1 Carpool

Stella Batts Pardon Me

斯特拉·巴茨：不好意思啦

CHAPTER 1 Carpool Remember me? I'm Stella Batts. This is my third book. Maybe you've read my first two books. If you haven't, you can start right here. My mom says if you write at least three books that are all connected then you have a series. So when this book is finished I'll be the author of a series! Hooray! But so far I'm only on Chapter 1. Here's a list of things that happened since the end of my last book:

第一章 拼车 还记得我吗？ 我是斯特拉·巴茨。 这是我的第三本书啦。 说不定你已经读过我的前两本了。 要是没读过也没关系，从这本开始看就行。 我妈妈说，要是你至少写了三本互相关联的书，那你就有自己的系列作品了。 所以等这本书写完，我就是一个系列的作者啦！ 太好啦！ 不过现在我才刚写到第一章哦。 我列了个清单，讲的是上一本书结束之后发生的事：

1. My best friend, Willa, moved away to Pennsylvania. 2. I changed my favorite color from yellow to blue. 3. My hair grew an eensy weensy bit so it isn't as short as a pixie cut anymore, but it's still not long enough for a ponytail. Sometimes I clip the sides up with barrettes. Friday afternoons, it's Mom's turn to drive us home from school. "Us" means me, my little sister, Penny, and her best friend, Zoey. It used to mean Willa too, before she moved. Today Dad's car pulled up in the school parking lot. Mom is pregnant, and her

1. 我最好的朋友薇拉搬到宾夕法尼亚州去了。 2. 我最喜欢的颜色从黄色变成了蓝色。 3. 我的头发长了一丢丢，现在不像精灵短发那么短了，不过还是不够扎马尾。 有时候我会用发夹把侧边的头发夹起来。 周五下午本来轮我妈妈开车接我们放学回家。 “我们”指的是我、我妹妹彭妮，还有她最好的朋友佐伊。 以前薇拉还没搬走的时候，也会跟我们一起坐车。 今天爸爸的车停到了学校停车场里。 妈妈怀孕了，她的

stomach has gotten super big. It's hard for her to squeeze into the driver's seat behind the steering wheel. So Dad has been doing carpool instead. That's another thing that changed since my last book. After we were all buckled in, Dad started to drive away. "Okay, what game are we playing?" he asked. When Dad carpools, we play car games. "Geography," I said. This is how you play Geography. You think of the name of a place, like Arkansas. And then the next person has to use the last letter of your place, which would be an "s." So they could say something like Salt Lake City. The person after that would have to use the "y." It goes on and on until you can't think of any more places. "I hate that game," Penny said. "Stella

肚子变得特别大。 她挤到方向盘后面的驾驶座上都很费劲。 所以现在换成爸爸来拼车接送我们了。 这是上本书结束之后另一个变化。 等我们都系好安全带，爸爸就开车出发了。 “好呀，我们今天玩什么游戏？” 他问。 爸爸接送我们的时候，我们都会玩车上的小游戏。 “玩地理游戏吧。”我说。 地理游戏的玩法是这样的： 你先想一个地名，比如阿肯色州。 然后下一个人得用你说的地名的最后一个字开头，这里最后一个字是“州”。 那他就可以说类似“州立公园”这样的地名。 再下一个人就得用“园”字开头接。 就这么一直接下去，直到有人想不出新地名为止。 “我讨厌这个游戏。”彭妮说。 “斯特拉

knows more places because she's eight, so it's not fair. How about I Spy?" You probably already know the game I Spy, but just in case, it's when you say, "I spy with my little eye," and then you describe something you see out the window. Like, "something green," or "something metal." The other players try to guess before we drive by and can't see it anymore. "We ALWAYS play that game," I said. "Zoey will be our deciding vote," Dad said. Penny clasped her hands together and leaned toward Zoey. "Please, pretty please, pick I Spy," she said. "I'll be your best friend." Zoey giggled. "You already are my best friend," she said. "Okay, it's I Spy." If Willa were the deciding vote, it would have been Geography, but of course Zoey

知道的地名更多，因为她都八岁了，这不公平。 玩“我 spy”好不好？” 你可能已经知道“我spy”怎么玩了，不过以防万一我还是说一下：就是你先说“我用小眼睛瞄到了一样东西”，然后描述你在窗外看到的某样东西。 比如“绿色的东西”，或者“金属做的东西”。 其他玩家要赶在我们开车经过、看不到那样东西之前把它猜出来。 “我们每次都玩这个游戏。”我说。 “让佐伊来当裁判，选玩哪个。”爸爸说。 彭妮双手合十，凑到佐伊跟前。 “拜托拜托，选“我spy”好不好？”她说。 “我会当你最好的朋友的。” 佐伊咯咯笑了起来。 “我本来就是你最好的朋友呀。”她说。 “好呀，那就玩“我spy”。” 要是薇拉来选的话，肯定会选地理游戏，不过佐伊当然

picked I Spy. "Yay!" Penny said. "I'll go first. I spy with my little eye." "What?" Zoey asked. "Hold on, I'm still spying." We drove past Lee Avenue, which is the street Willa used to live on. I knew she wouldn't be there, but I turned my head to look anyway. "Dad, what time is it?" I asked. "It's two-fifty," he said.

选了“我spy”。 “耶！” 彭妮喊了起来。 “我先来。 我用小眼睛瞄到了一样东西。” “什么东西呀？” 佐伊问。 “等一下，我还在找呢。” 我们开车经过了李大道，以前薇拉就住在这条街上。 我知道她已经不在那儿了，但还是转头往那边看了看。 “爸爸，现在几点啦？” 我问。 “两点五十。”他说。