Liz Learns a Lesson Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1: Hello, Summer!

  Chapter 2: Change of Plans

  Chapter 3: Liz’s Secret

  Chapter 4: Pop Quiz!

  Chapter 5: Critter Sitters

  Chapter 6: An Extra Student

  Chapter 7: Counting Digits

  Chapter 8: Day by Day

  Chapter 9: The Final Grade

  Chapter 10: The Best Day Ever

  ‘Marion Takes a Break’ Excerpt

  Hello, Summer!

  Liz sat down on the bright green grass. She closed her eyes and soaked up the late-afternoon sunshine. “Can you believe it?” she said to her friends Ellie, Amy, and Marion. “Tomorrow is the last day of school!”

  “Hel-lo, summer!” Ellie cried joyfully. “Hello, ice cream and swimming and flip-flops—”

  “And hello, lots of Critter Club!” added Amy.

  The Critter Club was an animal rescue shelter the girls helped start. Their friend Ms. Sullivan had come up with the idea after the girls found her lost puppy, Rufus. Amy’s mom, a veterinarian, was a huge help too. Together they had turned Ms. Sullivan’s big, empty barn into a cozy shelter for lost and lonely animals.

  Thanks to The Critter Club, three abandoned bunnies had new homes. Right now the club had no animal guests . . . except for Rufus, of course!

  That was about to change.

  Marion opened her notebook. “We’ve already got ten families signed up for pet sitting!” she said.

  Ellie let out a happy squeal. “Yay! Amy’s mom was right. Pet sitting was such a great idea!”

  “I think so too,” said Amy. “While families are away on summer vacation, their pets can stay here!”

  Liz flopped backward onto the soft, warm grass. She was so happy and excited. She’d get to spend lots of time with her friends, and she was done with homework until September!

  Liz didn’t mind school, but she sometimes had a hard time with schoolwork—especially math. She would definitely not miss math over vacation.

  The girls talked about their other summer plans. Marion was going to music day camp in July. She had been taking piano lessons since she was five.

  Amy was going to help out at her mom’s vet clinic. She also planned to spend a lot of weekends with her dad in Orange Blossom. “He just got a new pool in his backyard!” Amy explained.

  Ellie and her little brother, Toby, had fun plans with their grandmother, Nana Gloria. “She’s going to take us to the roller rink and the zoo and the Santa Vista pool!” Ellie said excitedly.

  Liz sat up on the grass. “Well, guess what I’m doing?” she said.

  “Art?” asked Ellie, Marion, and Amy at the same time. All four girls started laughing.

  “How did you guess?” Liz said with a grin. Of course, her friends knew she loved to paint and draw. Mrs. Cummings’s art room was Liz’s favorite place at school. There, she never felt like the one who didn’t “get it”—unlike when she was in math class.

  “Okay, you’re right!” Liz said. “Mrs. Cummings is teaching a class in June at the Santa Vista Library!” Liz glanced at Amy. “I’ll look for you there?”

  Amy giggled and nodded. “In the mystery section. I plan to read every Nancy Drew they’ve got. But first, I will see you all at school tomorrow . . . for our last day!”

  The girls hopped onto their bikes and headed to their homes for dinner.

  Liz took a deep, happy breath as she pedaled. The warm air blew through her wavy blond hair.

  Just one more day of school, she thought. Then, let the summer begin!

  Change of Plans

  The last day of school is so fun! thought Liz.

  She was on the playground, trying not to get tagged. Their teacher, Mrs. Sienna, had taken the class outside for an extra recess. Earlier, in their classroom, they had played Simon Says. Even the teachers were in the mood to have fun.

  Back inside, Mrs. Sienna found a note on her desk. “Liz Jenkins,” she said, “Mrs. Young would like to see you.” Mrs. Young was the school principal.

  “Me?” said Liz. “Oh . . . okay.” She turned and headed for the main office. She felt a nervous flutter in her stomach. Had she done something wrong? But Liz pushed the worry out of her mind. After all, what could go wrong on the last day of school?

