The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z. (22 page)

“Laced with humor and heart. . . . An insightful and affecting read.” —
Booklist

“Messner’s warm and humorous tone will capture even reluctant readers.” —
SLJ

“An engaging saga.” —
Kirkus Reviews

“Messner not only reached the finish line with
The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.
, she won the gold and the crowd went wild.” —
TeensReadToo.com

Nonna’s Funeral Cookies

Ingredients

1½ cups butter

Before you ask, the answer is no. You may not substitute some fat-free
butter replacement if you want the cookies to come out like mine.

cup confectioners’ sugar

½ tsp salt

1½ cups finely ground almonds

You have to grind them the old-fashioned way, with a mortar and
pestle, if you want the cookies to turn out right. The ground almonds
should look almost like flour. If you use one of those newfangled
food processors, you’re going to end up with big, sharp slivers of
almond in the middle of your cookies, and they won’t melt in your
mouth like they’re supposed to. If you’re in a super hurry or you
don’t have a mortar and pestle, go ahead and use a food processor,
but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

5 tsp vanilla extract

For goodness’ sake, make sure it’s the real stuff and not imitation
vanilla extract.

3 cups flour

Another ½ cup confectioners’ sugar (set this aside for rolling)

Directions

1. Wash your hands.

2. Preheat your oven to 325°. Get a cookie sheet ready. Don’t grease it. Just leave it alone for now.

3. Mix butter with a fork until it’s soft, and nice and creamy. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar and salt, stirring the whole time. Try to keep it from getting stuck on the sides of the bowl. Then add the ground almonds, vanilla extract, and flour.

4. Rub a little butter on your hands so they’re greasy. This will keep the dough from sticking to them when you handle it. Roll the dough into little balls (use about a teaspoon for each cookie) and place them on the ungreased cookie sheet.

5. Bake the cookies for 15–20 minutes. Take them out before they get brown! Let them cool for about five minutes, and then, while they’re still warm, roll them in the remaining confectioners’ sugar. Enjoy!

XOXO
    ~Nonna

What Kind of Tree Are You?

If you were a tree, what kind would you be?
Take this quiz to find out!

1. When you have a big project due at school, you’re
most likely to:

a. Work on it a little bit every day until it’s done. You’ll probably finish before the deadline.

b. Spend about half of your time working on your own project and the other half helping friends.

c. Tell your parents you’re working on your project but actually hang out in your room listening to music. You’ll meet your deadline but might need to copy from a friend at the last minute.

d. Put off working on the project but finish it in a big, creative flurry at the end. It won’t be perfect, but it’ll be interesting!

e. Make sure the project looks good first. You’ll probably win an award for the neatest project and shiniest binder.

f. Work hard with whatever materials you have to do the best project possible. You’ll finish on time, no matter what obstacles stand in your way.

2. When you come home from school, you find that your
brother or sister has been rummaging around your
bedroom. You’re likely to handle the situation by:

a. Having a calm discussion about your property and your right to privacy.

b. Helping to find what he or she was looking for and offering to share it anytime.

c. Telling your parents, then sneaking into your brother’s or sister’s bedroom and throwing things around to make a mess.

d. Devising a creative way to booby-trap your room— maybe a string tied to the doorknob that causes a bucket of feathers to fall on anyone who enters without your permission!

e. Putting everything back in place, exactly where it was. You can’t stand to have your room a mess.

f. Making it clear to your sibling that you expect your privacy to be respected, and also talking with your parents.

3. It’s Halloween. You’re mostly likely to spend the night:

a. Dressing up in a simple costume to answer the door for trick-or-treaters and then going out to collect candy yourself.

b. Volunteering at a party for underprivileged kids.

c. Roaming the neighborhood, decorating cars in toilet paper.

d. Creating an elaborate haunted house with moving ghosts, carved pumpkins, paper spiders, and spooky sound effects for the trick-or-treaters at your house to enjoy.

e. Getting decked out in a perfect—absolutely perfect— costume for a party with your friends. You’ll bring elaborately decorated jack-o’-lantern cupcakes.

f. Trick-or-treating at every single house in the neighborhood. You’ll be out every possible minute so you don’t miss out on a single candy bar.

4. Your gym teacher says you have to run a mile in less than
ten minutes in class next week. You prepare by:

a. Running a little every day to get in shape and work your way up to a mile.

b. Checking in with your friends to encourage them and see if they need any help training.

c. Figuring out a shortcut so you can have the best time without even breaking a sweat.

d. Loading up your iPod with the songs that you think will help you run the fastest.

e. Going shopping for a new running outfit. As long as you look good, it doesn’t matter if you make it in ten minutes or not.

f. Running a mile before school every morning and timing yourself until you can do it in eight minutes flat. That way, you won’t be taking any chances.

