Honey turns on the sink, and the sound pulls my gaze back inside. My eyes catch the sheen off the plastic cover of a library book resting on the island between the main part of the kitchen and the little eating area. I can’t believe it. It’s Most Likely To … Rion, the first book in my absolute favorite series of all time.

“Are you reading this?” I ask Aginéni before I can stop myself. The series is about a group of kids working on their high school yearbook, and each book is from a different character’s perspective. My mom thinks it’s a little old for me because there’s kissing and other stuff, and she says the topics can be a little “heavy,” but I love these books so much I don’t care. Plus, that’s what makes them so good. You really feel like the author, R. S. Williams, gets teenagers, and kids, and what people are really like. “I love this series!” I say, and it comes out like a squeak.

“And what if I am reading it?” Aginéni replies. “An old lady should sit at home by herself all day staring at the walls? I used to knit, but look—” She holds out her fingers, gnarled to claws. “And they took my license away after I didn’t pass their farkakteh test.”

I nod. I guess I haven’t seen her driving around recently either.

“So I go to the library once a week with the Elder-Trans and I load up. The librarian, she already knows me. She gives me recommendations.” She ticks them off on her crooked fingers. “May Magus, Helly Simpson, Jay Schwartz—now R. S. Williams.” She points to the book on the island. “Children’s, adult, even young adult. I read it all!”

I try to memorize the names of the other authors she says she reads so I can look them up when I get home. If she’s reading Most Likely To … then Aginéni has good taste in books.

“Why do you read kids’ books?” Honey says, turning off the sink and wiping her hands on a threadbare dish towel. A clean glass mug and some spoons are now sitting in the drainboard.

“And why shouldn’t I?” Aginéni says haughtily, narrowing her eyes at Honey. “Are you saying I am an old lady and should be banned from reading what I want to? The alte kakers can only read the boring stuff?”

“Um, you’re not old, Aginéni,” Honey mutters as Aginéni dares her with her eyes. I have to hold back the urge to laugh again and instead try to rescue my friend.

“Just wait till you get to the third book in the series,” I say. “And the fourth one is my favorite. I was so mad at Daisy for what she did to Ellen in the one you’re reading, but then, in the fourth, it’s Daisy’s side and you find out why she was keeping secrets.”

Aginéni shoots another chilly glance at Honey and then looks at me brightly. “You see? Very mature ideas in books for children. Just look at Ella Draggon-Hart. Those books are all about the Nazis!” She makes a spitting sound.