The Stars of Summer (21 page)

THE STARS OF SUMMER

T
HAT WEDNESDAY, GLADYS'S HOT DOG
roundup was published in the
New York Standard
's Dining section.

BEYOND THE CORNER CART: A Quest for New York City's Best Hot Dog

by G. GATSBY

Did that headline surprise you?

Many regular Standard readers may be baffled to see a feature about hot dogs in these pages. After all, they aren't exactly haute cuisine. And I'll admit that, when I first received this assignment, I was disappointed, too. Hot dogs, I thought, were kid food—salty meat on white bread, and undemanding of a sophisticated palate like my own. I thought that I already knew all there was to know about them.

But I was wrong.

The article went on to detail Gladys's experiences around the city, tasting hot dogs from all corners of the world. She had ended up giving her experience at Nathan's a solid two and a half stars, the Icelandic pylsur, the Thai dog, and the Sonoran hot dog three stars each, and the Chilean completo Italiano three and a half. She then awarded the Gatsby a full four stars before closing her review with this reflection.

The weeks I spent on this quest taught me that sometimes you have to give things a second chance. Sometimes you need to take the time to dig in deeper, to learn about a food's variations and try it under different circumstances. If you do, you may discover that what made an unsavory impression on you the first time around actually has a lot more potential than you think—including the potential to bring people with different tastes to the same table. If my own outings with family and friends are any indication, lovers of fancy food and simple food, gourmet food and fast food can come together to enjoy the specialty dogs reviewed here.

This year, hot dogs turned out to be the stars of our summer menu. What will they do for yours?

The review was by far the longest and most detailed one Gladys had ever written, and it took up almost the entire front page of the Dining section in the printed version. In fact, the only other item on the page appeared in a small square in the bottom right corner.

LONGTIME RESTAURANT CRITIC GILBERT GADFLY RESIGNS

by JACKSON STONE, Deputy Editor

Gilbert Gadfly, head restaurant critic for the
New York Standard
for the past fourteen years, has resigned his position with the department, effective immediately. Mr. Gadfly cited “overwork and exhaustion” as his reasons for leaving the paper. When asked about rumors that he has been offered a job cohosting the reality cooking show
Purgatory Pantry
with celebrity chef Rory Graham, Mr. Gadfly declined to comment.

As for the future of the
Standard
's world-class reviews, Chief Editor Fiona Inglethorpe insists that readers have nothing to worry about. “Thankfully, we have a stable of devoted freelancers who will have no trouble picking up the slack until a replacement full-time critic can be found,” she said. “In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if one of our freelancers ended up taking over the permanent position.”

“So,” Mr. Eng said as he bagged Gladys's newspapers for her that afternoon, “are you going to throw your hat into the ring?”

“For what?” Gladys asked.

Mr. Eng raised his eyebrows. “For the full-time critic's position, of course!”

Gladys snorted. “Right.”

“They couldn't find a better candidate.”

“Yeah, well,” Gladys said, “I think you're forgetting about a little thing I have coming up in September called
middle school.
”

But this revelation didn't stop Mr. Eng in his tracks the way she thought it would.

“There are ways around that,” he said. “Homeschooling, for instance. Did you read that interview in the
Intelligencer
with Hamilton Herbertson, the twelve-year-old author? He said he never would have been able to write his novel if he'd had to attend regular school.”

Gladys hadn't actually read the interview.
Hamilton was homeschooled?
She had never thought to ask him about school. Then again, if he'd never been around kids his own age before camp, that explained a lot.

“Well, I wouldn't hold your breath,” Gladys told Mr. Eng, “but I'll keep you posted.”

• • •

Ten minutes later, Gladys parked her bike in the garage and heaved her canvas bag full of newspapers out of the basket and onto her shoulder. Normally she'd head straight for Sandy's and stash them there, where her parents had no chance of finding them. But today, her plans were different.

She unlocked the front door and headed straight for the dining room, where she carefully laid out a copy of the newspaper, open to the Dining section, at each of her parents' places. They weren't home from work yet, but when they did get there, they wouldn't be able to miss her review.

Things were about to change, and Gladys knew there might be a hefty price to pay for telling the truth. She wondered if, as part of her punishment for lying to them, she might get banned from watching
Purgatory Pantry.
That would be no great loss, especially if Gilbert Gadfly really did become the cohost. She would happily give it up. In fact, there was a lot she'd be willing to give up, just as long as her parents let her keep the one pastime she really cared about: reviewing restaurants for the
New York Standard.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

T
HE STARS OF SUMMER
WOULDN'T EXIST
without the help of the following people, all of whom deserve homemade strawberry-lime cupcakes:

My husband, Andy, to whom this book is dedicated—you are the best. Extra special thanks for taking over chef de cuisine duties on the nights when deadlines were looming.

My editor, Shauna Rossano, my agent, Ammi-Joan Paquette, and all the good folks at Penguin Young Readers Group—thank you all for giving an emphatic “Yes!” to a second Gladys adventure.

My critique partners Ann Bedichek, Jenny Goebel, Jessica Lawson, and Lauren Sabel—thank you for your hugely insightful and timely feedback. Without you, this book would make much less sense.

My friend Katie Wade—many thanks for helping me navigate the world of Spanish tapas (who knew there were so many types of pork?!).

My compatriots in the #write-o-rama, OneFour Kidlit, and Emu's Debuts groups—thanks for keeping me writing, and keeping me sane, over the past few years.

The Paul sisters: Evelyn, Lucia, and Emily—thank you for continually challenging me to write books up to your extremely well-read standards.

Kelly Murphy, cover artist extraordinaire—thank you for your boundless attention to detail.

And thank you to everyone who has read
All Four Stars
and asked for Gladys's adventures to continue.

Hmm . . . that's a whole lot of cupcakes!

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