Just Grace Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Table of Contents

  Photo

  Copyright

  Dedication

  I Did Not Get To Be

  Boy Things

  Rooms You Can Jump In, In My House

  The Sad Story

  What I Know About Mrs. Luther The Teacher

  What I Know About Mrs. Luther The Neighbor

  What Augustine Dupre Told Me

  Superhero Mode

  Breakfast

  What We Are Studying in School That is Fun

  What We Are Studying In School That Is Not Fun

  Supergirl

  Ways To Not Get A Good Idea

  Start Of My Big Idea

  My Big Idea

  How To Do The Big Idea

  Superhero Morning

  What Happened At School That Was Interesting

  What Happened At Home That Was Completely Surprising

  What I Almost Could Not Believe

  Liar, Liar I Wish Your Pants Were On Fire

  The Completely Surprising Thing Happens Again

  And Then...

  If You Hear Some Strange Noises Out Your Window You Should Probably Look And See What It Is

  The Bad Thing Augustine Dupre Told Me

  Taking The Photo Of Crinkles

  What I Learned About Wisconsin Before Mimi Came Over

  Mimi Is In Love

  Wisconsin And Lion Poop

  Spying For A Good Reason Is Not Bad

  Trouble

  More Postcards

  It Was A Bad Idea

  Spying Is Hard

  Trouble Times Two

  Trouble For Me

  Thing I Did Not Get In Trouble For

  Things I Got In Trouble For

  Dad Is Not So Mad

  Revenge

  Forced Partner

  Crinkles

  Forced Partner

  Cat Return

  WHAT GRACE WILL BE THINKING ABOUT IN HER NEXT BOOK

  Sample from JUST GRACE AND THE FLOWER GIRL POWER

  Buy the Book

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2007 by Charise Mericle Harper

  All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Company 215 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003.

  www.hmhbooks.com

  The illustrations are pen and ink drawings digitally colored in Photoshop.

  The Library of Congress has catalogued the print edition as follows:

  Harper, Charise Mericle.

  Just Grace / written and illustrated by Charise Mericle Harper.

  p. cm.

  Summary: Misnamed by her teacher, seven-year-old Just

  Grace prides herself on being empathetic, but when she tries to

  help a neighbor feel better, her good intentions backfire.

  ISBN-13: 978-0-618-64642-5 (hardcover)

  ISBN-10: 0-618-64642-6 (hardcover)

  [1. Empathy—Fiction. 2. Neighbors—Fiction. 3. Schools—Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.H231323Jus 2007

  [Fic]—dc22

  2006017062

  eISBN 978-0-547-34886-5

  v2.0712

  For my Mother,

  who is full of grace.

  I Did Not Get To Be

  1

  I did not get to be the helper to Mister Magic the Magician at my very own (so it should have been me) sixth birthday party because Sammy Stringer spit purple grape juice all over my special white shirt with a big six on it, and I had to change it right when Mister Magic was starting up.

  Mom said she was sure it was an accident, but I just know that spitting is pretty much an on-purpose thing, and it is almost impossible to forgive someone for something on purpose even if it was almost three years ago, which is a very long time.

  2

  I did not get to be a singing and dancing corncob in the Thanksgiving play because I was the only girl tall enough to fit into the tree costume who didn't cry real boo-hoo baby tears when she was asked, "Could you please not be a corncob, because what we really, really need is a tree and we already have way more than enough corn cobs."

  I will not say who cried big tears, and is probably a good actress because two seconds after she found out I was going to be the tree she was all smiles, because I am not a tattletale-type person. But I will say that I do not like her even one tiny bit, and that when she is not doing her acting, her true self is a Big Meanie!

  Mom said I was a great tree even though I didn't get to say anything and Mr. Franks kept whispering at me to stop moving my arm branches around so much—he didn't think it should be a windy day. But if you are a tree it is boring to stand there super still with your arms out on each side doing nothing.

  3

  I did not get to be in the talent night at school and show off the photos I took with my new camera because I was sick with the stomach flu and was throwing up.

  Aurora Gambit won a first-prize blue ribbon for her photos of flowers, which were okay, but my cat photos are way better and would have for sure taken her first-prize ribbon right away. Plus, she could be happy with the second-prize ribbon because it is red and that is one of her favorite colors because she says that red things look good with her orangish hair.

  ONE OF MY GREAT CAT PHOTOS

  Sammy Stringer got an honorable mention green ribbon for his paintings of dog poop, which is totally unbelievable and gross!

  4

  But the biggest I-did-not-get-to-be of my life, ever, happened right at school in front of everybody in the whole third grade class. I did not get to be called Grace, which is an okay thing if your name is Tania or Ruth or Jordan but totally 100 percent unfair if you are me and your name is Grace, which mine is.

