Keena Ford and the Field Trip Mix-up Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

  THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

  FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1

  DIAL BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

  A division of Penguin Young Readers Group

  Published by The Penguin Group

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  Text copyright © 2009 by Melissa Thomson Pictures copyright © 2009 by Frank Morrison

  All rights reserved The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Thomson, Melissa, date.

  Keena Ford and the field trip mix-up / by Melissa Thomson ;

  pictures by Frank Morrison.

  p. cm.

  Summary: Keena and her second-grade class go on a field trip to the

  United States Capitol where they meet a congressman and Keena makes a

  big impression, which she documents in her new journal.

  eISBN : 978-1-101-08223-2

  [1. School field trips—Fiction. 2. United States Capitol

  (Washington, D.C.)—Fiction. 3. Schools—Fiction. 4. African Americans—Fiction.

  5. Diaries—Fiction.] I. Morrison, Frank, date, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.T37195Kd 2009

  [Fic]—dc22

  2008018438

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  To Pete, Mom, Dad, and Twink

  —M.T.

  To my daughter Nia “Super-Boo” Morrison

  —F.M.

  WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29

  10 A.M.

  I’m Keena Ford, and I’m the most important person in this journal because it’s MY journal. This is my second journal. I got a new journal because I wrote in the old one so much that I filled it right up.

  I actually got my new journal a few days before I finished my old one. I got it when we had to go to the bookstore so my brother, Brian, could get a thesaurus for middle school. I was very excited to go pick out Brian’s thesaurus because I thought maybe it was a kind of dinosaur or a lizard, like a stegosaurus, which is the best kind of dinosaur. But it turns out a thesaurus is just a book of words that mean the same thing as other words. For example, some words that mean the same thing as “quiet” are “still,” “restful,” and “silent.” I told these to Brian when I was reading out of his thesaurus in the bookstore and he told me in a very mean voice to be quiet.

  I found out there is no other word for “thesaurus” in the thesaurus.

  My new journal is so cool. It has a picture of clouds and rainbows and angels on the cover. Brian said, “There is no WAY I would ever write in a girly-looking journal like that.” And I said, “Good, because it is not yours.” I thought that was a pretty good one, but Brian just stuck his tongue out at me and then Dad said it was time to go. He drove us back to our apartment in Washington, DC, where we live with our mom during the week.

  On the way to DC, we listened to the radio in Dad’s car. We always listen to Dad’s favorite radio station, which is just talking and no music. I think it is about the news and how much traffic there is and stuff like that. Brian used to ask if we could listen to music, and Dad said that when Brian grows up and gets a job and buys his own car, he can listen to whatever radio station he wants. Brian calls Dad’s radio station “I Know That’s Radio,” because when the radio people talk about the government or the news, Dad says, “I know that’s right!” I Know That’s Radio is really boring, but it is funny to hear Dad talk back to the radio people.

  I am glad that I am starting my new journal today, because today is a VERY important day. It is the day of the class elections for student council! The kids on the student council are kind of like the bosses of school activities like the bake sale and Spaghetti Night. The kids on student council also get to go to meetings three times a year. And the meetings are RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SCHOOL DAY. I know all about student council because this fifth grader named Lamont who walks me home was on student council last year.

  Brian says that second graders are too little to be on student council, but what does he know? I think I will be a very good helper with the bake sale and Spaghetti Night, and that is why I am running for student council. “Running” for student council doesn’t mean you are really running on your two feet, it just means that you are trying out. There are three other people who are trying out, but only one of us gets to be on student council. The person who gets the most votes gets to be the delegate, and the person with the second-most votes gets to be the alternate, which means that they go to the meetings if the delegate gets the flu and has to stay home or is in time-out when it is time for the meeting. The other people who are running are Tiffany Harris, Shay Jackson, and Royann Jones. Tiffany and Shay are best friends, and Royann is new this year.

  If you want to be on student council, you have to make a poster saying why people should vote for you, and then you have to make a little speech about yourself. My best friend Eric came over last night to help me make my poster and write my speech. Eric lives in the apartment right above ours.

  Eric is not in my class. He is in the second-grade class for boys. My class has all girls and no boys because our principal put boys and girls in different classrooms. Eric is not running for student council in his class, because hisfriend Chad promised to give Eric two brownies on Friday if Eric wouldn’t run against him.

  My mom got a big piece of poster board for me. I put the poster board on the kitchen table, and I got my markers and crayons out of my art box. Eric and I stared at the poster board for a while. We were trying to think up what to write.

  “Chad already brought his poster to my class,” Eric said.

  “What did it say?” I asked.

  “It said, ‘Vote for Chad and You will be Glad,’” Eric told me.

