Judy Moody: Around the World in 8 1/2 Days

by Megan McDonald

  “T. Hee. That’s funny,” said Amy.

  “Tee-hee-hee!” shouted Judy and Amy. They both cracked up.

  Amy looked at the list. “I’ll write to Lance France, Roos Van Goos, Pinky Dinky, and Wong Fong from Hong Kong.”

  “You made that up,” said Judy.

  “Nope. It says so right here!” Judy and Amy fell on the floor, laughing some more.

  Judy and Amy made postcards all morning. Judy wrote addresses on all her postcards till her hand almost fell off. “Done!” she said.

  “I’m not done yet,” said Amy. “Why don’t you do one more?”

  “Okay,” said Judy. “How about Nathaniel Daniel? He’s from the United States. San Luis Obispo, California.”

  “Let me see that!” said Amy. She looked at the list. “That’s where Bubblegum Alley is. The real Wall of Gum. No lie.”

  “No way!” said Judy. “Let’s send him some gum and see if he’ll stick it on the wall for me. Then we can BOTH be on the Wall of Gum.”

  “Okey-dokey!” said Amy.

  “Let’s break out the Make-Your-Own-Gum Kit I sent away for,” said Judy. “I’m so glad I brought it. I’ve been dying to try it out. Now we can make our own gum to send him. Will it be okay with your mom?”

  “Sure,” said Amy. “As long as we clean up.”

  Judy and Amy went downstairs to the kitchen. “Let’s have some lunch first,” said Amy. “Mom left us baloney and cheese sandwiches, but I like to cut them up, like this.” She took out some cookie cutters, and the girls made sandwiches into stars, hearts, footballs, pumpkins, and rabbits. Judy even made one of the United States (except where Florida broke off).

  Amy took the plate over to the table. “We’ll never eat all these in a million years,” said Judy.

  “They’re way more fun to make than eat,” said Amy, grinning at Judy with a milk mustache.

  After lunch, Judy looked at her red watch. She looked at her purple watch. Which was which again? Wearing two watches sure could get a person all mixed-up. But it was still early on BOTH watches.

  “Do you have to go?” asked Amy.

  “Nope. I have loads of time before I have to go to Rocky’s to practice the tarantella dance,” said Judy. “Let’s turn this puppy loose!” She opened up the Make-Your-Own-Gum box and held up a bag. “This must be the gum base. It’s called chicle. It comes from the rain forest.”

  They poured bags of powder stuff and sticky stuff into a bowl. They melted it in the microwave.

  “I need the mixing tool,” said Judy.

  They took turns mixing and stirring, mixing and stirring. Powder stuff flew in the air and everywhere. Sticky stuff stuck to the spoon and the chair and the table.

  “Now for the fun part!” said Judy. They plopped a big sticky blob down onto some wax paper.

  “It says to knead it like bread,” said Amy.

  “Dive in!” said Judy. They each took a big blob.

  “Wait! We better take off all our watches,” said Amy. “It’s so sticky!”

  “Icky, yicky, sticky!” said Judy.

  “Ooey, gooey, chewy,” said Amy.

  Judy pushed back her hair. Judy scratched her nose. Judy dropped some on her knee.

  “You have gum all over you!” said Amy.

  “So do you,” said Judy. “Double bubble trouble!” They cracked up.

  “Now for the best part,” said Judy. “Flavors. They only give you two. Peppermint and Tutti-Frutti.”

  “We can make our own,” said Amy.

  “Like what?”

  Amy looked in the cupboard. “Peanut-butter gum? Tuna-fish gum?”

  “I don’t think so!” said Judy.

  Amy looked in the spice rack. “How about cinnamon gum? Vanilla gum? Rainbow-sprinkle gum?”

  “Sure!” said Judy. “Why not?”

  Amy looked in the refrigerator. “Ketchup gum? Mustard gum? Pickle gum?”

  “That’s it!” said Judy.

  “Ketchup gum? Yick!”

  “No!” said Judy. “Pickle gum.” She poured some pickle juice from the jar and kneaded it into one of the blobs. “I can take some home to play a trick on Stink. He’ll never know. I’ll call it Pickle Chicle.”

  “A Pickle Chicle trick?” asked Amy.

  “Exactly!” said Judy. “A Pickle Chicle trickle!”

  They rolled and pressed and squeezed and stretched the gum until it was flat. Then they dusted it with powdered sugar and cut it into pieces.

