Troublemaker

by Andrew Clements

  Truman Student Is Honored

  It’s a pleasure to announce that sixth grader Clay Hensley recently earned an honorable mention in a countywide art contest. More than two hundred students in grades five through eight submitted self-portraits for this competition. One grand prize was awarded, and three honorable mentions. We are all very proud of Clay, and here is what the contest judges had to say:

  In addition to his fine photo-realistic pencil work, Clayton Hensley has added humor and intensity by including two faces in this remarkable self-portrait. The half-removed mask he is holding is especially interesting. It is clearly the same boy, but with the addition of the long nose and ears of a donkey.

  Troublemaker

  READING GROUP GUIDE

  DISCUSSION TOPICS

  1. List at least three things you think you know about Clay after reading only the first page of Troublemaker. What is your opinion of Clay at the end of Chapter One?

  2. Who is Mrs. Ormin? How does she help readers understand Clay’s story? How does Clay feel about Mr. Dash, Mr. Kelling, and Mrs. Ormin? Is he angry at them? Why do you think Clay behaves the way he does in the early chapters of the book?

  3. What do you think Clay expected would happen after Mr. Dash and his classmates see the donkey picture? What events resulting from the inappropriate drawing surprise Clay?

  4. If you were the school principal, would you have dealt with Clay’s disrespectful cartoon in the same way as Mr. Kelling? What message would you have wanted to get across to Clay? Explain your answer.

  5. When we first meet Clay’s brother, Mitch, he has just been released from jail. Why was he there? How have Clay, his mom, his dad, and Mitch himself reacted to this experience?

  6. Is the Mitch who came home from jail the person Clay was expecting? How does Mitch respond when Clay shows him the donkey portrait?

  7. Why does Mitch want Clay to start behaving better? Why does he ask Clay to trust him? Why does Clay decide to do so? How do you decide whether or not to trust a person?

  8. List at least three things that Mitch makes Clay change about his appearance. Why might this help Clay make the more important change—to his attitude? Do the clothes and hairstyles of your classmates affect the way you think about them?

  9. On his first day at school with his new look, what opportunities for trouble does Clay resist? How does Clay’s friend Hank react to the new Clay? How do Clay’s other classmates and teachers react?

  10. Why does Clay have so many suspects to consider when he wonders who defaced his self-portrait? What does this say about Clay? Why does Clay stay home on Halloween night?

  11. How does his family react when the police come looking for Clay? Why is the trust Clay put in Mitch important now? How else does trust play a role at this moment in the story?

  12. What does Clay realize about his father’s attitude toward himself and his big brother? Is Clay surprised by his realization? Why or why not?

  13. Do you think Mr. Kelling was right to suspect Clay of painting his door? Would you have suspected Clay? Was Clay right to go to Mr. Kelling’s house the next day? How does Clay look back on past Halloweens now?

  14. Compare Clay’s drawing of the donkey-face principal to Hank’s destruction of Clay’s self-portrait. How are these actions similar? What do you think Clay comes to understand about each of them? Do you think Clay and Hank will remain friends? Explain your answer.

  15. How is the transcript of first-grader Clay’s visit to the principal’s office different from the transcript of his last sixth-grade visit? What do you think the future holds for Clay?

  ACTIVITIES AND RESEARCH

  1. Imagine you are another student in Mr. Dash’s art class, along with Clay. Write a two- to three-paragraph journal entry describing the day Clay drew the donkey-principal picture and how you felt about it. Consider noting how you imagine Mr. Kelling will feel when he sees the picture and/or what you think of Clay.

  2. In the character of Clay a week before the story begins, write a one-page letter to your brother Mitch in jail. How are you feeling? What do you want to do with Mitch when he returns home? What do you want him to know?

  3. Get a copy of your school’s student handbook or rules of conduct. Find out what type of punishment you think Clay would have received if he had been a student at your school when he drew the donkey cartoon. With friends or classmates, discuss what you feel would have been the most appropriate discipline for Clay.

