This book is in honor
of the birth of
Miranda Jensen
CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
DEDICATION
COPYRIGHT
1 BACK TO SCHOOL
2 STONEYBROOK ACADEMY
3 MS. COLMAN
4 THE PEST
5 THE PETASAURUS
6 BARF AND ME
7 GERBIL, HAMSTER, RAT
8 A BIG PROBLEM
9 PET DAY
10 BEST FRIENDS
11 KAREN’S SURPRISE
12 THE PERFECT PET
13 THE SCHOOL BUS
14 THE PET STORE
15 HOOTIE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
COPYRIGHT
BACK TO SCHOOL
“Nancy! Rise and shine! Time for school!”
Nancy Dawes rolled over. She opened one eye. She glared at her father. “Do I really have to go to school?” she asked.
“Today?” said Mr. Dawes. “But it is Tuesday, the first day of school. Of course you do.” He pulled the window shade and let it snap up.
Nancy waited until her father had left her room. “School stinks,” she said. “Second grade stinks. Ms. Colman stinks.”
She thought about Martha, her former best friend. Meanie-mo Martha. Martha was supposed to have been in Ms. Colman’s class with Nancy. But her family had moved away the week before. To another state. Nancy would probably never see her again. And now she had no one special to start second grade with.
Nancy did have other friends. She even had another best friend, Karen Brewer. But Karen was only in first grade, so that was no good. Nancy would have to face second grade and Ms. Colman all by herself.
Ricky Torres crawled under his bed. Then he crawled out. “I can’t find them!” he shouted. “They are not anywhere!”
“How could you lose your sneakers, Ricky? Your brand-new shoes.” His mother sighed. “We just bought them yesterday.”
“If I cannot find my shoes, do I still have to go to school?” asked Ricky. He looked down at his bare feet.
“You certainly do,” replied Mrs. Torres. “You can wear those nice brown oxfords Grandpa sent you.”
Ricky found his sneakers in a hurry.
“I hope Ms. Colman is going to be nice,” said Sara Ford. She was sitting at the kitchen table with her mother, her father, and her big brother Marcus. “I hope Stoneybrook Academy is going to be nice.”
Sara and her family had moved to Stoneybrook, Connecticut, over the summer. Sara was still deciding whether she liked it.
“But you met Ms. Colman last week,” said Marcus. “Didn’t you?”
“Yes,” said Sara.
“And you liked her, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Well?”
“Well, Mommy and Daddy were right there with me. Ms. Colman was not going to be mean in front of parents. I will just have to wait and see.”
Natalie Springer bent over. She pulled up her socks. She hummed a tune.
“Ready for school, honey?” called her mother.
Natalie looked at herself in the mirror. Her hair was falling in her face. Her glasses were slipping down her nose. Her blouse was half untucked. One shoe was untied. And her socks were already falling down again. “Ready!” Natalie called back.
“Are you nervous?” asked Mrs. Springer.
Natalie shook her head. “Nope. I liked kindergarten. I liked first grade. I love Stoneybrook Academy. I think second grade is going to be fun. I bet Ms. Colman will be fun, too.”
“Nancy, hurry,” said Mr. Dawes. “Karen is waiting.”
“Don’t forget your sweater,” said Mrs. Dawes.
“Here is your lunch,” said Mr. Dawes.
“And your new pencil case,” said Mrs. Dawes.
“Do I really have to go to second grade?” asked Nancy.
STONEYBROOK ACADEMY
“I just love school,” said Karen Brewer. “I cannot wait for first grade. Of course, I already know how to read.”
“Yup,” said Nancy. She was not really listening to Karen. She was playing with her seatbelt, and watching the streets fly by outside the car. And she was thinking. She was thinking about second grade and Ms. Colman and friends and meanie-mo Martha. Her stomach did not feel very good.
“Mommy?” said Karen. “Could you drive faster, please? I am in a big hurry to get to first grade.”
Yick, thought Nancy.
Bobby Gianelli was sitting in the backseat of his father’s car. Next to him was his little sister Alicia. Alicia was not even four yet, so she had to sit in a carseat.
