Project: Rescue Chelsea

By Melody Carlson

Written by bestselling author melody carlson. Meet Morgan, Amy, Carlie, and Emily. They all live in the trailer park at 622 Harbor View in tiny Boscoe Bay, Oregon. Proximity made them friends, but a desire to make the world a better place—and a willingness to work at it—keeps them together. In the first book of this new series, Project: Girl Power,bullies knock Emily from her bike on her way home from school, so the girls start walking together because there’s safety in numbers. With help from other people in the park, they set out to beautify Harbor View. In book two, Project: Mystery Bus, the girls begin summer by working to clean and restore their bus to use as a clubhouse. And thus begins the Rainbow Club. In book three, Project: Rescue Chelsea, Carlie makes a new friend. Chelsea Landers lives in a mansion and isn’t always very kind. Carlie would like a best friend, but will Chelsea fit in with her other friends? In book four, Project: Take Charge, the girls decide to take action when they find out their town’s only city park has been vandalized and may soon be turned into a parking lot. MELODY CARLSON In sixth grade, Melody Carlson helped start a school newspaper called The BuccaNews (her school’s mascot was a Buccaneer—argh!). As editor of this paper, she wrote most of the material herself, creating goofy phony bylines to hide the fact that the school newspaper was mostly a one-“man” show. She lives in Sisters, OR. Visit her at www.MelodyCarlson.com

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: Aug 30, 2009
• ISBN: 9780310855866

Melody Carlson

Melody Carlson has written more than 200 books for teens, women, and children. Before publishing, Melody traveled around the world, volunteered in teen ministry, taught preschool, raised two sons, and worked briefly in interior design and later in international adoption. "I think real-life experiences inspire the best fiction," she says. Her wide variety of books seems to prove this theory.

Book preview

Other books in the growing Faithgirlz!™ series:

The Faithgirlz!™ Bible

NIV Faithgirlz!™ Backpack Bible

My Faithgirlz!™ Journal

Introducing a new Faithgirlz!™ series from Melody Carlson:

Girls of 622 Harbor View

Project: Girl Power (Book One)

Project: Mystery Bus (Book Two)

Project: Take Charge (Book Four)

Other books by Melody Carlson:

Diary of a Teenage Girl Series

True Colors Series Degrees Series

Piercing Proverbs

By Design Series Nonfiction

Check out www.faithgirlz.com

ZONDERVAN

Project: Rescue Chelsea

Copyright © 2007 by Melody Carlson

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.

ePub Edition June 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-85586-6

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zonderkidz, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Carlson, Melody.

Project, rescue Chelsea / by Melody Carlson.

p. cm.—(Girls of 622 Harbor View ; bk. 3)

Summary: At her aunt’s request, Carlie befriends a fun but dificult new girl in town, but while she would like to spend time with the girls in her club, too, she is concerned that Chelsea’s attitudes would only cause trouble.

ISBN-13: 978-0-310-71188-9 (softcover)

ISBN-10: 0-310-71188-6 (softcover)

[1. Clubs—Fiction. 2. Social classes—Fiction. 3. Prejudices—Fiction. 4. Friendship—Fiction. 5. Christian life—Fiction. 6. Oregon—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.C216637Ps 2007

[Fic]—dc22

2006024026

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All Rights Reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmied in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Zonderkidz is a trademark of Zondervan

Editor: Barbara Scott

Art direction and design: Merit Alderink

Interior composition: Christine Orejuela-Winkelman

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen.

For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

—2 Corinthians 4:18     

Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

About the Publisher

Share Your Thoughts

chapter one

I can’t hang with you guys today. Carlie kicked a rock with the toe of her sandal and frowned.

Why not? asked Morgan as she unlocked the door to the Rainbow Bus, the girls’ clubhouse. Did you forget that I was going to teach you how to do beads today?

No. Carlie rolled her eyes. But Tia Maria is making me go to work with her today.

Huh? Emily peered curiously at Carlie. Don’t they have child labor laws in this state?

Yeah, said Amy. First they make you babysit all the time and now they have you cleaning houses too? What’s up with that?

