Blabber Mouth by Morris Gleitzman

The characters and events in this book are ficticious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.
    First Piper edition published 1992 by Pan Macmillan Publishers Australia
This Pan edition published 2000 by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Limited
1 Market Street, Sydney
    Reprinted 2000 (twice), 2001 (twice), 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009
    Copyright © Gleitzman McCaul Pty Ltd 1992
    The moral right of the author has been asserted.
    All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
    National Library of Australia
cataloguing-in-publication data:
Gleitzman, Morris, 1953–. Blabber mouth.
    ISBN 978 0 330 27353 4.
    I. Title
    A823.3
    Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group
    Papers used by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

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    These electronic editions published in 2010 by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd
1 Market Street, Sydney 2000
    The moral right of the author has been asserted.
    All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.
    Â 
    Blabber Mouth
    Morris Gleitzman
    Â 
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978-1-74262-020-6
EPub format  
978-1-74262-021-3
Mobipocket format  
978-1-74262-022-0
Online format  
978-1-74262-023-7
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For Chris, Sophie and Ben

I’m so dumb.
    I never thought I’d say that about myself, but after what I’ve just done I deserve it.
    How could I have messed up my first day here so totally and completely?
    Two hours ago, when I walked into this school for the first time, the sun was shining, the birds were singing and, apart from a knot in my guts the size of Tasmania, life was great.
    Now here I am, locked in the stationery cupboard.
    Just me, a pile of exam papers and what smells like one of last year’s cheese and devon sandwiches.
    Cheer up exam papers, cheer up ancient sanger, if you think you’re unpopular, take a look at me.
    I wish those teachers would stop shouting at me to unlock the door and come out. I don’t want to come out. I want to sit here in the dark with my friend the sandwich.
    Oh no, now Ms Dunning’s trying to pick the lock with the staff-room knife. One of the other teachers is telling her not to cut herself. The principal’s telling her not to damage the staff-room knife.
    I hope she doesn’t cut herself because she was really good to me this morning.
    I was an Orange-to-Dubbo-phone-line-in-a-heap-sized bundle of nerves when I walked into that classroom this morning with everyone staring. Even though we’ve been in the district over a week, and I’ve seen several of the kids in the main street, they still stared.
    I didn’t blame them. In small country towns you don’t get much to stare at. Just newcomers and old men who dribble, mostly.
    Ms Dunning was great. She told everyone to remember their manners or she’d kick them in the bum, and everyone laughed. Then when she saw the letters me and Dad had