Movie Madness Read online

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER ONE: PICTURE PERFECT

  CHAPTER TWO: SHOCK-BUSTER MOVIE

  CHAPTER THREE: SHOE CREW

  CHAPTER FOUR: BOOT CAMP

  CHAPTER FIVE: SPRING THING

  CHAPTER SIX: CLUE-SEUM!

  CHAPTER SEVEN: CREATURE FEATURE

  CHAPTER EIGHT: CATTY CATWALK

  CHAPTER NINE: SHOE-IN SUSPECT

  Clue Crew-and YOU!

  CHAPTER TEN: LUCKY STARS

  ABOUT CAROLYN KEENE AND PETER FRANCIS

  PICTURE PERFECT

  “How lucky are we to be living in Hollywood, you guys?” eight-year-old Bess Marvin asked excitedly.

  Nancy Drew and George Fayne stopped walking to stare at Bess. Did she just say . . . Hollywood?

  “Bess, we don’t live in Hollywood,” Nancy insisted. “We live in River Heights.”

  “Huge difference!” George pointed out.

  “I know!” Bess agreed with a toss of her long blond hair. “But a movie is about to be filmed right here. That makes River Heights practically Hollywood, right?”

  “I guess!” Nancy said with a smile.

  All three best friends had reason to smile: Summer vacation had just begun. Even better, a scene in the next Glam Girl action-adventure movie would be filmed right in their own neighborhood at Turtle Shell Playground!

  “I still can’t believe they’re using kids from the neighborhood as movie extras!” Nancy said as they headed for the playground.

  “Being in a movie will be cool,” George admitted. “I just don’t get why Glam Girl is so special.”

  “Are you serious, George?” Bess gasped. “Glam Girl is the only fashion-forward superhero who gets her powers from clothes!”

  “A pair of sunglasses gives Glam Girl X-ray vision!” Nancy explained. “A hat lets her read minds, and gloves give her power to point and freeze any villain in his or her tracks!”

  “Don’t forget Glam Girl’s electric-blue hair!” Bess said excitedly. “How awesome is that?”

  “Sure, if you’re a Smurf!” George snorted.

  “Here’s something awesome,” Nancy added. “Shasta Sienna, the actress who plays Glam Girl, says she does all her own stunts—like jumping out of planes and off of speeding trains!”

  “Stunts are cool,” Bess said, “but I’m more interested in the clothes Glam Girl will wear in this movie.”

  George twisted one of her dark curls happily. “I’m interested in the special effects. Practically all movie special effects are computerized!”

  “Computers, clothes—are you sure you’re cousins?” Nancy asked Bess and George. “You’re as different as—”

  “River Heights and Hollywood!” George finished.

  Bess was a serious fashionista with a room full of clothes and accessories. The only fashion accessory George dreamed of was a smartwatch!

  “Speaking of movies,” George said. “Look at who’s up the block.”

  Nancy glanced ahead to see their classmate Sidney Schacter standing on his toes and taping a flier to a tree. Sidney was a major movie fanboy. He had even started his own movie-loving club called “Popcorn Peeps.”

  “Hi, Sidney,” Nancy said as they walked over. “Are you going to be an extra in the Glam Girl movie today?”

  “Nope,” Sidney said. “I’d rather work on this!”

  Sidney pointed proudly to the flier and said, “The Popcorn Peeps’ first awesome movie museum in the basement of my house!”

  “A real-live museum?” Bess asked.

  “What’s in it so far?” Nancy wanted to know.

  “Only the most excellent movie memorabilia,” Sidney said. “We’ve got a wad of gum that was chewed and spit out by a top-secret superstar celeb, an autographed pizza-parlor napkin with another star’s lipstick stain—”

  “And gross grease stains, too, I’m sure,” Bess cut in.

  “Gross to some . . . awesome to others,” Sidney said. “Come to our museum on opening day and see for yourselves.”

  Bess shook her head. “If you want kids to visit your museum, Sidney, you need better stuff than a wad of gum and a greasy napkin.”

  “Maybe you can get something from Shasta Sienna on the Glam Girl set today,” Nancy suggested.

  “Maybe she’ll spit out her gum!” George joked.

