Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5 At exactly four o'clock that afternoon, we met in the basement of our apartment building. Our clubhouse is really a storeroom next to the laundry room. People keep furniture and boxes there that they don't want in their apartments. There's also a comfortable old flowered couch we love to sit on. The only thing is, if you flop down on it too hard, you could disappear in all the dust that flies out of its cushions. I put a tin of chocolate-chip cookies and a jar of pickles down on the cardboard box we use for a table. "No one eats cookies and pickles together," Frankie said, making a face.

"You don't eat them together," I explained. "First, you take a mouthful of cookie. You swallow it, then go in for the pickle. Sweet, sour, sweet, sour. Trust me, your tongue is going to stand up and dance." Frankie and Ashley tried my cookie-pickle combo, but it wasn't a big hit. "Ewww," they both said at once. "Okay then, let's get down to business," I said. "Mr. Rock said that for the tryouts, we have to say what we liked about Journey to Jupiter. I actually have a couple of things I did like." "That's a good start," Frankie said. "Like what?"

"Yes, tell us, Mr. Zipzer," Ashley said, imitating a teacher's voice. I stood up and held the book in my hands like I was giving an oral report. "First of all, I like the color of the cover," I began. "I think books with purple covers have the best stories. And I like the smell of the paper. I also like that there are illustrations. Most of all, I like that when you put this book down on top of a bunch of papers, it stops them from blowing away in the wind." "But, Hank," Ashley said in a supportive voice. "You have to tell what the story is about."

"That's a problem, because I haven't read the book," I said, flopping down onto the couch. That created a dust storm right there in the storage room. We all sneezed at once. "We can help you with that, Zip," Frankie said. "Just start reading it aloud, and we'll help you with the words you don't know." "Good idea," I said. "We'll be done with the book about two years from next Christmas." "That's a good point," Ashley said. "We are up against a time crunch here. So maybe we should just tell you all about the book." "Yeah," Frankie said. "Knowing the story will make it much easier for you to read it on your own." Ashley began.

"The book starts when Sarah and James arrive at the first space colony on Jupiter," she said. "Before they can settle in, they come faceto- face with a horrible creature they've never seen before." "It's huge and angry," Frankie went on, "and chases them into the center of a superstorm. All of a sudden, it grabs them and holds them close to its sticky chest." "Wow, that sounds so scary," I said. "Yeah," Ashley agreed. "But the funny part is that the creature is sucking on a baby bottle filled with purple slime. And when the creature burps, it splatters the slime all over Sarah's helmet." "Which means that she can't see the glowing space pirate riding toward her on a giant spoon," Frankie added. The story was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. I nearly jumped out of my skin. "There's a space pirate at the door," I said, with a shiver.

It wasn't a space pirate. It was Ashley's grandma, and by the way, she wasn't riding a spoon. "Ashley, I've been looking all over for you," she said. "The dumplings are ready to be stuffed." Then she turned to Frankie. "And your mother said for me to tell you your brother is waiting to play ball." "Looks like we have to go," Ashley said. "But what about the rest of the story?" I asked. "Zip, we're so sorry," Frankie said. "Ask someone in your family to help you read the rest of the book. Ask your dad."