  “Let’s taste some,” said Judy.

  “Not the pickle gum, though,” said Amy.

  Judy popped one, two, three pieces of gum in her mouth. The gum stuck to her teeth. The gum stuck to her tongue. The gum stuck to the roof of her mouth.

  “Is so sicky,” said Judy.

  “Sicky?” asked Amy.

  “Stick-y!” said Judy. “My mouth feels like a hippo eating a jar of peanut butter!”

  Amy popped one, two, three pieces in her mouth. Judy Moody and Amy Namey chewed and cracked and blew and popped gum until Judy’s dad came and it was time to go.

  She, Judy Moody, chewed her Peppermint Rainbow-Sprinkle Tutti-Frutti NOT Pickle Chicle gum all the way home.

  “Ciao! I’m home!” called Judy as she walked in the door. Stink came pounding downstairs. When he saw Judy, his mouth dropped open.

  “Stink? Are you trying to catch flies?” said Judy. “Your mouth’s way open.”

  He laughed and pointed. There was gum in her hair, gum on her nose, gum on her pants, gum on her coat.

  “What happened to you?” asked Stink. “Attack of the Killer Gumball?”

  “Hardee-har-har, Stink. I was making gum at Amy Namey’s with my Make-Your-Own-Gum Kit. It was way fun.”

  “Aw, you didn’t wait for me?”

  “No, but I made some special just for you. My own secret recipe.” Judy opened up the wax paper and held out the gum for Stink to see.

  He saw pink gum, brown gum, gray gum, green gum. And gum with lumps. “Eeuww! I’m not eating that lumpy, bumpy gum!”

  “Yours is the green one,” said Judy.

  Stink picked up the green gum like he was picking up a worm.

  “Just try it!” said Judy. “You’ll like it!” She blew a bubble and popped her own gum.

  Stink put the gum in his mouth. He rolled it around on his tongue. He chewed it. Once, twice.

  “BLUCK!” said Stink, sticking out his tongue. “It’s really sour. Worse than sourballs. What is this, anyway? Salt gum?”

  “It’s Pickle Chicle!” said Judy. “Get it? Pickle-flavored gum! I made it with pickle juice!”

  “BLAH!” went Stink, spitting the gum across the room. Mouse pounced on it.

  “Gross!” said Judy.

  “Stink,” said Dad, “pick that up and put it in the garbage can.”

  “Isn’t Judy even in trouble? She tricked me with pickle gum!” said Stink.

  “I think you’ll live,” said Dad.

  “It probably had spider eggs in it!”

  “Spider eggs?”

  “That’s my fault,” said Dad. “I was telling Stink how when we were kids, there were all these rumors that gum had spider eggs in it,” said Dad. “We were actually afraid to chew gum.”

  “Weird!” said Judy.

  “Speaking of spiders, guess what I got at Fur & Fangs!” said Stink.

  “You mean Toady won the race?” asked Judy.

  “Not exactly,” said Stink. He held out a sandwich bag with a gross-looking spider skin in it. “It’s a molted spider.”

  “A melted spider?” asked Judy. “Gross!”

  “Mol-ted. It’s just the skin. Spiders have their skeleton on the outside, and they shed.”

  “Rare,” said Judy, peering into the bag.

  “Toady wouldn’t even hop once when it was time for the race. So the kid who won the tarantula gave it to me. I think he felt sorry for me.”

  “Tarantula!” cried Judy. “Holy macaroni! I was so busy at Amy’s house, get
ting the scoop on the My-Name-Is-a-Poem Club and tricking Stink with pickle gum, that I forgot I was supposed to go to Rocky’s! To practice the tarantula. I mean, the tarantella. Now I’m saying it.”

  “Here’s a scoop for you,” said Stink. “Your friends aren’t talking to you. I was supposed to tell you. Rocky called. And Frank called. Then Rocky called again. And that Jessica Finch person.”

  “Stink! Why didn’t you tell me? What did they say?”

  “They said to tell you that they’re really mad you didn’t show up and they are not doing the spider dance with you even if you pay them one million dollars.”

  “Judy, this sounds like a real mix-up,” said Mom. “You were supposed to be working on a school project with Rocky and your other friends, but you were with Amy?”

  “I didn’t do it on purpose, Mom, and now they’re mad and they’ll never talk to me again.”

  “It’ll work out, honey. Everybody makes mistakes,” said Mom.