  4. Cut pictures of kids and teenagers from old magazines and newspapers. Holding up one picture at a time, ask classmates to describe the kind of students or friends they imagine each person would be, based on their clothing and hairstyles. Discuss your results. Do most people make the same decisions about the pictures they see? What clothes, hairstyles, colors, or accessories tend to cause people to make assumptions about an individual? Is it right to make these assumptions? Write a dress code for your school based on this discussion.

  5. When Clay changes his behavior, his goals change too. He begins to take drawing more seriously. On a sheet of paper, write down your goal or goals for the school year. Goals can be related to schoolwork, sports, other activities, your family, or your community. Below your goal(s), write down what attitudes and actions might help you achieve these goals. If desired, discuss your goals with a parent, teacher, or other adult who might have some suggestions to help you reach them.

  6. With a friend or classmate, role-play a conversation between Clay and Hank in which the truth about the defaced self-portrait is revealed, or a conversation between Clay’s mother and father in which they discuss whether or not to believe Clay is innocent of the Halloween graffiti incident. Then discuss with friends or classmates whether you think there is a “right” and a “wrong” person in either one of these scenarios.

  7. Clay is a talented artist who, at the end of the story, discovers that drawing can be even more rewarding than pulling pranks. Go to the library or online to find careers that would be good for someone with Clay’s talents, such as animator or graphic designer. Make a list of at least ten jobs to recommend to Clay.

  8. In the character of Clay, write a paragraph describing how and why you decided to include the donkey mask in your prize-winning self-portrait.

  9. Use colored pencils to make your own self-portrait. Include your face as well as at least one other object or image that shows something special about your goals or your attitude.

  CERTAINTY

  It was a sunny spring morning, but there was murder in the air. Jordan Johnston was killing Pomp and Circumstance. Actually, the whole elementary school orchestra was involved. It was a musical massacre.

  But Jordan’s violin was especially deadly. It screeched like a frightened owl. Mr. Graisha glared at her, snapping his baton up and down, side to side, fighting to keep all twenty-three students playing in unison. It was a losing battle. He glanced up at the clock and then waved both arms as if he needed to stop a freight train.

  “All right, all right, stop playing—everyone, stop. Stop!” He mopped his forehead with a handkerchief and smiled as best he could. “I think that’s enough for this morning. Don’t forget that this is Thursday, and we have a special rehearsal right here after school—don’t be late. And if you have any free time at all during the day, please practice. We are not going to play well together if you can’t play well by yourself, right? Practice!”

  Jordan put away her violin carefully. She loved the instrument, and she was very good at putting it away. She was also good at polishing the rich brown wood and keeping the strings in tune, and keeping the bow in tip-top condition. It was playing the thing that gave her trouble.

  But she was not going to give up on it.

  She had given up on so many things during the past eight months. The violin was her last stand, her line in the sand. She was bound and determined to become a gifted violinist—instead of a scary one.

  She was still a member of the sixth-grade chorus, but she didn’t fee
l that was much of an accomplishment. Every other sixth grader was in it too.

  Jordan wasn’t shy about singing. She sang right out. She sang so loudly that Mr. Graisha had taken her aside one day. He was in charge of all things musical at Baird Elementary School—band, orchestra, chorus, everything.

  “Jordan, you have great . . . enthusiasm. But it would be good if you didn’t sing louder than all the other kids around you. The audience needs to hear them too, don’t you think?”

  Jordan got the message: Your voice isn’t so good.

  She almost always sang the correct notes, she was sure of that. She wasn’t a terrible singer—just not good enough to be the loudest one. Her voice was about average.

  Her friend Kylie had a gorgeous voice, high and sweet and clear—but she was so timid. Kylie barely made a squeak during chorus practice, and she hardly whispered at concerts. It drove Jordan crazy.

