Spelling Bee

  This book is for

  Brett, Katelyn, and Jenna Godwin

  CONTENTS

  TITLE PAGE

  DEDICATION

  1 HANK REUBENS

  2 MORNING IN ROOM 2A

  3 THE STAR CLUB

  4 BRAINBUSTERS

  5 KAREN BREWER

  6 BOYS RULE!

  7 FRIENDS

  8 BOYS VERSUS GIRLS

  9 THE SPELLING BEE

  10 SATURDAY

  11 TRAITORS

  12 LOSER

  13 OMAR TELLS THE TRUTH

  14 NO RECESS

  15 SPELLING CHAMP

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  COPYRIGHT

  HANK REUBENS

  Hank Reubens lay in his bed. His cat, Patch, was sleeping on his feet. His dog, Jack, was sleeping on the floor by the bed. Hank yawned. He loved the early morning when it was still dark outside and no one else in his family was awake.

  Hank tried to guess what time it was. Ten minutes to six, he thought. He rolled over and looked at his clock. That was close. It was fifteen minutes to six.

  Excellent, thought Hank. He would be able to play on his computer before it was time to get ready for school. Hank turned on his light. Patch blinked at him from the end of the bed. Jack thumped his tail, but he did not even bother to open his eyes.

  Nobody else in Hank’s family liked getting up early. Except for Hank’s mother, but Hank’s mother lived in Florida now. That was a long way from Stoneybrook, Connecticut. Stoneybrook was where Hank and his sisters and his father lived. (And, of course, Patch and Jack.) But not Mrs. Reubens. She and Hank’s father had gotten divorced, and she had moved to Florida. Hank missed her, even though he and his sisters visited pretty often. Sometimes they spent vacations in Winter Park with their mother. Hank had been to Walt Disney World two times so far.

  Hank’s sisters were twins. They were five years old. Polly and Susan could be pests, but Hank found that he liked them better now that they were in kindergarten. Hank and Polly and Susan went to Stoneybrook Academy. Hank was in the second grade. His teacher was Ms. Colman, and she was Hank’s all-time favorite teacher. (She was the favorite teacher of just about every kid in the class.)

  Hank put on his slippers. He sat at his desk. He turned on his computer. Hank had lots of good software for his computer — mostly games and puzzles. Hank liked solving problems of any kind. He liked math puzzles, word puzzles, and brain-busters. He was even pretty good at solving mysteries. He thought he might be either a professor or a detective when he grew up.

  Hank had just started working on a very hard word puzzle when he heard a soft knock at his door. Then Polly poked her head in the room.

  “What are you doing up?” Hank asked her.

  “Susan is snoring,” Polly replied. “Can I help you?”

  “I don’t think so. I am solving a puzzle. And you have to know how to spell to solve this puzzle,” said Hank.

  “I know how to spell. P-O-L-L-Y. That is my name. H-O-R-S. Horse.”

  “E,” said Hank.

  “Horsie?”

  “No. Add an E at the end.”

  “Oh. How about X-R-L-A-P?”

  “What is that?” asked Hank.

  “Don’t you know?” said Polly.

  Hank shrugged.

  Polly was not a very good speller. Yet. But Hank was. He was one of the best in his class. He was good at math too. In fact, he was good at just about everything in school.

  Hank let Polly sit in his lap. He showed her how to play the game. Then he started a mystery puzzle. Hank had just ten minutes in which to figure out who had robbed a jewelry store. Was it the tall woman in the red coat? The man in the checkered —

  “Hank!” called his father. “Time to get ready for school. You too, Polly.”

  “Okay.” Hank turned off his computer. He could solve the puzzle later. Now it was time for another day in Ms. Colman’s class.

  MORNING IN ROOM 2A

  Mr. Reubens dropped Hank and his sisters off in front of Stoneybrook Academy. Hank walked Polly and Susan inside. He took them to their kindergarten class. Then he walked down the hall to the door that said 2A.

  Ms. Colman’s class.

  Hank stepped inside. He looked at the room. Ms. Colman’s desk was in the front. The chalkboard was behind her desk. In front of her desk were four rows of smaller desks. A row of four, a row of five, and two more rows of four. Seventeen kids were in Hank’s class. And eight of them were there now. Ms. Colman had not arrived yet. But the door to Mr. Berger’s room was open and Hank knew Mr. Berger was keeping an eye on everyone until Ms. Colman arrived.

