Freckle Juice

Andrew “[makes] up his mind not to read [the recipe] until he [gets] home” (19). He runs to his neighbor’s house to get the key from his mother. She tells him that she will be home in one hour, and Andrew immediately rushes home to get to work. He reads the secret recipe and is surprised that it calls for “grape juice, vinegar, mustard, mayonnaise, juice from one lemon, pepper and salt, ketchup, olive oil, and a speck of onion” (22). Andrew is doubtful because these ingredients seem too ordinary to create a special recipe. Still, he decides that he already paid for the recipe, so he might as well find out. Sharon’s instructions tell him to “drink two glasses” if he wants to look like Nicky, but he decides to “start with just one glassful and then drink another if he want[s] more freckles” (23). Andrew mixes the ingredients together in a big glass, but when he smells the concoction, “IT SMELL[S] AWFUL! JUST PLAIN AWFUL!” (25). Andrew tastes it, and it’s terrible. Sharon’s instructions tell him to drink it fast, and Andrew wonders if Sharon didn’t think he would actually drink it. Stubbornly, he “[holds] his nose, tilt[s] his head back and gulp[s] down Sharon’s secret recipe for freckle juice” (26).