Letters from the Heart Read Free Page A

There were so many things that weren’t fair, Maeve mused, like having to go to school on sunny days, having to go to bed before nine thirty during the week even if there was a great movie on, and having to put up with an annoying little brother. It was very reassuring to know that the principal of your school was fair.
    Katani said her grandmother had lived in Brookline all of her life. Katani knew a few things about her grandmother’s life in the 1950s and 1960s, but she was eager to learn more. Mrs. Fields had lived through the civil rights movement and often talked about the time she saw Martin Luther King, Jr. come to preach at her family’s church. She also thought that her grandmother had been part of some bus ride or protest march. Katani said she was going to interview her grand -mother like they were on NBC News or something. Maeve could just see Katani preparing for the interview. “Katani, I bet you’ll even dress up in a suit like a newscaster.”
    Katani gave Maeve a huge grin. “You know I will, girl. Looking professional goes hand in hand with being professional.” Maeve, Avery, Charlotte, and Isabel all laughed inunison. Katani was so going to have her own business some day.
    As Maeve slid her laptop into her book bag, she started thinking about her mom and dad and what different worlds they came from. Her father’s family, like Ms. O’Reilly’s, had come from Ireland. His parents had come to America after World War II when they were only sixteen years old. They met on the boat coming over. Nana Mary and Grandpa Tom still had their Irish accents. Maeve loved to listen to them talk.
    Her mother’s family had come from Eastern Europe—Maeve wasn’t exactly sure which country. She knew her parents used to tease each other about how different their backgrounds were. It went along with the differences in their temperaments. Maeve’s father was a cheerful, relaxed man who loved taking life easy. He always joked that he was well suited for running the Movie House, because he loved nothing better than enjoying himself and watching other people have a good time. He had a favorite motto: “Art is the key to understanding life.” Maeve’s mother was more the driven type. She’d gone to New York University and majored in English. She’d taught high school for a few years before she got married. Once she had kids, she stayed home and never had a job, outside of helping in the cinema. She was an organizer fiend. Maeve’s mom could be really fun, but she was much stricter than her dad. Maybe some of this had to do with her background, Maeve thought. Well, she was going to have a lot of learning to do for this project.
    â€œHey! What if I discover a famous actress in my family’s past?” she said, grabbing her things as she followed her friends to the cafeteria. “Wouldn’t that be cool? Maybe I’m actually related to some awesome old celebrity. Like Audrey Hepburn or Greta Garbo!”
    All the Beacon Street Girls laughed. It was clear that Maeve had Hollywood in her veins. She knew the words to every song in every movie ever made. And whenever they were in a jam, Maeve could recite the perfect movie line to fit the occasion. Her personal favorite was “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get,” from Forrest Gump . When she wasn’t watching movies, Maeve loved reading about them. Every time she passed a magazine stand she had to grab the latest celebrity magazine. This meant that she knew every bit of Hollywood gossip…much to Avery’s amazement and occasional disgust. “How can you read that stuff, Maeve? It’s so ridiculous. I mean who cares about who’s marrying who for twelve minutes?” ranted Avery.
    Katani came to Maeve’s defense. “It’s research, Avery. Maeve has to learn about the field she wants to succeed in. I read fashion and