telling their classmates they
WEREN’T friends?
“Okay, that’s enough for today,”
Bonnie said. “I can’t wait to get home
and edit this footage.”
Ned and Ricky both volunteered to
help Bonnie over the weekend.
“You know we really ARE friends,”
Ned whispered to Einstein later. “It’s
just hard to explain that I have daily
conversations with a hamster.”
As difficult as it was to hear,
Einstein knew it was true. “I wish I
could help you edit the video. You
KNOW I’m a whiz with sound effects.”
“You’re a whiz at a lot of things,”
Ned said. “I’ll see you Monday.”
“But who am I going home with
this weekend?” Einstein had been so
busy preparing for the video that he’d
forgotten to check the sign-out
sheet.
“Can somebody help me take
Einstein and Marlon to my car?”
Ms. Moreno asked.
Not Ms. Moreno! Didn’t any of his
classmates want to hang out with
him this weekend? No? Anybody?
Ms. Moreno bent down to Einstein’s
and Marlon’s tanks. “Are you two
ready for some FUN, FUN, FUN?”
Einstein looked at Marlon.
Marlon looked at Einstein.
“Oh brother,
another
weekend of
infomercials,”
Marlon said.
Einstein
watched as
Ned, Bonnie, and Ricky hurried to
their lockers. It was going to be a
loooooong weekend.
Is the tomato a fruit or a vegetable?
THAT is the question. From a botanical
point of view, a tomato is a fruit because
it has seeds. But a tomato has much less
sugar than other fruits, so for cooking
purposes, it’s usually considered a
vegetable. Eggplants, green beans,
cucumbers, and squashes also have seeds,
so botanically they’re fruits too—yet are
considered and cooked as vegetables.
Tomatoes aren’t the only fruit that’s
hard to categorize. Strawberries are not
technically berries at all—but believe it or
not, bananas are!
WHAT? I’M A BERRY?
NO, I’M NOT! I DON’T
KNOW WHO I AM
ANYMORE!
CHAPTER TEN
ToO MuCh
Tv
Ms. Moreno put on the TV the
second she walked in the door.
Einstein and Marlon watched her
cook dinner—slicing, dicing, chopping,
paring, mincing, and shredding a
counter full of vegetables with the
set of twenty knives she kept in a
large stand on the counter.
“Please tell me we’re getting some
of those veggies,” Marlon said.
“I can’t remember the last time I
had a radish,” Einstein added.
“And cut into the shape of a rose.”
Marlon watched Ms. Moreno carve
layers of petals into the radishes.
“Maybe these kitchen gadgets aren’t
such a bad idea after all.”
When Ms. Moreno went to answer
the doorbell, Einstein snuck out of his
tank and stole a few cut carrots to
share with Marlon.
“Allison, you’re a lifesaver!” Principal
Decker said as he entered the living
room.
“NO!” Einstein shouted.
Principal Decker entered the
kitchen and shoved Einstein’s tank
aside to make room for Twinkles.
“What’s HE doing here?” Einstein
asked.
Principal Decker told Ms. Moreno
that his wife had had an allergy
attack and he was taking her to the
doctor.
She’s probably allergic to snakes,
Einstein thought.
“I just couldn’t bear the thought of
Twinkles being alone.” Principal Decker
hovered over Twinkles’s cage as if he
were saying good-bye forever.
Ms. Moreno walked Principal
Decker back to his car.
“Why hello, you two.” Twinkles slid
across his tank toward the other
class pets. “Looks like we’re having a
sleepover.”
“No one’s shutting their eyes now
that YOU’RE here,” Marlon said. “This
weekend’s officially gone into
elevated orange alert.”
“Severe red alert,”
Einstein corrected.
“That’s just silly,”
Twinkles hissed. “No
one’s going to get
eaten in their sleep—
at least not until we’ve
played some party games.”
“The last time you tried playing a
game with us, we were climbing out
of your stomach,” Einstein said.
“Jonah and the Whale?” Twinkles
asked. “I LOVE that game!”
Ms. Moreno did
her little happy
dance around
the kitchen
table. “All my
favorite pets
are here!