  I didn't tell Mom because I knew she'd be mad and call the school, and you can't have your mom call the school unless something really bad happens, like maybe someone mean pushes you down and it breaks three of your front teeth, or else everybody will think you are a big baby and a complainer. And I am not either of those two things!

  FOUR GRACES IN A ROW

  There are four girls named Grace in my class. Miss Lois, our new teacher, said, "We'll have to do something about that. It's too confusing with all you Graces."

  Then she said, "Grace Wallace, you will be Grace W. Grace Francis can be Grace F., and Grace Landowski can be Grace L."

  Right then Grace L. stood up and said, "Pretty please, Miss Lois, can I be Gracie instead of Grace L.?"

  I knew I was next, so I said, "And I want to be just Grace."

  "Perfect," said Miss Lois, and then she went down the list of everyone's new names and wrote them in her special book.

  "Let's see, we have Grace W., Grace F., Gracie, and Just Grace."

  Then Grace F. stood up and started waving her arm like a crazy person, trying to get Miss Lois's attention. She gave me a mean look and said, "How come she gets to be called Grace and I have to be Grace F.? It's not fair! I want to be the one called Grace!" Miss Lois seemed a little grumpy that we were still talking about the Grace name thing.

  MISS LOIS BEING GRUMPY

  She made a big sigh and said, "You're right, dear—it's not fair for anyone to be called Grace, so that's why Grace Stewart wants to be called Just Grace."

  Both Grace F. and I said "Just Grace?" at the same time.

  "That's weird!" said Grace F. I tried to tell Miss Lois that she'd made a mistake and that I wanted to be called just Grace, not Just Grace, but she put her hand up in the air and said, "That's enough, girls. Let's move on to the three Owens." And that's how it happened that I have the stupidest name in the whole class! Or maybe even the whole entire world!

 
Boy Things

  1

  Spitting and making burping noises.

  2

  Not caring that your shirt or pants are sticky with food or mud or worse ... mucus.

  3

  Really liking big and flashy superheroes ... the kind with capes.

  4

  Drawing comics.

  There are some girls who do boy things and don't care who knows it. Ruth, a girl in my class from last year, always makes huge burps after she drinks milk. Everyone says it's gross, but you can tell that some of the boys are really impressed, especially Sammy Stringer—he's always trying to learn stuff to become more disgusting.

  Then there are other girls who might do boy things but don't want anyone to know. I'm one of those. I don't spit, make burp sounds, or wear disgusting filthy clothes, but when I feel grumpy or sad, it sometimes makes me feel better if I draw a comic. I don't know why it works that way, but it does, and that seems like a good thing.

  The day I got my Just Grace name I needed to feel better really fast, so I drew a new Not So Super adventure as soon as I got home. It would have been better to watch an episode of Unlikely Heroes, but I'm not allowed to watch TV before dinner.

  Not So Super comics are about superheroes who only have little powers, but still they use them to help people who need it. I got the idea from my favorite TV show in the whole world, Unlikely Heroes. Mimi, my best friend ever, says that Unlikely Heroes is the kind of show that makes you want to be a better person just by watching it, which is true, and important.

  My other boy thing is that I sort of have a teeny tiny superpower. It's not a jump-over-buildings, see-through-people's-clothes, or lift-a-train-over-my-head one, which is good, because when you can do those kinds of things you probably have to live in a secret hideout instead of at home with your mom and dad. And I really like my room, so it would be sad to have to move away, so I'm glad I only have a small superpower.

  My power is that I can always tell when someone is unhappy, even if that person is pretending to be happy and is a really good actor.

  The bad thing about my power is that I always try to do something to make the sad person feel better—even if I should probably leave it alone and not do anything at all. Dad says that feeling people's sadness is called empathy and it's a superpower because of the "having to do something to help them feel better" part. A superhero has to help people in trouble. She can't just change into a regular I’m-not-going-to-do-anything-to help-someone-else type of person even if she wanted to.

  THIS WOULD NEVER HAPPEN WITH A REAL SUPERHERO

  Rooms You Can Jump In, In My House

  1

  The bathroom with the broken toilet. Very yucky room.

  2

  The laundry room. Sometimes when Mom thinks I have too much energy she tells me to go and jump in the laundry room. I tell her it's no fun to jump in there, plus it's too small. She says, "Why do you have to swing your arms when you jump? There's plenty of room if you jump like a pencil." Then we both laugh because who ever saw a jumping pencil, and she is just being ridiculous.

  The reason you can only jump in these two places is that every other room is right above Augustine Dupre's head. Augustine Dupre is the super-amazing French lady who lives in our basement—only the part she lives in doesn't look like a basement, it's a fabulously fantastic apartment.