  “Hmmm,” I said. “We should think of something that rhymes with Keena.”

  “Or Ford,” Eric said. He got a piece of paper out of his backpack. “Let’s make a list of ideas,” he said. I started saying words that rhymed with my last name and Eric wrote them down. I said snored, sword, roared, scored, and ignored.

  “Florida,” Eric said.

  “That doesn’t really rhyme,” I told him. We kept thinking.

  “I’ve got it!” I said. “How about ‘You won’t be BORED if you vote for Keena FORD’?”

  “I like it,” Eric said.

  We wrote the words carefully on the poster board. Then we drew a bunch of smiling kids. Eric drew one girl who was sleeping, then he crossed her out to sh
ow that people would NOT be bored if they voted for me. After drawing for almost one whole hour, Eric’s dad called and said it was time for Eric to come home.

  “Thank you for your help, Eric,” I said.

  “Your poster looks very good,” he told me. “I think you will be the champion of the class election.”

  “Queen champion!” I said. “I hope so.”

  When it was time for bed I whispered my speech six times to myself. Then as I fell asleep I imagined what it would be like if I won. It would be so cool.

  This morning I brought in my poster and showed it to the class. I was the first person to give my speech. I was very nervous, and I couldn’t really talk at first. “I . . . I . . .” I said. I looked out at my class and saw my friend Linny Berry. She gave me a thumbs-up, and I felt a little bit better. “I’m Keena Ford and I want to be YOUR student council person,” I said. I pointed my finger when I said YOUR, which I had practiced. Then I talked about how I would be a good listener and try to stay out of time-out so that I could go to the student council meetings. I also talked about how I would be a good helper at Spaghetti Night.

  Then Tiffany, Shay, and Royann made their speeches. Tiffany said, “My name is Tiffany, with a Y at the end. Y should you vote for me? For one thing, I think we should have a tea party instead of a holiday festival.”

  Shay called out, “Hey! That’s the stuff I was going to say!”

  “Shhhh,” Ms. Campbell said.

  “But I read my speech to Tiffany on the phone and she just said all of my ideas,” Shay said. Then she started to cry.

  “Nuh-uh,” Tiffany said. “I had already written my speech when I heard Shay’s,” she told Ms. Campbell.

  Ms. Campbell told Shay that she was sure that Shay’s speech was going to be very good, and that it was almost time for her to say it.

  Tiffany said some more stuff, then Shay got up to give her speech. She had it written on little cards. She started with, “My name is Shay with a Y at the end. Y should you vote for me?” Then she started sniffing like she was going to cry. She sniffed through the whole rest of her speech.

  I felt very sorry for Shay that Tiffany had copied her speech. But I still wanted to win the election.

  Royann’s speech was a lot like mine. She said she would listen to people’s ideas because she wanted to make friends at her new school. Her poster did not say anything that rhymed, but it looked very neat. Royann is very good at drawing.

  After Royann’s speech, Ms. Campbell gave each student a little piece of paper called a ballot where we write down our votes. I voted for myself, of course. Now we are writing in our journals while Ms. Campbell counts the votes. Every girl has a journal, but mine is the only one with clouds on it. And I am the only person who takes my journal everywhere, like to music class and to time-out class when I get in trouble.

  Now Ms. Campbell is telling us to close our journals. She smiled right at me. I think I might be the champion!

  4 P.M.

  I am not the champion. Royann is the champion, and I am the runner-up. I was a little bit sad, but not too sad. I was happy for Royann. I want her to make new friends so she will like our school. And I am just glad that Tiffany did not win after she copied Shay’s speech. Plus, I might get to help with the bake sale if Royann gets the flu.

  When I got home after school, Mom told me she was very proud of me for being runner-up. And Brian gave me a high five!

  8 P.M.

  Tonight Mom, Brian, and I had Family Game Night. Usually when we have Family Game Night it’s on Thursday, but Mom is not going to be here on Thursday night. She is going to North Carolina for three days because her friend Carolyn is getting married. My uncle Jay is staying with us tomorrow night, and on Friday after I go on a FIELD TRIP, I am going to Dad’s for the weekend. And then after that it will just be my normal schedule, so I won’t write it all out.

  Brian and I have to take turns picking the game for Family Game Night. Tonight it was my turn to pick the game! We used to try to decide together, but sometimes we would end up arguing. That is because Brian always picks games that I will lose. He picks Jenga or Don’t Break the Ice! and in those games if you drop the game parts or make them fall, you lose. There is not a winner, there is just a loser. And I am always the loser. So I do not like Brian’s games.

