Don't Swap Your Sweater for a Dog by Katherine Applegate Page A

noticed him before.
    â€œNO!” Max cried. He covered his eyes. “Not the sweater of doom!”
    Hazel wrinkled up her nose. “Why is there a monkey on the elbow?”
    â€œThat’s a puppy,” Mom said. She frowned. “At least, I think it is.”
    â€œGoofy and I are going to wait for Gus and Emma on the front porch,” I said. “Cross your fingers nobody sees me.”
    â€œIt was knit with love,” Mom said. “It has sentimental value.”
    â€œWhat’s mentisental value?” I asked.
    â€œ Sentimental value means you have to pretend to love your sweater when Grandma’s here,” Max said.
    â€œ Sentimental value ,” said Mom, “means that a gift is special to you because it came from someone you love.”
    I went outside. Goofy came with me.
    He is a big, whitish guy dog with floppy ears.
    His tail is usually in high gear.
    And he almost always has somethingin his mouth.
    Right now he had Mom’s cell phone.
    â€œNot a good idea, Goofy,” I said.
    I went back inside and gave Mom the wet cell phone.
    When I returned to the porch, Emma’s dad dropped off Gus and Emma.
    Gus and Emma live on the same street. It’s a few blocks away from my house.
    I wish I lived near them. Then we could be neighbors and best friends. Which isvery nice for hang-outs.

    They ran over to the porch. Goofy licked their hands and wagged his tail extra speedy.
    Then he licked one of Gus’s sneakers for a while.
    â€œYou look kind of down in the dumps, Roscoe,” Emma said.
    â€œMy sweater’s ugly,” I said. “And also I don’t have any trophies and stuff like you guys.”
    Emma thought. “I would call your sweater interesting.”
    â€œI would call it very interesting,” Gus said. “Why is there an armadillo on your shoulder?”
    â€œThat’s a cow,” I said.
    â€œNo,” said Emma. “I’m pretty sure that’s a kangaroo.”
    â€œCOULD WE STOP TALKING ABOUT MY SWEATER?” I demanded.
    Gus grinned. “Maybe you could get a blue ribbon for World’s Weirdest Sweater.”
    I gave him my extra scary look.
    â€œOkay, okay. No more sweater talk,” he said.
    â€œYou know,” said Emma, “it’s never too late to get a trophy or a medal for something. You could learn to be a rodeo rider. Or an Olympic high diver.”
    Goofy started chasing his tail. He spun in crazy circles. He looked like a big white doughnut.
    â€œMaybe Goofy could win a trophy for Best Tail Chaser,” Gus said.
    Goofy slammed into a bush.
    â€œOr not,” Emma added.

6
Jump, Frog, Jump!
    We decided to play fetch with Goofy in the front yard.
    We threw lots of tennis balls. Sometimes Goofy brought them back.
    But mostly he just chewed them.
    He even got three balls in his mouth at once.
    He had a big, hairy clown smile.
    When a boy walked by with his dog, Goofy ran over to say hello.
    The dog was a little white poodle. He was wearing a silly doggie sweater with kitties on it.
    â€œSit, Edward,” the boy said to the poodle.
    Edward sat down. He did not move. He looked like a puffy statue.

    Goofy raced around Edward in crazy circles. He barked. And sniffed.
    And barked some more.
    He looked goofy.
    â€œI’m Martin,” the boy said. “I just moved here a couple weeks ago. We used to live in Alaska.”
    â€œDid you live in one of those ice cube houses?” I asked.
    â€œHe means an igloo,” Emma said.
    Martin laughed. “Nope. Just a regular old house.”
    â€œYeah,” Gus said. “We live in regular old houses, too.”
    Martin pointed to my sweater. “Is that a poodle on your shoulder?”
    â€œWe’re still trying to figure that out,” I said.
    â€œI really like animals,” Martin said. “It’sa cool sweater.”
    I waited for him to laugh. But he didn’t.
    â€œI’m Roscoe,” I said at last.