Who's Afraid of Fourth Grade? Read Online Free Page A

disappointed.
    â€œAt least I’m free today. You stay here. I’ll go get Matthew. I can call my mom from your house and tell her what we’re doing.”

    Mrs. Carew was waiting on the front steps with Pepper when Katie, Emma, and Matthew got there. She had a big plate of cookies waiting beside her.
    â€œHi, Mom,” Katie said, pulling her backpack up the steps. “Do you remember Emma?”
    â€œSure,” Mrs. Carew replied with a smile. “I haven’t seen you in a long time.”
    â€œThis is my brother Matthew,” Emma told Katie’s mom.
    â€œNice to meet you, Matthew.” Mrs. Carew held out the plate of cookies. “Are you hungry?”
    Matthew nodded. He took two cookies off of the plate and shoved them in his mouth.
    â€œWhat do you say?” Emma coaxed him.
    â€œThank you,” Matthew replied. Pieces of chewed-up cookie flew out of his mouth.
    Emma bent down and scratched Pepper’s chin. “Your dog is so cute,” Emma told Katie. “I’ve always wanted a dog. But my mom says that taking care of five kids is enough work for her.”
    Mrs. Carew smiled. “I think your mother’s right.”
    â€œSo, do you want to do our homework first?” Emma asked Katie.
    â€œYou have homework?” Mrs. Carew asked.
    â€œCan you believe it?” Katie answered. “On the first day!”
    â€œWhy don’t we do our homework now?” Emma suggested. “It’s so quiet here. It’s never this peaceful at my house. Somebody’s always running around or shouting about something.”
    â€œThat sounds like fun!” Katie exclaimed.
    â€œIt is fun, sometimes ,” Emma agreed. “But it’s also hard to get your work done that way. We could do our math homework really fast here.”
    â€œPepper’s already got a ball in his mouth,” Katie pointed out. “How about we play now, and do our homework later? We have plenty of time.”
    Emma looked down at the happy cocker spaniel. He was hard to resist, especially for someone who wanted a dog of her own so badly. “Okay,” she said finally.
    Katie took the slobbery ball from Pepper’s mouth. She threw it clear across the lawn.
    Katie and Emma laughed as both Matthew and Pepper took off after the ball.
    â€œSee, you have a dog too,” Katie teased. “He’s just got two legs and a pair of ripped pants!”

Chapter 7
    The next morning, Katie walked into class 4A and placed her homework in the purple, black, and yellow box that sat on top of one of the cabinets. Then she went and perched herself in her nest.
    Katie was really proud of her nest. She’d taken a lot of time making sure that the twigs and sticks were arranged in a neat circle around her beanbag. She’d brought in a picture of Pepper and glued it to her beanbag. Then she’d put black construction paper musical notes all around the sides to show that she was looking forward to being in the school band. Finally, she’d written “Katie Kazoo” across the front of the beanbag with pieces of yellow yarn and glue so Mr. Guthrie would know her special nickname.
    Katie picked up her plastic clipboard and began to copy down the vocabulary words on the board. Mr. Guthrie might not have any desks in his classroom, and he might say things like, “Rock on, dudes,” a lot, but he was still a teacher. And, like any teacher, he expected the kids to start working the minute they walked into the classroom.
    She looked up as Emma W. entered the room. Katie waved to her friend, but Emma didn’t notice her. Instead, Emma walked nervously up to Mr. Guthrie.
    â€œHey, Emma, how’s it going?” the teacher asked kindly.
    â€œNot so great,” Emma murmured. “I started to do my math homework last night. But when I got up to sharpen my pencil, my little brother used his safety scissors to cut up the paper.” She looked shy and