The First Day of School Mystery

Table of Contents

 

 

 

Ms. Benson walked through the room. She looked at the children’s work and smiled. Then the door opened. Two police officers walked in. One was very tall, and one was not so tall and had a short beard.

Ms. Benson hurried to the front of the room.

“I’m Officer Oppen,” said the not-so-tall officer. He showed her a slip of paper and asked, “Is this your car’s license-plate number?”

Ms. Benson nodded.

“Did you drive your car to school this morning?”

“Yes,” Ms. Benson said.

“You left the scene of an accident,” the tall officer told her.

“No I didn’t,” Ms. Benson said quickly. “There must be some mistake.”

“Please,” the officer with the short beard said. “You’ll have to come with us.”

DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE YOUNG CAM JANSEN SERIES FOR YOUNGER READERS!

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Registered Offices: Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England

 

First published in the United States of America by Viking,
a division of Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 2002
Published by Puffin Books, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 2003, 2005

 

Text copyright © David A. Adler, 2002
Illustrations copyright © Susanna Natti, 2002

All rights reserved

 

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE VIKING EDITION AS FOLLOWS:
Adler, David A.
Cam Jansen and the first day of school mystery / David A. Adler ;
illustrated by Susanna Natti.
p. cm.—(A Cam Jansen adventure; 22)
Summary: On her first day of fifth grade, Cam Jansen uses her
photographic memory to help the police find a car thief.
Includes a memory game.

eISBN : 978-1-101-17524-8

[1. First day of school—Fiction. 2. Schools—Fiction. 3. Memory—Fiction. 4. Mystery and detective stories.]

I. Title.
PZ7.A2615 Caaef 2002
[Fic]—dc21 01-056803

 

 

 

 

RL: 2.0

For my children, Michael, Deborah, Eddie, and Eitan.

—D.A.

 

To Emma and Michael.

—S.N.

“I give up!” Mrs. Lane said. “We’ll
never
get to school!”

Mrs. Lane was driving a school bus. It was stuck in traffic.

“Never get to school!” a small boy said, and started to cry. “Never get to school!” he said again. “How will I learn to read? How will I learn to write?”

“Don’t worry,” Cam Jansen told the boy, and smiled. “We’ll get to school.”

Cam and her friend Eric Shelton sat near the front of the bus, right behind the boy. Eric asked the boy his name.

“Tommy,” the boy said. “I’m in kindergarten.”

“Well, Tommy-in-Kindergarten,” Eric said softly, “Mrs. Lane always complains about the traffic, and we always get to school.”

“This time it’s different,” Mrs. Lane said. “This time the cars are not moving at all.”

Cam looked out the window. There was a long line of cars ahead. None of them were moving. People were standing outside their cars, trying to see what was wrong. There was also a long line of cars behind the bus.

Mrs. Lane banged on the horn.

A man in a car just ahead threw up his hands. There was nothing he could do.

Other people banged on their horns. But none of the cars moved.

“My teacher’s name is Mr. Gale,” Tommy-in-Kindergarten said. “I know because the principal sent a letter.”