Read an Excerpt
After the Morning Scribble, everyone got to share One Interesting Thing about themselves.
Fia had just moved to Peppermint Falls from Trinidad.
Steven helped his grandmother care for injured animals.
Mars wanted to be a makeup artist for scary movies when he grew up, and Ruthie wanted to be a Broadway star.
Emma didn’t know what she wanted to be. Was she supposed to know that?
Poppy spoke Cantonese.
Adam spoke Urdu and Arabic.
Carlota volunteered at a center to help new immigrants.
Emma stared down at her skirt. Was cheerleading interesting? Maybe not.
She had twin sisters. That was kind of interesting.
She had a pet bulldog so old he had to go for walks in a baby stroller. That was interesting, but Emma couldn’t share it. Not without reminding Lucy of the nickname.
“I…uh…like cheerleading,” Emma said when it was her turn.
Mrs. Z. nodded and smiled. Then she moved on to Thunder, who told the class that she knew how to speak hamster and was teaching her dog English using buttons with words on them.
There was no doubt about it. Emma was the Least Interesting Person in Mrs. Z’s class. No one would want to be friends with her. Third grade was doomed.
“Doomed” was a good word. When you used it, grownups always said you were exaggerating, but Emma wasn’t. She knew doom when she saw it coming.
