First Star I See
By Jaye Andras Caffrey
Illustrations by Lynne Adamson
CENTRAL RECOVERY PRESS
Central Recovery Press (CRP) is committed to publishing exceptional material addressing addiction treatment, recovery, and behavioral health care, including original and quality books, audio/visual communications, and Web-based new media. Through a diverse selection of titles, it seeks to impact the behavioral health care field with a broad range of unique resources for professionals, recovering individuals, and their families. For more information, visit www.centralrecoverypress.com.
Central Recovery Press, Las Vegas, NV
© 2010 by Jaye Andras Caffrey
Illustrations © 2010 by Central Recovery Press
eISBN-13: 978-1-936290-48-2
eISBN-10: 1-936290-48-0
All rights reserved. First edition 1997.
Second edition 2010.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.
Printed in the United States of America.
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Publisher: Central Recovery Press
3371 N Buffalo Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89129
A word about terminology: At the time of this publication, several different terms are still in use to describe the condition now known as attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). Some, including many professionals, still use initialisms that differentiate between people who have hyperactivity and those who don’t (for example, ADHD, ADD, ADD w/o, and others). Science recognizes three subtypes of AD/HD: inattentive, hyperactive-impulsive, and combined. In this work of fiction for children, we have chosen to use the term “AD/HD, inattentive type” to characterize Paige Bradley and “AD/HD, hyperactive-impulsive type” to describe her brother, Mark.
Interior design and layout by Sara Streifel, Think Creative Design
GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my amazing children—Michael, Emma, Dawson, and Laney—who teach me every day how to live life to the fullest, and to my wonderful friends and editors, Nancy Schenck, Valerie Killeen, and Jeanne Gehret, for their professionalism, thoughtfulness, and wise counsel and, especially, for their patience!
—J.A.C.
Table of Contents
2. Peevers and Other Crew Mates
3. Captain Stone Griffith Joins the Crew
4. The Crew’s Quarters
5. Late for Takeoff
6. Collision Course
7. Through the Branches to the Stars
8. Technical Difficulties
9. Against Overwhelming Odds
10. Where’s the Flight Plan?
11. In a Time Warp
12. Canine Invader
13. Brain Telescope
14. Clouds of Gas and Dust
15. First Star I See
16. Mission Accomplished
Did you ever want something so bad that you’d trade all your Christmas and birthday presents for it? Or let your little brother have control of the TV remote for an entire year? Or maybe you’d even—just for once—keep your promise to your mom to ignore Keith Guidry, who is the baddest and stupidest boy in the fourth grade, even when he calls you “blank Paige” and “turn-the-Paige” and his favorite all-purpose name for you: “Paige, the dog fart.” I mean, did you ever want something so very bad that you could even ignore somebody like that? Well, that’s how I felt the day that our teacher, Ms. Bourgeois, made the big announcement—like anything was possible if you wanted it bad enough.
“Okay, fourth graders,” Ms. Bourgeois said at the end of reading period, “I have some exciting news for you. Eyes to the front of the room, please.” The sound of scraping chairs and slamming books filled the room as the kids settled down to listen.
“Paige Bradley, will you please stop talking and pay attention?”
Oh, man. I hate when I look up and all the kids are staring at me. I was just about to say something to my best friend, Breanna Barnett, who sits right in front of me. Usually we don’t get caught talking in class. That’s because Ms. Bourgeois can’t hear or see us very well. She wears a hearing aid and these funny black oval glasses that must have been popular when she was young—in the Stone Age or something. Mom says she’s been teaching fourth grade since they opened Sylvia Probst Elementary School in New Orleans, and I believe her. Mom says Ms. Bourgeois gets
