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Thursday, March 31, 2011

Lemon Meringue Pie Lie - Day 3

The Lemon Meringue Pie Lie
By Julie Fowler


March 2011
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED


This book is dedicated to:
children of all ages, who believe in the power and the purpose of emotion.

A mentira tem pernas curtas. "The lie has short legs." —Brazilian proverb

The Text
Throughout The Lemon Meringue Pie Lie are many boldface font Brazilian Portuguese words. If you would like to know the meanings of these words, they can be found defined alphabetically in the back of this book.

Foreword
This story is a cathartic, bicultural, sometimes linguistically-driven work of fiction. It is my hope that people around the world will come to understand the often misunderstood power of belief signaled by emotion and action.

It is my prayer that we all will teach our children early to manifest positive self-esteem not through food, but through careful guidance in the ways of the universe.

Namaste, Aloha, Blessings to you


    
Though Phoebe Welsh smiles, she is as sad as a mosquito struggling to prick through steel mesh. At eight years old, she has just moved to Salvador, Bahía, Brazil where her new home dances on a cobblestone street above the bluest ocean and the whitest sand beach. She has a view of the
Bay of all Saints, La Escola Panamericana, and the kids on the street in front of her house. Phoebe feels a bone-crunching loneliness despite being surrounded by lovely people. Worst of all, she truly believes she is all alone.
      She wears a uniform to the Pan American School on Campo Grande. The uniform: a stiff, shiny, white button-up blouse, denim skorts, and black soccer cleats, make her look like a reluctant pineapple plant in a field of banana trees . She looks at the photos of Pelé in school history magazines, pretending to understand Portuguese. She plays soccer like him on the school’s lower field, but not very well. Phoebe believes she is an outsider. She believes that no one will listen to the sadness she feels. The Brazilian kids stare curiously at her and her younger brother, Kyle. Portuguese is filled with unfamiliar sounds flowing fast from the kids’ mouths. Months have passed since they left California for Bahía.

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