Judy Moody Saves the World!

  Her family sure knew how to ruin a perfectly good Mr. Rubbish mood. She put on her jeans and her Spotted Owl T-shirt. And to save water, she did not brush her teeth.

  She clomped downstairs in a mad-at-your-whole-family mood.

  “Here’s your lunch,” said Mom.

  “Mom! It’s in a paper bag!”

  “What’s wrong with that?” Stink asked.

  “Don’t you get it?” said Judy. “They cut down trees to make paper bags. Trees give shade. They help control global warming. We would die without trees. They make oxygen and help take dust and stuff out of the air.”

  “Dust!” said Mom. “Let’s talk about cleaning your room if we’re going to talk dust.”

  “Mo-om!” How was she supposed to do important things like save trees if she couldn’t even save her family tree? That did it. Judy went straight to the garage and dug out her Sleeping Beauty lunch box from kindergarten.

  “Are you really going to take that baby lunch box on the bus? Where the whole world can see?” asked Stink.

  “I’m riding my bike today,” said Judy. “To save energy.”

  “See you at school, then.” Stink waved his paper-bag lunch at her. If only she could recycle her little brother.

  “Go ahead. Be a tree hater,” called Judy. “It’s your funeral.”

  Making the world a better place sure was complicated.

  At school, Judy wiggled all during Math in the morning. She squirmed through Spelling. At last it was Science.

  “Over half the world’s plants and animals are found in rain forests,” Mr. Todd said. “Which is why it’s so important to protect the rain forest. The health of our whole planet depends on it. But did you know that there are endangered species right here in Virginia?”

  Endangered species! Right here in Virginia! Judy leaned forward in her seat.

  “If we want to take care of our planet, it helps to begin in our own backyard. That’s why I’m asking each of you to adopt an endangered animal from Virginia this week. Tell us about the species, why it’s disappearing, and what can be done to help.”

  Adopt an animal! She could help an endangered species. She, Judy Moody, could help save the entire state of Virginia!

  Mr. Todd was shaking a coffee can. “Each slip of paper has the name of one endangered animal on it. When I call on you, come up and take one slip of paper from the can. Who wants to be first?”

  All hands went up in the air.

  “Rocky.”

  “Shenandoah salamander!” said Rocky, reading his slip of paper.

  “Frank Pearl.”

  “Monkeyface mussel!”

  Rare! Judy waved her hand in the air like a flag. Mr. Todd still did not call on her.

  Brad got the bald eagle. Hailey got the puma. Randi got the leatherback sea turtle.

  “Jessica Finch.”

  “Shiny pigtoe,” said Jessica. “Yippee!”

  Judy could not think of anybody else who would want to adopt a pig’s toe. Only Jessica Finch. Jessica Finch liked everything about pigs. Even shiny pigs’ toes.

  While Mr. Todd called out more names, Judy turned around and said to Jessica, “A shiny pigtoe is a pig with nail polish!” She cracked herself up.

  “Judy Moody.”

  Judy turned around, her hand the only one still left in the air. “One left,” said Mr. Todd. “C’mon up.”

  Finally! Judy unfolded the small slip of paper. “Northeast beach tiger beetle,” she read.

  Northeast beach tiger beetle! A northeast beach tiger beetle was not even an animal. It was a bug. An icketty cricketty old creepy crawly.

  “If we don’t like ours, can we trade?” Judy asked.

  “I’d like everybody to stick with their choices,” said Mr. Todd.

  “What if we never even heard of it? What if we don’t even know what it looks like?” said Judy.

  “That’s the fun of it,” said Mr. Todd. “Find out. Go to the library and look at books and magazines. Or search the Web at the computer lab. And this Thursday, we’ll be taking a class field trip to the museum, which should have information on all of your adopted animals.”

  “Big museum or little museum?” asked Frank.

  “Little,” said Mr. Todd. The class groaned.

  The big museum meant the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Or the one with all the planes. The little museum meant the science museum down the street. It had toy trains, plastic dinosaurs, and one-hundred-year-old pictures of Virginia stuff.

  “The best exhibit there is cobwebs,” Rocky said.

