Fractions = Trouble! by Claudia Mills Page A

answer to his own stupid question.
    â€œThat’s enough, Kipster,” their father said.
    Wilson was grateful to him for trying, but it was already too late.
    â€œMay I be excused?” Wilson asked.
    â€œYou haven’t finished your grilled-cheese sandwich,” his mother said.
    â€œI’m not hungry.” Anymore, Wilson added to himself.

    Before Peck-Peck or Snappy could make any further brilliant remarks, Wilson pushed his chair back from the table and fled to his room to have an intelligent conversation with Pip.
    Â 
    Wilson’s best friend, Josh Hernandez, came over at two. As if Wilson’s mother was sorry for not standing up for him at lunch, she took Kipper for a long bike ride so that the two older boys could play undisturbed.
    Wilson didn’t have a video game system, and he wasn’t allowed to watch TV on playdates, so he and Josh tried to build the world’s fastest race car with some junk in the garage. His dad made microwave popcorn, and Wilson and Josh had a contest for throwing popcorn up into the air and catching it in their mouths. Wilson won,
with seven straight mouth catches to Josh’s four. He began to feel more hopeful about his life.
    â€œDo you have an idea for your science fair project yet?” Josh asked, after missing another popcorn catch. April was science fair month at Hill Elementary.
    â€œNope.” Wilson had been too busy trying to talk his parents out of making him have a math tutor. “Do you?”
    â€œUh-huh.”
    Wilson could tell Josh was waiting for him to ask what it was. “What is it?”
    â€œI have to warn you,” Josh said. “It’s not just a good idea, it’s a great idea. Are you ready?”
    Wilson nodded. He couldn’t believe Josh thought his idea was so wonderful. Usually Josh thought everything was terrible.

    â€œAll right. Here it is. At what temperature does a pickle explode?”
    Okay, Wilson had to admit, Josh’s idea was wonderful.
    â€œYou could do something about popcorn,” Josh offered. “Who is better at catching popcorn in their mouths, boys or girls? Or kids or grownups? Or dogs or cats? Or kids or dogs? Or—”
    Wilson shoved him good-naturedly. “I get the idea.”
    â€œYou could even thrill Mrs. Porter and use fractions,” Josh suggested. “Like: cats catch half as much popcorn as dogs. Or grownups catch half as much popcorn as kids. Or—”
    This time Wilson shoved Josh harder. It was fine for Josh to joke about fractions. Josh was pretty good at math.
    Of course, to be fair to Josh, Josh didn’t
know that Wilson was about to become the only kid in the history of Hill Elementary to have a math tutor.
    Wilson was going to make sure that Josh never found out.

2
    At school on Monday, Wilson hung his jacket and backpack on the coatrack and then went to say hi to Squiggles. Squiggles went home with a different student every weekend. Last weekend Squiggles had visited Laura Vicks, the smartest kid in the class. Laura could be a math tutor.
    â€œI hope you’ve all been thinking of ideas for your science fair projects!” Mrs. Porter said to the class.

    Wilson had noticed how often teachers’ sentences ended with exclamation marks. He wondered if Mrs. Porter really felt constantly enthusiastic about Colorado history, science fair projects, and fractions, or if she was pretending, the way his parents had pretended that having a math tutor was wonderful! Not embarrassing at all!
    â€œIs anyone ready to share his or her science fair question with the class? Remember, a science fair project begins with a question that you want to answer.”
    Josh’s hand was the first in the air, even before Laura’s. Mrs. Porter looked surprised. “Josh?”
    Josh waited for a long moment, and then cleared his throat to speak. “My question is: at what temperature does a pickle explode?”
    Wilson could tell