Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 If you're wondering if I finished Journey to Jupiter, you can stop wondering now. The answer is a big fat no. It's not that I didn't want to read it. I saw the letters on the page; I just couldn't sound them out. That's why when Frankie, Ashley, and I walked into the tryouts the next day, I wasn't feeling my most confident. We took our seats on the big colorful carpet in the middle of the library, the place where Mrs. King holds all our reading assemblies.We whispered to one another, making a plan that we hoped would work.

"I'll start," Ashley whispered, "because I can summarize the story really well." "I'll go next," Frankie said. "I'll tell all about the main characters. Zip, you can wrap it up." "What am I going to say?" I whispered in a panic. "You know I haven't finished the book yet." "Where are you up to?" Ashley asked. "The middle of page one," I answered. The library door opened, and the judges walked in. There was Ms. Adolf, who, as always, was dressed all in gray. Her skirt was gray, her shoes were gray, her hair was gray, even her knees were gray. Principal Love followed her, his Velcro sneakers squeaking all the way across the library floor. Last was Mr. Rock, who smiled and waved at all the kids as he bounced in.

They sat down and called up the first person. She was Grace I-don't-remember-herlast- name, a third-grader who used so many big words she sounded like a walking dictionary. Ms. Adolf was so impressed that I thought I saw a smile trying to escape from her lips. The next people to try out were two girls from the third grade. They giggled from the moment they stood up until Principal Love asked them to step into the hall to get control of themselves. They never came back. After them was Luke Whitman, who is actually a very good reader. It's one of the few things he can do with one hand while picking

his nose with the other. After Luke was Heather Payne, the tallest girl in our class, who does everything perfectly. Of course, she did a perfect job. "How are we going to follow that?" i whispered to Frankie and Ashley, sinking lower in my seat. "Do you want to get your picture on that bulletin board or not?" Frankie asked. That's all I needed to hear. I got fired up and ready to go, which was a good thing, because we were next. When we stood in front of the judges, I flashed my best smile, the one filled with my Zipzer attitude. Ms. Adolf stared at me like she had just licked a sour lemon. Ashley and Frankie each did an amazing job of describing the plot and the main characters. Then it was my turn. "You don't need to hear me discuss Journey to Jupiter i be gan because m y teammates already covered th a t instead im

going to discuss how we can show Paula Hart the best time ever, here at PS 87." Mr. Rock gave me an encouraging smile. "First of all, we could give her some pickles from my mom's deli, because everyone loves a dill pickle. We could be very polite and thank her for visiting us. We could make her laugh. For instance, I have a great joke about Jupiter. Want to hear it?" "No," said Ms. Adolf. "Yes," said Mr. Rock. I didn't wait for Principal Love to answer. "Knock, knock," I said. "Who's there?" said Mr. Rock. "Jupiter," I said with a grin. "Jupiter who?" "Ju-pi-ter hurry, or you'll miss the bus." Mr. Rock cracked up. I could tell Principal Love liked it because the mole on his cheek did the hula. The other kids in the library laughed out loud. Only Ms. Adolf didn't crack a smile.

"There is no laughing in the library," she growled. "In fact, this team is out of the running for being too silly." "Not so fast, Ms. Adolf," Mr. Rock said. "I know Paula Hart, and she's a very funny person. She puts humor in all her books. I think she'd get a big kick out of Hank and his team. They're my first choice." Wow. I couldn't believe my ears. My eyes moved to Principal Love. He was going to be the deciding vote. I wish I understood what he said next. "Humor is also known by the word 'comedy,'" he began. "It is the opposite of drama, which is serious and does not involve laughter. Yet it seems to me that the visit of Paula Hart is an appropriate occasion for laughter, which also helps with the digestion of vegetables." "Is he saying yes or no?" I whispered to Frankie and Ashley. "Whatever he's saying, he's taking a long time," Ashley whispered back.