by Michael Fry
‘Quiet!’ yelled Perfect Phil. ‘Earlier today I met with a student who took the BASS test and failed to show his work. Showing your work is important. If we can’t see your work, we educators can’t know if you understand what we’re teaching.’
Unless you understand perfectly and don’t need to show your work to get the right answer, I thought.
Perfect Phil continued, ‘Unless the student does understand and doesn’t need to show his or her work to get the right answer.’
Whaaaaaaat?
‘Standardised tests are useful,’ said Perfect Phil. ‘But not when you’re testing a nonstandardised student. That kind of student does a lot better on nonstandardised tests. Like this Schoolseum. I see with my own eyes that Nick Ramsey, like the rest of you, can …
‘I hereby declare his answer on the show-your-work problem to be correct. Emily Dickinson Middle School is therefore decreed an exemplary-rated school. And I think you all know what that means.’
What just happened?
As everyone celebrated (with Karl celebrating a little more than made everyone comfortable), I looked for Alice. And I found her right away, all bright and shiny and totally easy to see.
‘You’re like a superhero, Nick,’ said Mr Dupree from behind me.
I turned around. Mr Dupree and Memaw were standing together by a window.
Whoa.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Once again, I’d like to thank my terrific editor, Lisa Yoskowitz, for saying things like ‘No.’ ‘No way. Are you kidding me?’ ‘Better.’ ‘Nice.’ ‘Very good.’ ‘Awesome.’ And just once: ‘Super awesome.’
Thank you also to my agent, Dan Lazar, for his advice and counsel, and letting me do that thing I shouldn’t have done and later not saying, ‘I told you so.’
And a big thank-you to my family and friends for their patient support of the cranky cave-dwelling hermit I become when I’m writing/drawing on deadline.
When you start one of these things, you have no idea how you’re going to get to the end. Yet somehow you do. It’s always a struggle. But a struggle made easier by the dedicated support of agents, editors, designers, copy editors, production people, marketers, salespeople, publicists, family and friends.
In Texas we have a saying: You dance with who brung you. I hope I can continue to dance with all of you for a long time.
About the Author
MICHAEL FRY spent middle school as a geeky, nerdy Chess Club member who played the French horn – and loved every minute of it (well, most minutes).
His school days behind him, Mike is the author of the Odd Squad series and the co-creator and writer of several comic strips, including Over the Hedge, which is featured in newspapers nationwide and was adapted into the hit animated movie of the same name. In addition to working as a cartoonist, Mike was a co-founder of RingTales, a company that animates print comics for all digital media, and is an active blogger, tweeter, and public speaker, as well as the proud father of two adult daughters.
Originally from Minneapolis, Mike currently lives with his wife in Austin, Texas. Visit him online at www.oddsquadbooks.com.
BY THE SAME AUTHOR
The Odd Squad: Bully Bait
The Odd Squad: Zero Tolerance
Copyright
First published in the US by Disney Hyperion Books in 2013
First published in the UK in 2014
by Faber and Faber Ltd
Bloomsbury House
74–77 Great Russell Street
London WC1B 3DA
This ebook edition first published in 2014
All rights reserved
© Michael Fry, 2013
The right of Michael Fry to be identified as author and illustrator of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
ISBN 978–0–571–31442–3