The Official Rules of the Teashop Girls 1. Teashop girls are best friends forever. 2. Tea is held every week, no matter what. 3. All tea and scones must be split equally at all times. Annie, Genna, and Zoe have been hanging out at the Steeping Leaf since elementary school. The Teashop Girls do everything together -- at least they used to. With the end of eighth grade approaching, Genna's too busy with theater, Zoe's always at tennis, and Annie feels totally left out. What happened to tea every week, no matter what? When Annie convinces her grandmother to give her a job as a barista at the Leaf, things begin to look up. In between whipping up chai lattes for customers, and attempting to catch the attention of her Barista Boy crush, Annie is finally beginning to feel as grown-up as her best friends. But an eviction notice spells trouble for the Leaf and unless they can turn the business around, the teashop will have to close its doors forever. Fresh, honest, and sweet, Laura Schaefer's debut novel is sure to resonate with readers everywhere. “Everything tea drinkers might want to know about that beverage can be found in this clever first novel.” —Publishers Weekly “Like good tea: comforting, refreshing, and sustaining.” —Booklist “a satisfying story” —Kirkus Laura Schaefer is the author of The Teashop Girls , The Secret Ingredient , and Littler Women . She lives in Orlando, Florida, with her husband and daughter. When she’s not writing middle grade novels, you might find her scoping out local coffee shops, taking long walks with only partially working headphones, and poking around the library for treasures. Laura’s favorite Little Women character is Jo (whose isn’t?), but she confesses to a strong fondness for Amy as well. Visit her online at LauraSchaeferWriter.com or follow her on Twitter at @TeaShopGirl. Sujean Rim is the author and illustrator of My Dog Smudge , You Are Loved , Take a Breath , Take a Chance , Birdie’s Big-Girl Shoes , Birdie’s Big-Girl Dress , Birdie’s Big-Girl Hair , Zoogie Boogie Fever! , Chee-Kee: A Panda in Bearland , and more. She has illustrated for clients including Tiffany & Co., Target, and the website DailyCandy . Sujean lives in New York with her favorite artist and husband Bob, and their son, Charlie. Find her online at SujeanRim.com. The Teashop girls Chapter One “My dear if you could give me a cup of tea to clear my muddle of a head I should better understand your affairs.” —CHARLES DICKENS, MRS. LIRRIPER’S LEGACY There’s a right way and a wrong way to do many things, and when it comes to tea, my opinion is one should not mess around. My grandmother Louisa first taught me to brew a fine pot of tea when I was five years old. She told me what a nice job I had done, and I announced I wanted to be just like her when I grew up. Louisa laughed merrily at the time. I hoped she wouldn’t laugh today. I couldn’t bear the thought of being laughed at today, which is why I, Annie Green, am hiding out in the storage room of the Steeping Leaf. Well, not hiding exactly. That would be silly. I love the Leaf, and there isn’t anything out there to hide from, least of all my grandmother Louisa. But the fact of the matter is I am here in her teashop, she doesn’t know it yet, and the reason for all my sneaking around is I need to psych myself up for what I am about to do. You know how some people have weird/cool talents, like being able to wiggle their ears back and forth just by concentrating really hard? Well, I have one too. I can stand on my head forever. Like, seriously forever. My two brothers can even try to tickle my feet to knock me over, and I just make faces at them, upside down, secure in the knowledge that I am just as steady on my head as they are on their feet. Which isn’t, come to think of it, as steady as, say, Louisa is on her feet, but it’s pretty darn good. And as a bonus, when I stand on my head, I can feel myself getting smarter and calmer. I think it has something to do with the fact that a headstand is a real yoga pose. With two younger brothers and an older sister, it’s hard to ever find even half a moment alone. And the silence of the storage room is blissful. It’s just me, upside down and Zenlike amidst a few dozen boxes of loose tea, some old teacups Louisa hasn’t taken to St. Vinny’s yet, and my “Perfect Cup of Tea Instructions,” which I’ve written on a whiteboard that, for readability’s sake, has also assumed the sirsha-asana pose. I am almost ready to ask for a job here as a barista. And when I do, I will be calm, centered, grown-up, and only slightly red in the face. I am a tiny bit worried because sometimes my family doesn’t take me seriously. Everyone else in my family already has their “thing”—Beth is all “college, college, college … did I mention that I’m going away to college in the fall?” and Luke and Billy have the lock on the local emergency room—skateboarders, it’s like they have a death wi