  When Thursday came, Judy wore her tiger-striped pajama pants to school in honor of the tiger beetle. At the museum, Mr. Todd introduced the class to the museum lady. “This is Ms. Stickley, and she’s going to tell us about endangered species in Virginia.”

  Ms. Stickley looked like a stick bug. Even her socks were brown.

  “Call me Stephanie,” said Ms. Stick Bug.

  “Class,” said Mr. Todd. “I expect you to give Stephanie your best third-grade listening ears.” Frank pretended to take off his ears and hand them to her. Judy cracked up.

  Ms. Stephanie Stick Bug took them on a tour of Where the Wild Things Aren’t. She showed them a real live Shenandoah salamander, a Virginia fringed mountain snail that looked extremely sluggy, and a stuffed flying squirrel glued to a board.

  “A flying squirrel! Is his name Rocky, like in Rocky and Bullwinkle?” asked Frank.

  “Yes,” said Ms. Stick Bug. “As a matter of fact it is.”

  “His name is Rocky, too!” said Frank, pointing at Rocky. “Hey, Rocky, you’re a squirrel!”

  “And you’re Bullwinkle!” said Rocky. “You’re a moose! Ha!”

  Judy was dying to ask Ms. Stick Bug a question. She raised her hand, holding it as straight as a shortnose sturgeon. At last, Stephanie called on her.

  “Do you have any northeast beach tiger beetles?” asked Judy.

  “No, I’m sorry we don’t,” said Stephanie. “Those are endangered in Virginia and that would be a good specimen for our collection.”

  What kind of endangered species museum did not have any northeast beach tiger beetles?

  “Do you have any cave isopods?” asked Jessica Smartypants Finch.

  “What’s an ice-o-pod?” asked Rocky.

  “An isopod is a crustacean like a sow bug,” answered Stephanie. “Think of it like a pill bug, or a wood louse. You’ll find those in Arachnid Hall.”

  “Ick! A louse is lice!” said Rocky.

  Judy still couldn’t see why they didn’t have any northeast beach tiger beetles. After all, they had a bunch of creepy crustaceans, licey isopods, and pillbuggy pests.

  Judy raised her hand again. She wanted to sound as smart as Jessica Finch.

  “Excuse me,” she said. “Do you have any two-toed sloths here? Tropical treehoppers? Nocturnal aye-ayes?”

  “We don’t have a rain forest exhibit,” said Ms. Stick Bug. “But it’s a great idea. Maybe someday.”

  The whole class got to touch an orange-foot pimpleback pearlymussel shell and hear a story about a Dismal Swamp shrew.

  “Everything in this whole place is endangered,” said Frank.

  “My grade in Science is endangered, too,” said Judy.

  The very next morning, Judy started her own search for a real live northeast beach tiger beetle. Before school, she grabbed a peanut butter jar from the recycling bin and ran out into the backyard. She tapped on tree bark. She crawled through itchy grass. She peered down into the dirt.

  “Here, beetle, beetle,” called Judy. “Don’t be endangered.”

  She did not find one single beetle. All she found was an acorn hat, a slug, and a not-recycled candy wrapper.

  “Judy!” called her Dad. “What are you doing out there in your pajamas?”

  “Looking for a northeast beach tiger beetle,” said Judy. “They’re endangered. Mr. Todd says saving endangered species begins in your own backyard,” said Judy.

  “Not bef
ore breakfast in your pajamas,” said Dad. “All the beetles are still sleeping.”

  At school that day, Judy searched for a picture of her beetle. And a few facts. She looked in the dictionary. She looked in the encyclopedia. She looked in bug books. She even looked on the computer. No luck. Most of the beetles in the computer were the John Lennon and Paul McCartney kind of Beatles.

  The next day was Saturday. Frank Pearl called Judy. “Can I come over?”

  “Not unless you bring a northeast beach tiger beetle with you.”

  “Okay,” said Frank.

  “You found one?” Judy asked. “For real?”

  “Not a live one. But I found a picture of one. Do you have any stamps at your house?” asked Frank.

  “What’s stamps got to do with anything?”

  “Just go see if you have any stamps. Stamps with bugs.”

  Judy put down the phone and ran to find some stamps in her parents’ desk.

  “Just boring old flags,” she told Frank.

  “Well, I have gazillions of stamps and —”

  “How come you have so many stamps?”

