by Rob Buyea
“In three, two, one,” Trevor whispered.
“Good morning, Lake View Middle. I’m Natalie Kurtsman, coming to you live from our school auditorium.”
Trevor panned the crowd with his camera, and a roar of cheers went up. My jitters were instantly replaced by goose bumps.
“We have a special show planned for you this morning, with a surprise announcement from Mr. Allen coming up soon, but first, a look at the weather. Let’s hear it for our weatherman, Scott Mason.”
The auditorium went bonkers as Scott strode out to take his place in front of the camera. That alone made my day—but there was much more to come.
We ran through our normal routine of announcements and recaps, and then I introduced Mr. Allen. He took his spot in front of the camera, and Mrs. Woods and Mrs. Magenta joined him off to the side. I was surprised to see Mrs. Magenta, since technically she was out on maternity leave. I wondered where baby Eric could be, but when I glanced into the audience, I spotted Mr. Magenta standing against the wall, holding his son.
“One of the best things about being principal,” Mr. Allen began, “is that I get to be surrounded by passionate people. Teachers striving for excellence in their classrooms, coaches and teams in pursuit of perfection, and students daring to dream big.
“The group sitting up here onstage, known collectively as the Recruits, has made us laugh. They’ve surprised us, challenged us, and brought out the best in us, time and time again. They’ve inspired us. They’ve inspired me to start something new here at Lake View Middle School.
“Today marks the opening of the Lake View Middle School Hall of Fame. And I’d like to introduce our first six inductees.”
Clapping and cheering broke out in the back. I looked and saw then that all of our parents were in attendance.
Mr. Allen proceeded to call us up one by one. With Mrs. Woods’s and Mrs. Magenta’s help, he presented each of us with an engraved plaque bearing our picture and name.
“It’s your first Hall of Fame,” Randi whispered to Gavin.
“With more to come,” Mrs. Woods said, and winked.
“This is awesome!” Scott exclaimed.
Mr. Allen chuckled and gave him a high five. “Following the broadcast we will do a brief photo shoot, and then these plaques will be hung up on the wall outside my office,” Mr. Allen announced. “I look forward to inducting another batch of students into the Lake View Middle School Hall of Fame at the end of next year, in what will become our new end-of-the-year tradition.
“I’ll now turn things back over to Natalie so that she can wrap up. Thank you.”
Mr. Allen, Mrs. Woods, and Mrs. Magenta left the stage under more applause, and we resumed our positions. I sat up straight and readied myself for what would be my final monologue.
“I speak for all of the Recruits when I say we’re sad to be leaving but proud of what we’ve accomplished. We were able to make a difference with your help, Lake View Middle, and for that we extend our biggest thank-you. Of course, a special shout-out goes to Mr. Allen, Mrs. Woods, Mrs. Magenta, and our parents.
“We hope some of you sixth and seventh graders sign on to keep the morning broadcast running. As for us, we’ll be taking our show on the road. We fully intend to shake things up at the high school.”
The audience laughed at that comment, but the Recruits eyed me wearily. They knew I wasn’t bluffing. What’s she got planned now? I could hear them asking. I didn’t know yet, but whatever it was, it would be worth remembering.
“I’m Natalie Kurtsman, saying, ‘Have a razzle-dazzle day.’ ”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Huge thanks to my daughter, Emma, for being my trusted reader. Your name might end up on the front cover yet. To Beth for always helping me make decisions about the hard scenes and sentences. To Lily and Anya for the gymnastics lessons and suggestions—Randi appreciates it. And to my dogs, Jack and Potter, for getting me away from the desk and out on our hikes, where important work in the head takes place.
Thank you to my agent, Paul Fedorko, for sticking with me every step of the way.
A huge thank-you to the entire team at Random House Children’s Books for all of your help making another one of my books look perfect. Special mention to Leslie Mechanic for a third round of Gavin’s sketches. And to Beverly Horowitz—for everything.
Gavin would agree, the relationship between an author and his editor is as critical as that between a quarterback and his coach. When it comes to my editor, Françoise Bui, I’ll never be able to fully express my gratitude. I’ve scored a touchdown. Your comments, patience, keen insights, and friendship are invaluable to me.
And finally, an extra-special shout-out to Anya for giving this book its title!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ROB BUYEA taught third and fourth graders for six years; then he taught high school biology and coached wrestling for seven years. Currently, he is a full-time writer and lives in Massachusetts with his wife and daughters. He is the author of The Perfect Score and The Perfect Secret, companion novels to The Perfect Star. His first novel, Because of Mr. Terupt, was selected as an E. B. White Read Aloud Honor Book and a Cybils Honor Book. It has also won seven state awards and was named to numerous state reading lists. Mr. Terupt Falls Again and Saving Mr. Terupt are companion novels to Because of Mr. Terupt. Visit him online at robbuyea.com and on Facebook, and follow @Rob Buyea on Twitter.
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