Sophie Simon Solves Them All Read Online Free Page A

what he wanted. But she’d promised to get him exactly what he asked for.
    Crossed her heart and everything.
    So Owen told her.
    He said that all he wanted in the world—the only thing he’d wanted for years , actually—was a rabbit. A nice, gentle, soft, quiet little rabbit of his very own.
    And when Owen’s mom had replied, “Oh, a pet is a fabulous idea!” well, for a second there, Owen had thought he might actually get a birthday present he wanted for a change.
    But fifteen minutes later, Owen overheard his mom on the phone with Petes’ Pet Store, asking Mr. and Mrs. Pete if they had any “really exotic” pets she could buy for her son’s birthday.
    â€œDo you have any alligators or duck-billed platypuses?” she asked them. “Or maybe an aquarium full of piranhas? Owen would love that!”
    Owen would not love an aquarium full of piranhas.
    He wanted a rabbit.
    But no matter how many times he told his mother that, he simply couldn’t convince her.
    She had already paid Mr. and Mrs. Pete a one-hundred-dollar deposit to find something “absolutely wild.” And his birthday was in just two days. If he didn’t do something quick, he’d never get a rabbit.
    Sometimes Owen wondered if maybe his mother wasn’t really his mother. Maybe, Owen thought, the person he believed was his mother was really his mom’s evil twin, Esmeralda, a crazy woman who loved all the things Owen hated, like fireworks and roller coasters and jalapeño peppers. Maybe his real mother—who was much quieter and calmer and who would never buy him a piranha—was locked up in a cabin somewhere right now, far off in the woods, looking for a way out so she could give Owen a rabbit for his birthday.
    But really, Owen knew that the woman who woke him up every morning by blaring mariachi music from the stereo was his real mother. Because Owen had asked his grandparents once, and they swore up and down there was no evil twin named Esmeralda. So Owen’s mom was definitely not locked up in a far-off cabin.
    Too bad.
    But if anyone could think of a way to get his mother to give him a rabbit, it was Sophie Simon. She was the smartest girl in the third grade, possibly the world.

    All Owen had to do was ask her.
    â€œUM, SOPHIE?”
    Sophie finally looked up from her book.
    â€œYes?” she said.
    Owen blinked. Sophie Simon made him nervous. Most things made Owen nervous—clowns and geese and moving sidewalks and Mr. St. Cupid, just to name a few. But Sophie Simon made Owen very nervous. He felt like she could rearrange his brain cells just by looking at him.
    â€œUm,” he said again. “Could you, um, help me with something?”
    â€œProbably,” she said. “But I’d rather not.”
    And she went back to reading.
    â€œOh.”
    If Sophie didn’t want to help him, what was Owen supposed to do?
    Owen looked toward the front of the bus again.
    Julia was holding up another piece of paper.
    JUST ASK HER, YOU BABY!
    â€œUm, Sophie?” Owen said, trying to be brave. “I need your help. I want a rabbit for my birthday, but my mom wants to get me a piranha or something. She already ordered a pet from Daisy Pete’s parents’ store, but I don’t know what it is yet. Something terrible.” He bit his lip. “I really think you should help me.”
    Sophie turned a page. “And why should I do that?” she asked.
    â€œWell…” Owen thought hard. “During final recess today you told Daisy you wanted to buy a computer.”
    â€œA calculator,” Sophie corrected him. “The Pembo Q-60. The latest model.”
    â€œRight,” Owen said. “And you said you’d help Daisy with her problem if she could pay you enough money.”
    â€œBut she couldn’t,” Sophie said. “She was short thirty-five dollars.”
    Owen didn’t see what being short had to do with