Bunk-Bed Blues

Levi tried to pose his dinosaurs on his half of the dresser, but he had to squeeze them together to make them fit. He frowned at Kurt’s model airplanes on the other half. In Levi’s old bedroom, there had been plenty of room for his dinosaur collection. But his parents were getting his old room ready for a new baby. Now Levi would have to share his brother’s room.

Dad heaved mattresses onto the new bunk beds. Levi’s frown curved into a smile. Sleeping on the top bunk was the only thing that could make up for losing his room.

But Kurt scrambled up the ladder. “I get the top bunk!”

“No!” Levi wailed. “The top is mine!”

Kurt turned to Dad. “If I have to give him half my room, I should get to pick the bunk I want!”

“I have to give up my whole room, so I should get to pick!”

The Mystery of the Magic Lunch Bag

Sheila saved her allowance and bought a new lunch bag for school.

It was blue with purple trim and had a shiny gold star on the front.

On the way to her classroom she peeked inside. She hoped that a new lunch bag meant something new for lunch, but she found the same lunch as always--a tuna-fish sandwich.

Sheila tucked her bag carefully in the lunch bin in the hallway. Soon her stomach growled. She wished she had a different sandwich waiting for her.

When the lunch bell rang, Sheila found her bag and proudly carried it to the cafeteria. She unzipped it. Instead of a tuna-fish sandwich, she discovered two pieces of fried chicken, a handful of blueberries, and a hard-boiled egg.

"Wow!" Sheila said. "That's what I call lunch!"

Snow Day in Space

The clock must be frozen. Or maybe the space station fell into a time warp and I’m trapped in my math lesson forever. The truth is that time doesn’t fly when you’re waiting for something, and I’ve waited for a friend for a long time.

Crackle. “The radius...”

Crackle. Static swirls across the holo-video screen, burying my teacher’s image in a blizzard of white noise that my dad and I nicknamed snow.

A voice comes over the loudspeakers. “Magnetic storm.

Communications down. Remain in shielded areas. Technicians report to...”

The announcement drones on, but I don’t listen. A snow day. Hurray for space weather!

Eleven years ago, my birth on Space Station Alpha made history. I was the first human born off-planet. My parents knew just what to name me—Jemison Mae, after Mom’s hero, Mae Jemison, the first black female astronaut. Except I feel more like a science experiment than a hero.

The Great Animal Trainer

This was all Mom’s fault. In just eight months, Toby had grown too big for our tiny apartment. Mom said, “I had no idea that cute little puppy from the pound would grow so big.”

So Toby got shipped off to Grandma’s farm, where he seemed to like it better anyway. To make up for it, Mom got me a cat. That’s when my troubles began. Mom said, “You two will become great pals in no time.” Pals? What was I supposed to do with a cat?

I had trained Toby. I housebroke him. I taught him tricks like sit and stay.

Toby seemed to like it, too. So I decided to train this cat.

First, he needed a name. You can’t train an animal without one. I tried a million different names, but that clueless cat wouldn’t listen to any of them. He perked up once, but only because a sunbeam flitted across the wall.

After a while, I settled on the name Wilbur—the same name I’d given my sister’s pet hamster. That goofy hamster never listened to me either.

The Save

The moment she raised her hand, Casey feared she had made a terrible mistake.

“OK,” Coach said. “Casey will be our goalie in the fourth quarter.”

Casey just nodded. It was the first game of her first season. She had joined the Eagles only because her friends had encouraged her to. Now she had volunteered to be goalie, a position that required a lot of confidence, which she lacked.

“Why did you do that?” Lindsay asked as she brushed past. “We want to win this game.”

Casey wondered the same thing as she took her turn in front of the goal for pregame warm-ups. The goal suddenly looked as big as a movie screen. “How am I supposed to protect that?” she wondered.

The rest of the team lined up about fifteen yards away, and, one by one, they charged toward the goal, booting line drives past her. Swish! To the right, to the left, over her head, between her legs.

Emma's Picture

Emma walked down the stairs with a big piece of clean, white paper.

“I’m going to draw an eagle,” she said to herself. “I’ll draw an eagle with wide brown wings and great big claws. I’ll draw a tree beside him.”

Carefully she laid her paper on the table. She took her box of crayons from the drawer. She picked out a long brown crayon with a pointed tip. She drew a small brown spot.

