Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8 It felt like I stood there for at least two weeks, with a big spotlight shining right on me. In the background, I could hear Ms. Adolf saying, "Henry, we're waiting, and we don't have all day. Answer the question." I looked over at Frankie and Ashley in the front row, hoping they could send me brain waves filled with details of Chapter Six. But there was nothing they could do. My whole body had turned ice cold, which is what happens to me when I'm really scared. Think, Hank. Think of something. Anything.

I figured I had several choices. I could bolt out of the room and run all the way to Peru and ride llamas for the rest of my life. I could admit in front of everyone that I hadn't even finished the first chapter of Journey to Jupiter. Ouch. Or I could go for it. And since I'm a go-for-it kind of guy, I went for it. I knew nothing about Chapter Six, or Seven, or Eight for that matter, but I wasn't going to let that stop me. "What I love about Chapter Six," I began, "is that it is in between Chapter Five and Chapter Seven." Everyone in the audience laughed, especially Paula Hart. "Oh, Hank," she said. "Everything you say is so original." That gave me the confidence to go on. I could feel my body warming up and my tongue starting to move. "I thought the most exciting part was when James and Sarah entered the Cave of Doom

and saw that the ground looked alive," I began. "And it was because thousands of space insects covered every inch of the cave floor. They had poisonous stingers, and if one of them bit you, you would grow hair out of your eyes." I looked over at Paula, and she didn't say a word, so I went on. "When a whole colony of the space insects crawled up James's leg, Sarah went into battle, swatting them off with her thick glove. They tried to eat their way into her space suit until she attacked them with the laser beam that shot out of the top of her helmet." Paula got a big smile on her face, and I thought I was home free. My imagination had personality, and it had saved me again. Then I heard McKelty's voice. "What book did you read?" he hollered. "There aren't any space insects in Journey to Jupiter." "No, there aren't," answered Paula, "but there sure should have been. What Hank just

described was much more exciting than my Chapter Six." "It was?" I said. My ears couldn't believe what they were hearing. "Should I go on?" Before I knew it, Ms. Adolf was standing next to me, wedged in between Paula and me. She was so close, I could smell her grayness. "On behalf of PS 87," she said, "I would like to apologize for Mr. Zipzer's disrespectful behavior. Clearly, he made up this silly story.

He has no business filling the room with such nonsense." "With all respect, Ms. Adolf, I have to disagree with you," Paula said. "True, Hank didn't tell the story I wrote, but he told his own story. I admire his creativity. Creativity is a gift, don't you think, Mr. Rock?" "It certainly is," Mr. Rock answered. "As a music teacher, it's what I look for most in my students. You can't make any kind of art without letting your imagination loose." Ms. Adolf's gray face turned beet red, like she was a balloon about to pop. "All this talk about creativity and imagination," she grumbled. "This is school, not playtime." Then she turned and stared at me like she could see right through me. "Young man, you did not do what you were asked to do," she said. "You did not take your assignment seriously. Imagination is not always enough."

"Actually," Paula said, "imagination is everything when you are a writer. I see a future writer in Hank. That boy tells an exciting story, don't you think, kids?" Everyone nodded. "I really liked those space bugs," said Luke Whitman from the back of the room. "And I liked that Sarah saved James," Heather Payne said. "It's cool when a girl gets to save a boy." "I can't wait to hear what happens next," Ryan Shimozato said. "Yeah, Hank, tell us more," Katie Sperling shouted out. "Hank, do you know what happens next?" Paula asked me. "No, but I can make it up," I answered. "That's what writers do," she said. "The world is waiting to hear your stories, Hank Zipzer. Never forget that." All the kids in the library started to clap. Frankie and Ashley led a cheer that said, "Go, Hank Zipzer! Go, Hank Zipzer!" Mr. Rock gave