  “Har-har,” Sidney said, pretending to laugh. “What do you know about movies, anyway? Aren’t you detectives?”

  “The best!” Bess declared. “We have our own detective club called the Clue Crew.”

  “I know that,” Sidney said.

  “Nancy even has a Clue Book where she writes down all our clues and suspects,” George went on. “Right, Nancy?”

  “Right, but today these detectives are going to be movie stars,” Nancy said. “So we’d better get going.”

  “Good luck with your museum, Sidney,” Bess said with a little wave good-bye.

  Sidney nodded thanks, but as the girls walked away, he seemed deep in thought.

  “Maybe he’ll take your advice about getting something from Shasta, Nancy,” George said.

  “Something less gross!” Bess added with a frown.

  When the girls reached Turtle Shell Playground, they couldn’t believe their eyes. Their favorite swings, slides, and monkey bars were surrounded by movie cameras and trailers. Microphones called “boom mikes” were attached to long poles that were carried by staff wearing headsets. Other crew members also wearing headsets and Glam Girl T-shirts scurried about busily.

  “Are you sure this is our playground?” Nancy gasped with surprise.

  A woman with a smile walked over. The name on her ID tag read KEISHA ELLIOT.

  “If you girls are here to be extras,” Keisha explained, “you can hand in your permission slips at that table over there.”

  Nancy turned to see more kids lined up at the table. They looked just as excited as she was!

  “Excuse me,” Bess asked politely, “but what clothes will give Glam Girl her special powers in this movie?”

  “Boots!” Keisha replied. “They will give Glam Girl the power to run superfast and jump superhigh.”

  “My sneakers do that.” George sighed.

  “George, be nice!” Bess hissed.

  The girls hurried to the table. They stood behind a girl with long curly hair. Nancy recognized the girl as Paloma Garva from the fourth grade at school.

  Paloma’s hair was perfectly brushed and styled. Her yellow sandals perfectly matched her sundress, and her toenails were perfectly polished. That’s because Paloma was the school perfectionist—and proud of it!

  “The way they’re doing this is all wrong!” Paloma said with a groan when she saw the girls. “If they had us line up in alphabetical order, it would be so much more perfect!”

  “I guess you want to be a movie extra too, huh, Paloma?” George asked.

  “Only if I’m offered the perfect part,” Paloma remarked, “like Glam Girl’s little sister or something.”

  “If you’re Glam Girl’s sister, you might have to dye your hair blue!” Bess pointed out.

  Paloma’s eyes widened. “No way! I’m in a huge fashion show tomorrow. It’s at a new store at the mall called Girly Gear.”

  “I heard about that store,” Nancy said.

  “Not me,” George insisted. “I don’t do girly.”

  “We know,” Bess said with a sigh as she frowned at her cousin’s sweatpants and T-shirt.

  “What will you be modeling, Paloma?” Nancy asked.

  “They gave me the perfect outfit,” Paloma boasted. “All I need is the perfect pair of blue shoes to match—”

  “OMG!” Bess cut in with a gasp. “Look!”

  “Is it Glam Girl?” Nancy asked as she turned to see where Bess was
pointing.

  “Better!” Bess exclaimed. “Her boots!”

  Nancy, Bess, and Paloma raced toward a young man carrying a pair of boots on a silver tray. George groaned as she lagged behind.

  “Are those Glam Girl’s boots?” Bess asked the man. “The ones she’ll wear in the movie?”

  The man, whose ID tag read MATT MCCABE, gripped the tray tightly as he replied, “Yes, they are.”

  Nancy brushed aside her reddish-blond bangs to see the boots. They were blue boots with a strip of shiny yellow fabric at the tops.

  “So pretty!” Nancy swooned. But just as she pointed to the boots, Matt pulled the tray back.

  “No touching, please,” Matt insisted. “They’re custom-made for Shasta Sienna’s feet.”

  “Wrong!” Paloma said as she stepped closer to the tray. “These boots were made for me!”

  Nancy gasped as Paloma grabbed Glam Girl’s boots off the tray. What was Paloma doing?

  SHOCK-BUSTER MOVIE

  “Thank you!” Paloma said as she held one boot in each hand. “These boots are the perfect blue for my Girly Gear fashion-show outfit!”