This is going to be great!” She offered
each of the animals cucumbers with
decorative edges.
Einstein and Marlon enjoyed the
treat, but Twinkles pushed his aside.
“I’m going to wait until later,” he said.
“When I can get my hands on
something a little more ALIVE.”
“I think he means us,” Marlon
whispered.
One by one, Ms. Moreno took the
tanks into the living room. After two
hours of watching back-to-back
infomercials for dozens of products,
Einstein felt himself getting sucked
into the world of gadgets too.
“Those Day-Glo pens look amazing,”
he told Marlon.
“Don’t get taken in by the bells and
whistles,” Marlon warned.
Einstein ignored him. “And what
about that slushie maker? No mess,
no cleanup—we can use it when we
have our library-saving celebration.”
“I’m beginning to understand why
Ms. Moreno is so tired all the time,”
Marlon said. “It takes a lot of
willpower to stop watching these
infomercials.”
Einstein was so entranced by the
exciting products that he didn’t notice
Twinkles slithering out of the tank
and into his.
MR. SLUSHIE!
NO MESS! NO CLEANUPS!
As Einstein searched the tank for a
pencil to write down the 800 number
for the slushie maker, he noticed
Twinkles, just inches away.
“Too bad your little pal Ned isn’t
here to save you,” Twinkles said.
Einstein cowered in the corner of
the cage, looking for a way out.
“Don’t fight it,” Twinkles told him.
“Just chillax.”
“I HATE those fake combination
words,” Einstein said. “Can’t you find a
REAL word to use
?”
“Don’t be redonkulous,” Twinkles
chided.
“Stop it!” Einstein screamed as he
fought off the python. “Proper
language is important!”
“There’ll be plenty of time to make
up new words when you’re inside me.”
Twinkles wove his way around
Einstein several times.
Einstein watched Marlon hurrying
out of his lagoon to help. That was
the problem with a turtle trying
to save you—it usually got there
too late.
Thankfully Ms. Moreno hurried into
the room. “Twinkles!” she cried. “What
are you doing out of your tank?” Ms.
Moreno carefully unwound the snake
from Einstein.
“Hel-lo, I’m a python,” Twinkles said.
“You can’t give me a cucumber, stick
me next to a tasty rodent, and
expect me to just sit there. You’re
a teacher—don’t you know how the
food chain works?”
“You poor little hamster!” Ms.
Moreno told Einstein. “The class
would never forgive me if anything
happened to you.”
Einstein spent the rest of the night
cuddled in Ms. Moreno’s lap, keeping
his eye on Twinkles to make sure he
stayed away from Marlon too.
By the time the weekend was over,
Ms. Moreno had ordered a twisty-
turban, spray-on tanner, a bouncy
pillow, and an alarm clock that
changed colors. Sadly, not the slushie
maker.
Einstein hated to admit it, but
he couldn’t wait to go back to Ms.
Moreno’s house to watch more
infomercials. Next time without
Twinkles.
All living things need energy, and a food
chain is how energy gets transferred from
one species to another. Some living things
are PRODUCERS that CREATE energy
and some are CONSUMERS that USE
energy. Plants are producers; animals are
consumers.
If even just one part of the food chain
is removed, it can have devastating effects
on the other groups.
There are four main types of consumers
in a food chain:
1. Carnivores, who eat other animals
2. Omnivores, who eat other animals
as well as plants
3. Herbivores, who eat only plants
4. Scavengers, who eat dead animals
CHAPTER ELEVEN
YoU CaLl ThIs A
ViDeO?
Before class started, Einstein told
Ned about his exciting time with
Ms. Moreno. “You really should think
about getting that slushie maker.
It was amazing.”
“I could’ve used it this weekend,”
Ned said. “I worked hard editing
that video with Bonnie and Ricky.”
Bonnie looked at Ned suspiciously.
“You’re talking to yourself again, Ned.
Want to watch the video?”
Einstein and Marlon scurried to the
edge of their tanks so they could see.
Bonnie hit PLAY. Music filled the
room.
“I like the opening theme song,”
Marlon said.
