5 And the Winner Is

5 And the Winner Is... We spent the next few weeks reading poems and learning about all famous poets like Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Edgar Allan Poe, William Wordsworth, William Blake, and Maya Angelou. What a snoozefest.

Meanwhile, I spent every recess practicing my rapping skills on my friends. I wanted to get really good, so I could beat Andrea and win the lifetime supply of Zip-Zaps. We were listening to a poem by that Blake guy when an announcement came over the loudspeaker. "Andrea Young, please report to the allporpoise room."* "Oooooh!" everybody ooooohed. "Andrea is in trouble!" said Ryan. I knew that Andrea wasn't in trouble. Andrea is never in trouble. She never does anything wrong because she's afraid that if she ever did anything wrong, she wouldn't get into Harvard someday. What is her problem? Andrea skipped out of the room, and Miss Banks continued reading the dumb poem by that Blake guy. A few minutes later, another announcement came over the loudspeaker. "All classes please report to the all-porpoise room for a surprise assembly." Uh-oh. Surprise assemblies are scary. You never know if they're going to be a good surprise (school is canceled forever) or a bad surprise (the

aliens are attacking). We pringled up and walked a million hundred miles to the all-porpoise room. "Single file!" shouted Miss Banks, which made no sense because none of us was carrying even one file. When we got to the all-porpoise room, Andrea was sitting up on the stage on a chair all by herself. She had her poetry book on her lap. She was smiling the smile she smiles to let everybody know she knows something nobody else knows. "This is it," Ryan whispered to me. "Ms. Coco must have told Andrea that she won the poetry

contest. That's why she got sent here before we did. They're going to make the announcement." So Andrea had to be the winner. She was going to recite a poem at Mayor Hubble's mansion. She was going to get another trophy to add to her trophy room. She was going to win a lifetime supply of Zip-Zaps. Not fair! "Are you gonna take this, A.J.?" Ryan whispered to me. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. Everybody took a seat. Well, we didn't take the seats. That would have been weird to take a bunch of seats from the all-porpoise room. But we sat in our seats. I sat between Ryan and Michael. Mrs. Stoker and Ms. Coco climbed up on the stage and stood at the podium next to Andrea. "Welcome, everyone!" Mrs. Stoker said into the microphone. "Are you kids enjoying National Poetry Month?" "YES!" shouted all the girls. "NO!" shouted all the boys. "In the last few weeks, the students at Ella Mentry School have written so many poems," said Mrs. Stoker. "They're really great and we're so

proud of you blah blah blah joy and beauty of poetry blah blah blah..." She went on and on like that. "A.J.," Michael whispered to me. "Your raps are as good as Andrea's poems. Are you just gonna sit there? They're gonna announce that Andrea won the contest." "Well," continued Mrs. Stoker, "Ms. Coco and I read all of your wonderful poems, and we are proud to announce..." "Do something, A.J.!" Ryan whispered urgently. "It's now or never!"

Ryan and Michael were right. My raps were just as good as Andrea's dumb poems. I should be up on that stage. I should be the one getting the Zip-Zaps. I had to think fast. "WAIT!!!!!" I got out of my seat and jumped up on the stage. "Gasp!" everybody gasped. "A.J., what are you doing?" asked Mrs. Stoker. I grabbed the mic out of her hand. "GIMME A BEAT!" I shouted. Ryan and Michael jumped up onto the stage. They started beatboxing, and I started rapping.... My name is A.J., and I'm at your service. The A is for Arlo. The J is for Jervis, And I don't care if it makes you nervous... I could see some of the kids were nodding their heads to the beat. "Ryan and Michael!" shouted Mrs. Stoker. "Go back to your seats this very minute!" But there was no turning back now. Once I start rapping, I just can't stop.