Real Mermaids Don't Need High Heels (21 page)

Hi, guys! I know more about skateboarding and guitars than I do about cooking, but I roast a mean marshmallow and hope you'll try these s'mores (in honor of my buddy Reese) at your next campfire.

Ingredients

•
Marshmallows

•
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups

•
Graham crackers

Campfire Method

1.
Roast the marshmallow until golden brown.

2.
Place a peanut-butter cup on a graham cracker, then the marshmallow, then another graham cracker.

3.
Wait a minute until the peanut-butter cup gets gooey.

4.
Eat it.

See? I told you I wasn't much of a cook.

If you don't have a campfire, don't worry. You can do this in the microwave, too.

Microwave Method

1.
Place a graham cracker on a microwave-safe plate.

2.
Place a marshmallow on top of the graham cracker.

3.
Microwave for 10 to 15 seconds. The marshmallow will puff up and melt.

4.
Take it out of the microwave, add a peanut-butter cup, and top it off with another graham cracker.

5.
Wait a minute until the peanut-butter cup gets gooey.

6.
Eat it.

At least both methods end up with you
eating
it.

Enjoy!

—Luke

Writing a book is a lot like playing underwater hockey without a snorkel, but it is a process made much easier with a winning team of critique pals, friends, and family.

Many thanks to my agent, Lauren MacLeod, who drafted me from her slush pile and who always makes me feel like I have a “one-man advantage.” Thanks also to my editor, Aubrey Poole, for her fancy stick handling and for helping me get the puck to the net.

Marcelle, Charlotte, and Gord: you are my winning hat trick and my constant sources of support and inspiration. None of this happens without you.

Hélène Boudreau never spotted a real mermaid while growing up on an island surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, but she believes mermaids are just as plausible as giant squids, flying fish, or electric eels. She now writes fiction and nonfiction for kids from her landlocked home in Ontario, Canada. Her first book of this series,
Real
Mermaids
Don't Wear Toe Rings
, was a 2011 finalist for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators' Crystal Kite Award.

You can visit her at
www.heleneboudreau.com
.