  Minutes later she was standing in the doorway of Mrs. Young’s office.

  “Hi, Liz,” Mrs. Young said kindly.

  Someone else was there too, with her back to Liz. She turned.

  “Mom!” Liz sighed with relief. “Did I forget my lunch again?”

  Mrs. Jenkins smiled at Liz. “No, honey,” she said. “That’s not why I’m here. Come have a seat.” Her mom tapped the seat of the chair next to her. “Mrs. Young and I were just talking about math.”

  She handed Liz a yellow piece of paper.

  MATH? thought Liz. In the summer?! That sounded awful. Who would want to do that?

  “Liz,” said her mom, “we know you’ve had a hard time with math this year—even though you’ve tried your best. This class will give you a little extra help.”

  “But Mom,” said Liz, “what about my art class?” She pointed to the flyer. “Both classes meet at the same time.”

  “I’m afraid you need to take this math class,” Mrs. Young said. “You need it to keep up with the rest of the students.”

  Liz’s mom put her arm around Liz. “I’m sorry, honey, but you’re going to have to miss the art class with Mrs. Cummings.”

  Liz felt tears welling up in her eyes. Across the desk Mrs. Young suddenly looked blurry.

  “The good news is that the math teacher, Mr. Brown, is very nice and funny,” Mrs. Young said. “You’ll have a blast. How does that sound?”

  It sounded to Liz like she had no choice.

  It sounded like the start of the worst summer ever.

  Liz’s Secret

  Liz tried to enjoy the rest of the day. It was hard. She couldn’t stop thinking about summer school.

  After school Ellie invited Liz, Amy, and Marion over to her house, but Liz just felt like going home. She wasn’t ready to share her bad news. She felt so embarrassed.

  I must just be the worst math student in the whole grade, Liz thought to herself.

  Liz told Ellie she wasn’t feeling very well. “Oh, you poor thing,” Ellie said. “You have to get better soon! After all it’s the summer! There are so many things to do! And we have lots of plans!”

  At home Liz’s mom was waiting for her. She had made a batch of Liz’s favorite organic cookies.

  They sat down together at the kitchen table, and Liz took a cookie. They talked more about summer school. “It probably won’t help.” Liz moped. “I just don’t get math.”

  Her mom smiled. “When I was in college, there was this beautiful oak tree in the town park. After a storm it lost some big branches. The town was going to cut it down. They said it was old and sick and too dangerous to have in the park.”

  Liz nodded and reached for another cookie. “So what happened?”

  “Well, some friends and I called a tree specialist. We found out the tree could be healthy again with some special care. So we started a petition, and we got thousands of people to sign it,” her mom said. “And guess what?”

  “You saved the tree?” Liz guessed.

  “We saved the tree!” her mom exclaimed, jumping out of her seat. Liz giggled. She loved how excited her mom got about nature.

  Mrs. Jenkins sat down again. “Do you know why I told you that story, Liz?”

  Liz pretended to think about it. “Does it have to do with math?”

  Her mom nodded. “At first saving the tree seemed impossible. But each day we took tiny steps toward our goal—and we got there.”
>
  Liz felt better after talking to her mom. Dinner helped too. When her dad and her brother, Stewart, got home, her mom fired up the grill. Tofu dogs were, by far, Liz’s favorite summertime food.

  After dinner Ellie stopped by. “I can’t stay long,” she told Liz. “I just wanted to see how you’re feeling.”

  Liz smiled, thinking what a good friend Ellie was. “Actually, I am feeling better,” she said.

  She and Ellie sat down on the front steps. Liz told her about summer school. “I was really upset about it before. That’s what I meant about not feeling well.”

  Ellie linked arms with Liz. “Aw, I’m sorry, Liz,” she said. “I know how excited you were about the class with Mrs. Cummings.”

  They sat for a minute, side by side, without saying anything. Crickets chirped loudly all around them.