  Mr. Berger was the other second-grade teacher. His classroom was next door. An inside doorway joined the two rooms. Hank liked being able to go into Mr. Berger’s room without going into the hallway. It was like a secret door in the game of Clue.

  “Hi, Hank!” called Ian Johnson.

  Ian was standing by a large cage. He was holding Hootie. Hootie was the guinea pig that belonged to the kids in 2A.

  “Hi!” Hank called back. Hank went to the coatroom. He took off his ski jacket and snow pants and hat and mittens and boots. He put his lunch in his cubby. Then he took a book of brainteasers out of his cubby. He carried it to his desk. Hank sat in the very last row. The rest of the kids in his row were girls. That was not surprising. There were eleven girls in Ms. Colman’s room and only six boys. Besides Hank and Ian, the boys were Ricky Torres, Omar Harris, Bobby Gianelli, and Chris Lamar. Those four were very good friends. They were a tight bunch. Sometimes they let Hank and Ian play with them; sometimes they did not. Sometimes they were nice to Hank and Ian; sometimes they were not.

  Hank sat at his desk. He opened his book of brainteasers. He found a new brainteaser. It was about the animals in a barn, and how many eggs six roosters could lay. While Hank thought about the problem, he looked around the room. He saw Karen Brewer, Hannie Papadakis, and Nancy Dawes scurry to a corner of the room. Those girls were always together. They called themselves the Three Musketeers. Karen was bossy and a smarty-pants. Hank was glad she sat in the first row (right in front of Ms. Colman, where their teacher could keep an eye on her). However, Nancy and Hannie sat next to Hank in the back row. The fourth person in the back row was Jannie Gilbert, who did not like the Three Musketeers very much. Jannie and her two best friends, Pamela Harding and Leslie Morris, were the Three Musketeers’ best enemies.

  Hank watched Bobby and Omar run around the room with a football. Then the twins arrived. The twins were Tammy and Terri Barkan, who were sometimes hard to tell apart. Next came Audrey Green and Sara Ford, more best friends, and then Chris and Ricky. The last person to arrive was Natalie Springer. Natalie sat in the front row with Karen and Ricky Torres. The three of them wore glasses, just like Ms. Colman did. Ms. Colman liked people with glasses to sit near the chalkboard. (The fourth person in the front row was Bobby, who did not wear glasses. Hank had a feeling Ms. Colman liked to keep her eye on Bobby as well as on Karen.)

  “Hey, Hank! Come here!” Bobby called then. “Want to play monkey-in-the-middle with Omar and me?”

  “No thanks,” Hank replied. He had a pretty good idea who the monkey would be. Hank went back to his book. And right away he solved the brainteaser. The answer was zero. No eggs would be laid, because roosters do not lay eggs, chickens do.

  THE STAR CLUB

  “Good morning, girls and boys!”

  Hank looked up from his book. Ms. Colman had arrived. His classmates ran for their seats. Ms. Colman set her things on her desk. She hung her coat in the coat-room. She called hello to Mr. Berger. Then, quietly, she closed the door to his room.

  Ms. Colman began the day. She asked Chris to take attendance. She reminded the kids to bring in their lunch money. She rem
inded Natalie that she needed to hand in a math worksheet. And then she said, “Class, I have an announcement to make.”

  The kids wiggled in their seats. Ms. Colman’s announcements were usually good. Or at least interesting.

  “A new club is starting here at Stoneybrook Academy,” said Ms. Colman. “It will be called the Star Club. Several students from each class have been chosen to be part of the club. The club will meet in the library one afternoon each week for two months. And the kids in the club will get to work on special activities and projects, and go on field trips.”

  At this, Hank saw Chris lean forward and poke Bobby in the back. Bobby turned around (quickly, so Ms. Colman would not see him) and gave Chris a knowing look.

  “The students in this class who have been chosen for the Star Club are Nancy Dawes, Sara Ford, Karen Brewer, and Hank Reubens. Congratulations to you,” said Ms. Colman. “I will tell you more about the club later. Now, class, please take out your reading worksheets.”

