whipped up omelets with cheddar cheese and mushrooms while Emilia cut up some fresh fruit, and Alfie set the table. Breakfast was quieter than usual with Mom and Dad gone. They ate their food mostly in silence. Then Alfie flicked a piece of cantaloupe onto Emilia’s plate just to annoy her. It worked.

  “Alfie, don’t!” Emilia said, breaking the silence.

  “What?” he replied with a sly smile.

  Zia stood up and sighed. “I think I’ll take care of the kitchen cleanup myself. Why don’t the two of you spend some time on your own this morning? Away from each other. Emilia, you can get started on your history report, and Alfie, you can practice your drums.”

  “Okay, Zia,” Emilia said.

  Alfie took his plate to the sink and then headed out to the garage to his drum set. The spring band concert had been two weeks ago, and Alfie’s drum solo had been a smashing success. Everybody told him how well he performed, and he knew his family was proud. Since the concert was over, Alfie didn’t really have anything he needed to work on, but he always enjoyed playing. With all his practice—especially thanks to performing at Carnival in Rio—he was getting better and better. Alfie smiled, thinking of all the new friends he’d made thanks to Zia’s adventures. He couldn’t help but wonder when the next adventure might be.

  Later that afternoon, Zia called Alfie and Emilia into the kitchen. “I thought we’d make a snack,” she told them.

  “Good!” Alfie said. “I’m hungry.”

  Zia turned the oven on and starting pulling ingredients from the cupboards.

  “What are we making?” Emilia asked, tying her golden-brown hair into a ponytail.

  “We’ve got a bunch of very ripe bananas, so I thought we’d make banana bread before they go bad,” Zia replied.

  “Yum!” Alfie said. “I haven’t had banana bread in ages. I think last time we had it, it was a loaf Mom picked up from the bakery counter at the grocery store.”

  Zia grimaced.

  “That was before you came to stay, Zia,” Alfie said.

  “But now we make almost everything fresh from scratch!” Emilia added.

  “And we have fun,” Zia said, smiling.

  Alfie thought so, too.

  “Well, you’re going to love this recipe,” Zia continued. “It has chocolate chips and macadamia nuts in it.” She placed flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda on the counter. “Emilia, why don’t you whisk these dry ingredients together in a bowl? Alfie, you can peel and mash the bananas. We need a cup and a half of banana for our mixture.”

  “I hope Mom and Dad have a good time this weekend,” Emilia said as she measured and whisked.

  Zia laughed. “I’m sure they will.” She used a knife to chop the macadamia nuts into small pieces. “Alfie, are those bananas ready?”

  “Yes!” Alfie said, holding up his measuring cup.

  “Eccellente. Let’s put that in this bowl,” Zia told him. “We need to mix in some vanilla and a little bit of Greek yogurt.”

  “Do you ever travel with friends on your adventures, Zia?” Emilia asked.

  Zia wiped a smudge of flour from the end of Emilia’s nose and smiled. “Certamente. Certainly. I’ve traveled with friends on lots of different trips.”

  “What was your favorite trip with friends?” Emilia asked.

  “When I lived in Hawaii, my friends and I traveled between the islands all the time,” Zia replied.

  “You lived in Hawaii?” Alfie cried.

  Zia nodded. “On Maui.”

  “I didn’t know that. How cool.”

  “As a matter of fact,” Zia said, “that’s where this banana bread recipe is from. I learned to make it while I was there. I had a friend in Maui who introduced me to a fabulous Hawaiian woman, and she taught it to me. She had a famous roadside stand where she sold her banana bread, and people would travel from all over the island to buy it. My recipe has evolved over the years, but that’s where it came from originally. And it was my amico’s, my friend’s, favorite.”

  Emilia and Alfie had both stopped stirring as they listened to Zia.

  Zia took another large bowl and a hand mixer from the cupboard. “Emilia, can you add the sugar, brown sugar, and butter to this bowl? We’ll mix those together until they’re light and fluffy.”

  Emilia dumped her ingredients into the bowl and turned on the mixer. After a few minutes, Zia cracked an egg and added that to Emilia’s mix. Then she added Alfie’s bananas mixed with vanilla and yogurt. “Perfetto!” Zia said. “Now it’s time to fold in the dry ingredients.”

  Alfie grabbed the other bowl and tilted it toward Emilia’s bowl, letting the flour mixture slide into the wet batter.

  “Slow down!” Emilia said as she stirred the mixture with a spatula.

  “You should stir faster,” Alfie replied.

  “Okay, okay,” Zia said. “You’re both d
oing fine.”

  Emilia continued folding slowly until the mixture was combined. Then Zia sprinkled in the chopped macadamia nuts and mini chocolate chips.

  Alfie grabbed a nut from the cutting board. “I’ve never had macadamia nuts before,” he said, biting into the light yellow nut. He liked the crunch and the sweetness of it.

  “Macadamia nuts are a staple in Hawaii,” Zia said. “And they’re perfect for making sweet treats like banana bread and brownies.”

  “Yum!” Emilia exclaimed.

  Once all the ingredients were combined, Zia picked up a loaf pan and coated the sides with butter. She dusted flour over the buttered pan, then used a spatula to ease the batter in. Once it was scraped into the loaf pan, she popped it into the oven. “The bread has to bake for almost an hour,” she said. “Alfie, why don’t you go grab a deck of cards? We’ll play rummy while we wait.”

  Alfie dashed to the family room and took a deck of cards from the drawer in the coffee table. Back in the kitchen, Zia and Emilia had just finished putting the ingredients away. They settled onto stools around the island while Alfie shuffled the cards.

  “What’s Maui like?” Emilia asked.

  “Breathtaking!” Zia sighed.

  “I was just reading about Hawaii in my geography book,” Alfie said. “It’s the most remote chain of islands in the entire world!”

  “Whoa,” said Emilia.

  “It definitely doesn’t feel like you’re in the United States when you’re there, that’s for sure,” Zia added.

  “Is it like Rio?” Alfie asked as he dealt the cards. He could picture the beaches of Rio de Janeiro jutting out on one side of the street and high rises on the other, with green rain forest and tall mountains all around.

  “A little bit.” Zia nodded. “There are obviously lots of beaches and that same lush vegetation that you see in Rio. And there are mountains and valleys on Maui just like in Rio—only the mountains are actually volcanoes.”

  “Wow!” Emilia exclaimed.

  “Very wow,” Zia agreed.