"I don’t babysit all the time, Carlie corrected her. Besides, I sometimes get paid for it when I do."

Why do you have to go and help your aunt with housecleaning today? asked Morgan.

That’s not what I’ll be doing, Carlie explained. I’m going with Tia Maria because she’s working for this new family that moved to town last week. They have a girl who’s the same grade as us, and she’s all bummed about having to move here and not knowing anyone. And it doesn’t help that school starts in a couple of weeks.

So they’re going to force you to become her friend? questioned Amy. Isn’t that a little weird?

Carlie nodded. Yep. And that’s exactly what I told Tia Maria too, but she won’t take no for an answer. She’s certain that I’m going to like this new girl.

What if you don’t? asked Morgan.

Carlie shrugged. Nothing I can do about that. But I got to thinking … I mean, I remember how it felt to be new in town last spring … and maybe I should try to make her feel welcome. Her name’s Chelsea Landers. And, who knows, maybe she’s nice.

Well, if she is nice, maybe we should all get to know her, suggested Morgan. Maybe she’ll even want to join our club.

I don’t know, said Amy. I mean, we’ve never talked about getting new members before. Do you guys really think it’s a good idea?

I’m not so sure, admitted Emily. The bus isn’t really that big. With all four of us it can get kinda crowded.

Well, there’ll only be three of us today, Morgan pointed out. Sorry you can’t stay. Morgan smiled at Carlie. But maybe I can show you how to do beads some other time.

Yeah, said Carlie. I hope so.

Well, have fun, called Emily.

Carlie tried to hide her disappointment as she waved. See ya guys later.

The other girls called out good-bye and Carlie slowly walked back toward her house. This really didn’t seem fair. She’d already missed out on a lot of fun this summer because of babysitting her little brothers so much. Plus, she’d been looking forward to learning how to do beads for weeks now. But she had to be a play date for someone she didn’t even know. She was tempted to tell Tia Maria to forget it, but Tia Maria was her favorite aunt and really cared about Carlie. So maybe she should just bite the bullet, put a smile on her face, and go.

Hey, Carlie, called Tia Maria. She was standing by her little red car and waving. I’ve been waiting for you.

I’m coming, said Carlie. I just had to tell my friends that I wouldn’t be around today.

I hope you don’t mind too much, said Tia Maria.

Carlie shrugged as she got into the car. It’s okay. I mean, I do remember how lonely I felt when we first moved here.

And then you made friends with the girls from the trailer court, Tia Maria reminded her. And you’ve been happy as a clam ever since.

Carlie forced a smile. Yeah, it’s great having good friends. But she thought it would be even better if she actually got to hang with them sometimes!

Especially when you’re in middle school, Tia Maria pointed out. I still remember how hard it was going to seventh grade. My best friend had moved away that summer and I felt like I didn’t know a soul. I was so scared.

Do you think that’s how Chelsea feels? asked Carlie.

Tia Maria nodded. Yeah. She’s a gloomy girl.

Carlie sat up straighter now. Well, I’ll do my best to try and cheer her up. I just hope she’s nice. The truth was, ever since moving to Boscoe Bay last spring, Carlie had been wishing for a best friend for herself. It seemed like Emily and Morgan had become best friends during the summer, and even though there was still Amy … well, Carlie just wasn’t too sure. She and Amy were so completely different.

Speaking of nice, said Tia Maria. You look very pretty today.

Carlie frowned down at the flowery sundress. Mom made me wear this. She wanted me to look like a lady. She groaned. It’s been so great getting to wear just shorts and T-shirts this summer. I was hoping that Mom would lighten up, you know, before school starts. But now I’m getting all worried again.

Tia Maria laughed. My sister Lena can be a little old fashioned.

Tell me about it.

Maybe I can talk to her for you, Carlie.

Would you? Carlie looked eagerly at her aunt. She might actually listen to you!

Sure. I’d be happy too. It’ll be my way of thanking you for coming with me today. Okay?

Sounds like a deal. Carlie leaned back. Maybe this day would