“Baby, baby, baby,” sang Bobby softly. He hoped his father could not hear him. “Little bitty baby.” He poked Alicia’s leg.
Alicia stared at Bobby. Then she poked him back.
“Daddy! Alicia touched me!” cried Bobby.
“Alicia, are you bothering your brother?” asked Mr. Gianelli.
Alicia looked at her father in the rear-view mirror. “No,” she said.
Bobby stuck his tongue out at his sister. Then he decided to have a fight with someone on the playground first thing that day. Maybe Ian Johnson. Or Chris Lamar.
Omar Harris was hopping down the sidewalk. His pack bumped against his back with every hop. Hop, hop, hop. Bump, bump, bump. Omar had a big and very important job that day. He was walking his brother Ebon to school. Ebon was going to be in first grade. And Omar was in charge of him. It was the first time Omar and Ebon had walked to Stoneybrook Academy all by themselves. With no grown-ups.
“Remember, Ebon. I will be in Ms. Colman’s room if you need anything today. Just tell your teacher to come get me,” said Omar.
Ebon nodded his head. “Okay.”
“And one more thing,” Omar went on.
“What?”
“Remember that school is fun.”
“Oh. Okay!” said Ebon.
“Nancy, you know what you need?” asked Karen Brewer.
“No,” said Nancy. The car was slowing down. Nancy could see Stoneybrook Academy now.
“You need a new second-grade best friend. Since Martha will not be in your class.”
“I guess,” replied Nancy.
“Well, I have an idea. My other best friend is Hannie Papadakis. And Hannie is going to be in Ms. Colman’s room with you. She should be your best friend, too. Then you would have a second-grade best friend again.”
“Okay,” said Nancy. “Maybe.” She paused. “Oh, no!” she cried. “Look! There is Bobby Gianelli. Bully Bobby. He is always fighting with people. He scares me.”
Karen looked at Bobby. He did seem scary. He was running after another boy and yelling at him. Karen leaned out of the car window. She shouted, “Hey, Bully Bobby! Quit picking on everyone! Go to your room where you belong!”
The bell rang then, and the kids on the playground hurried inside. Nancy and Karen hurried after them.
Second grade had begun.
MS. COLMAN
“Well, here is my classroom,” said Karen. She and Nancy were standing by the door to one of the first-grade rooms. “See you later.”
“ ’Bye, Karen,” said Nancy sadly.
Nancy looked down the hallway. She knew where her room was. She walked toward it very slowly. Natalie ran by her. Omar ran by her. Ricky ran by her.
“Hey, slowpoke!” Ricky called to Nancy.
Nancy stopped outside Ms. Colman’s room. She poked her head in the door.
“BOO!” shouted Bully Bobby.
“Aughh!” shrieked Nancy.
“Scared you, you baby,” said Bobby. He glared at Nancy.
“Leave me alone.”
“Not unless you tell your little first-grade friend to leave me alone,” replied Bobby. Then he ran after Sara. “Hey, y
ou! New kid!”
“Oh, make like a bee and buzz off,” said Sara. Then she ignored Bobby.
Nancy took another step into the room. She saw Natalie, Ricky, the Barkan twins, and some other kids she knew from kindergarten and first grade. And she saw a lot of kids she did not know.
“Good morning, boys and girls,” said a grown-up’s voice.
Standing in the doorway behind Nancy was Ms. Colman. She was smiling. She was smiling even though Ian Johnson was pretending to brush his hair with an eraser. And even though Audrey Green was giving herself a tattoo with a red Magic Marker. And even though Hank Reubens was tickling Leslie Morris and had made Leslie fall on the floor.
Ms. Colman stepped over to her desk. She set a pile of papers on it. The kids in her class ran to find desks of their own. When they were seated, all the boys were in the back and all the girls were in the front. “Hmm,” said Ms. Colman. “This will not do.”
Ms. Colman told each of her students where to sit. When they had switched places, Nancy found herself in the back row. At the end of the row was that pest Ricky Torres. Next to him was Hannie Papadakis, Karen’s friend. Nancy sat on the other side of Hannie. And next to Nancy, at the other end of the row, was … nobody.
