The Karma Club, Page 21

  So far it seems to be working. A few weeks ago, the police caught the guys who broke into Mr. Miller’s store when they attempted to hold up a mini-mart in the next town. Now, I don’t know if this is in any way directly related to what the three of us have been doing, but I’d like to think we played at least a small part in it.

  I’d like to think that Karma has been looking out for us.

  Also, Jade managed to get a scholarship to UCLA after all. It wasn’t the one she had applied for, but when the scholarship fund found out about her volunteer work at the theater, they decided to create a brand-new scholarship just for her!

  And me? I’m still with Spencer obviously. His parents ended up donating a huge chunk of money to help my tutoring program get off the ground. He told me it was tax deductible and his parents are always interested in finding new tax-deductible expenditures, but I know that’s not the only reason they decided to donate the money. I’m sure Spencer had a hand in convincing them as well.

  I’ve tried many times to sum everything up in my head using another E! News report, but the truth of the matter is, E! News doesn’t usually report on stuff like this. There’s just not enough drama to warrant an account. I don’t think I mind all that much, though. There are plenty of things that I would choose to fill the other half of my Yin-Yang . . . and drama is definitely not one of them.

  Obviously I’d be lying if I said I didn’t still get just a small kick out of the fact that Mason Brooks is scheduled to start community college in the fall because no other school would accept him. Or the fact that Heather Campbell’s face still hasn’t fully recovered from the Crisco incident. I’m only human. But trust me, that feeling is nothing compared to the one you get when you actually help someone who didn’t think that anyone ever would.

  ______

  At the beginning of June, I’m presented with all types of graduation gifts. My mom gets me a new cell phone, my dad buys me a laptop for college, and Spencer gives me this really gorgeous, monogrammed leather notebook that’s supposed to be the new and improved Karma Club notebook.

  Jade, Angie, and I give each other new charms for our bracelets. We keep the Yin-Yangs on there, obviously. But we replace the other charms with ones that more appropriately reflect the positive things we’ve been trying to do around here lately. Jade buys us charms in the shape of a theater mask to represent the work she’s been doing with her volunteer program. Angie gives us charms in the shape of a telephone to signify her affiliation with the substance abuse hotline. And I hand out charms in the shape of an A with a plus sign next to it. Because I can only hope that there are a lot more report cards with that grade being brought home these days.

  But I have to say that my favorite graduation gift actually comes from Contempo Girl magazine.

  It’s a full-page article in the July issue, and it hits newsstands in a few days. But I’ve already had the privilege of reading it. They sent me this really cool framed copy of it a couple of days ago. And right now it’s hanging on the wall of my bedroom so I can see it every time I walk into the room.

  THE KARMA CLUB

  Karma has a new name, and that name is Madison Kasparkova. A graduating senior at Pine Valley’s Colonial High School, Madison and her friends Jade Bristow and Angela Harper recently launched a local initiative that they hope to take worldwide someday. It’s called the Karma Club, and its purpose is to do good.

  “When people look at teenagers, all they see are self-centered, unsympathetic young adults who only care about how many text messages they have on their mobile plan,” Kasparkova told Contempo Girl in a phone interview last month. “The Karma Club just seeks to inspire kids our age to make a difference. To put other people’s well-being in front of their own. Because if all teens did that, even once, then we’d be that much closer to putting an end to the negative stigma that surrounds us.”

  Madison’s most recent good Karma initiative? A volunteer tutoring program for students in underprivileged school districts who can’t afford the expensive tutoring sessions that some of the professional agencies are offering. “Kids volunteer to tutor in their favorite subjects, and then we go to these schools and schedule the sessions. The program really kind of runs itself,” Kasparkova said. “All you need is people who want to help.”

  When our editors asked Kasparkova whether she plans to continue her work next year while attending Amherst College in Massachusetts she replied, “Of course! Why wouldn’t I?”

  According to its founding members, the inspiration behind the Karma Club is a secret that none of them are willing to talk about. But they did say that it started with an idea that went terribly wrong. Only later did they discover that “Karma is a powerful force. It can be your best friend or your greatest enemy. It all depends on how you choose to look at it.” Well, it doesn’t really matter how it came to be, the good news is that it’s here.

  To find out what you can do to join the Karma Club and make a difference in your community simply visit www.thekarmaclub.org and sign up for local volunteer events.

  Of course, I’d like to say that nothing will change. That at the end of the summer my friends and I will go our separate ways to college and still manage to stay close, and that Spencer and I will be able to survive a cross-country relationship without any unforeseen glitches or kinks in the plan. But I know now that change is inevitable. In fact, it’s the only thing that’s constant. So I really can’t fight it. There’s just no point. All I can do is continue to live my life the best way I know how and trust that everything will work out fine.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I believe that good Karma is not something that can be achieved alone. I’m grateful to the following people, who have helped contribute to mine. My parents, Michael and Laura Brody, you must be bruised from all the bad ideas I’ve bounced off of you over the years. Charlie Fink, thank you for putting up with all my writer mood swings. I would promise you the next book will be different, but we both know that’s a promise I can’t keep. I love you. My fantastic agent, Beth Fisher, who encouraged me to write this book and sold it with such finesse. Everyone at Levine Greenberg, thank you for everything you do and the spectacular way you do it. Janine O’Malley, you’re the kind of editor every writer dreams of working with. Congratulations on Callum! Everyone at FSG and Macmillan Children’s, without you this would just be a sloppy and grammatically incorrect pile of unread pages. Thanks to Bill Contardi, my brilliant and savvy film agent. Mark Stankevich, the most nonlawyer lawyer I know. My sister, Terra, the social butterfly of the family, thanks for filling up my New York readings with such an international assortment of book buyers! Alyson Noël, your inspiring prolificacy is the only reason I can finish a novel. And last but not least, thank you to you. Yes, you, the one holding this book. Writers’ dreams come true every day because of you.