The Green School Mystery

by David A. Adler

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  A Cam Jansen Memory Game

  Disappearing Dimes

  “And now,” Dr. Prell said, “Mr. Day will wheel out all those dimes and tell us how much money we raised.”

  Mr. Day walked into the school.

  Dr. Prell smiled. “We raised a lot,” she said. “We have enough dimes to help pay for two skylights and a recycling bin.”

  Mr. Day came back outside, pulling a wagon toward the flagpole. On the wagon was the large wooden box. Mr. Day and another teacher lifted the box onto the table.

  “Let’s see those dimes,” Dr. Prell said.

  Mr. Day took the lid off the box and looked in. He seemed surprised.

  “Look,” he whispered to Dr. Prell.

  Dr. Prell looked in the box. Cam and Eric looked in, too. Several bricks were in the box. But the dimes were gone.

  PUFFIN BOOKS

  Published by the Penguin Group

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  First published in the United States of America by Viking,

  a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 2008

  Published by Puffin Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 2009

  Text copyright © David A. Adler, 2008

  Illustrations copyright © Penguin Young Readers Group, 2008

  All rights reserved

  THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE VIKING EDITION AS FOLLOWS:

  Adler, David A.

  Cam Jansen and the green school mystery / by David A. Adler ; illustrated by Joy Allen.

  p. cm.

  Summary: On Green Day, Cam and her classmates discuss ways to protect the environment,

  but after the disappearance of thousands of nickels collected by students recycling cans and

  bottles, Cam uses her photographic memory to find the thief.

  eISBN : 978-1-101-13630-0

  The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume

  any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  For Jacob,

  my sweet and very smart grandson

  —D.A.

  To my grandson Curt,

  a real helper in keeping my yard green!

  —J.A.

  Chapter One

  “Happy Green Day,” Cam Jansen said to her friend Eric Shelton.

  Eric smiled and said, “Happy Green Day, Cam.”

  Cam and Eric were walking to school.

  “My sisters are going on the bus,” Eric told Cam. “Mom said it’s too far for them to walk. But it’s not too far for us.”

  “I plan to do lots more walking,” Cam said. “It’s good exercise and it doesn’t use fossil fuels.”

  Cam and her classmates had been studying what they could do to help the environment. Today there would be a Green Day assembly at Cam and Eric’s school.

  Eric showed Cam the bag he was carrying. “I brought in six more empty soda cans,” he said.

  Cam said, “I have four. I think we brought in more than anyone else.”

  During the first week of school, Dr. Prell, the school’s principal, had visited Cam and Eric’s class. She’d asked the children to bring in empty soda cans and bottles.

  Dr. Prell had said, “We’ll take them to the recycling center. Recycling is good for the environment. And there’s a bonus. For each can or bottle we bring in, we’ll get a nickel. I hope we bring in lots of cans and bottles and get lots of nickels. If we do, I’ll change every two nickels for a dime. Lots of nickels would be too heavy to bring back to school. Your nickels and dimes and the money we made at the book fair will be able to pay for skylights in the front hall. Then, on sunny days, we won’t need to turn lights on. That’s good for the environment, too.”

  Children brought in lots of cans and bottles. At first, Mr. Day, the gym teacher, kept the dimes in a large glass bowl. He set the bowl in a locked display case near the gym. When there were too many dimes to fit in the bowl, he put them in paper rolls. He kept the rolls in the display case. Each roll held fifty dimes. It was near the end of the school year. There were lots of dimes in the case.

  “We’re almost there,” Eric said, “and I’m not tired. We should walk to school every day.”

  At the side of the school, two men were taking bricks and wood off a large truck.

  “That must be for the skylights,” Eric said. “I’ll bet Dr. Prell tells us today that we raised enough money to pay for them.”

  There were also milk and bread delivery trucks by the side of the school. The milk delivery man was leaving the school. He pushed an empty cart past Cam and Eric. A man walking toward the school was pushing a cart with a big, almost-empty bread box. In it were just a few wrapped loaves of bread.

  Cam and Eric walked around to the front of the school. Lots of children had walked. There were buses, too, stopped by the entrance.

  “Hey, look at me,” Danny Pace called to Cam and Eric. “At least I didn’t forget what today is.”

  Danny was wearing a green shirt and green pants. He had even painted his sneakers green.

  Cam and Eric waited for Danny at the corner.

  “Green Day doesn’t mean we should wear green,” Eric told Danny. “It means we should help keep our world green.”

  “Oh, he knows,” Cam said. “He’s just trying to be funny.”

  Danny stood real straight. He smiled and told Cam, “Take a picture of me. I want you to remember how great I look in green. You don’t use film, so that’s good for the environment.”

  Cam looked at Danny. She blinked her eyes and said, “Click!”