5. You find out that one of your friends is having a big
birthday bash and hasn’t invited you. You would
probably:

a. Just wait and see what happens. Maybe he or she just forgot, and if not, you’ll find something else to do.

b. Burst into tears. But then you buy him or her a gift anyway.

c. Start a rumor about that friend so no one else will want to go to the birthday party either.

d. Lavish your friend with homemade birthday cards as a reminder to invite you.

e. Wear your coolest outfit to school the next day so your friend will be sure to notice and remember to send your invitation.

f. Take a deep breath and ask your friend if he or she is upset with you. Being honest is scary sometimes, but confronting the problem is usually the best approach.

6. For
your
birthday, your plans would most likely include:

a. Just the usual . . . a family party with cake and a few presents.

b. Requesting that people who come to your party donate to your favorite charity instead of purchasing gifts.

c. Having a fabulous party and talking it up big-time at school, making sure that everyone knows who’s invited and who isn’t.

d. Planning your own party decorations, right down to the homemade piñata.

e. Begging your parents to hire a party planner and caterer so everything is perfect on your big day.

f. A busy day of activity—maybe a hike up a mountain or extra-long bike ride—before the cake and ice cream.

7. You find out that a girl you know is spreading rumors
about you at school. You handle the situation by:

a. Ignoring her and waiting for it to blow over.

b. Offering to help her with her homework in study hall. Maybe she’s feeling frustrated about her classes and that’s why she’s being mean.

c. “Accidentally” pouring chocolate milk all over her homework folder during lunch.

d. Laughing at it. In fact, you put together your own tabloid newspaper for your friends, with her gossip included as silly headlines on the front page.

e. Talking to people to make sure they know those rumors aren’t true.

f. Confronting the girl, asking her why she’s targeting you, and telling her to knock it off.

How many times did you answer with each letter?

a —
b —
c —
d —
e —
f —

The letter with the highest score will match you up with the perfect tree.

a) You’re a red oak.
You have a sure, steady personality and don’t like to draw attention to yourself. You’re easygoing but strong. Don’t be afraid to try new things once in a while; that’s how you’ll grow.

Red oak trees don’t have showy leaves in autumn, but they’re among the last trees to lose their leaves. Red oaks are tolerant of many different kinds of soil—not particularly high-maintenance trees. The wood of the red oak is strong and useful and often used in furniture.

b) You’re a weeping willow.
You’re sensitive and kind, and you love helping other people, even when that means putting their needs ahead of your own. Make sure you take care of yourself too!

Weeping willow trees have slender branches and long, feathery leaves that some butterfly larvae use as food. The leaves and bark of the willow have long been used as medicine, since they contain a substance called salicylic acid, a very early version of aspirin.

c) You’re a black walnut.
You’re popular and attractive, but you might have more to learn about kindness and trust. When you’re dealing with your peers, try to think about how you’d like to be treated.

Black walnuts are pretty trees that require a good amount of light. Parts of the black walnut tree, including the roots, give off a poisonous substance called “juglone” that can inhibit or kill other plants growing nearby, but its fruit (the nuts) ripen in the fall and can be used for food.

d) You’re a sugar maple.
You’re sweet, energetic, fluttery, and creative, even if you do seem a little scattered sometimes. Just make sure you can focus all that positive energy when you need to get something accomplished!

Sugar maples are deciduous trees whose leaves turn bright red, orange, and yellow in the fall, so you might see four or five different colors on a tree at once. They are an important part of the New England, New York, and Canadian economies thanks to their sap, which is boiled down into sweet maple syrup in the spring.

e) You’re a European mountain ash.
You’re one of those people who always look fantastic, even when you’ve just woken up. But that’s no accident—you take great pride in your appearance and know it’s a reflection of who you are. Just remember what’s inside matters even more.

The European mountain ash is an ornamental tree known for its clusters of white flowers in spring and its showy display of orange red berry clusters in early autumn. It is not tolerant of heat or drought and requires pruning to stay in good condition.

f) You’re an American beech.
You are one tough cookie, and when you set your mind on something, look out! Your determination and courage are impressive, but don’t forget that nobody is tough all the time. Don’t be afraid to give yourself a break.

The American beech tree is a shade-tolerant species with leathery leaves. If you walk in the woods in the winter, you’ll often see brown beech leaves still clinging to their branches long after the other leaves have fallen. The wood of the American beech is tough, strong, and heavy and was so difficult to cut that loggers often left it alone in the days before chain saws.

Reading Group Guide for
The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z.

1. A person’s room can say a lot about his or her personality. Do you think Gianna’s bedroom reflects her personality? What do the things in your bedroom say about you?

2. Frustrated with a test, Gianna says, “I’m not a one-bubble kind of girl” (p. 45). Do you think Gianna is referring only to tests? Are you a “one-bubble” kind of person? What about you makes you “one-bubble” or not?

3. Why do you think Gianna is so upset when she hears about Ruby’s grandmother? Gianna worries about what she’ll say to Ruby at the funeral home. What advice would you give her? Have you ever needed to comfort a friend who has lost someone they love? What kinds of things did you say or do to try to comfort them?