we were healthy enough to ride on the zip line we were going to buy.
âWho knows?â Ms. Sue continued. âMaybe we can raise fifty thousand dollars! With that much money, we could get a SMART Board for every classroom in the school.â
âI could really use a SMART Board,â said Mr. Granite.
âThe skyâs the limit!â said Ms. Sue. âIf we put our minds to it and work really hard, we could raise a hundred thousand dollars. Or even a million!â
Ms. Sue was waving her arms around excitedly. She had a glassy look in her eyes.
âThink of it!â she said. âWe could buy an iPad for every student in the school. We could get a climbing wall and a swimming pool for the gym! We could put an ice cream machine in the lunchroom! We could buy a hot tub for the teachersâ lounge!â
Alexia was still hiding under her desk. I leaned over and whispered to her. âYou said your mom used to be a professional fund-raiser. How come she stopped doing that?â
âShe got fired,â Alexia told me. âMy mom tends to go overboard.â
âShe falls out of boats a lot?â I asked.
âNo, I mean she gets carried away,â Alexia told me.
âDoes she get carried away after she falls out of boats?â
âShe doesnât fall out of boats!â said Alexia.
âHey, youâre the one who said she fell out of a boat,â I said. Why is everybody always talking about boats?
Anyway, Ms. Sue told us more of the great stuff we could buy with the money we were going to raise.
âWe could get personal robots that carry your backpacks to school for you! We could blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah . . .â
I wanted her to keep talking, because as long as she was talking she wouldnât be able to take our temperature with that giant thermometer. I bet the only reason why she gave us cupcakes was to distract us so we wouldnât think about the thermometer. Well, it didnât work with me .
Finally, Ms. Sue stopped talking. She went to the corner of the room.
It was thermometer time.
I was sweating. I thought I was gonna die.
Ms. Sue smiled as she picked up the giant thermometer.
I wanted to run away to Antarctica and go live with the penguins. This was the worst thing to happen to me since TV Turnoff Week!
âAnd what are you planning to do with that giant thermometer, Ms. Sue?â asked Mr. Klutz.
âThis will let everybody know how much money we raise,â she replied. âEvery time we get a hundred dollars, weâll record it on the thermometer.â
âYou mean youâre not going to take our temperature with that thing?â I asked.
Everybody laughed even though I didnât say anything funny.
âOf course not!â said Ms. Sue. âThat would be ridiculous.â
Oh. Never mind.
3
Welcome to the Carnival
Over the next month, everybody got ready for the school carnival. The parents and teachers built lots of booths and games. In art class with Ms. Hannah, we made posters. After school, we went to all the stores in town and asked if they would display our artwork in their windows. The town put up a big banner across Main Street . . .
Finally, it was the day of the carnival. When I got to school with my parents and my sister, Amy, it looked like the whole town was waiting to get into the playground. I saw Ryan, Michael, Neil, Andrea, Emily, and their parents. There were lots of balloons, and music was blasting. Booths were being set up.
One table was filled with cupcakes, cookies, and brownies that people had baked. There was a little area for pony rides. The street next to the playground had been turned into a car wash.
Ms. Sue was running around with a bullhorn, making sure everybody was ready. The giant thermometer was mounted on a stage.
Finally, the gate to the playground opened, and we all rushed in. I could smell popcorn
Gary Hastings
Wendy Meadows
Jennifer Simms
Jean Plaidy
Adam Lashinsky
Theresa Oliver
Jayanti Tamm
Allyson Lindt
Melinda Leigh
Rex Stout