  She wanted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her and shout, “Kylie, if I had a voice like yours, I would already live in Hollywood—no kidding, I would be a star by now! What is wrong with you?”

  Jordan was a careful observer of all the talented kids at her school—the ones who got the trophies and awards, the ones who were written up in the local newspaper, the ones who were obviously going to go on and do amazing and wonderful things all the rest of their lives. They were the gifted ones, the talented ones, the special ones.

  And she was not one of them.

  After her violin was tucked safely into its bulletproof case, Jordan began putting away the music stands. She carried them one by one and stacked them over in the dark corner of the stage next to the heavy folds of the red velvet curtain. When all twenty-three stands were arranged neatly, she folded the metal chairs and then stacked each one onto a rolling cart. She also tipped Mr. Graisha’s heavy podium up onto its rollers and wheeled it over to its place next to the grand piano.

  It was already warm in the auditorium, and she leaned against the piano a moment. Moving that wooden podium always made her feel like a weight lifter, and she didn’t want to start sweating so early in the day. It had been hotter than normal all week long.

  Jordan had volunteered at the start of the school year to be the orchestra stage manager. She arrived early for each rehearsal and set up the chairs and the music stands. Then, after rehearsal, she stayed to put them all away again.

  She didn’t do this to get on Mr. Graisha’s good side—the only sure way to do that was to be a super-talented musician. She just liked helping out. She also liked the stage to be orderly. She knew how to arrange the chairs and music stands correctly, and she understood how to put everything away again, just right.

  Her best friend, Nikki Scanlon, had wanted to be the co-manager, but Jordan enjoyed doing the work herself. Also, by the time she finished putting things away three mornings a week, Jordan was sometimes by herself, alone on the big stage. She enjoyed that, too.

  And today, like the other times she’d been alone in there, she went to the center of the stage and looked out over all the empty seats.

  Baird Elementary School had once been the town’s high school, and the auditorium was in a separate building off to one side. It was a large room. Row after row of theater seats sloped up to the back wall.

  Jordan smiled modestly and walked to the front edge of the stage. Looking out over the crowd, she lowered her eyes then took a long, graceful bow.

  The people were standing up now, whistling and hooting and clapping like crazy. She smiled and bowed again, then gave a special nod to her mom and dad, there in the front row. She even smiled sweetly at her big sister, Allie, and her little brother, Tim. Of course, Tim didn’t notice. He was only four, and he was staring at the blue-and-red stage lights with one finger stuck in his nose.

  A young girl in a blue dress ran down the center aisle from the back of the hall, stretched up on tiptoes, and handed Jordan two dozen yellow roses—her favorite flower. With the bouquet cradled in one arm, Jordan took a final bow and backed away. The red velvet curtain parted for just a moment, and she slipped backstage.

  There were people asking for autographs, plus some journalists with their cameras flashing, and a crush of happy friends, eager to congratulate her and wish her well. It was wonderful, and Jordan savored each second, as she had so many times before.

  Brrnnnnnng!

  The first bell—six seconds of harsh, brain-rattling noise. It echoed in the empty auditorium. Outside behind the main building, kids whooped and yelled as they ran from the playground and lined up at the doors.

  The intruding sounds did not touch Jordan’s joy and certainty. She felt absolutely sure that one day her moment of triumph would be real, a part of her life.

  But why would all those people be applauding her?

  She had no idea.

  CHAPTER TWO

  PRETTINESS

  Jordan’s memory was a powerful force. A moment from the past would sneak up and kidnap her and then force her to think about it until she discovered something she didn’t know she knew.

  On this particular June morning, a thought grabbed her as she pushed open the heavy stage door and began walking to the main school building. She remembered a book she had read near the end of fifth grade.

  It was a famous one, Sarah, Plain and Tall, and for a couple of days there, Jordan had wished her mom was dead. Not really. But that’s what had happened in that story, and it caught her imagination.

