anyway? Why canât we have a professional skateboarder instead? That would be cool.
Childrenâs books are dumb, if you ask me. So anybody who writes childrenâsbooks must be dumb, too. Except for Dr. Seuss, of course. The only books I read are by Dr. Seuss. He was cool, even if he wasnât a real doctor.
âWhy canât we invite Dr. Seuss to our school?â I asked.
âBecause heâs dead, dumbhead,â said Andrea.
âSo is your face,â I replied.
3
I Hate Andrea and She Hates Me
âMiss Daisy, please come to the office,â Mr. Klutz said over the loudspeaker a few days later. âOh, by the way, Picture Day and Author Day are both going to be two weeks from Friday. So we will be killing two birds with one stone, you might say. Thank you for your attention.â
âKilling birds is mean!â said Emily.
âItâs just an expression, dumbhead,â I told her. âKilling two birds with one stone means doing two things at once.â
âI knew that,â Emily lied. She looked like she was going to cry, as usual.
Miss Daisy was still in the office. Andrea and Emily pulled those fake makeup kits out of their desks again. They were looking in these little round mirrors and fussing with their hair.
âYou look fabulous, Emily,â said Andrea.
âNo, you look fabulous, Andrea,â said Emily.
âWhat do you think I should wear for Picture Day?â asked Andrea. âMy blueskirt or the red one with the boat on it?â
âOh, definitely the blue one,â Emily said. âIt brings out your eyes.â
âI think I need more lipstick,â said Andrea.
âI need to moisturize,â said Emily.
âUgh,â I said. âWhat is your problem?â I thought I was gonna throw up.
âWeâre making ourselves pretty,â Andrea told me.
âThatâs good,â I replied, âbecause you couldnât make yourselves any uglier.â
âYouâre mean!â said Emily.
âWhy donât you just put paper bags over your heads so we donât have to look at you?â I suggested.
âVery funny, Arlo,â said Andrea. âWhenIâm a teenager, Iâm going to put on real makeup, and Iâll be even more beautiful. Then youâll ask me out on a date, and Iâll say Iâm busy because I donât want to hurt your feelings by telling you that I donât like you.â
Why canât a truck full of makeup fall on Andreaâs head? I hate her.
âOooooh!â said Ryan. âA.J. is going to ask Andrea out on a date when theyâre teenagers. That means theyâre in love !â
âWhen are you gonna get married?â asked Michael.
Just then, Miss Daisyrushed back from the office.
âGuess what?â she said.
I was going to answer by shouting âYour butt!â Any time somebody says âGuess what,â you have to say âYour butt.â Thatâs the first rule of being a kid. But Miss Daisy is a grown-up, and grown-ups get angry when you say âbutt.â Nobody knows why.
âWhat?â we all shouted.
âWe got a letter from Miss Suki!â
4
Here Comes the Big-Shot Author
Miss Daisy read the letter we got from Miss Suki:
To my dear friends at
Ella Mentry School,
I canât wait to meet you!
I love children and look forward
to visiting your school. I will
have a big surprise to show
you. See you soon!
Sayonara,
Miss Suki Kabuki
Miss Daisy tacked the letter up on the bulletin board. She was so excited that a real live, famous author actually took the time to write to us. She made us write letters back to Miss Suki, draw pictures for her, and think of questions to ask her when she arrived.
For the next two weeks, pretty much all we did at school was get ready for Miss Sukiâs visit. Mrs. Patty, the secretary, putup a big chart in the office that said COUNTDOWN TO PICTURE DAY AND AUTHOR DAY
Katie Ashley
Sherri Browning Erwin
Kenneth Harding
Karen Jones
Jon Sharpe
Diane Greenwood Muir
Erin McCarthy
C.L. Scholey
Tim O’Brien
Janet Ruth Young