Who's Afraid of Fourth Grade?

Table of Contents

 

 

For Bonnie B.
A super special friend and editor—N.K.

 

 

To Rauni and John,
with love—J&W

 

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Text copyright © 2004 by Nancy Krulik. Illustrations copyright © 2004 by John and Wendy. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. S.A.

 

 

eISBN : 978-1-101-09803-5

“Hurry up, Katie,” Suzanne Lock urged her best friend, Katie Carew. “I'm just
dying
to find out what teacher I've got this year!”

Every year, Katie and Suzanne made this same trip on the day before school began. Even though Cherrydale Elementary School was closed, the class lists were posted on the front doors. All the kids in town came to the school to find out who their teachers would be—and which of their friends would be in their classes.

Katie picked up her speed. She was excited to find out who her fourth-grade teacher was going to be too.

“Girls, wait up!” Katie's mother shouted, following close behind them.

As she raced toward the school building, Katie thought back on how she'd felt this time last year. She remembered how upset she and Suzanne had been when they'd found their names listed under class 3A. That was Mrs. Derkman's class. Mrs. Derkman was the strictest teacher in the whole school!

But they had survived Mrs. Derkman
and
third grade. Now they were going to be in fourth grade. The
Upper
Elementary School!

Katie knew that fourth grade would be full of changes. In fourth grade, you got real textbooks to keep for the whole year—not just worksheets that the teachers handed out. The fourth, fifth, and sixth-graders all got to play in the big yard—the one
without
the swings and seesaws. Plus, the Upper School's yard had a real baseball diamond and a soccer field.

But the most exciting thing of all to Katie was that this year, she could sign up to play an instrument in the beginning band! Katie wanted to learn to play the clarinet, just like her mom had.

No doubt about it. Fourth grade was going to be awesome!

“I sure hope I get Ms. Sweet,” Suzanne huffed as she ran. “She's gorgeous! She wears the coolest clothes and really funky high heels. Not dorky, old dresses and flat shoes like Mrs. Derkman.”

“She's supposed to be really nice,” Katie added. “That's even more important than what she wears.”

“Whatever,” Suzanne muttered as she reached the front door of the school.

A crowd of kids was gathered around the door, searching the lists for their names. Suzanne grabbed Katie's arm and elbowed a few smaller kids out of the way so she could reach the front of the crowd. “Okay, let me see.”

“Hey, move over,” Katie stood behind Suzanne and tried to see over her friend's shoulder. “I want to see too.”

“There I am!” Suzanne squealed excitedly. She placed her finger under her name. “Class 4B,
Ms. Sweet
. Oh, yeah!”

“Is my name there?” Katie asked, still not able to see the list.

“Zoe Canter's in my class,” Suzanne continued, without answering Katie's question. “Miriam Chan and Manny Gonzalez too. We've got Jessica Haynes, and that computer whiz, Sam McDonough. Becky Stern's here too. And
oh, no
.”

“Oh, no what?” Katie asked her.

“Jeremy Fox. I can't believe I'm stuck with him again!”

Jeremy!
He was Katie's other best friend. Now Katie
really
wanted to be in class 4B. “How about
me
?” she asked again.

Suzanne shook her head. “Sorry, Katie. You're in 4A.”

Katie couldn't believe it. She pushed Suzanne out of the way and looked at the list. It was hard to see through all the tears that were forming in her eyes. Katie wiped her eyes. Yes, it was true. Her two best friends were in the same class, with the best teacher, and she wasn't with them! That was not fair!

“You've got the new teacher, Mr. Guthrie,” Suzanne pointed out.

Katie didn't say anything.

“Don't feel so bad,” Suzanne comforted her. “You've got some cool kids in your class too. Mandy Banks is with you, and both Emma Stavros and Emma Weber. Gosh, we haven't been in a class with Emma W. since kindergarten. And . . . uh-oh.”

“What?” Katie demanded. “What's the problem?”

“Nothing except . . .”

“Except
what
?”

“Well,” Suzanne said slowly. “George Brennan and Kadeem Carter are both in your class. You know how much trouble those two can be on their own. I can't imagine what they'll be like together!”

Katie groaned. George was a real joker. He thought he was the funniest kid in the entire school. And he probably was—except maybe for Kadeem. He was pretty hilarious too. She had a feeling that George and Kadeem weren't going to get along too well.

“Come on, it won't be so bad,” Suzanne said, trying to make Katie feel better. “You've got Kevin in your class, and he's not so bad—for a boy, anyhow. He'll probably be trying to break another tomato-eating record. Andy Epstein's in 4A too. He's a great soccer player. You guys might win a few games against us.”

But that didn't make Katie any happier. “I don't know,” she said. “You still have Jeremy. He's the best soccer player in the whole grade.”

“Jeremy.
Ugh
. Don't remind me,” Suzanne groaned.

“You and I will still see each other all the time,” Suzanne continued. “At lunch, recess, and after school. And don't forget, you and Jeremy will still have your Wednesday afternoon playdates.”

That was true. No matter what the other kids signed up for after school, she and Jeremy were always careful not to plan any activities on Wednesday afternoons. That was their special time to hang out.

“I do look forward to Wednesdays,” Katie admitted.

“Wednesdays are going to be great for me too,” Suzanne said. “That's the day I have my modeling classes.”

“I know. You've told me about it a zillion times!” There was an angry tone in Katie's voice. She was kind of mad that Suzanne wasn't upset that they weren't in the same class.

“Mrs. Carew, can we go home now?” Suzanne asked, not even noticing how angry Katie had sounded. “I can't wait to call Zoe and tell her the good news!”

“You need a dozen pencils,” Mrs. Carew said when she and Katie were in the stationery store in the Cherrydale Mall later that afternoon. The school had mailed each student a school supplies list, so they could bring all their folders, notebooks, and pencils on the first day.

“Can I get the mechanical kind?” Katie pleaded. “I hate having to go to the sharpener all the time.”

“Katie, they're so much more expensive than the regular ones,” her mom reminded her. But she threw the pack of mechanical pencils into the basket, anyway. “You pick out two folders while I get your notebook paper in the next aisle.”

Katie began sorting through the cardboard folders until she found just the ones she wanted. One had a brown and white cocker spaniel on the cover. She liked it because he looked a little like her dog, Pepper. The other folder she chose had a big unicorn surrounded by rainbows and silver stars.

Just then, Jeremy Fox and his mom turned the corner into the folder aisle. “Hi, Katie!” Jeremy called. “I saw the class list. I'm really bummed that we're not in the same class.”