  “You won’t fit into them, Paloma,” Nancy said. “They’re grown-up boots!”

  “Ladies size six, which is Shasta’s shoe size,” Matt told Paloma. “Now put them back, or you’ll never work in this town again!”

  “I’m too young to work,” Paloma scoffed. She then smiled lovingly at the boots. “But I am totally going to work these perfect boots!”

  “You guys!” George exclaimed. “Here comes Shasta!”

  “Shasta? Omigosh, where?” Paloma cried.

  As Paloma turned her head, George snatched the boots from Paloma’s hands.

  “Score!” George said, holding up the boots high.

  “Sneaky trick, Georgia Fayne!” Paloma snapped.

  Nancy could see George cringe as she plunked the boots back on the tray. George hated her real name, Georgia, more than broccoli-flavored jelly beans!

  “Who wants to be in this dumb movie, anyway?” Paloma grumbled as she huffed away. “I am so outta here!”

  “Buh-bye,” Matt called as he carried the blue boots in another direction. “Thanks for your help, Georgia!”

  “It’s George,” she muttered through gritted teeth. “And you’re welcome.” They were about to head back to the table when George pointed and said, “Look! There’s Glam Girl!”

  Bess rolled her eyes. “You don’t have to pull that trick on us, George. We didn’t take any boots.”

  But then Nancy saw a flash of bright blue in the distance. It was Glam Girl’s famous blue hair! And that meant . . .

  “It’s Glam Girl!” Nancy exclaimed.

  Nancy, Bess, and George raced after the superhero. She turned sharply behind a big silver trailer. On the door of the trailer were a star and the name, SHASTA SIENNA.

  George was the first to reach the trailer and peek behind it.

  “Do you see Glam Girl, George?” Bess whispered.

  “No,” George whispered back. “I see two Glam Girls!”

  “Two Glam Girls?” Nancy cried.

  She and Bess peeked too. Just as George had said, two Glam Girls stood face-to-face behind the trailer.

  One shook her head in disbelief while saying, “I’m your stunt double, Shasta. Why do I have to hide?”

  “Because everyone thinks I do my own stunts, Rosie,” Shasta replied. “You have to hide before the kids see you.”

  Nancy couldn’t believe her ears. Shasta had claimed to do all her own stunts!

  Suddenly—

  “Ouch!” Bess cried as a mosquito bit her wrist.

  Both Glam Girls’ heads turned to see Nancy, Bess, and George peeking from the front of the trailer.

  “Oops,” Rosie said with a smile. “Looks like your secret is out, Shasta.”

  Shasta stared at the girls and then forced a grin.

  “Oh, hi! I’m Shasta Sienna!” Shasta greeted them. She nodded at Rosie and added, “And this is Rosie—”

  “Your stunt double,” George finished. “Yeah, we heard.”

  “We thought you did your own stunts, Shasta,” Nancy said.

  Shasta gulped. She tossed her blue hair and laughed. “Rosie isn’t my stunt double!” Shasta declared. “She’s just a Glam Girl wannabe!”

  “Wannabe?” Rosie cried.

  Nancy watched as Rosie stormed away around the trailer. Shasta then flashed another superstar smile. . . .

  “As if Rosie could ever be Glam Girl, right?” Shasta laughed. “See you girls later . . . when it will be lights, cameras . . . me!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George watched wide-eyed as Shasta disappeared into her trailer.

  “You mean lights, cameras—diva!” George said, rolling her eyes. “Now can we please go to the sign-up table once and for all?”

  Nancy, Bess, and George headed back to the table to hand in their permission slips. When all the slips were in, a woman named Melanie Chang introduced herself as the movie director.

  “Please place your bags or backpacks on the side of the playground,” Melanie announced with a smile. “We don’t want anything to get in Glam Girl’s way while she’s chasing villains!”

  Next, Melanie directed the kids to their places for the first scene. The girls were happy to be on the monkey bars. Also on the monkey bars was Lillian Lasko from the second grade at school. She wore a bright-red T-shirt that read RUNT RUN in white letters.

  “What’s a Runt Run?” Nancy asked.

