comment She did talk to her book in a way Meri had a magic mirror at home Whenever she left a book on her desk in front of the mirror the main character appeared in the mirror Meri thought it was the best magic anyone could ever have The book characters helped her with hard problems sometimes Meri didn't like keeping the magic secret She thought it would be great fun if her friends could talk to one of the book characters too She just didn't think they would believe her if she told them They would think she was playing a trick She would have to be able to show them and the mirror was too big to bring to school As she thought about ways to tell her friends about the mirror David went back to reading out loud It's your turn to read David said when he finished Meri looked up sharply She wasn't sure where David had stopped She looked down at her book looking for the place
Wow Earth to Meredith Sonia said leaning over to point at the spot where Meri needed to read What were you thinking about so hard A party Meri said as the idea popped into her head I want to have a party at my house and I want you all to come Will it be a girlie party David asked With dancing and messing with each other's hair No Meri said laughing We can watch a movie She talked faster as an idea came to her I've seen a movie of The Secret Garden at the library We can watch it together That would be fun Sean nodded But we probably should finish reading the book first so we don't spoil it Right we'll have the party after we finish reading the book Meri said A movie would be fun Jasmine said Like having the book come alive 11
We'd see what Mary really looked like Sonia said I don't know about that her brother argued Sometimes they get the looks all wrong in movies Meri smiled as the twins argued They never really got mad at each other It reminded Meri of her own family Someone was always squabbling at her house but no one stayed mad for long She was glad all her friends would get to meet her family They would watch the movie together And she would show them how a book really comes to life Meri would show them all the magic mirror They would see Mary Lennox for real Well if we can't have the party until we're done reading David said nudging Meri's arm Then you better start It's still your turn
Preparing for the Party Meri finished The Secret Garden well ahead of everyone else Waiting for them to finish seemed to take forever She discovered that her favorite lines were even better when someone read them aloud She found it hard to be patient during the parts that were not her favorite Sometimes she had to wiggle in her chair to keep from telling them to hurry up Every day after school Meri talked to her mother about the party David likes hot dogs Meri announced on Wednesday Can we have hot dogs at the party
