Planning the Impossible - Mavis Jukes - Paperback

WHO'S CLASS COURIER?" Mr. Elmo mumbled. He looked at the job list written on the board. This is ridiculous, thought River. "I am," she told him. Mr. Elmo held up a stack of flyers. "I would like you to make sure every upper-grade teacher has one of these to post before the end of the day. And please give Mrs. Bagley one for the office bulletin board." "Okay," said River. He put the stack on his desk. "Alrighty, then." He helped himself to the one on top and carefully hung it from a clip above the board. fourth annual powwow at the park was written above a photo of a Native American man in spectacular dance regalia. "For those of you who are interested in beefing up your social studies grade," said Mr. Elmo, looking straight at Henry, "you can get twenty culture points for attending the powwow. It's this Saturday, in Live Oak Park." Beefing up? What a distasteful expression--especially for a vegetarian, which River sometimes was. Unless an Indian taco got within snapping distance. River didn't need to beef any grades up; she was a straight-A student. But she'd gone to every last powwow with her mom, dad and older sister, Megan. She even knew one of the Pomo dancers; they'd gone to preschool together. Yup. River would be going to the powwow again this year. And scarfin' down an Indian taco. Mmmmm-mmmm. Spiced ground beef and garlic, refried beans, diced tomatoes, lettuce, grated cheese and hot sauce-- and onions--on fry bread. Wait a minute! The powwow was this weekend? Well, that sucks, she told herself. River not only had to miss the All-Stars baseball practice on Friday after school--now she'd also have to miss the powwow. All because Aunt Colleen was coming to San Francisco from Chicago! Darn it anyway! "Uh--Mr. Elmo?" said Kirstin. "My guidebook group can't go to that powwow thing." She paused. "We'll all be chillin' at our limo party this Saturday." Like anybody cares, thought River. "And there's no way we're rescheduling," said Kirstin. "We're totally psyched about finishing the party guide. The only thing we can't really figure out is, like, whether to call our guidebook Guide to a Sweet Ride or How to Have a Limo Blast." She surveyed the class with a self-satisfied expression. "Kirstin?" said Mr. Elmo. "Why shouldn't having a limo shindig include attending a powwow for an hour? Any limo driver worth his salt will know his way to Live Oak Park." "Mr. Elmo?" said a small voice. "E-e-e-e-yes, Margaret?" "I have a complaint." "Well, hang on, Margaret. I haven't even got the schedule up and you're already griping." Mr. Elmo turned his back and began writing the day's schedule on the board. A little tuft of gray hair was poking out of the hole in the back of his Orioles cap, between the plastic strap and the fabric. Frightful! River opened up the clasp envelope that held the first draft of her group's Guidebook for Sixth-Grade Parents. She located the sheet of paper that said Unacceptable Expressions for Adults to Use in the Presence of Preadolescents and wrote alrighty, then, beefing up, worth his salt and shindig at the bottom of the list. Then she quickly flipped to the first draft of the rules section of the guidebook and, in the margin, jotted down No hair poking out of hats. She nibbled on her bottom lip for a minute and added No allowing hat to squash down hair and make it stick to head. Once on, leave hat on. This rule pertained to River's father, who actually had hair. Not Elmo. Who had fringe. She glanced up at the schedule Mr. Elmo was writing. So far, so good--except that it was a Furley morning. During most of the sixth grade, three mornings a weJukes, Mavis is the author of 'Planning the Impossible - Mavis Jukes - Paperback' with ISBN 9780440412304 and ISBN 0440412307.