  “Look at it this way,” Ellie said. “You still have afternoons at The Critter Club. And you’ll have all of July and August when you’re done!”

  “That’s true,” said Liz with a nod. “I will have that.” She squeezed Ellie’s arm. “And I will have a great friend like you, too.”

  Pop Quiz!

  Monday came too soon for Liz. It was the first day of summer school. At 8:55 a.m. she and her mom walked into the school lobby. It was strangely quiet.

  Grrrrr, Liz grumbled silently. It felt like the whole world was on summer vacation. Her brother, Stewart, was still in bed!

  In the library Liz’s mom signed her in and they met Mr. Brown. He seemed nice enough to Liz, but she was distracted. She looked around the room. Was there anyone else here she knew?

  There were about ten other kids, but Liz saw no familiar faces. It’s bad enough that I stink at math, she thought. Now all these other kids are going to find that out, too!

  Liz’s mom said good-bye. “I’ll pick you up at noon,” she told Liz. “Remember, day by day. Tiny steps.”

  Liz took an empty seat at a table. She shot a quick smile at the boy and girl already sitting there. They smiled back.

  “Okay, everybody,” Mr. Brown said. “Welcome to ‘Melting Math.’ ” He laughed. “Get it? It’s summertime? And math is cool? So the math is melting?”

  Liz knew Mr. Brown was just trying to get everyone in a good mood, but she was still feeling grumpy. No one else laughed either.

  “Never mind that,” Mr. Brown continued cheerfully. “First things first.” He passed out a sheet of paper to each of them. “Pop quiz!”

  The class groaned.

  What?! thought Liz. A quiz? Already?

  Then Liz looked down at the quiz.

  Okay, thought Liz. Mr. Brown might be kind of fun, after all.

  After the quiz Mr. Brown passed out math problems. “Work with the others at your table,” he said. “Then we’ll go over the answers together.”

  Liz smiled again at the kids she was sitting with. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Liz. You guys don’t go to school here, do you?”

  The boy shook his head. “No,” he said. “I go to Orange Blossom Elementary. My name is Robert.” He smiled shyly.

  “I’m Laura,” said the girl. “I go to St. Mary’s School.”

  They figured out that they were all the same age—eight! They also figured out that they would all rather be doing something else.

  When Laura looked down at the worksheet, she frowned. “Oh no. Greater than, less than. I cannot keep those straight to save my life.”

  “Me neither,” said Robert. “I’m also terrible at subtraction.”

  Liz smiled. Here were other kids with math struggles—just like her. She felt herself start to relax.

  “And fractions!” Liz added. “What is with fractions? How can three-eighths be less than one-half? Three is more than one and eight is more than two!”

  Robert and Laura laughed at Liz’s joke—not at Liz. Liz knew right then that the three of them were going to be friends.

  Critter Sitters

  Liz told her mom all about class on the drive home. She could hardly wait to tell her friends, too.

  At home Liz grabbed a sandwich before she hopped on her bike and headed for The Critter Club. Ellie, Amy, and Marion were all there organizing pet food and supplies.

  When they saw Liz, they came over and gave her a big group hug. “I guess everyone knows?” Liz asked. She looked at Ellie.

  “I hope you don’t mind!” Ellie said. “The girls were worried—wondering where you were.”

  Liz smiled. “I don’t mind.”

  “Oh, okay,” said Ellie. “Then tell us all about it! Don’t leave anything out!”

  “Ellie, give her a break,” Amy teased her friend.

  “No, it’s okay,” Liz said. “I was nervous this morning, but it wasn’t so bad.”

  The girls sat down in a circle, each on an upside-down bucket.

  “Is school really empty and quiet?” Ellie wanted to know.

  “Do you know anyone in class?” Amy asked.

  “And what’s the teacher like?” Marion questioned.

  Liz told them all about it—about Mr. Brown, the fun pop quiz, and Robert and Laura. “There’s going to be a test every Friday.” Liz looked around the barn. “So what did I miss?” she asked her friends.

