Big Mouth Elizabeth

by Rachel Vail

  I didn’t want to lie, but I did want to be in a club.

  With Brave Cali.

  “Yeah,” I said. “We’re friends.”

  “A club of just Cali and Elizabeth?” Anna asked.

  “No, silly!” Cali said. (It came out, No, thilly!) “You can be in it, too! It’s a club for everybody.”

  Chapter

  48

  “That’s a dopey club,” Smelly Dan said. “It’s for dopey kids like Babyish Cali.”

  “No, it’s not,” I said. “And she’s not babyish. So pipe down, you.”

  “Oh yeah?” Smelly Dan asked. “Who wants to be in a club that lets everyone in?”

  “I do,” I said, standing right up to him.

  I felt like Super Elizabeth, doing that.

  “Me too,” said Bucky, next to me. “Can boys be in your club?”

  “Of course!” Cali said.

  “How about kids in Class 2A?” Rose asked.

  “Yes,” I said. “Absolutely. It’s a club for everybody.”

  “Cool,” Rose said.

  Cali smiled. A big, toothless smile.

  Chapter

  49

  I smiled back at her with all my baby teeth showing.

  Whatever.

  I am in the club.

  With everybody.

  Nobody’s left out.

  We’re all right in.

  Even Dan.

  I am trying to not call him Smelly Dan anymore.

  Chapter

  50

  Not everything in life is easy.

  Acknowledgments

  With thanks and love to:

  Amy Berkower, Elizabeth’s champion

  Elizabeth’s best friends at Feiwel and Friends: Liz Szabla, Jean Feiwel, Liz Dresner, Kim Waymer, and Starr Baer

  Paige Keiser, new partner and pal in Elizabeth’s world

  Zachary and Liam, with all their big teeth now, still friends with each other and me (even when it’s not easy)

  Nina, who checks to make sure I’ve cracked the truth of a little girl with gigantic feelings

  My nieces, nephews, cousins, and kid friends who share their funny stories

  Mitch, best guy to be around whether I’m up in the dumps or down in them

  Mom and Dad, who have loved me through unlost and lost teeth, friends, roller skates, and schemes

  The news, for being so unrelenting that my normally chill feelings feel fiercer, and the quest to inculcate empathy feels even more urgent than it’s ever felt before

  Carin, Meg, Deborah, Lynn, Stacy, Tracy, and more: my virtual club of writers

  Mrs. Sudak, my second-grade teacher, who taught me to deal with disappointments like teeth that wouldn’t fall out by making up stories and teaching me that you can make anything you imagine happen, if you are the writer

  And all the other teachers like Mrs. Sudak, librarians like Katie Dersnah Mitchell, and parents like my own—who put pencils and books in their kids’ hands, knowing those are the real magic wands

  About the Author

  Rachel Vail is the author of the acclaimed Justin Case series, as well as other middle-grade novels and several picture books. She lives in New York City. Visit rachelvail.com, or sign up for email updates here.

  About the Illustrator

  Paige Keiser is the illustrator of Little Chef by Matt Stine and Elisabeth Weinberg. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia. Visit paigekeiser.com, or sign up for email updates here.

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  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Notice

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author and Illustrator

  Copyright

  Text copyright © 2019 by Rachel Vail. Illustrations copyright © 2019 by Paige Keiser.

  A Feiwel and Friends Book

  An imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC

  175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010

  mackids.com

  All rights reserved.

  Feiwel and Friends logo designed by Filomena Tuosto

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Vail, Rachel, author. | Keiser, Paige, illustrator.

  Title: Big mouth Elizabeth / by Rachel Vail; illustrated by Paige Keiser.

  Description: First edition. | New York: Feiwel and Friends, [2019] | Summary: Elizabeth, the younger sister of Justin Case, is frustrated about being one of the few Class 2B students to still have all of her baby teeth.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2018039305 | ISBN 9781250162175 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250162182 (ebook)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Schools—Fiction. | Teeth—Fiction. | Growth—Fiction. | Clubs—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.V1916 Big 2019 | DDC [E]—dc23

  LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018039305

  Our eBooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945 ext. 5442 or by email at MacmillanSpecialMarkets@macmillan.com.

  First hardcover edition 2019

  eBook edition May 2019

  eISBN 9781250162182