  “I collect them. I was pasting some in my album when I saw your beetle on one of the stamps.”

  “Bring it over right away,” said Judy. “Tell your mom it’s an emergency.”

  Half an hour later, Frank rang the doorbell. “Finally!” said Judy, pulling him into the living room.

  Frank put his stamp album on the coffee table and opened it up. He turned to the Insects and Spiders page. “Look at all the beetles,” said Frank. “That’s a lady beetle — those are good luck. And there’s a dung beetle, a Hercules beetle, and a spotted water beetle. Even an elderberry longhorn beetle.”

  “Which one is it?” Judy shrieked. Frank pointed to a beetle with a shiny green head and eyes like an alien. Printed below the beetle it said Cicindela dorsalis dorsalis.

  “That’s not a northeast beach tiger beetle,” said Judy. “It’s some kind of a Cinderella beetle.”

  “It’s Latin,” said Frank.

  “Latin? Don’t they have any beetles that speak English?”

  “Read what it says underneath.”

  Northeast beach tiger beetle.

  Found along sandy beaches in the

  Chesapeake Bay areas of Virginia.

  Endangered by changes in habitat,

  human population, shoreline

  development, and erosion.

  “My beetle’s a beach bum! Thanks a million gazillion, Frank. Now I can work on my report. First I’ll draw a picture for the cover.”

  “Want some help?” asked Frank.

  “Sure,” said Judy. “You can put the caps back on the markers.”

  Judy drew many-legged northeast beach tiger beetles all over the cover of her report. “Make sure they have biting mouth parts,” said Frank. “And wings.”

  “Oh, yeah,” said Judy.

  “Can I help color them in?” asked Frank.

  “Okay. Thanks,” Judy said. “Did you already draw your cover for the monkeyface mussel?”

  “Yeah,” said Frank. “It’s a seashell with bumps on it that look like a monkey’s face. No lie. You can see eyes and ears and everything.”

  “I got to see that,” said Judy. She printed the title of her report in all capitals. SAVE THE NORTHEAST BEACH TIGER BEETLE.

  “Rare!” said Judy.

  “Double cool,” said Frank.

  Just as she finished her cover, Stink came into the room and looked at Judy’s drawing. “Why did you draw fat, flying footballs all over your report?”

  Judy worked on her report all weekend. In Science on Monday, the class presented its endangered species. Frank told the class how a monkeyface mussel got its name. Jessica Finch showed a shiny pigtoe shell that looked like a striped Hershey’s Kiss. Judy bragged about the importance of the northeast beach tiger beetle.

  “Tiger beetles recycle dead trees and eat tons of harmful insects, so don’t step on them. They are really fast and tricky, like tigers. Their rain forest cousin, the Hercules beetle, is six inches long! Tiger beetles make a loud buzzing sound, like this. Bzzzzzzzz! The end.”

  When they were all finished, Mr. Todd said, “Good job! Thank you all for raising our awareness of these special creatures. Remember, if you find one of these animals in the wild, put it back. It’s important not to remove creatures from their natural habitats.”

  Suddenly, Judy had an idea. An Einstein idea! It was time to call a secret club meeting. She passed a note to Frank: Emergency meeting of the Toad Pee Club today! Pass this to Rocky — J.M.

  Jessica leaned forward, trying to see Judy’s note. “I’ll bet you can’t spell the word endangered,” hissed Jessica.

  “Yes I can,” said Judy. “G-O-N-E, gone.”

  Judy had ants in her pants all through Spelling.

  Bzzzzzzzz! At last the bell rang, like a sweet chorus of buzzing tiger beetles, and she, Judy Moody, was G-O-N-E, gone.

  After school, Frank, Rocky, and Judy crawled inside the blue tent in Judy’s backyard. While they waited for Stink, Judy whispered the plan to Frank and Rocky.

  “I’ll get rid of Stink,” said Rocky.

  “And I’ll keep an eye on Toady,” said Frank. Finally, Stink crawled inside the tent, carrying Toady, their mascot, in a yogurt container.

  “Where are we gonna put Toady?” asked Stink.

  “Over here in the corner by me,” said Frank. “I’ll guard him.”