  Cam has an amazing memory. People call it a photographic memory because it’s as if she has a picture in her head of everything she’s seen. When Cam wants to remember something, she just looks at the pictures she has in her head.

  Cam says, “Click!” when she wants to remember something. She says “click!” is the sound her mental camera makes.

  Eric said, “I’ll also take your picture.”

  Eric looked at Danny. He blinked his eyes and said, “Click!”

  “Now close your eyes and turn around,” Danny said.

  Cam and Eric closed their eyes and turned.

  “What’s for lunch today?” Danny asked.

  “Hey, that’s not fair,” Eric said. “I looked at you and your clothes. Today’s lunch is not on your clothes.” />
  Danny laughed. “It will be,” he said. “We’re having sloppy Joes. Before I’m done, tomato sauce will be everywhere.”

  “Well, I know what color your shirt is,” Eric said. “It’s green.”

  “How many buttons does it have?”

  Eric thought for a moment. Then he shook his head and said, “I don’t know.”

  “I know,” Cam said. “There are six buttons down the front of your shirt and one on the pocket. You also have button-down collars, so that’s two more. Altogether, your shirt has nine buttons.”

  “Yeah,” Danny said. “Nine.”

  Cam’s real name is Jennifer, but when people found out about her amazing memory, they called her “The Camera.” Soon “The Camera” became just “Cam.”

  “Go on,” Eric said. “Ask us something else.”

  Cam and Eric waited, but Danny didn’t ask another question.

  “Go on, Danny,” Eric said again. “I know what color your pants and your sneakers are. And you’re not carrying your book bag.”

  Cam and Eric waited, but Danny still didn’t ask another question.

  Cam opened her eyes and turned around.

  “Hey,” Cam said. “Danny is gone! I’ll bet he went into school. It’s late. We’d better hurry.”

  Chapter Two

  Cam and Eric hurried into school. Their classroom was near the end of the hall, close to the gym and the cafeteria.

  “Look,” Eric said as they walked down the hall. “Mr. Day is taking out the dimes.”

  The display case near the gym was open. Mr. Day was putting the rolls of dimes into a large wooden box.

  Eric told Mr. Day, “I brought in six more cans. Cam brought in four.”

  “Great!” Mr. Day said. “That’s fifty cents.”

  Cam asked, “How much money did we raise?”

  “Take a look,” Mr. Day said. “Every roll has fifty dimes. That’s five dollars.”

  Lots of rolls were neatly lined up in the box.

  “There’s enough here to help pay for the skylights,” Mr. Day said. “At the assembly, I’ll announce how much we raised. Later today, I’ll take all the dimes to the bank.”

  Cam and Eric went to their classroom. The shades were up. The lights were off. Their teacher, Ms. Benson, was using sunlight instead of electric light.

  Cam and Eric gave Ms. Benson their soda cans. Then they went to their seats.

  Green Hints: What you can do to help the environment was written on the board.

  “Copy the Green Hints into your notebooks,” Ms. Benson said. “And please use both sides of the paper. Saving paper is saving the environment.”

  Eric opened his notebook. He started to copy Ms. Benson’s Green Hints.

  During the day, use sunlight instead of lightbulbs.

  Whenever you can, walk don’t ride.

  Don’t waste water.

  Whenever you can, use cold water instead of hot water.

  Cam didn’t copy the hints. She just looked at the board, blinked her eyes, an said, “Click!

  “I’m saving paper,” she whispered to Eric. “I can remember the hints without writing them.”

  “I can’t,” Eric said, and he continued to copy from the board.

  Recycle bottles, cans, and newspapers.

  Don’t waste food. Take only as much as you think you can eat.

  Plant a tree.

  “Please close your notebooks,” Ms. Benson told the class. “It’s time to go outside.”

  The children followed Ms. Benson.

  The hall was crowded. Every class in the school was on its way to the assembly.

  “Hey,” Danny asked, “who knows what’s yellow and green?”

  Eric looked at Danny’s green shirt, pants, and sneakers and answered, “You eating a banana.”

  “Hey, that’s good,” Danny said. “But it’s wrong.”

  Ms. Benson turned and faced her class. “Please,” she called to the children, “stay in a straight line and walk quietly.”

  The children followed Ms. Benson. When they reached the front door of the school, Ms. Benson held up her hand and the children stopped.

  Outside, next to the flagpole, were a table, a few chairs, and a microphone. Dr. Prell waited there and watched as Mr. Day told the teachers where their classes should stand.

  Danny whispered to Eric, “You still didn’t tell me what’s yellow and green.”

  “Shh,” Eric said.

  Mr. Day waved to Ms. Benson, who led her class to the right of the flagpole.

  “A moldy chicken,” Danny whispered. “That’s what’s yellow and green.”

  “That’s not even funny,” Eric told him. “And we should be quiet.”

