Messy Miranda
MESSY
Miranda
MESSY
Miranda
Jeff Szpirglas
AND
Danielle Saint-Onge
ILLUSTRATED BY
Dave Whamond
ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS
Text copyright © 2013 Jeff Szpirglas and Danielle Saint-Onge
Illustrations copyright © 2013 Dave Whamond
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be
invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Szpirglas, Jeff, author
Messy Miranda / Jeff Szpirglas, Danielle Saint-Onge ;
illustrated by Dave Whamond.
(Orca echoes)
Issued in print and electronic formats.
ISBN
978-1-4598-0117-2 (pbk.).--
ISBN
978-1-4598-0118-9 (pdf).
ISBN
978-1-4598-0518-7 (epub)
I. Saint-Onge, Danielle, author II. Whamond, Dave, illustrator
III. Title. IV. Series: Orca echoes
PS
8637.
Z
65
M
48 2013Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â j
C
813'.6Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
C
2013-902336-4
C
2013-902337-2
First published in the United States, 2013
Library of Congress Control Number
: 2013937059
Summary
: Miranda can't seem to get a handle on the mess in her desk,
until she finds a magical solution to her problem.
Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.
Cover artwork and interior illustrations by Dave Whamond
Author photo by Tim Basile
| ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS |
| PO B OX 5626, S TN . B Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | PO B OX 468 |
| Victoria, BC Canada         | Custer, WA USA |
| V 8 R 6 S 4 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â | 98240-0468 |
16 15 14 13 â¢Â 4 3 2 1
For Léo and Ruby
Contents
“All right, class,” said Ms. Basil, “it's time to clean out your desks.”
Miranda got nervous whenever Ms. Basil said that. It was the weekly desk cleanup. She hated desk cleanup more than spelling tests. She hated it more than fixing her writing. In fact, Miranda could not think of anything she hated more.
Other students loved the weekly desk cleanup, which happened every Friday. Neela used that time to sharpen her pencils, since her desk was always neat and tidy. She never shoved loose papers inside, or broken pencils, or leftover lunch. No dirt ever came near her desk.
Miranda's desk was another story.
Ms. Basil came by Miranda's desk and bent down. She took a long look inside. “Miranda, what's in your desk?”
“My books,” Miranda said.
“Andâ¦?”
“My pencils.”
“Andâ¦?”
“My science project.”
“Andâ¦?”
“Some other stuff.” Miranda's face started turning red.
“A
lot
of stuff, I'd say,” Ms. Basil said. She stood up straight and crossed her arms. “Too much stuff.”
Miranda gulped. She looked over to Neela and her friends. They were already at the door, waiting for the recess bell. Neela had a bright-orange skipping rope in her hand.
“Hey, Miranda, are you going to skip with us at recess?”
Miranda nodded her head. “Just a minute.”
CRASH!
Miranda jumped. She and Ms. Basil turned to see Jaiden's desk tipped over on its side. The contents had spilled out and spread across the floor. Now the floor was a mess of crumpled paper and pencil bits.
Jaiden always found cool things during the weekly desk cleanup. Interesting bits of junk somehow made their way inside his desk. Now he was looking at a dried-up apple core. How did it get there? It was a mystery, and Jaiden was hungry. He took a bite. Jaiden wasn't afraid to eat anything.
Miranda let out a high-pitched “Ewwwww!”
Jaiden gulped down the apple bit. He looked at Miranda. “I was hungry. What's in your desk, Miranda? Anything good?”
Miranda shook her head.
“You won't know until you dump it,” Jaiden said.
Some kids near Jaiden started to chant, “Dump it! Dump it!”
Ms. Basil cleared her throat. “Jaiden, you will be staying in the classroom until you clean up your mess.”
Jaiden's smile fell. “But recess is in five minutes.”
“Yes,” Ms. Basil said firmly.
“It will take at least fifteen minutes to clean this mess up.”
“Yes.” Ms. Basil did not need to raise her voice to make a point.
“Oh,” Jaiden said. “I guess I'm staying in.”
“Don't worry,” Ms. Basil said. “Miranda will keep you company.”
Miranda eyed Neela's skipping rope. “But I want to go skipping.”
Ms. Basil bent down to look into Miranda's desk again. A piece of Miranda's science project fell to the floor. “You can go skipping as soon as your desk is tidy.” She smiled.
The recess bell rang.
“See you later, Miranda!” said Neela.
Miranda lowered her head and stared at her desk. How was she ever going to tidy up?
Miranda missed recess. As she cleaned, she looked out the window. She watched Neela and her friends skip rope. Everybody looked so happy playing outside. Jaiden was even happy exploring his mess. He took crumpled papers and shot them into the garbage bin like a basketball player. Ms. Basil just sat by the window, reading a book and enjoying the sunshine.
It took all of recess for Miranda to clean up her desk.
Miranda was so upset that she didn't smile the rest of the school day. Her backpack was stuffed with the mess she'd cleaned out. It was so heavy, Miranda zigzagged all the way down the hall to her brother's class. Ben was in grade six and always walked home with her.
Ben scooped up her backpack and slung it over his shoulder. “Let me guess. Desk cleanup.”
Miranda nodded slowly. She was close to tears.
“You missed recess again.”
Miranda nodded. “I didn't get to skip rope with Neela.”
Ben put his arm around Miranda. “Here's the good news. It's Friday night, and we're going to see Uncle Aldo.”
That took the frown off Miranda's face.
Friday-night dinner with Uncle Aldo was the best!
Uncle Aldo was the coolest uncle in the world. He was a real magician. He knew all sorts of card tricks. He could make a coin appear from behind your ear. He could even pull a rabbit out of a hat!
One thing Uncle Aldo couldn't do was cook. He was too busy making magic to worry about food.
That was fine. It meant Friday night was also pizza night!
Miranda, Ben and their parents showed up with two boxes of steaming-hot pizza. Uncle Aldo opened the door wearing a bright sparkly suit. He had a wild moustache and a few streaks of white in his hair. “Presto!” he said.
“Presto, Uncle Aldo!” Ben said. Uncle Aldo never said
hello
.