  Hank rummaged in his desk. He did not look at his classmates. He wanted to groan. First of all, he was the only boy in 2A chosen for the new club. Hank and three girls. Hank did not mind the girls. Not at all. But he knew what the boys would say. (Well, not Ian. Ian would not care. But Omar, Ricky, Bobby, and Chris would.) Second, Hank already knew — and he knew that every other kid in the class already knew — that there was more to the Star Club than Ms. Colman had said. The Star Club, Hank was sure, was for smart kids. And he had an idea what Omar, Ricky, Bobby, and Chris would have to say about that.

  The boys did not have a chance to say anything for awhile, though. Ms. Colman kept her class busy that morning. The kids read a story together, learned about lizards, cut a make-believe pizza into slices of different sizes, and finally chose books from the classroom library for reading time. When everyone was settled quietly at their desks, Ms. Colman gathered Hank, Sara, Karen, and Nancy in the back of the room. They sat around a small table.

  “I want to tell you more about the Star Club,” Ms. Colman began. “I think you will enjoy being part of it. You will get to work on special projects, projects that will tickle your brains.” She smiled at Hank. “The four of you learn our classwork easily. The Star Club will give you challenges that you do not always find in our classroom. I think you will enjoy the trips too.”

  “How many kids are in the club?” Sara wanted to know.

  “About fifty,” Ms. Colman replied. “But you will not meet with all of them. The first-and second-graders will be in your part of the club. Sixteen kids. You four, four from Mr. Berger’s room, and four from each of the first-grade classes. Your first meeting will be on Wednesday, in two days. You will go to the library after recess and stay until the end of the day. Your Star Club teacher will be Mrs. Ellis.”

  Hank nodded. He knew, he just knew, what the other boys were going to say about the Star Club. And yet … Hank could not help feeling a teeny bit excited.

  BRAINBUSTERS

  “Hey, Smart Club!” called Ricky Torres.

  Hank looked over his shoulder. He was standing on the playground with Karen, Nancy, and Sara. In ten minutes they would go to the library for their first meeting of the Star Club. They were wondering what kinds of things they would do. Nancy had said that she felt nervous.

  And then Ricky had called to the kids.

  Hank glared at Ricky. “It is not the Smart Club, it is the Star Club,” he said crossly. “I keep telling you.”

  “Well, only smarties are in it,” Ricky replied. “What is wrong with the rest of us? Are we too dumb for your club?”

  “Ask the principal,” said Sara. “Mrs. Titus is the one who decided who would be in the club.”

  Ricky made a face. He was about to say something else when the bell rang. Hank and the girls looked for Mrs. Ellis. They were going to walk inside with her and go straight to the library.

  “Have fun, you smarties!” called Ricky.

  Hank ignored him. He and Karen, Sara, and Nancy found Mrs. Ellis. She was standing with Edwin Grant, Debbie Dvorak, Mia Waters, and Oliver Chang from Mr. Berger’s room.

  “Hi, kids,” she said. “Some of you already know me, and some of you do not. I am Mrs. Ellis and I teach science to the fifth-and sixth-graders. Let’s hurry to the library now. The first-graders are waiting there with one of the library aides. I will tell you more about the Star Club when we have settled down.”

  Mrs. Ellis led the kids to the library. The second-graders took off their coats and boots and mittens. They sat at a long table with Mrs. Ellis and eight scared-looking first-graders.

  Mrs. Ellis smiled. “Welcome to the Star Club,” she said.

  Hank relaxed. He could see some of the other kids relax too.

  “The first thing to know about the Star Club,” said Mrs. Ellis, “is that mostly you are going to have fun.”

  Mrs. Ellis told the kids about some of the projects and activities they would be working on. Then she handed out gold name tags shaped like stars. And then she set a large carton on the table. Across the top of the carton was written BRAINBUSTERS.

  Hank grinned. Excellent, he thought.

  “Today,” said Mrs. Ellis, “we are going to get to know each other better with a brainbuster race.”

  Even more excellent, thought Hank.