  “It’s a race for kids tomorrow on Main Street,” Lillian explained. “I’m running with the seven-year-olds!” Lillian smiled proudly as she added, “They gave us this T-shirt and a backpack that I just put with the other backpacks. Now all I need is a new pair of running shoes—”

  “Shh!” George cut in. “Melanie is going to speak!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George listened to Melanie as she pointed out the movie equipment. Nancy’s favorite was a camera set atop a crane for getting sky-high shots.

  “Where are the lights?” a boy called out.

  “Up in the sky!” Melanie said, pointing to the sun. “We’re using natural daylight for this scene, so we’re glad it’s sunny today!”

  After introducing the producer, makeup artist, and sound engineer, Melanie shouted, “Now for our star, Shasta Sienna—best known as Glam Girl!”

  Nancy, Bess, and George cheered with the others as Shasta ran onto the playground. This time the blue boots shimmered on her feet.

  “Hey, kids!” Shasta shouted. “Are you all ready to be stars just like me?”

  “Give me a break,” George muttered.

  But Nancy and Bess shrieked, “Yesssss!!!”

  Melanie gave Shasta her directions. She then turned to the kids for theirs. “When I say ‘action,’ everybody play and have fun,” Melanie directed. “You can swing, slide, climb, talk softly to one another—just don’t look at Glam Girl!”

  “Don’t look at Glam Girl?” Nancy whispered. “That’s going to be hard!”

  “Especially with cool boots like that,” Lillian agreed. “Do you think they’re really superboots?”

  “They are for Glam Girl!” Bess remarked.

  A hush fell over the playground until Melanie called, “Places . . . and action!”

  Nancy and Bess scurried up the monkey bars. George flipped over one bar, swinging by her knees.

  From the corner of her eye, Nancy could see Glam Girl walking across the playground.

  “What do you mean Dick Dowdy has taken over Chic City?” Glam Girl said into a phone. “Don’t worry—I’m on my way!”

  Glam Girl dropped the phone into her pocket. She then clenched her fists and froze in a running pose.

  “And cut!” Melanie shouted.

  Glam Girl turned back into Shasta as she whined, “It’s about time. These boots are killing my feet!”

  Shasta pulled off the blue boots and groaned, “I need a tootsie-break!”

  Shasta walked
barefoot away from the boots. Suddenly, Nancy saw someone peek out from behind a tree. It was Paloma—and she was holding a phone.

  “What’s Paloma doing here?” Nancy asked Bess and George. “She said she was leaving.”

  Before Bess and George could answer, Melanie announced, “Shasta is taking a short break so she can rest her feet!”

  “You mean so we can meet her!” a boy called out.

  “Let’s get her autograph!” another girl squealed.

  In a flash, Shasta was surrounded by a mob of kids shouting her name.

  “Let’s meet Shasta too!” Nancy told Bess and George.

  “We already met Shasta, Nancy,” George complained as she and Bess followed. “And we didn’t really like her.”

  “We like Glam Girl!” Bess told her cousin. “And that’s what counts!”

  The girls stood in line with the others, inching slowly toward Shasta. Just when they were only two kids away, Melanie ordered the extras back to their places. Nancy, Bess, and George were disappointed not to get Shasta’s autograph, but they were excited to start filming again.

  As Nancy, Bess, and George headed back to the monkey bars, they could hear Melanie talking to Shasta. . . .

  “Shasta, put the boots back on,” Melanie told the star. “It’s eleven thirty, and I’d like to film this scene before our noon break.”

  “No can do, Melanie,” Shasta said. She pointed to the spot where she left her boots. “My boots are gone.”

  Melanie blinked as she stared at the empty spot. “What do you mean gone?”

  Melanie asked the crew if they knew what had happened to the boots, but they were clueless. Then Melanie turned to the kids.

  “Did any of you see or take Glam Girl’s boots?” Melanie asked. “This is very, very important.”

  Nancy, Bess, and George shook their heads. The other kids did too.

  “Matt, don’t we have another pair?” Melanie asked. “The exact same kind as the missing ones?”

  “No,” Matt said. “Those boots were custom made for Shasta’s feet. There’s just one pair in the whole world!”

  “Without Glam Girl’s superboots,” Melanie cried, “there is no movie!”

  Nancy frowned. She had a feeling the blue boots weren’t just gone—they were stolen. And to detectives like Nancy, Bess, and George that meant a mystery!