  “We know you’re excited about your new friend, Amy,” said Dad. “All we’re saying is you need to take care not to forget about your old friends, too.”

  “I can’t help it if they’re mad,” said Judy. “What do I say?”

  “Just be honest,” said Mom. “Tell them you lost track of time.”

  “Or tell them the Pickle Gum Monster took over your brain,” said Stink.

  “Yipes stripes!” Judy said. “I just can’t believe this happened. I was getting all mixed up wearing two watches. Then I took off BOTH watches to wash my hands at Amy Namey’s. . . . I must have looked at the wrong one or something.”

  “So I guess you could say TWO watches AREN’T better than one!” said Stink.

  Judy called Rocky. “I’m sorry I’m late, but my two watches got me all mixed up and then I got attacked by a giant gumball and —”

  “I’m not talking to you,” said Rocky.

  “You just did!” said Judy. “So you’re NOT not talking to me!” She laughed. But Rocky did not crack up one teensy bit.

  “I mean it,” he told her. “Frank’s mad, too. He already went home. And Jessica Finch doesn’t even want to be in the group. She’s making up her own Pizza Spelling Test.”

  “But we have to practice the dance! I’m coming over right now.”

  “Don’t!” said Rocky. “I told you — I’m not talking to you.”

  “But I — we have to. You can’t just —”

  “Hmm-hmm, hmm-hmm, hmm hmm hmm . . .” Rocky would not listen. He just hummed “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” into the phone.

  Judy hung up the phone and went to find Stink. “You gotta come over to Rocky’s with me,” she said. “Now!”

  “How come?”

  “Because he’s not talking to me.”

  “So?”

  “So, he’s NOT not talking to you.”

  Judy ran across the street and rang the bell. She made Stink stand in front of her. Rocky opened the door.

  ROCKY: Stink, tell Judy I said I’m not talking to her.

  JUDY: Stink, please tell Rocky that we have to practice our dance.

  STINK: Judy says you have to practice your dance.

  ROCKY: Tell Judy that she’s the one who didn’t show up to practice. I don’t want to dance like a spider anyway. I quit.

  STINK: He quits.

  JUDY: I heard. Please tell Rocky I had a really good excuse. Tell him about Attack of the Giant Gumball and everything.

  STINK: She did get gum all over her. See? Look at her gum-wad hair.

  ROCKY: Tell Judy too bad. It’s too late. We waited till after three o’clock and Frank and Jessica Finch went home. And tell her we Q-U-I-T quit.

  STINK: He Q-U-I-T quits.

  JUDY: Stink, please tell Rocky he can’t quit because if we don’t do our project, we won’t make it around the world in eight days. Does he want to ruin it for everybody? For Class 3V too? Does he want us to F-L-U-N-K?

  STINK: Do you want to flunk and ruin it for everybody?

  ROCKY: You already ruined it. I mean, tell Judy she already ruined it. If we flunk, it will be all her fault.

  STINK: Rocky says —

  JUDY: Tell him I’m super, super sorry. I got all mixed up with my two watches ’cause one was on Italy time, but I’m here now, aren’t I?

  ROCKY: Tell Judy it’s not just about forgetting the practice today. She quit us, her best friends, for Amy Rhymey. Tell her we can rhyme too.

  Rocky handed a piece of notebook paper to Stink.

  ROCKY: Here, read this.

  JUDY: Read it, Stink. Let’s hear it.

  STINK: I think you should pay me a quarter if I have to read stuff, too.

  JUDY: Just read it!

  STINK: My name is Frank.

  You can call me Frank the Tank.

  When Judy didn’t show up for practice,

  It really stank.

  ROCKY: Not that one. This one.

  STINK: My name is Rocky.

  I like hockey.

  Really it’s the only thing

  That rhymes with Rocky.

  I don’t feel too talky.

  Don’t mean to be rudey —

  I’m just mad at my friend

  Judy Snooty.

  STINK: Judy Snooty! That’s a good one.

  JUDY: Hardee-har-har.

  STINK: Wait! There’s one more:

  My name is Stink.

  I’m not a fink,

  If that’s what you think.

  I just want a quarter —

  JUDY: Stink! You just made that up.

  ROCKY: Tell her Frank and I are quitting her.

  JUDY: Fine.

  ROCKY: Fine.

  STINK: Judy’s not doing the dance all by herself!

  JUDY: Stink, tell Rocky I did not say that. I’ll do the dance myself.

