Top five reasons why fifth grade was HORRIBLE:
1. It’s school! I’m sitting at a desk ALL DAY.
2. I learned that I’m dumb! That’s right. All the other grades I thought I was “smart.” But this year was a FAILURE! I still don’t know my times tables! How the heck am I going to make it through next year?
3. School lunches. They call it “pizza.” I have no idea why. Since when does a piece of white bread count as pizza crust???????
4. Gym class. Most people like gym. But at my school we have “tests” and I completely stink. Especially at PULL-UPS. Guess how many pull-ups I can do? ZERO! I can do ZERO pull-ups! I’m a disgrace to ten-year-olds—and the whole class knows it. Even the girls. Especially the girls that can do more pull-ups than me!!
5. Field trips. Just like gym class, most kids like field trips. Well, we go to one place for field trips: Mount Tom. We go there in the fall before it gets too cold and in the spring when it starts to get warm. But here’s the thing: Mount Tom isn’t a mountain. It’s a lake. Here’s the problem: I CAN’T SWIM! I hid it pretty well during our fall trip. But this spring,
kids noticed. “Why don’t you come out in the water?” “Why are you staying on the beach?” “Why don’t you jump off the diving board?” What kind of person can’t even swim? ME: That’s what kind of person! AAAHHH!
6. I know I said top five reasons, but there is one more, and it’s probably the biggest reason: Kenny Williamson. He is big and he is MEAN. He rules the jungle gym. He even calls himself “King of the Jungle Gym” or “King Kenny”!! If any other kids want to play on the jungle gym, they either have to be friends with Kenny or follow his “rules.”
All the teachers talk about how my school is “bully-free.” We even had a No Bully Day, where we talked about bullying and how bad it was and how we should tell the teachers if we saw it happening. Well, let me tell you, Kenny is definitely a BULLY, and he definitely is in my school. And no one says anything to the teachers about it!
Those are the top reasons that fifth grade was horrible, and sixth grade isn’t going to be much better! I can’t wait for school to be over tomorrow so the suffering can STOP and summer can START!
This summer is going to be AWESOME. Yes, it is cool that I won’t have to be in school—but something even cooler is happening. My uncle Jake is coming to stay with us for the whole summer!
He has been a Navy SEAL for eight years and is getting out of the Navy to go to college. Before he goes to college, he is going to stay with us the whole summer long. A Navy SEAL! FOR REAL. IN MY HOUSE!!!!!
Uncle Jake is the best. First, he is super cool because he is a Navy SEAL. He fought in real wars. My mom says he was “on the front lines.” That means he was face-to-face with the bad guys. Whoa! Uncle Jake is also awesome because he is the COMPLETE OPPOSITE OF ME. I am weak—he is strong. I am dumb—he is smart. I can’t swim—he can swim with a backpack on! I’m scared of bullies—bullies are scared of him!
Anyway, I haven’t spent too much time with Uncle Jake because we live in California, and he has been stationed in Virginia for a long time. I hope he doesn’t think I’m such a DUMB WIMP that he won’t even hang around with me! Maybe he won’t notice?
AAHHHHH!!! Of course he will. He is a tough guy! I’m a dork! Well, I guess I will find out soon.
ALSO BY JOCKO WILLINK
Way of the Warrior Kid: From Wimpy to Warrior the Navy SEAL Way
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JOCKO WILLINK served 20 years as a Navy SEAL. He was in combat in Iraq during the Battle of Ramadi, a conflict that resulted in numerous medals for his efforts. After his tours, Willink served as a Navy SEAL instructor before forming Echelon Front with Leif Babin, a leadership training group that uses the lessons and expertise the pair learned as SEALs to train leaders beyond the military. Willink lives in San Diego, California. He is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Extreme Ownership, the children’s book Way of the Warrior Kid, and the New York Times bestseller Discipline Equals Freedom, and the creator of the popular podcast, JOCKO PODCAST. You can sign up for email updates here.
ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATER
Jon Bozak is a creative director in NYC where he develops award-winning programs and products in the digital media advertising world. Part of the new breed of multi-tool creatives, he’s a prolific storyteller, designer, analytic problem solver and content developer who loves nothing more than meeting a new creative challenge. In 2008 he authored Demo: The Story of a Junkyard Dog, a modern fable for kids about America’s disposable culture. He currently lives in Brooklyn, NY with his insta-famous, dog ‘SmilingBrinks’. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
The Warrior Kid Code
Chapter 1: The Pumpkin and The Principal
Chapter 2: Apologies
Chapter 3: The Mirror
Chapter 4: My Problems
Chapter 5: Earn It
Chapter 6: Trouble Again
Chapter 7: Red Flares
Chapter 8: Business Owner
Chapter 9: The Last Resort
Chapter 10: Uncomfortable
Chapter 11: The Feeling of Freedom
Chapter 12: Old Shoes
Chapter 13: Consistency
Chapter 14: Lazy Day
Chapter 15: A Different World
Chapter 16: The Real Plate Face
Chapter 17: The Bruiser
Chapter 18: It Really Works
Chapter 19: Help
Chapter 20: Junkyard
Chapter 21: A Great Day
Chapter 22: Win or Learn
Chapter 23: The Code
Chapter 24: The Leader
The Warrior Kid Code
Teaser
Also by Jocko Willink
About the Author and Illustrator
Copyright
A FEIWEL AND FRIENDS BOOK
An imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
MARC’S MISSION. Copyright © 2018 by Jocko Willink. All rights reserved.
Our books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact your local bookseller or the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945 ext. 5442 or by e-mail at [email protected].
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017944823
ISBN 978-1-250-15679-2 (hardcover) / ISBN 978-1-250-15680-8 (ebook)
Feiwel and Friends logo designed by Filomena Tuosto
First edition, 2018
eISBN 9781250156808
mackids.com
The New Recruit Page 11