Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little Read Online Free PDF

first peach orchard went.
    Then she turned her attention to the cover of
Stuart Little
. He was such a cute mouse. She asked herself why she hadn’t noticed that before—after all, they had been together most of the summer. Then she examined the picture of his little sports car. She wondered how he had managed to talk his parents into getting it. Then, as with all the really great stories, Moxy was no longer in her room, she was in the passenger seat beside Stuart Little.
    What had she been thinking?
Why ever did I spend the whole summer avoiding a ride in this little car with the fabulous fenders
? was the last thing she said to herselfbefore Stuart Little hit the accelerator and the two sped off.

    Here is the final photograph Mark Maxwell took of Moxy Maxwell on August 23. It was taken at one minute before midnight
.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    Many people contributed to this book. I’d especially like to thank Anne Schwartz, Lee Wade, Valorie Fisher, and Annie Kelley for their seamless collaboration. My deepest gratitude belongs to J. Patrick Lewis and Susan Lewis for their generous help; to muses Kelly Marceau and Scott Marceau; and most importantly, to Jack Fitzpatrick and Chester Gifford. —P.G.
    Many thanks to my hardworking, ever-patient, and suitably silly cast of characters: Elinor, Charlie, Aidan, Olive, Anne, Buster, and Dash, and Maisie and Harriet for allowing me to make a complete mess of their bedroom. —V.F.

Turn the page for a sneak peek at
    Moxy
Maxwell
Does
Not
Love
Writing
Thank-you
Notes

chapter 1
We Begin
    It was the day after Christmas and Moxy Maxwell had a List of 13 Things to Do Before Tomorrow. Tomorrow she and her twin brother, Mark, were flying to Hollywood to spend the last week of vacation with their father.
    Moxy had been looking forward to this trip for, as she put it, “ages and ages”—ever since her mother called her dad and told him that
this year
he
had
to take the twins for the last part of Christmas vacation.
    Mark and Moxy’s father’s name wasRock Hunter, and he was a Big Mover and Shaker out in Hollywood. But Moxy and Mark hadn’t seen him for almost three years. Two years ago he canceled their Christmas visit at the last minute because he had to fly to the Dead Sea to help a Major Star who was having a breakdown on the set of a made-for-TV movie called
Noah’s Wife: The Untold Story
. And last year he was so busy establishing himself in his new career as a Big Mover and Shaker in Hollywood that he had forgotten about Christmas altogether. But this year he was finally a Big Man Behind the Scenes out there.
    “Behind the scenes is where the real action is” was what he’d told Moxy when she had asked why she’d never seen his picture in
People
magazine or
Us Weekly
magazine or Star magazine or any magazine.

chapter 2
Numbers 1 Through 12
on Moxy’s List of 13
Things to Do Before
Tomorrow
    Numbers 1 through 12 on Moxy’s List of 13 Things to Do Before Tomorrow were to write twelve thank-you notes. Last year she hadn’t finished writing the thank-you notes for her Christmas presents until the day before Easter. This year, she promised her mother, they’d
all
be finished by the day
after
Christmas. And today was the day after Christmas.
    “Dear Nonnie, Thank you for the fabulous money. Love, Me,” read Moxy. She was resting on her bed, her new thank-you-note stationery balanced on her knees, while her motherfolded Moxy’s baby blue petal-patterned swimsuit into her suitcase.
    “Tell Nonnie how you’re going to spend the money,” said Mrs. Maxwell. “And be sure to wish her a happy New Year.”
    “But that will take
forever
,” said Moxy. “And I have eleven more thank-you notes to go.”
    “A thank-you note isn’t something you
have to do
, it should
mean something
. It should come from your heart,” said Mrs. Maxwell.
    “But my heart hasn’t got time,” Moxy replied. “It has to go with my body to the mall to exchange the evening gown Aunt Margaret