“Emma, I’m going to the store,” said her mother. “I need to write my shopping list, and I can’t find a piece of paper. Have you seen any?”

Emma thought for a moment. “I can give you half of my piece,” she said.

She folded the paper and carefully tore it down the middle. She handed half to her mother.

“Thank you very much, dear,” said her mother. “I can write my list now.”

The Word Is...

Tasi watched Martin’s gym shoes fly through the cold city air, tied together like dancers holding hands.

Martin was going to throw them again, up toward the telephone lines along the street, Tasi just knew it. He wished they would just walk home to their apartment building.

“You could lose ’em,” Tasi said.

Malo.”

“You be quiet, boy,” Martin said as he swung his shoes again.

Back home on the island, on Samoa, things were different. Nobody cared here—not even your best friend. City people acted as if they didn’t even need each other.

Martin’s shoes made black and white patterns, spinning in a big hoop. Tasi knew Martin’s mama didn’t have extra money for new gym shoes.

The shoes sailed into the air, up by the palm tree in front of the Palm Apartments, dancing away. Then they wrapped perfectly around the top of a streetlight.

A Home for Hoppy

Bryan raced into the kitchen. “Dad! Look!” he called. The screen door bounced closed behind him. “I found the best pet at the creek!”
He held up a goggle-eyed bullfrog for his dad to see. “I named him Hoppy.” Dad bent down for a closer look. “Hello there, handsome,” he said. Bryan giggled. “Do you think Hoppy will like it here?” he asked.
Dad tousled Bryan’s hair. “Why don’t you keep him for a while, and then we’ll see how he’s doing.”
“OK,” said Bryan. “Come on, Hoppy. I’ll show you my room.”
Bryan searched his closet for a shoebox. Using a pen, he poked air holes in the top. On the sides of the box he wrote H-O-P-P-Y.
“Welcome to your new home,” he said. “In you go, Hoppy.”
“Lunch is ready!” Dad called from the kitchen.
Bryan ate his peanut butter sandwich, saving little pieces for Hoppy.

Who Stole Gorgonzola?

Grandma called the garden gnome Gorgonzola because it was a wacky name. And because she loved cheese.
Now Grandma stared at the space where Gorgonzola usually stood in the front yard. There was an imprint of gnome feet in the dirt, but no gnome. “Who took Gorgonzola?” Grandma asked, sounding exasperated. Her hands reached out toward the empty space.
“Are there footprints?” I asked. “Maybe we should match them up to the robber’s.”
Grandma looked at me. “Eliza Ann, Miss Junior Sleuth, why do you sound so happy that Gorgonzola has been taken?”
I love a good mystery. She knows that. “I’m not happy...”
“Well, put your finding skills to use, because I won’t be able to sleep until Gorgonzola is back.”
Gorgonzola was Grandma’s guardian gnome. She bought him after Grandpa died. She said she needed a protector in front of the house, but I think maybe the gnome reminded her of Grandpa.

A Tooth Tale

The Tooth Fairy tiptoed into the bedroom. “How nice,” she whispered. “David cleaned his room. Now I won’t trip on anything while I look for his first lost tooth.”
She reached under his pillow and touched paper. “Ah, an envelope user,” the Tooth Fairy said. She pulled out a drawing of a tooth.
“Oh, dear. David doesn’t know that I need a real tooth! I’ll leave him a note.” The Tooth Fairy pulled her glitter pen out of her pixie-dust purse and wrote:
Dear David,
You draw very well, but I need something more than a picture of your tooth.
The Tooth Fairy

Julia Under the Stairs

When Julia’s little sister, Ellie, was born, her mother said to Julia, “Now you will have to share.”
As Ellie got older, Julia had to share her dolls and her toys. She had to share the conversation at the dinner table. She even had to share her room.
When Grandma came to visit, she noticed that Julia was becoming cranky and bossy and that her usual smile was missing.
When Ellie tried on Julia’s hat, Julia tore it off Ellie’s head and pulled her hair.
That evening, Grandma sat with Julia on the couch. “Sharing is not always fun, is it?” Grandma said.
Julia frowned. “No,” she said.
“Especially your clothes, your playthings, and your room,” said Grandma.
Julia made a sour face. “I wish I had a place in this house that was all mine, where nobody else could go,” she said.