Chapter 1

THE DEAD SEA SQUIRRELS Boy Meets Squirrels From the co-creator of VeggieTales Mike Nawrocki Illustrated by Luke Seguin-Magee

CHAPTER 1 The bell sounded, and so ended the first day of fifth grade. "One down, 179 to go!" Michael Gomez said as he closed his history textbook and packed it into his homeroom desk. "Don't rush it!" Michael's best friend, Justin, said, standing up from his desk and slinging on his backpack. "We're fifth graders for a whole year. Elementary school royalty! Enjoy it!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Michael replied as they headed into the hallway. "Next year, we'll be back down at the bottom of the pile again in middle school." Justin stopped an unsuspecting second grader in the hall. "You there, young one. Would you like some wise advice from an older and much, much wiser fifth grader?" "Um... I gotta go." The kid hurried away. "He's obviously intimidated by our greatness," Michael said. "Have you seen Sadie today? I want to tell her about the squirrels." "Nope. Haven't seen her." "You gotta come check them out. I set them up in cool poses on my dresser. They look like crusty action figures."

"Gross," Justin replied. He was not a fan of the two petrified squirrels Michael had brought home from their summer trip. The friends had spent the whole summer in a tent near the Dead Sea in the Middle East with Michael's dad, who was a professor of ancient civilizations. On the last day of their trip, Michael nearly got lost forever when he disappeared into a cave, all by himself, to retrieve the disgusting little creatures. "Gross is just the word that came to mind when I saw you coming!" a voice called out as Michael and Justin exited the school to cut through the playground on their walk home. Edgar, by far the biggest kid at school, leaned against the jungle gym with two smaller fourth-grade friends who seemed to think Edgar's comment was hilarious. "Hey, Edgar," Justin answered nervously. One of the reasons Edgar was the biggest kid in school was that he was most likely the oldest. No one had ever dared to ask him how old he was, but Michael and Justin were pretty sure he had to be at least 12. Even though he was only in fourth grade, everyone knew rule number one at Walnut Creek Elementary School was Don't Mess with Edgar.

But now Michael was elementary school royalty. He stuck out his chest. "Don't mess with us, Edgar. We're fifth graders!" Terrified, Justin whispered to Michael, "What did you say?" Not terrified in the least, Edgar stepped forward and yelled, "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

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