  Ellie, Amy, and Marion looked at each other. They shared a secret smile. “Should we show her now?” Ellie asked.

  “What?” asked Liz. “Show me what?”

  They led her over to a glass tank on a side table. “The Kim family dropped off their pet this morning,” said Amy. “They’re going on a four-week cruise. So we’re going to watch Herman.”

  “Um, no,” said Ellie. “Liz is going to watch Herman. I am not watching Herman.”

  Liz looked in the tank. Sitting on one of the rocks was a big fuzzy tarantula!

  “He is so adorable!” cooed Liz. She put her face close to the glass. “Hi, Herman!”

  Of all the girls Liz was the one most into . . . unusual pets. She had a pet ferret named Reggie, whom she adored. As Liz liked to say, all pets needed love: mice, salamanders, snakes, Madagascar hissing cockroaches. . . .

  Liz grinned through the glass at the spider. “Herman,” she said. “This summer is looking up!”

  An Extra Student

  The next morning Liz rode her bike to school. Laura was at the bike rack.

  “Hi, Liz!” Laura said as she parked her own bike.

  “Hi, Laura!” Liz replied. “You live close enough to bike too?”

  Laura nodded. “Yep. I live about three blocks away. Over by the public library.”

  Liz felt a pang of sadness. She wished she were at the public library right now, at Mrs. Cummings’s art class, instead of in her school’s library.

  Just then a car pulled up in the drop-off circle. Robert hopped out.

  “Hi!” he said, walking over to Liz and Laura. “What did you guys think of the homework?”

  Liz groaned. “Ugh!” she said. The three of them headed for the school entrance. “Regrouping is another thing I’m terrible at.”

  “Me too,” said Robert.

  “Me three,” said Laura. Suddenly she stopped in her tracks. “Hey, that’s a crazy-looking rock,” she said, pointing at the ground.

  Liz and Robert stopped too. There was a brownish green rock right on the sidewalk. It had some kind of pattern on it. “Oh, wow,” said Robert. “Is it a rock? Or is it a . . . ?”

  Slowly, a little head peeked out from under the rock. Then four little legs appeared. The rock started to move!

  “It’s a turtle!” Liz exclaimed happily. “Cool!”

  Moving carefully, the three of them knelt by the turtle’s side. “He’s so beautiful,” Liz said.

  “Where do you think he came from?” Robert asked.

  Liz looked around. “I think there’s a little pond back there,” she said. She pointed toward the woods next to the school. “Maybe he lives there.”

  “Maybe he’s someone’s pet?” Laura suggested.

  They stood watching the turtle wal
k in slow motion. He was inching—very, very slowly—toward the street.

  “I don’t think we should leave him here,” Liz said. “What if he crawls into the road?”

  They had to get to class. Liz made a quick decision. She emptied her backpack. She gently picked up the turtle and placed him carefully at the bottom. Then she zipped the bag back up, but not all the way.

  “Come on,” she said, picking up her homework sheets. “Let’s get to class!”

  Robert and Laura looked at each other, their eyes wide. Robert shrugged. Laura giggled. Liz smiled, a twinkle in her eye.

  Then, together, they hurried to class.

  Mr. Brown began class by writing some addition problems on the whiteboard.

  Under the table Liz’s backpack wiggled. I hope he has enough air in there, Liz thought.

  “Okay!” Mr. Brown said. “So, for which problems will you need to regroup?” He called on a girl at another table.

  While she answered, Liz peeked under the table.

  Is it too dry for him in there?, Liz wondered.

  “Great!” Mr. Brown was saying to the girl. “Who else? Are there any other problems here that will need regrouping?” He called on Robert.

  Maybe I should take the turtle to the bathroom, Liz thought. He could swim in the sink.

  “Good, Robert,” Mr. Brown said. “Now there’s just one left. One more problem on the board that will need regrouping. Who can tell me which . . . ?”

  What if he’s hungry? Liz was thinking. But what do turtles eat, anyway?