  Dad said she could paint her apartment any way she liked, so she did. Augustine Dupre is not afraid of color. She has a yellow kitchen, an orange bathroom, and a rosecolored bedroom with bright red velvety curtains. It is most truly the coolest place someone could ever live. Dad even bought her apartment a dishwasher, so she doesn't have to wash or dry her dishes by hand like we do.

  Augustine Dupre is two times lucky: not only does she have the best apartment ever, but she also has the best job. She is a flight attendant for rich people who travel on airplanes in first class. She could probably go anywhere, but she says her favorite place in the entire whole world is France. Sometimes she even goes there two times in one week.

  Mom says not to bother Augustine Dupre with every little thing that's happening in my life, but it's hard not to tell her stuff, because she's a really good listener.

  The day I got my Just Grace name I wanted to run downstairs and tell Augustine Dupre all about it right away, but Mom wouldn't let me. Mom said Augustine Dupre was probably tired from flying home from France.

  MOM’S SILLY IDEA

  After dinner I snuck downstairs when Mom wasn't watching. I did my special knock so Augustine Dupre would know it was me. After I told her all about my stupid new name, she said something in French that sounded like she was feeling the empathy thing for me. Then she said that if I wanted she could tell me a very sad story, and that sometimes hearing a very sad story makes your own sad story seem less sad.

  I said I wanted to hear it, because I was desperate to feel better about being Just Grace. Sometimes, not knowing what you are asking for can be a mistake. This might have been one of those times.

  The Sad Story

  Augustine Dupre's story was all about Mrs. Luther, which was a huge surprise. Mrs. Luther is my next-door neighbor and a teacher from my school. A scary old-kid teacher. Dad says that if something scares you it's probably because you don't know all the facts, and that if you learned more facts then you would not be so scared anymore. Dad is wrong!

  What I Know About Mrs. Luther The Teacher

  1

  Wears her glasses on the end of her nose.

  2

  Teaches the older kids anthropology, which has something to do with understanding strange people from other countries that no one has probably ever heard of before.

  3

  Looks at you like she has x-ray eyeballs and can see right through to your bones.

  4

  Has a funny crooked smile, like a crocodile that has just eaten something cute and furry.

  5

  Has just started wearing a big bright orange cast on her leg, so now she walks around holding on to an old-people cane. Bright orange is not a normal grown-up person's color.

  What I Know About Mrs. Luther The Neighbor

  6

  Her house is full of scary-looking masks hanging all over the walls. I know this because I can see into her living room from my bedroom window. She never closes her drapes, which is not good for me. Creepy masks are not something I like to see at night before I go to sleep, so I always close my eyes while I pull down my window shade.

  7

  As soon as she gets home from school she puts on a long dress—like a witch dress but it has more colors.

  That's seven strange things instead of five. So because Mrs. Luther is my neighbor, I know she is stranger and scarier than the kids at school would ever guess, because they don't even know about her witch dress or the scary masks on her wall. The only not unusual thing I know about Mrs. Luther is her cat, Crinkles. Crinkles is a very nice cat.

  I told Augustine Dupre that I thought Mrs. Luther was unusual, which is a word grownups use to mean weird and strange so they won't hurt anyone's feelings, and that it would probably take a lot for me to feel sad for her, even with my extra-sensitive empathy feelings. Augustine Dupre said she was not worried.

  What Augustine Dupre Told Me

  1

  That Mrs. Luther fell off a ladder in her house while she was trying to hang up a new scary mask and almost squashed Crinkles. This is how she broke her leg and why she has to wear a cast. But this does not explain why it is bright orange instead of a normal grown-up color like white or black.

  2

  That her son who she loves lives in another country and doesn't call her very much. This is no surprise, because boys do not like to talk on the phone as much as girls.

  3

  That Mrs. Luther was going to run in a big race and now she can't because she has a broken leg. It is hard to imagine Mrs. Luther wearing a jogging suit, but I don't think she could probably run very fast in her colored witch
dress.

  4

  That her cat, Crinkles, her best friend in the whole world, is now scared of her because he was almost squished by her big bottom when she fell off the ladder, plus he doesn't like the new orange cast. Augustine Dupre said Mrs. Luther is so sad about this that she cries real tears almost every single night.

  The first three things didn't make me feel sad even though missing the big race sounded a lot like my missing my talent night, which was sad for me but I'm not old so it's still okay for me to cry when things like that happen. Old people know how to keep their crying feelings inside. They only let them out when something really bad has happened and they are 100 percent sad. This is why just thinking of Mrs. Luther crying in her house with all those scary masks looking down at her made me feel a little bit sad.

  And when Crinkles suddenly jumped on Augustine Dupre's windowsill I got even sadder, because Crinkles is such a lovable cat, and if you had the love of such a great cat it would for sure make you feel the sadness-of-everything-in-the-whole-world not to have it anymore.