That was probably supposed to have been Martha’s desk, thought Nancy. I would have been sitting next to my best friend.
Nancy looked at Hannie. She was about to lean over and whisper, “Psst! Hey! Hannie Papadakis!”
But Hannie was busy whispering to Sara Ford who sat in front of her. Then Terri Barkan turned around and asked Hannie if she could borrow a pencil. And then Ricky passed a note to Hannie.
Nancy sighed. She gazed around the room. Who would be her second-grade best friend?
“Girls and boys,” said Ms. Colman, “before we begin today, I would like you to put your things away in your cubbies. The cubbies are over there.” Ms. Colman pointed. “I have written your names on them. Will the students in the front row please find their cubbies?”
Row by row, the kids in Ms. Colman’s class put away their lunch boxes and bookbags and backpacks and extra sneakers. They hung up their sweaters and jackets and baseball caps. Chris Lamar put away his rubber football. Tammy Barkan put away her walking robot action figure.
When everyone was finished, Ms. Colman said, “Okay, girls and boys. Listen up.”
THE PEST
“It is time for roll,” said Ms. Colman. “I will call you in alphabetical order by your last names. A names first, B names next, and so on. When I call your name, please raise your hand and say, ‘Here.’ ” Ms. Colman’s attendance book was open. She was holding a pencil. “Tammy Barkan,” she called.
“Here!” One of the twins raised her hand.
“Terri Barkan.”
“Here!” The other twin raised her hand.
“Nancy Dawes.”
“Here,” said Nancy softly.
Ms. Colman made a check in her book each time someone said, “Here.” She had made three checks so far.
“Sara Ford, Bobby Gianelli, Jannie Gilbert.” Check, check, check. “Audrey Green, Omar Harris, Ian Johnson, Chris Lamar, Leslie Morris.” Five more checks. “Hannie Papadakis, Hank Reubens, Natalie Springer, Ricky Torres.” Check, check, check, check. Fifteen checks in all.
Ms. Colman put her book down. “Good. Everyone is here today. Now boys and girls, please raise your hand if you brought a pencil to school.” Nine kids raised their hands. “That is fine,” said Ms. Colman. She handed out fat blue pencils to the kids who had not brought any. “I keep spare pencils in my desk,” she went on. “And paper will be kept on the shelf by the pencil sharpener.”
Ms. Colman had a lot of first-day-of-school things to do. She reminded her students where the nurse’s office was. She reminded them where the bathrooms and the cafeteria were. Then she began to hand out workbooks and reading books and math books and science books.
Ricky poked Hannie with an eraser.
“Pest,” said Hannie. She edged closer to Nancy.
Nancy looked around the room. Who would be her new best friend? Maybe Leslie. No. Leslie was whispering to Jannie. They were already best friends.
“Excuse me, Ms. Colman?” said Natalie. “I lost my pencil.” Natalie pulled up her socks as she searched under her desk. Finally Ms. Colman gave her a new pencil.
Bully Bobby leaned over to Chris and whispered, “I am going to get you on the playground today.”
Hannie took the reading book Sara Ford passed back to her. Then she whispered, “Hey, I like your barrettes. I have a barrette collection. My best barrettes are shaped like a hamburger and French fries.”
Nancy decided Hannie was a chatterbox.
Ricky must have thought so, too. He poked her again.
“Quit it, pest!” Hannie whispered loudly.
“Ahem,” said Ms. Colman from the front of the room. (But she was smiling.) “May I have your attention, please? I want to tell you about our first class project this year. The project is about pets, but it is also about getting to know one another. Today, tomorrow, and Thursday we will work on three activities about pets. We will work in groups. The groups will change each day. By Friday, you will have had a chance to work with most of your classmates. And something special will happen on Friday. Friday will be Pet Day during Show and Share time. On Pet Day, you may bring a pet to school if you have one. You may show it to the class, and tell us something about it. If you do not have a live pet, you may bring in a stuffed animal.”
