1. Art Attack

Eerie Elementary The Art Show ATTACKS! by Jack Chabert Illustrated by Matt Loveridge, based on the art of Sam Ricks

ART ATTACK 1 "Hey! Quit it!" Sam Graves said. His friend Antonio was poking at a clay blob on Sam's desk. Sam was trying, and failing, to mold the clay into a dinosaur. Ms. Winter, the art teacher, looked up. "Class, please take this project seriously," she said. "Your art will be sold at Friday's Eerie Elementary Art Show to raise money for new art supplies."

Everyone was working on their projects for the show. Ms. Winter's room was set up differently from other classrooms. The students' desks formed a giant circle around Ms. Winter's desk. Her favorite student artwork hung on the wall.

"Lucy," Sam whispered. "What's that gunk you're working with?" Lucy grinned. "This is called papier-måché. I dip pieces of newspaper into a wet mix of water and flour. The paper turns goopy, and then it hardens as it dries. I'm making a bowl!" "And I'm painting a picture of my dog, Rover," Antonio said.

Ms. Winter was checking on the students' work. She looked over at Sam's art project. "Remember, Sam," she said. "Clay stays soft at room temperature. It only hardens when heated. Lucy's project works the same way. You can dry it later this week." Suddenly, there was a loud— Sam jumped at the sound. But Lucy was just using a hair dryer to dry her papier-måché bowl. An instant later, Sam was startled for a different reason. He heard a bubbling sound, like a pot of boiling water.

Sam reached into his backpack to make sure his hall monitor sash was there. He wore it whenever he was on hall monitor duty. At Eerie Elementary, the hall monitors were different. That's because Eerie Elementary was different. It was alive! It was a living, breathing thing that fed on students. And Sam, the hall monitor, was the school's protector. Sam clutched the sash. He had a twisted feeling in his gut. Sam could sense things that other students couldn't. He could feel when something was wrong.