  The games I like are card games, like Old Maid or Go Fish. The only card game I don’t like is 52-Card Pickup, which we played one time when Mom was out and Mrs. Carlito from next door was watching us. Brian came into my room and said, “Do you want to play 52-Card Pickup?” and I said, “Sure!” because like I said, I love card games. Then Brian took the cards out of the box and threw them in the air and they went EVERYWHERE in the room. And then Brian said, “Okay, now pick them up.” And I was VERY mad, because that is not a game, it is a TRICK. And it’s not nice to trick little kids. That’s what I said to Mom when she came home and I told on Brian. And he got in a little bit of trouble for that one.

  Anyway, tonight we did NOT play 52-Card Pickup, we played Uno. I picked Uno because the rules are not that hard to follow, and you get to yell “UNO!!!” when you have only one card left. We played the game three times. Brian won one time and I won two times!! That meant I was the QUEEN CHAMPION of Family Game Night! I was very happy. After the game I went to my room and got a piece of paper out of my art box. I drew a picture of myself in a beautiful queen dress. At the top I wrote, “QUEEN CHAMPION KEENA,” and I hung the picture on my bedroom door.

  THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30

  10 A.M.

  Tomorrow my class is going on the best field trip EVER. We are going to the United States Capitol! The United States Capitol is a big white building with a rounded then pointy top like a scoop of ice cream with a spoon sticking out of it. When we go to the United States Capitol we are going to meet a representative, which is even more important than a student council delegate. A representative is a lady or a man who makes rules for our whole country to follow. A representative is kind of like a president, except there are 435 representatives and only one president of the United States. And the president has to live in the White House, but representatives can live in whatever color house they want.

  The representative we are meeting is named Representative Thomas. I am very excited to meet him because I have some ideas for new laws. One of my new laws would be that in schools all over the country, kids have to take turns being at the end of the line.

  In first grade, everyone wanted to be the line leader. But in second grade it’s MUCH cooler to be at the very end of the line. Ms. Campbell calls the person at the end of the line the “caboose,” because that is the word for the last car on a train. It’s more fun to be the caboose than to be some stupid car in the middle of the train that doesn’t even have a good name.

  I have been the caboose only one time. Tiffany Harris gets to be the caboose a LOT. That’s because she moves slowly on purpose. When Ms. Campbell calls on Tiffany to line up, she always waits until the last second to move. Then she can always find some reason why she isn’t in line yet. So Ms. Campbell tells other people to hurry up and get in line, and then Tiffany gets to be the caboose.

  It happened today when we were lining up for lunch. I was trying to put my reading book away very, very slowly so that Ms. Campbell wouldn’t think I was ready and call me too early. Finally the only people left at the desks were my friend Linny Berry, Tiffany Harris, and me. Linny sat up with her hands folded, and Ms. Campbell called on her to line up. Linny doesn’t care about being the caboose. But I DO. And Tiffany always ruins it for me.

  After Linny got in line, Ms. Campbell called Tiffany to get in line. And I thought, Yes! I get to be the caboose. But Tiffany started walking really, really slowly, barely moving her feet with each step. Ms. Campbell called on me to line up. I started walking really, really slowly too. Tiffany and I were moving like two old turtles. Ms. Campbell just looked at us and said, “Let’s GO, ladies.” So we started to move a little bit faster. We
were almost to the line, and I was still behind Tiffany. Then Tiffany said, “Oops! I forgot to get my apple out of my desk.”

  Ms. Campbell said, “Hurry up and get it, Tiffany. Keena, please get in line.”

  So I had to get in line while Tiffany got her apple. And that meant that Tiffany got to be the caboose LIKE ALWAYS.

  And that’s why we need a new law.

  5 P.M.

  Mom braided my hair for the big field trip tomorrow. She put ponytail holders in my hair on each side of my head. Then she made two thick braids. At the end of the braids she put rubber bands—then she put barrettes that say “I ♡ my teacher.” I got in a little bit of trouble with my teacher a few weeks ago, so it doesn’t hurt to try to make her happy. My hair looks so cute.

  My mom left for North Carolina right after she finished my hair. She gave me a big hug and said she’d be back soon, but I still felt sad. So right after she left I called Eric. He said he’d come over so we could do our homework together. That should make me feel much better!

  8:30 P.M.

  Eric’s visit did NOT make me feel better. In fact, it caused a big, big problem. But I think I’ve solved the problem now.

  When Eric came over we went out on my apartment balcony to do our homework in the Homework Hut. The Homework Hut is an old refrigerator box. The cool thing about the Homework Hut is that it has rules that are different from the rules at school. At school we have a rule that you CANNOT chew gum in class. But you can chew gum in the Homework Hut! Also in school we are not allowed to write with a pen. But you know what? In the Homework Hut, you can write with a pen anytime you want.