1. The Dancing Pancake by Eileen Spinelli

2. The Dancing Pancake by Eileen Spinelli
The grand opening of the Dancing Pancake isn't the only new thing in Bindi's life: new friends, a new apartment, maybe even a cute new crush? But there are other changes, like her dad's move to a new city, that have left Bindi confused and wondering: What will happen to my family? Will this new life ever feel normal? Among the unlikely bunch of regulars who form a makeshift community at the diner, Bindi will try to figure out how to be a new version of herself, one pancake and one silly elephant joke (her uncle's specialty) at a time.
With plenty of surprises, milk shakes, fake spiders, and real feelings, readers are sure to flip for the sweet mix of humor and heart in The Dancing Pancake. (Goodreads.com)

4. Crowded
I head straight for my new room,
whose walls are still slime green.
Uncle Tim hammers my bed together.
Aunt Darnell makes it up.
Then she and Uncle Tim
bring in my bureau
and my small computer table.
Already it feels too crowded.
Suddenly it hits me:
There’s no room for my reading chair!
I want to--to--
to say a bad word.
I will!
I do.
Jackson wags his finger at me.
“No potty-talk, Bindi,” he says.
I’m ready to bop him.
Uncle Tim gives me a weird look.
scoops up Jackson,
and hauls him back out to the truck.
And I sit on my bed and
I’m crying, crying, crying,
Because I have to.

5. Down the Hall
Why doesn’t Mom come in
to comfort me?
Why doesn’t Aunt Darnell come in
I hear a sound coming
from down the hall.
I stop crying.
I blow my nose.
I listen
to someone else
crying.
It’s Mom.
Gee.

6. Fine
Things are in place--
most things.
My reading chair
is in a corner of the living room.
But it’s still a great chair.
We put a good lamp next to it.
We stare at all the boxes still waiting to be unpacked.
Aunt Darnell yawns and says,
“Tomorrow is another day.”
She and Uncle Time and Jackson leave.
Mom’s eyes are still red.
She pets her plants. Whispers:
“Welcome to your new home,”
to the ivy.
“Everything will be fine,”
to the fern.
“It will be,”
I say to her.
But will it?

7. After Midnight
It’s late.
Mom kisses me good night.
I go to my room,
get into my pajamas.
I look out my bedroom window:
neon signs,
clattering trucks,
yowling cat.
There’s a faint scent
in the air. Burning rubber?
Not a tree in sight.
I pull down the shade.
Turn out the light.
Sit on the edge of the bed
in the dark.
I pet my own head.
I whisper:
“Everything will be fine.”
(Page 75-78)

8. Extension How would you describe the mood of this poem?
In “After Midnight,” the speaker lists three things she sees out her window. What are they? What do you notice about them?
What phrase is repeated by the mom and the narrator? What is the effect of this repetition?