  “Good morning,” Dr. Prell said. “This is a great day for our school. It’s a green day, and we’re a green school. I am proud to raise this flag.”

  Dr. Prell pulled a rope and raised a large green flag. Children cheered as it moved up the flagpole. It stopped just beneath the red, white, and blue American flag.

  “We’re a green school because we care about the environment.”

  Children cheered.

  “I have an award for the four students who brought in the most soda cans and bottles. They are Ashanti Stevens, Michael Teller, Jennifer Jansen, and Eric Shelton. Please step forward.”

  Cam, Eric, and the other two children stood by the flagpole. Dr. Prell pinned a large gold-and-green button on each of the children’s shirts.

  “And now,” Dr. Prell said, “Mr. Day will wheel out all those dimes and tell us how much money we raised.”

  Mr. Day walked into the school.

  Dr. Prell smiled. “We raised a lot,” she said. “We have enough dimes to help pay for two skylights and a recycling bin.”

  Children cheered.

  “I hope you will continue to bring cans and bottles for recycling. The money we raise now will be used to buy solar panels.”

  Mr. Day came back outside, pulling a wagon toward the flagpole. On the wagon was the large wooden box. Mr. Day and another teacher lifted the box onto the table.

  “Let’s see those dimes,” Dr. Prell said.

  Mr. Day took the lid off the box and looked in. He seemed surprised.

  “Look,” he whispered to Dr. Prell.

  Dr. Prell looked in the box. Cam and Eric looked in, too. Several bricks were in the box. But the dimes were gone.

  Chapter Three

  “What happened?” Dr. Prell whispered.

  Mr. Day shook his head. He didn’t know.

  “I put all the rolls of dimes in the box,” Mr. Day said. “I put on the lid. Then I came out here to tell the children where to stand.”

  Dr. Prell looked in the box again. There were still just several bricks in it.

  “What do I do now?” Mr. Day asked.

  “Please,” Dr. Prell whispered, “tell the children how much money they raised.”

  “But there’s nothing in there,” Mr. Day whispered. “All the money is gone.”

  “Don’t tell them that! The children were great. They collected lots of bottles and cans. They should know how well they did.”

  Mr. Day stepped up to the microphone.

  “You brought in thousands of bottles and cans. Every day after school, I took them to the recycling center where I got thousands of dimes, which I put into rolls.”

  Dr. Prell leaned close to Mr. Day and whispered, “They want to know how much money was raised.”

  “In all, there were one hundred and eighty rolls of dimes.”

  The children waited.

  “That’s nine hundred dollars.”

  The children and teachers cheered.

  Cam whispered to Eric, “That’s how much was stolen.”

  “But you’ll find all those dimes,” Eric whispered. “They were here this morning. What happened to them is a mystery, and you’ll solve it.”

  “I’m not so sure,” Cam said, and shook her head.

  Dr. Prell thanked Mr. Day. Then she
thanked all the children.

  “Congratulations. You did a great job. Keep bringing in bottles and cans. There’s lots more we can do to help our environment. Now please wait for Mr. Day to call your class. Then return to your rooms.”

  The four children who had won gold-and-green buttons were told not to talk about the missing dimes. Two of the winners, Ashanti Stevens and Michael Teller, returned to their teachers. Cam and Eric didn’t. They stepped back and stood by the flagpole. They watched as Mr. Day called one class after another.

  When the classes had all entered the building, Mr. Day turned to Dr. Prell. “I think I can solve this mystery,” he said. “After all, those dimes were really heavy. No one could have carried them out of the school. They must be hidden somewhere.”

  Eric said, “We’re good at finding things.”

  Dr. Prell turned and noticed Cam and Eric.

  “Why aren’t you with your class?” she asked.

  Eric pointed to Cam and said, “Cam has solved lots of mysteries. I’ll bet she can find the missing dimes.”

  “We just want to help,” Cam said.

  “They’re good kids,” Mr. Day said. “And Cam has a great memory. She saw me this morning when I was emptying the display case. Maybe she remembers something.”

  “Well,” Dr. Prell said, “do you remember anything?”

  Cam closed her eyes. She said, “Click!

  “This morning,” Cam said, with her eyes still closed, “we saw Mr. Day put rolls of dimes into the wooden box.”

  “Lots of rolls,” Eric said.

  “They were very heavy,” Cam said.

  “That’s right,” Mr. Day said. “No one could have just carried all of them out of the building. I think they’re still here, but there are lots of places to look. Cam and Eric can help us.”

  Dr. Prell said, “I don’t like children to miss their lessons.”

  “Please,” Mr. Day said.

  Dr. Prell looked at Cam and Eric. “Okay,” she told Mr. Day. “They can help you look. But only until lunchtime. If you don’t find the dimes by then, they have to go back to class.”