  “And don’t pick him up with your bare hands, Stink, or he’ll get you. If you know what I mean,” Judy warned him.

  “Hey, did you know if you change two letters around in T-o-a-d-y you get t-o-d-a-y?” asked Stink.

  “That’s nice, Stink,” said Judy. “Did you know if you add three letters to Stink you get Stinkbug?”

  Stink ignored her. “It’s squishy in here,” he complained.

  “Try making yourself a little smaller, Stink. People take up way too much room on the planet. That’s why we have so many problems.”

  “Oh brother,” said Stink. “Why are we here anyway?”

  “No reason,” said Rocky. He kicked Frank’s shoe and Frank nudged Judy and all three cracked up.

  “Let’s brainstorm,” said Frank. “You know, think up stuff we can do in our club. Even though it’s really hot and crowded in here.”

  “I’m too squished. It’s too hot in here to brainstorm,” said Stink.

  “It’s global warming,” said Judy. “Right here in Virginia.”

  Stink panted like a dog. “Stink. Don’t breathe so much. You’ll ruin the ozone,” said Judy. “There’s already a hole over Antarctica!”

  “You’re in the ozone,” said Stink. He crawled out of the tent.

  “Perfect!” said Judy. Judy, Rocky, and Frank double high-fived each other.

  “And he forgot to take Toady!” said Rocky.

  “T-o-d-a-y is your lucky day, T-o-a-d-y. Today is the day we save the world, starting with you,” Judy said.

  Frank picked up Toady. Toady blinked. “He doesn’t look endangered!”

  “No, but your hand is endangered,” said Judy. “Better put him back.”

  “I kind of hate to see him go,” said Frank.

  “But Mr. Todd said! Remember? If you catch a creature in the wild you have to put it back. Toadnapping is the same thing as hurting the planet,” Judy explained.

  “Just think how happy he’ll be,” said Rocky.

  They carried Toady down to the stream behind Judy’s house. “I’ll miss you, Toady,” Judy said. “But the time has come for you to join your toady friends and do your toady things. Go make this planet a better place.” On the count of three, Judy, Rocky, and Frank gently tipped the yogurt container on its side and let Toady go.

  “Goodbye, Toadster!” said Rocky.

  “Watch out for acid rain!” said Frank. Toady blinked once, then bloomp! He plopped into the water. In one, two, three bubbles, Toady was gone.

  “Nice sendoff,?
?? said Frank.

  “It’s for a good cause,” said Rocky.

  “Toadly awesome!” said Judy.

  Rocky and Frank went home. She, Judy Moody, was on her way to making the world a better place. The Toad Pee Club had taken one small step for toadkind and one giant leapfrog for humankind.

  It took Stink one hour and twenty-eight minutes to notice that Toady was missing. Endangered, as in G-O-N-E, gone.

  “Toady’s gone?” asked Stink. “Oh, no! What if he got swallowed by a snake? Or gobbled by a giant hawk? It’s all my fault for leaving him in the tent. Why didn’t you do something?”

  “I did,” said Judy, and she broke the good news about letting Toady go to make the planet a better place.

  If Stink were a poison dart frog, he would have spit poison at Judy. If Stink were a volcano, he would have spewed lava.

  “It’s not fair!” Stink moaned. “Toady was my pet!”

  “Toady belonged to all the members of the Toad Pee Club.”

  “But I took care of him mostly,” said Stink. “How can letting him go make the world a better place? It makes it a worse place if you ask me.”

  “Stink, you’d be pond scum if you kept Toady locked up in that aquarium,” said Judy. “That aquarium is like being in jail.”

  “You’re gonna be in jail as soon as I tell Mom and Dad.”

  “Look at it this way. Toady gets to be free and now there will be even more toads. Don’t you get it?”

  “I get that you stole my toad.”

  Sometimes Stink could be as stubborn as a hard-headed hornbill.

  “Now we don’t even have a mascot for our club,” said Stink.

  Judy grabbed Mouse. “Mouse could be our new mascot!”

  “The Mouse Pee Club? I don’t think so,” said Stink. “See? If it wasn’t for Toady, there wouldn’t even be a Toad Pee Club.”

  “There will be other toads to pee on us, Stink. I promise.”

  “I’m still telling,” said Stink.