  This dad lived with his daughter and son, and they all felt sad because the mom had died. But there was a woman, Sarah, coming to visit, and she might become the dad’s new wife—a new mom.

  It was deliciously sad. Jordan loved sad stories.

  Jordan also loved this woman in the book right away, this Sarah. She was plain, and she knew it, and she didn’t try to hide it from anybody. She even came right out and said it to the man who might become her husband: I’m plain. And tall.

  Jordan was plain too. That’s what this memory was forcing her to think about.

  But it wasn’t like being plain was some new discovery for Jordan. She had always known that. She was plain, but, unlike Sarah, she wasn’t tall. She wasn’t short, either.

  She was Jordan, Plain and Average.

  Being pretty and being tall were two of the ways Jordan did not feel special, and they both felt important. Especially prettiness.

  Her face was her face, and there wasn’t much she could do about it.

  Of course, she had seen TV shows about how women could change their faces. And sometimes a woman looked better afterward . . . sort of. Except she never looked quite like herself anymore.

  Jordan couldn’t imagine ever doing that. She had a smaller version of her dad’s nose, and she knew she’d miss that if it went away. Also her mom’s eyebrows. Jordan knew she wasn’t going to be famous for her beauty. And she was okay with that . . . until she started thinking about boys.

  There was one particular boy, Jonathan Cardley. He played cello in the orchestra. As Jordan walked toward the main school building that morning, she spotted him with his friends over near the playground doors.

  Jonathan had straight brown hair. Sometimes it hung down a little too far onto his forehead and covered his eyes, which she didn’t like. They were nice eyes, a greenish-blue color. He was taller than most of the other sixth-grade boys, and Jordan thought he always looked good, no matter what he was wearing. He looked especially good when he wore jeans and a white collared shirt, like today.

  Jonathan seemed to care a lot about prettiness. Most of the time he only talked to the nicest-looking girls—including Kylie, her friend with the gorgeous voice.

  But at least Jonathan knew who Jordan was. He even talked to her now and then. He would say, “Hey, Jordan—have you seen Kylie?”

  Kylie, Cute and Tall.

  Jordan wished that all the really pretty girls would disappear, one by one, until she was left as the cutest girl at school. Then Jonathan Cardley would be asking some other girl, �
��Hey, have you seen Jordan?”

  A lot of girls would have to vanish.

  Jordan pulled open the heavy door at the end of the walkway, took a left, and headed for the sixth-grade hall. It was a separate part of the school because all the sixth graders switched classes this year, just like they would next year at the junior high.

  Jordan wasn’t looking forward to homeroom today. She never looked forward to homeroom.

  Kylie would be there, same as always, but she wasn’t the problem. Ever since they’d become friends during fourth grade, Kylie had never said one mean word, never teased her about a single mess-up, never made her feel plain or untalented or awkward.

  Kylie, Kind and Cool.

  And Kylie had been nice to her when they’d been on the sixth-grade soccer team back in September and October, and then during basketball season, too. Of course, Kylie had been a star on both teams—Kylie, Strong and Skilled.

  No, the problem with homeroom wasn’t Kylie. The problem was . . . someone else.

  Jordan did not want to even think the name.

  Because this had been a good day so far. Yes, it was too warm, but it was bright and sunny, and it was one day closer to summer vacation. And the best part of the day so far? She had managed to avoid that person during orchestra practice. Now, if she could just make it through homeroom without any contact, then they’d be in different classes until gym.

  As Jordan went toward the sixth-grade hall, she made herself walk more slowly. She also planned to stop into the girls’ room. She wanted to arrive at homeroom just as the bell rang. She did not want to spend one extra second anywhere near her.

  Andrew Clements is the author of more than sixty books for children, including the enormously popular Frindle; the New York Times bestsellers No Talking and Lunch Money, and the Benjamin Pratt & the Keepers of the School series. He lives with his wife in central Massachusetts, and has four grown children.