Bonnie told the others she had
written the song with her computer’s
music program. For a moment
Einstein felt bad—it would’ve been
fun to be part of the creative team
instead of almost being eaten by
Twinkles. He’d just have to settle for
being the star of the Save the
Library video.
“Watch this part—it’s great.” Ned
turned up the volume.
Einstein watched Marlon scurrying
across the screen, chasing the olive.
“You sped up the film,” Marlon said.
“It looks like I’m running superfast.”
That’s a first, Einstein thought. He
inched closer to the screen as the
camera zoomed in on his tank. “This
is where I talk about all the great
reference books in the library!”
He quieted the others down so he
could hear.
But instead of listening to himself
talk about his favorite books, the
on-screen Einstein was singing in a
super-high voice. About candy corn.
“Why do I sound like a Munchkin
from The Wizard of Oz?” Einstein
asked. “And why am I singing about
candy?”
Ned laughed. “Bonnie recorded this
hilarious song, then we sped it up and
added it to your video.”
“It sounds like I inhaled a helium
balloon!” Einstein complained. “I was
talking about BOOKS, not CANDY.”
“This is so much funnier,” Marlon
said.
“I thought so too,” Ned agreed.
“IT’S NOT FUNNY,” Einstein yelled.
“IT’S STUPID! No one’s going to
watch a hamster sing about candy
corn!”
“Why not?” Marlon asked. “The
Hamster on a Piano video is huge.”
“Exactly,” Ned said. “Bonnie posted
your candy corn video on Sunday,
and it’s already gotten eight hundred
views.”
“That’s great!” Marlon said.
“It’s NOT great!” Einstein replied. “I
look like a moron obsessed with candy
instead of a hamster who knows a lot
about math, art, and science.”
“I think candy corn is more fun,”
Marlon said.
“The last frame of the video asks
people to donate to our school
library,” Bonnie said. “We’ve raised
five hundred dollars so far!”
Even Einstein had to admit that
was a good start.
During the day, students who
usually didn’t visit the class pets
(believe it or not, there were a few)
came over to hang out with Einstein
and Marlon.
“Hey, Einstein!” Tony said. “Do your
candy corn dance!”
“I want my candy corn!” Linda said
in a fake, high, and totally annoying
voice.
“I was talking about things you
can find in the library!” Einstein said.
“I was talking about skeletons and
Picasso and polygons!”
“The only polygon anyone wants to
talk about is an orange, yellow, and
white triangle you can eat,” Marlon
said.
This isn’t good, Einstein thought.
Not good at all.
The artist Pablo Picasso produced
more than fifty thousand paintings,
ceramics, drawings, prints, tapestries,
rugs, and sculptures. His full name is
actually twenty-three words long: Pablo
Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan
Nepomuceno María de los Remedios
Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr
Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso. No other
artist has had more paintings stolen than
Picasso. He created his first painting when
he was nine years old, and the fi
rst word
he ever spoke as a child was the Spanish
word for pencil.
HIS SIGNATURE
TAKES UP THE WHOLE
PAINTING!
CHAPTER TWELVE
A GiAnT
MiStAkE
For the next week, the entire school
got into the act—bringing in bags of
candy corn and making candy corn
puppets, candy corn banners, candy
corn dioramas, and candy corn
posters. The students took turns
singing the candy corn song over the
PA system each morning.
Reading the comments on YouTube
didn’t help either. On the one hand,
Einstein enjoyed being called “cuddly,”
“adorable,” and “lovable,” but he
DIDN’T like being referred to as “silly,”
“nutty,” and “hare-brained.” (That one
really hurt—hares have terrible long-
term memories. A hare would never
be able to remember all the Tasty
Tidbits Einstein used in his show.)
“I feel like a moron,” Einstein said.
“The butt of a lame joke.”
“A joke that’s raised seven hundred
dollars to save the library so far,” Ned
said. “Stop complaining.”
Einstein didn’t have to be a math
genius to know that the town needed
to raise a lot more money than that
to reopen the library.
“I took your suggestion and
started a petition to let students talk
at the town meeting.” Ned held up a
Einstein the Class Hamster Saves the Library (Einstein the Class Hamster Series) Page 3