“Hmphh,” whispered Hannie. “A stuffed animal. What good is that? That is stupid.”
“We will end our pet unit,” Ms. Colman went on, “next week. We will end it with a field trip to the pet store. At the store, we will buy a pet for our classroom. The Parent-Teacher-Student Organization has raised enough money so that each class may get a pet.”
The kids in Ms. Colman’s class looked at each other and grinned. Even Bobby said, “Cool!”
“What kind of pet will we get?” asked Ian.
“That is what our pet activities will help us decide,” replied Ms. Colman. “We will work on our first pet activity after recess today. Right now, it is time for reading.”
THE PETASAURUS
When Ms. Colman’s kids returned to their class after recess they found a surprise. Their desks had been pushed into three groups, with five desks in each group.
“Good afternoon, girls and boys,” said Ms. Colman. “Are you ready to start thinking about pets?”
“Yes!” said her students.
“Terrific. Then I will divide you into your groups. In the first group will be Tammy Barkan, Sara Ford, Ian Johnson, Nancy Dawes, and Leslie Morris. You may sit here.” Ms. Colman pointed to the desks by the windows.
Nancy walked to the desks. She sat down at one. Her back was turned toward Ms. Colman, but she could hear her teacher calling out the names of the kids in the other two groups. She looked around at Tammy, Sara, Ian, and Leslie. Who could be her second-grade best friend? Not Ian. He was a boy. Tammy? Maybe. But Nancy thought Tammy’s best friend was probably her twin, Terri. Sara? Maybe. But she was the new girl. Nancy did not know a thing about her. That left Leslie. Leslie already had a best friend, Jannie. But at least Jannie was not her twin sister. Maybe Leslie could have two best friends like Karen Brewer did. Nancy sort of remembered Leslie from kindergarten, and she thought Leslie seemed okay. A little bossy, but okay.
“Class,” Ms. Colman said loudly.
Nancy turned around in her seat. She smiled at Leslie as she did so. But Leslie was waving across the room to Jannie.
“Today,” said Ms. Colman, “we are going to talk about what makes the ideal pet. That means the best pet or the perfect pet. I want you to make a list of those things together. I will walk around the room and help you. Then I want you to use this list to invent an imaginary perfect pet, and name it. Later, you can choose one person in your group to tell the other groups about your pet.” Ms. Colman handed each group a large piece of paper
and a red crayon. “Okay. Go to work,” she said.
Nancy looked at the crayon in front of her. “Who should do the writing?” she asked her group.
“I will,” said Leslie. “I am sure I have the best handwriting.” Leslie grabbed the crayon. “All right. What makes a good pet?”
“It is easy to take care of,” replied Ian.
“It eats neatly,” said Tammy.
“It keeps you company,” said Sara.
“How do you spell ‘company’?” asked Leslie.
“We better ask for help,” said Nancy. She turned to look for Ms. Colman. “Mommy!” she called.
“Mommy!” Leslie repeated. “Hey, you called Ms. Colman Mommy!” Leslie began to laugh. She could not stop.
Nancy’s face turned red. She hoped Ms. Colman had not heard her. She did not think she had. Ms. Colman was busy with another group.
“You called her Mommy!” Leslie said again. “Hee hee hee hee hee.”
Nancy glared at Leslie. Leslie certainly was not going to be her new best friend. She was way too mean.
After Leslie stopped laughing, Nancy tried to think about the perfect pet. With Ms. Colman’s help, her group made a long, long list. They wrote down things about how their pet should act, how it should look, and tricks it could do.
They named their perfect pet the Petasaurus.
By the end of the day, Nancy felt a little better — until she heard Leslie whisper to Jannie, “You know what Nancy Dawes did? She called Ms. Colman Mommy!”
Jannie turned to look at Nancy. She and Leslie were both laughing.
I knew second grade would be horrible, thought Nancy.
BARF AND ME
Wednesday was the second day of school. After recess, Ms. Colman said to her students, “Class, it is time for our next pet project. Today you will work in three different groups. And each group will write a story together, a story about a pet.”
Omar raised his hand. “A true story?” he asked.