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Beauty Shop for Rent
. . . Fully Equipped, Inquire Within
Bowers, Laura L.
Hardcover
$11.05 + $1.99 USPS S/H
$0.55 of your order (5%) will be donated to the school of your choice.

BOOK SUMMARY
Abbey Garner has a plan: to earn a million dollars by the time she's thirty-five. Financial independence will allow her to break the cycle of unhappiness endured by the women in her family. Determined to fulfill her dream, Abbey works at Granny Po's stru

BOOK SYNOPSIS
Abbey Garner has a plan: to earn a million dollars by the time she's thirty-five. Financial independence will allow her to break the cycle of unhappiness endured by the women in her family. Determined to fulfill her dream, Abbey works at Granny Po's struggling beauty shop, where the feisty Gray Widows go to primp, polish, perm...and, of course, gossip. There, among the hair dryers and perm rods--and with the help of a new friend--Abbey finds the courage to open her heart and take risks required for her to live life to its fullest. Debut author Laura Bowers creates a funny and touching first novel about family--both the one we are born to and the one we create ourselves.

AUTHOR BIO
LAURA BOWERS is a full-time mom, an avid horsewoman, and a debut author. She lives in Maryland.

BOOK EXCERPTS
Chapter One
Hypothetical Question of the Week: If you were forced to have an extra body part implanted on your back, which would you choose? A finger, ear, breast, or nose?
 Abbey Lynn Garner! Granny Po exclaimed from the manicure table, pointing at me with her emery board. Where did that crap come from?
 I smiled and held up a wrinkled tabloid. From your magazine.
 Granny Po rolled her eyes and went back to filing Caddies nails. Hmph. Well, what are you doing reading that trash, anyway? Not exactly appropriate for a fourteen-year-old.
 Fifteen, I reminded her. My birthdays in a few weeks.
 My great-grandmother shot me a look that said the extra year didnt amount to much. I could be twenty and shed still think its not appropriate. The beauticians chair squeaked as I leaned back and propped my feet up. Tabloids really arent my style, anyway, but there was nothing else to do. Id already cleaned, folded towels, organized a messy array of curlers, and taken a quick inventory. We hadnt had a single customer all evening except Caddie, but she practically lived at Pollys Parlor and didnt count.
 Come on, Granny Po. Answer the question, I teased. You know you wanna.
 No, I dont wanna. Sounds like something from all those reality shows on TV. Lord. Granny Po sighed. Well, if I must . . . then, no breast. Couldnt sleep with a boob on my back.
 Caddie, named after her fathers Cadillac, turned from the table with a confused gaze, her dangling pearl earrings slapping back and forth against her plump neck. I dont understand the question. Good heavens, why would someone want a body part on their back?
 Nobodys really going to do that, I explained. Its a hypothetical question, Miss Caddie. You know, just for the ps and gs of it.
 What, pray tell, are the ps and gs? Granny Po asked, as the shop door opened and Edith walked in, her cowboy boots thumping on the hardwood floors.
 Poops and giggles, Edith said, pulling off her barn jacket and throwing it on the sofa. You never heard of that? Abbey, how about a quick trim. No shampoo.
 Granny Po picked up the cuticle lotion. Should have known. Edith Jones, dont you corrupt my Abbey with your talk. Lord knows what else shes picking up from you.
 More than that. At her horse farm next door, Edith uses a different word for poop. I stood, pulling up on the low-rider jeans that always make me feel like my rear is about to pop out, and reached for a cape from the shelf. Edith sat and raised her chin as I snapped the vinyl cape around her neck and repeated the question.
 A finger, ear, breast, or nose. Interesting, Edith mused. She grimaced, pinching her nose shut with weathered fingers. No nose. I wouldnt want to walk around with a nose on my back, and I dont think I gotta explain why.
 Why? Caddie asked, picking up a frosted beige polish. A look of comprehension crossed her face. Oh, . . . never mind.
 Edith grinned. If you picked a finger, you could scratch your own back!
 Or stick yourself up, I added, raising her chair by pumping my foot on the lever. The worn hydraulics moaned with each inch.
 Well, I still dont see whats funny about the question, Caddie said, in her soft Southern accent, while taking out the new hearing aids that always made her uncomfortable. If the good Lord wanted something extra on our back, Hed put it there Himself.
 Caddie primly smoothed the floral smock over her rounded hips and accidentally dropped her hearing aids to the floor. The seams of her pants stretched to capacity when she reached down for them.
 Granny Po snorted, her eyes taking on a mischievous gleam. She said, Yeah, and I think the good Lord certainly gave Caddie something extra in the rear-end department.
