Your Backyard Is Wild by Jeff Corwin Page B

mom and Gabe’s mom were sisters, but they lived very different lives. Benjamin worried that he and Gabe might be really different, too. What if they didn’t have a good time together?
    Impossible, he thought as he remembered the extra stuff he’d packed in his suitcase. First there was his rock collection—or the best rocks from his collection, really, since bringing all of them would have been too heavy. He had pieces of quartz and crystal from family exploring trips, plus smooth rocks and sharp rocks he’d found around their neighborhood. A city kid should like rocks, Benjamin thought, since you can find rocks anywhere. His collection would give him and Gabe something to talk about.
    And if Gabe wasn’t into rocks, Benjamin was sure he’d want to see his alligator skull! It was cast from the skull of a real alligator that his mom had in her lab. It had two rows of razor-sharp teeth and a jaw that was hinged so it could open and close. People said that alligators lived in New York’s sewers, but Benjamin was pretty sure his cousin had never seen one up close, like Benjamin had in the Everglades. It was a surefire conversation starter.

    Benjamin felt better knowing that some of his treasures were coming along for the trip. Maybe, while he was learning about New York, Benjamin could also teach Gabe a thing or two about where he comes from.

Chapter Two

    A few hours later, as the Baxters’ plane circled above New York City preparing to land, Benjamin caught a glimpse of the famous skyline shining in the afternoon sun. It was just as he’d imagined it, only better, and he couldn’t wait to see it up close! In the airport, it felt like his family waited forever for the suitcases to appear on the carousel and their turn in the taxi line to come up.
    Finally, they were on their way to Gabe’s house. Their cab sped along the edge of the city, and Benjamin craned his neck so he could see the tops of the buildings as they zipped by.
    Suddenly Lucy was practically in his lap, trying to see for herself. “Hey, that’s my arm!” Benjamin complained. “You’re crushing me!”
    He could see why she didn’t want to miss anything, though. The sky-scrapers were tall—he’d expected that. But there were so many of them! And where there weren’t buildings, there were cars in traffic. Or crowds of people waiting to cross the street. The city reminded Benjamin of an ant colony. It was busy and social, like that. But much bigger, of course.
    He leaned down for his backpack again, this time to take out his notebook. “Field notes,” he explained to Lucy when he saw her looking over. Their family always took notes when they were seeing something new. Real scientists tried to describe a thing carefully so they’d remember what it looked like even when they left it behind. Benjamin was sure he would never forget seeing New York for the first time, but he took the notes out of habit.
    The taxi turned, then inched down an off-ramp. Suddenly they were on the Brooklyn Bridge! Gabe and his parents lived in Brooklyn, one of the city’s five boroughs, so the Baxters had to be getting closer.
    Benjamin rolled down his window and stuck his head out to see the bridge’s famous archways. There were ferryboats and sailboats way down below, on the East River. Benjamin glanced at a map posted in the cab. It showed that this river fed into New York Harbor at the tip of Manhattan, just a short distance from where the bridge stood. From there, it wasn’t very far to the open ocean.
    The cab came off the bridge and turned onto a side street. It was quieter here, with trees lining the sidewalks. And soon they pulled in front of a building with wide steps leading up to the front door.
    Benjamin saw a blur shoot out the doorway, down the stairs, and onto the sidewalk. It was Gabe! He looked a lot older but otherwise just the same as Benjamin remembered him.
    Soon Gabe’s parents, Aunt Lily and Uncle Peter, were out on the sidewalk, too.