Read Online Gooney Bird and All Her Charms by Lois Lowry - Free Book Online Page B

important meeting,” the principal told her. “And you came up with quite a complex and effective way of identifying our suspect.”
    â€œThank you.”
    â€œBut the contest you describe would be quite time-consuming. And I think I can accomplish the same thing in about two minutes.”
    â€œYou can?” Gooney Bird looked very interested. “How?”
    Mr. Leroy opened his folder, turned a couple of pages, and ran his finger down a list until he found what he was looking for. Then he reached for his telephone and dialed the number he had located.
    â€œHello?” he said pleasantly, after a moment. “Mrs. Gooch? This is John Leroy.”
    Â 
    Back in the second grade classroom, Gooney Bird removed her hat and gloves and returned them to her cubby. She smoothed her hair. Mrs. Pidgeon and the students were waiting.
    â€œShe has confessed,” Gooney Bird announced.
    The children clapped their hands.
    â€œMr. Leroy told her that if she didn’t return Napoleon immediately, he would have to notify the authorities.”
    â€œBut is he okay?” asked Barry in a worried voice.
    Gooney Bird nodded. “He’s in her car trunk. The blue car. 7508J. Mr. Leroy told her that if he was broken, she might have to pay for him. So she got all flustered and said that she had bent his legs and arms pretty carefully. So he’s not damaged.”
    â€œThank goodness,” said Mrs. Pidgeon.
    â€œShe
also
said,” Gooney Bird told the class, “that he is disgusting, and after she returns him this afternoon, she hopes never to see him again in this school. And she would like all books about the human body removed from the school library.”
    The children gasped. They began to mutter. “That’s not fair!” “He’s not disgusting!” “She can’t take books out of our library!” “What did Mr. Leroy say?”
    â€œMr. Leroy said we shouldn’t worry. He said first of all, let’s make sure we get Napoleon back and that he isn’t damaged. Then he and Mrs. Clancy will talk to Mrs. Gooch and explain about how a library works and how important it is to have books about
everything
, and how it isn’t her job to decide what other people can read.”
    Mrs. Pidgeon, who had been sitting at her desk, stood up and turned to the chalkboard. “Thank you, Gooney Bird,” she said. “And now we have to get busy on our spelling. Our detective work took a lot of time, and we don’t want to fall behind.” She wrote the letter
H
on the board.
    â€œBut, Mrs. Pidgeon!” Chelsea called out. “We hadn’t finished with all the lessons we were teaching the other kids about the human body! We still have more to do, when we get Napoleon back!”
    Mrs. Pidgeon nodded. She wrote the letter
E
beside the
H
.
    â€œWe haven’t done the liver, or the pancreas, or the spleen—” Ben said. He pointed to the poster with the outlined body and all its organs.
    Gooney Bird interrupted him. “And I have bad news,” she said. “Look at the calendar. Uncle Walter needs Napoleon back on Monday. We’re not going to have time to do every single organ.”
    Mrs. Pidgeon wrote the letter
A
. She turned to the class. “You’re right,” she said. “We only have a limited time left with Napoleon. We’ll do just one more very important exhibition with him for the school.”
    â€œLiver?” asked Ben. “Spleen?”
    â€œPancreas?” asked Beanie. “Or kidneys?”
    â€œSkin!” Tricia called out. “My mom said our skin is our biggest organ. And she should know because she’s a dermatologist! That’s a skin doctor.”
    â€œHow about appendix?” Malcolm asked. “When I had a stomachache last summer, my dad thought it might be my appendix. But it wasn’t. It was just that I sneaked a whole entire bag of cheese puffs at a picnic