Excerpt from APPLEVILLE ELEMENTARY #1: FIRST DAY
by Nancy Krulik
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“What’s sushi?” Carlos asked.
“Raw fish,” Marika said. She opened her ballerina lunchbox.
Carlos looked inside. “Yuck!” he said. “I don’t want to eat near anyone who has raw fish for lunch. Eww!”
“You have to eat near me,” Marika said. We’re in first grade together.”
“No way! Carlos shouted. “I am not going to first grade. Not ever!”
“I think you’re afraid of first grade,” Marika told Carlos. “You’re a scaredy-cat!”
“I am not!” Carlos shouted. “I just don’t want to go to first grade.”
“Miss Popper will make you,” Albert told him.
Carlos shook his head hard. “She can’t,” he said.
“Why not?” Marika asked him.
“Because I’m a new kind of superhero,” Carlos explained. “A superhero no one has ever seen before. A superhero that isn’t on Justine’s lunch box.”
“What kind of superhero are you?” Justine asked.
Carlos crossed his arms. He stood very tall. “I’m the Popper Stopper!” he said.
Just then, Miss Popper walked over. She smiled at the first graders. The first graders smiled back. All except Carlos.
“Hi, kids!” Miss Popper said. “Are you ready to start first grade?”
“Yes!” Justine, Marika, J.B., and Albert shouted. Carlos didn’t say anything.
Ring! Ring! The school bell rang.
“Okay, first graders,” Miss Popper said. “Let’s go inside.”
“Yay!” Justine, Marika, J.B., and Albert cheered. They ran into Appleville Elementary as fast as they could. Carlos didn’t cheer. He didn’t run. He just stood there. Soon all the teachers and students were inside the school.
Carlos’s mom was still in the yard. She had been talking to some other parents. But she stopped when she saw Carlos. “Why are you still here?” she asked him. Carlos shrugged.
“You should go inside,” his mom said. “Your friends are starting first grade without you.”
Carlos gulped. First grade could not start. It had to be stopped.
Only one person could do that. Carlos, the Popper Stopper!
Quickly, Carlos ran into the school.
“I’ll go today,” Carlos told himself. “But after that, no more first grade!”
From Appleville Elementary #1: First Day. Copyright © 2009 by Nancy Krulik. All rights reserved.
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