  STINK: You can’t! How are you going to do a spider dance yourself? A spider has eight legs! You need four people.

  JUDY: Stink! Just tell him.

  STINK: She’ll do the dance herself.

  ROCKY: Stink, ask her why doesn’t she just get her New Best Friend, Amy Same-Samey, to do the dance with her?

  STINK: Ha! That’s a good one! Judy, did you hear —

  JUDY: Ha, ha — so funny I forgot to laugh. Stink, please tell Rocky I can’t do the dance myself because he has the old record of the tarantella from his grandma. And tell him he has the old record player, too.

  ROCKY: Ha! So now you want to be friends again, huh? Because you need something.

  STINK: Rocky says —

  JUDY: Stink, ask Rocky, Will he at least bring the stuff to school?

  ROCKY: Um . . .

  STINK: He said um.

  JUDY: Um, he’ll bring it? Or, Um, he’s thinking about it?

  STINK: Rocky, what does um mean?

  ROCKY: Um thinking! Get it?

  STINK: I think he’s thinking.

  JUDY: Tell him I’m looking at BOTH my watches, and he has ten seconds. Nine, eight, seven —

  ROCKY: Tell her I’ll bring the record and record player, but I won’t do the dance.

  JUDY: Fine.

  STINK: She said fine.

  ROCKY: Fine.

  STINK: He said fine.

  JUDY: Fine.

  STINK: I can’t believe I’m not getting paid for this!

  On Monday, when Judy got to school, she went to talk to Mr. Todd first thing.

  “Mr. Todd,” said Judy, “you know how we’re going around the world in eight days?”

  “Yes,” said Mr. Todd.

  “And you know how my group is supposed to do Italy?”

  “Is there a problem?” asked Mr. Todd.

  “Kind of. I mean, yes. We can’t do Italy. Or any country.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” said Mr. Todd. “Because not just our class, but Class 3V, too, is counting on going around the world in eight days. And we can’t go around the world without Italy.”

  “It’s sort of my fault,” said Judy. “I missed a practice for the
tarantella and Rocky and Frank and Jessica got mad and —”

  “I’d like you to try to work this out yourselves,” said Mr. Todd. “Just do your best, okay?”

  “I’ll try,” said Judy. “Jessica came up with something she’ll do herself, but I know Rocky and Frank, and they can stay mad way longer than eight days.”

  “Well,” said Mr. Todd, “tell you what. How about if we visit Italy last? We can wait till Day Eight and do it at the very end.”

  “Thank you,” said Judy. “Thank you, Mr. Todd. I’ll figure it out. Or something.”

  All week, Class 3T, along with Class 3V, had a blast going around the world. Judy tried to forget all about Rocky and Frank being mad at her. In London, Judy and Amy got to say “Brilliant!” And they got to eat chips (aka French fries) with vinegar.

  In France, Amy Namey led the two classes in singing “Frère Jacques” in a round.

  In Yeah Man (aka Yemen), they got to eat spicy beans and rice with their fingers! Then they got to try brushing their teeth with a stick, like Nellie Bly!

  In Egypt, they built a giant sugar-cube pyramid. And in Japan, Judy got to try on a kimono and learn kirigami, the Japanese art of paper cutting. In China, they made brush paintings and ate fortune cookies (that were really from the Happy Garden Chinese Restaurant, not China!).

  “What does your fortune say?” Judy asked Amy Namey.

  “Nice!” said Judy.

  “How about yours?” asked Amy. “What’s it say?”

  “Nothing,” said Judy.

  “It’s blank? It has to say something. Let me see.” Amy plucked the fortune right out of Judy’s hand.

  “Don’t worry!” said Amy. “It’s not a real fortune! It’s written on a sticky note. In kid handwriting.”

  “Something tells me it just might come true anyway,” said Judy.

  By the next Tuesday, Classes 3T and 3V had traveled the world for seven days. The next day was the last day. The next day was Day Eight. There was only one problem. Rocky and Frank were still M-A-D mad. Madder than a spider bite. Madder than a tarantula dancing the tarantella.

  She, Judy Moody, was in a mood. She had a bad case of the DIY Blues. The Do-It-Yourself Blues. Judy always heard Mom and Dad saying, “If you want to get something done, do it yourself.” Maybe she could do the dance without Rocky and Frank. Jessica Finch, too. When Rocky and Frank saw how hard she worked on their Around-the-World project, she would save them from flunking and they wouldn’t be mad anymore.