  The kids spent the rest of the afternoon solving problems and puzzles. Sometimes they worked alone; sometimes they worked together. Five boys and eleven girls were Star Club members. But Hank did not care who he worked with. He just liked solving puzzles. And solving puzzles with other kids who liked solving puzzles was even better.

  Just before the last bell rang, Mrs. Ellis walked the kids back to their classrooms.

  “How was the Smart Club?” Bobby whispered as Hank passed his desk.

  “Great,” Hank replied. “Too bad you cannot join.”

  Later, as the kids in Ms. Colman’s class were putting on their coats, Chris poked Hank in the side. “I passed by the library this afternoon,” he said. “The Smart Club is a bunch of girls. I guess you are a girl too then, Hank.”

  “What is wrong with being a girl?” Hank replied. “The girls are much nicer than you guys are. They do not tease me or call me names.”

  Chris opened his mouth. Then he closed it. He did not know what to say to that. So he said nothing at all.

  KAREN BREWER

  One day Ms. Colman stood in front of her classroom. She was smiling. “Girls and boys,” she said, “I have some news. Do you remember the spelling bees last fall?”

  “Yes,” said some of Hank’s classmates. And Hank nodded his head. Of course he remembered them. First, a spelling bee had been held in their classroom. (A spelling bee had been held in every classroom at Stoneybrook Academy that day.) Karen Brewer had won that bee. And Hank had done well in it. For awhile he and Karen and Nancy were the only ones spelling words. Everyone else had missed a word already, and had had to sit down. Then Ms. Colman had given Hank the word alligator. Hank had hesitated. “A-L,” he had said. Then he almost said “I,” but instead he said “L-I-G-A-T-” He paused. “E-R.”

  “Wrong!” Karen had cried. “It is O-R, not E-R.” Karen had a big mouth. Kind of like an alligator. Which was probably why she had spelled the word right. Anyway, Karen had finally won the spelling bee. Then she had won another spelling bee when she was playing against the winners in the first, second, and third grades. That made her the junior champion at Stoneybrook Academy. After that, she had won another bee when she played against winners from other schools. (Finally she lost, but she did a lot of winning first.)

  “Well,” Ms. Colman went on, “we are going to have some more spelling bees. But just here at Stoneybrook Academy. The winners will not go on to play against students in other schools. This is what is going to happen. First we will have some practice spelling bees in our classroom. After awhile we will have a real spelling bee. At the same time, every other class will also have a spelling bee. The winner of our bee will have a ‘spell-off’
with the other second-grade winner — with the winner from Mr. Berger’s room. We will have a spelling champ in each grade in our school.”

  “Cool,” said Audrey.

  “Excellent,” said Ian.

  “Yes,” said Ms. Colman. “Cool and excellent. Just remember, though, that the spelling bees — the practice bees and the real ones — are mostly for fun. Fun with spelling. Okay, kids?”

  Hank thought about what Ms. Colman had said. And then he forgot about the spelling bees. He forgot about them entirely, until recess. Lunch was over, and the kids in Ms. Colman’s class had run onto the playground. Hank and Ian were trying to decide what to do first when they heard a loud voice nearby. It belonged to Karen Brewer. (Alligator Mouth, thought Hank.)

  “Attention! Attention!” called Karen.

  Most of the kids in 2A turned to look at her.

  “I have an announcement,” said Karen.

  “No, we have an announcement,” said Hannie Papadakis. Hannie, Nancy, Audrey, and Sara were standing next to Karen.

  “Okay, we do,” said Karen.

  “So what is your big announcement?” asked Chris.

  “A girl is going to win our class spelling bee,” replied Karen.

  “No, Karen is going to win it,” said Audrey.

  By now everyone was looking at Karen. And all the girls were crowded behind her.

  “Girls are smarter than boys!” shouted Pamela.

  “Girls rule!” cried Jannie.

  “You girls just have big mouths,” said Bobby.

  “Yeah,” agreed Ricky. “If you are so smart, tell us who is going to win the spelling bee in Mr. Berger’s room.”

  “The same person who won last fall,” said Nancy Dawes. “Debbie Dvorak.”

  “A girl,” Pamela pointed out.

  “Big deal,” muttered Bobby.

  The boys drifted away from the girls.

  BOYS RULE!