 Like two giant pumpkins stuffed in polyester, Edith added, while Caddie grabbed the table ledge to keep from falling out of her chair. Just like her dearly departed husband, Gary, after eating her greasy cooking for thirty-one years, God rest his soul.
 God rest his soul, repeated Granny Po.
 I tried to hide my smile but wasnt quick enough.
 Whatd you say, Polly? You know I cant hear good without my hearing aids. Caddie strained to sit up, then glanced at me. Abigail, dear, are these nasty women making fun of me?
 I sprayed Ediths gray hair with some water, then picked up my scissors. After living with Granny Po for the past four years, Ive learned its best not to get in the middle. But still, I couldnt help myself. Miss Caddie, if you chose an ear, youd hear everything they say behind your back.
 Edith laughed and reached back for a high five. Caddie frowned and patted a curl, looking like a kicked puppy. And here I thought you were on my side, Abbey darling. Well, if yall keep this up, then Ill just leave.
 Caddie? The beauty queen? Leave before your nails are done? Granny Po said. Theres a better chance of Edith winning an Oscar than you leaving with tacky fingertips.
 Edith clutched a wrinkled hand to her chest. Id like to thank the Academy, my agent, my momma, and all the people I had to sleep with or kill to get to the top.
 Poor Caddie. Even though theyve been friends for years, she always takes their banter seriously. I gave her a sympathetic grin while shaping Ediths hair. Ignore them, Miss Caddie. You know theyre just jealous.
 Thats right. Sick, jealous women. Caddie selected a bright pink polish and pointed it at Granny Po. And dont yall say a thing about my beauty-queen days.
 Beauty queen my foot, Granny Po said. You were a farm queen, and farm queen is not the same as beauty queen. And the reason you won is because the only other person competing against you was Louise Demmings. She looked too much like the pigs she raised to ever have a crown on her head.
 Why, Polly Randall, that was downright mean! No wonder nobody wants to rent this shop from you, what with all this negative atmosphere!
 Granny Po squinted, putting a fist on her plump hip. Caddie Daniels, I cannot believe you just said that! Hoo-boy. The antique cuckoo clock above the parlors door, which was always five minutes too fast, chirped while Granny Po stared at Caddie. For two years Granny Pos been trying to rent the shop so she can retire to a life of lingering morning coffee and afternoon soaps. But every potential renter whos visited the parlor has turned it down. Fast. The white sign on the front lawn that reads BEAUTY SHOP FOR RENT . . . FULLY EQUIPPED, INQUIRE WITHIN now has rust spots, so everybody knows its a touchy subject.
 Even Caddie.
 Caddie really was the 4-H Farm Queen in 1961. She once showed me the pictures, a shiny tiara perched on her then blond hair and a white sash draped across her then slim body. Granny Po told me she raised only one small hog, just enough to qualify for the contest, and she bribed her older brother to do all the farm work. That pig went straight to the butcher, after it peed on her leg in the show ring, but the crown was hers and dont you forget it.
 It was time for me to diffuse the situation. I reached for the remote, buried under newspapers, and turned on the television. Hey, Wheel of Fortune is coming on in five minutes.
 Nothing could stop their bickering faster than Wheel of Fortune. Caddie turned her chair to face the TV. Granny Po stopped worrying about her shop and stood. Im hitting the ladies room. Abbey, fetch us some iced tea, will ya?
 Oh man! I dont want to miss the first puzzle!
 You best hurry, then! And bring those cheesecake cookies while youre at it. Granny Po ducked into the hallway that led to the bathroom before I could respond. So much for please. Edith glanced in the mirror at her hair, then took off her cape, even though I wasnt finished. Eh, thats good enough. Its not like the horses are going to care.
 She reached into her pocket for a folded wad of money and pressed it into my palm. I didnt open my hand until I walked through the door that separated the beauty shop from the other side of the duplex, where Granny Po and I live. Twenty-five dollars. Fifteen for the haircut; ten for me.
 Awesome.
 Edith is a good tipper, and every good tip gets me closer to my goal of having a million dollars by my thirty-fifth birthday. Which is why Im glad Granny Po hasnt rented the shop yet. The moneys good, you cant beat the commute, and if a new owner came in, theres a big chance Id have to say, Good-bye, job. Copyright © 2007 by Laura Bowers
 
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MORE BOOK INFO
ISBN: 0152057641
ISBN(13-digit): 0152057641
Dewey Decimal: [Fic]
Library of Congress: 2006016761
Book Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books
Language: ENG
No. of Pages: 352

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