CHAPTER 3

That night, Sofia’s friends came over to make posters at the kitchen table. Abuelo came in every few minutes to check the oven. He was making orejas, which were one of Sofia’s favorite treats. Abuelo had worked all afternoon preparing the smooth dough. He rolled, folded, and chilled the dough over and over. He sprinkled the final layers with cane sugar and cinnamon before he sliced and baked the cookies. It took a lot of time to make the sweet, flaky dough, so Abuelo did not make them very often, and it was always a special treat when he did.

“We’ll give some to Marisella to celebrate her new baby brother,” said Abuelo.

Marisella was Sofia’s third-grade cousin, whose baby brother was only three weeks old.

“She’ll love that, Abuelo,” said Sofia.

The smell of sweet pastries filled the air as Ada, Rosie, Sofia, and Iggy brainstormed ideas for the best class pet.

“I’m voting for a turtle or maybe a lemur,” said Ada. “Or a flying squirrel. Do they really fly? Can they fly upside down?”

“I’m picking a bird,” said Rosie. “I love my bird, Gizmo, and Aunt Rose’s bird, Gadget. Plus, birds know how to make things, just like engineers. Could you make a nest with only a beak and your feet?”

“What about you, Iggy?” asked Sofia.

Iggy proudly showed them the poster he had been working on.

“It’s a building,” said Sofia. “Buildings can’t be pets.”

“Why not?” asked Iggy. “You don’t have to take it for walks or clean its cage. It’s perfect.”

“It’s too big,” said Ada.

“I’ll make a model,” said Iggy. “I can make models from anything.”

That was true. Iggy had once made a model of the St. Louis Arch from pancakes and coconut pie. It was beautiful and delicious.

“What about you, Sofia?” asked Rosie.

“I can’t decide,” she said. “There are so many choices, but not a perfect one. They all have something good and something bad about them.”

“You don’t have to find the perfect pet,” said Abuelo. “Just the best one.”

Sofia thought about that. She was always trying to make things better. Sometimes, she worried too much about making them perfect. There was never a perfect candidate in an election. How could there be? People aren’t perfect. Maybe it was the same with pets. After all, how could one pet be perfect for everyone? What pet would be good for as many kids as possible?

Abuelo checked the oven once more. “Aha!” he said, pulling out the cookie tray. “This is a batch to be proud of.”

He put the orejas on a plate in front of the Questioneers and brought the kids cups of hot chocolate.

“Thank you, Mr. Valdez!” said Ada.

“What does orejas mean?” asked Rosie.

“Ears,” said Sofia.

“Wait,” said Abuelo. “I can’t hear you.”

He held one of the curvy pastries up to his head like it was a sugar-covered ear.

“That’s better,” he said. “Can you repeat the question?”

Abuelo winked at Sofia. Then he took a bite of the pastry.

“Ouch!” he cried. “My ear hurts!”

Ada, Iggy, and Rosie laughed. Sofia couldn’t help laughing, too. Abuelo had been telling her that joke since she was a baby. He had lots of jokes like that. Sofia could always count on him to tell them. It was one of the things she loved most about Abuelo—that she could always count on him.

Ada held up one of the orejas and rotated it. “Look!” she said. “This way, it looks like a butterfly.”

Sofia smiled. “That’s it! I’ll nominate a butterfly! Everyone loves butterflies!”