own inventions, too. I have so many ideas rumbling around in my head!â
âDoesnât that sound like fun?â asked Mr. Klutz.
âYeah!â said all the girls.
âNo!â said all the boys.
Actually it did sound like fun. I just like saying no when grown-ups try to get me to say yes.
âToo bad there isnât a computer program that makes up jokes,â Mr. Klutz said. âI could use one of them.â
âIâll work on that,â said Mrs. Yonkers. âThis afternoon Iâll be seeing you kids in the new computer lab. But does anybodyhave any questions before I leave?â
âWhy are you wearing a fake piece of cheese on your head?â asked my friend Ryan, who will eat anything, even stuff that isnât food.
âIsnât it funky?â asked Mrs. Yonkers. âI bought it on eBay for twelve cents. Plus ten dollars for shipping. Any other questions?â
âAre you a nerd?â asked my friend Michael, who never ties his shoes.
âThatâs not very nice, Michael,â said Miss Daisy.
But Mrs. Yonkers didnât mind. She pulled up her sweater and showed us a T-shirt she had on underneath. It said NERDS R COOL .
âSay it loud!â she shouted. âIâm a nerd and Iâm proud!â
Mrs. Yonkers is weird.
A few minutes later, Mr. Klutz and Mrs. Yonkers left. Guess who walked in the door next? Nobody, because if you walked in a door it would hurt. But guesswho walked in the door way ?
It was Mrs. Cooney, our school nurse! She has eyes that look like cotton candy, and she is beautiful. She wanted to marry me a while back, but I told her I wouldnât because sheâs already married to some guy named Mr. Cooney.
âTo what do we owe the pleasure of your visit, Mrs. Cooney?â asked Miss Daisy.
âMr. Klutz asked me to help bring our school into the 21st century,â Mrs. Cooney said.
âHow are you going to do that?â asked Miss Daisy.
âWell, a big problem these days is thattoo many kids are obese,â said Mrs. Cooney.
âToo many kids are beasts?â I asked. I was thinking about beasts because I just saw this cool movie called King Kong .
ââObeseâ is âfat,â Arlo,â said Andrea.
âSo is your face,â I told her.
Andrea probably looked up âobeseâ in her dictionary. She keeps one on her desk so she can look up words and show everybody how smart she is. I hate her.
Mrs. Cooney told us that kids need to eat more vegetables and other stuff that doesnât taste good.
âCandy and sweets rot your teeth and dull your mind,â said Mrs. Cooney. âDidyou know that a can of soda pop contains about nine teaspoons of sugar? They call it junk food for a reason.â
âWhatâs the reason?â I asked.
âBecause itâs junk!â she said.
Oh. I thought it was a trick question.
âHow are we going to get our students to drink less soda pop and eat less junk food?â asked Miss Daisy.
âIâm glad you asked,â said Mrs. Cooney. She held up a poster that said SAY GOOD-BYE TO SUGAR on it. âStarting tomorrow, soda pop and junk food will no longer be allowed inside Ella Mentry School.â
WHAT??????????????????????????????
Did I hear that right? No more sodapop? No more candy?
Suddenly everybody was talking and whispering to one another.
âTheyâve gotta be kidding!â said Michael. âIâll die without junk food.â
âLife will be horrible,â said Neil, who we call Neil the nude kid even though hewears clothes.
âThis is gonna be worse than National Poetry Month!â said Ryan.
âThis is gonna be worse than TV Turnoff Week!â I said.
âYou boys are silly,â said Andrea. âI think âSay Good-bye to Sugarâ is a great idea. I like healthy food. My favorite foods are herb-roasted chicken, fresh fruit, and baked soy chips.â
Elliot Paul
Whisper His Name
Norah-Jean Perkin
Paddy Ashdown
Gina Azzi
Jim Laughter
Heidi Rice
Melody Grace
Freya Barker
Helen Harper