Messy Miranda Read online

  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

  PS8637.Z65M48 2013 jC813'.6 C2013-902336-4

  C2013-902337-2

  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 ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

  PO BOX 5626, STN. B PO BOX 468

  Victoria, BC Canada Custer, WA USA

  V8R 6S4 98240-0468

  www.orcabook.com

  16 15 14 13 • 4 3 2 1

  For Léo and Ruby

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter One

  “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.

  “And…?”

  “My pencils.”

  “And…?”

  “My science project.”

  “And…?”

  “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?

  Chapter Two

  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.

  “Do I smell pizza?” asked Uncle Aldo.

  “What gives
you that idea?” said Miranda’s dad, holding the pizza boxes.

  “Magic,” said Uncle Aldo, smiling.

  Miranda and her family stepped inside. Uncle Aldo lived in a small house in the city. The living room was cluttered with rabbit and bird cages. Uncle Aldo kept the animals for his act here. There were shelves full of magic books, wands and colored scarves tied together. It was the best house ever.

  Uncle Aldo bent down to give Miranda a hug. “How was your day?”

  Miranda shook her head. “I missed recess.”

  “Again?”

  Miranda nodded.

  Uncle Aldo smiled. “I know what to do.” He reached behind her ear and pulled out a big shiny coin. “Presto! Magic will solve the problem!”

  Miranda’s mom shook her head. “Aldo, won’t pizza solve the problem instead?”

  Uncle Aldo’s stomach growled. “Good idea. Let’s eat.”

  He led the family into the kitchen. They all sat at the table and had dinner.

  As she ate her pizza, Miranda kept thinking about the mess in her desk. She wondered about what Uncle Aldo had said.

  Could magic solve the problem?

  There was one way to find out.

  Chapter Three

  After dinner, Uncle Aldo wanted to show Miranda and her family his new trick.

  Ben’s eyes lit up. “When can you teach me? I want to show everybody at school,” he said. “I’d be the best at it.”

  Uncle Aldo smiled. “What do I always tell you? Magic isn’t a game,” he said. “You need to be careful. There’s a lot of power in magic tricks.”

  Uncle Aldo reached into his pocket. “Presto!” he shouted. He pulled out a huge bunch of flowers. He gave them to Miranda’s mom. “What do you think?”

  The flowers squirted water at Miranda’s mom.

  “Ooops!” said Uncle Aldo.

  “Ooops is right,” said Miranda’s mom. “You still need to practice.”

  Miranda pushed her chair away from the table. “I’ll be right back,” she said. “I have to go to the bathroom.”

  While Uncle Aldo practiced his new trick, Miranda left the kitchen and walked up the stairs. The bathroom was on the second floor. But so was Uncle Aldo’s magic room. Miranda didn’t really need to go to the bathroom. What she needed was magic.

  Miranda knew she shouldn’t go into Uncle Aldo’s magic room alone. It was his special place, where he kept his secrets. But Miranda needed to fix her messy-desk problem for good. Magic would do the trick!

  The stairs were creaky. She walked as quietly as she could. The floor just outside the magic room creaked so loudly that Miranda stopped. Her heart skipped a beat. She listened. Uncle Aldo was still doing his tricks downstairs. Nobody had heard her.

  Then she opened the door.

  SQUEEEEAK.

  Miranda’s hand shook as she opened the door. She had never been in here by herself.

  The magic room seemed bigger than the whole top floor. How could it be so big? Magic, Miranda thought.

  In the room were dusty shelves full of old wands, lengths of chain and battered trunks. Sitting on a small table was a row of top hats. Miranda knew that Uncle Aldo could pull rabbits out of those hats. She had seen him do this many times.

  If a rabbit could go into the hat, what else could? Maybe the mess from her desk? But how would she sneak the hat out? She couldn’t wear it down the stairs. Could she flatten the hat and put it into her pocket?

  Miranda pushed down on the middle hat as hard as she could.

  A small white rabbit leaped out of the hat.

  Miranda jumped back.

  The rabbit just looked at her and twitched its whiskers. Then it jumped into another hat on the same table.

  Uncle Aldo had so many top hats. He didn’t need all of them, did he?

  Miranda looked down. She had squashed the hat into a flat disk. She put her hand in. Wow! It looked like her hand was going right into the table. It disappeared up to her wrist. She pulled her hand back out and wiggled her fingers. “Presto!” Miranda smiled. It was time to make some magic of her own.

  Chapter Four

  Miranda woke up Monday morning feeling great. She was going to solve her messy-desk problem once and for all!

  She was in such a good mood at breakfast that she ate two big bowls of cereal. She even skipped to school beside Ben. “Why are you so happy?” he said. “It’s Monday and I have a math test. I forgot to study.”

  “Today I’m going to skip with Neela at every recess.” Miranda smiled.

  When Miranda and Ben got to school, Ben shuffled over to his friends. They were listening to music and bopping their heads. They all looked tired.

  Miranda saw Neela coming off the school bus. Neela already had her skipping rope ready in her hand. Miranda ran to greet her.

  “Are you going to skip with us today?” Neela asked.

  Miranda gave her a big smile. “I will now and at recess too.”

  A few more girls showed up. Talia and Penny each took hold of one end of the rope. They started to twirl it. Neela jumped first. She was amazing!

  Miranda had spent so many recesses inside that she needed some skipping practice. She needed to practice her skipping like Uncle Aldo needed to practice his magic.

  “Come on in!” Neela said.

  Miranda jumped in. As the rope twirled, she skipped. She watched Neela bounce up and down with her. “You’re great!” Neela said.

  Miranda’s smile felt as wide as the skipping rope was long.

  Finally, she and Neela jumped to the side so the other girls could skip. As she did, Miranda felt something fall from her pocket. It was the magic hat!

  It rolled across the pavement and knocked into Jaiden’s feet.

  “Oh no!” Miranda said.

  Jaiden bent down to pick it up. He sniffed it. He looked around and gave it a private lick. Then he noticed Miranda was staring at him.

  “Jaiden, give that back. It’s mine!”

  The hat was still flattened like a pancake. Jaiden pretended to throw it. “Nice Frisbee, Miranda!”

  Miranda stormed up to him. “It’s not a toy!” she said. She didn’t want Jaiden to find out that the hat was really magical.

  But Jaiden threw the hat over to his friend Abdu. Abdu caught it and tossed it over to another boy. Soon the boys were playing Frisbee with it.

  How was Miranda going to stop them? If they found out the hat was magic, they would take it away. Or worse.

  Miranda saw Ms. Basil out in the yard. If she told Ms. Basil, maybe the boys would give the hat back.

  Just as Miranda was going over to her, Jaiden caught the hat. He saw Ms. Basil watching them. Her arms were folded across her chest. She was shaking her head back and forth. “Wait, Miranda!” Jaiden said.

  Miranda stopped and saw Jaiden holding the hat. “Here. I was just kidding,” he said.

  Miranda snatched the hat from Jaiden. She shoved it back into her pocket.

  “It’s just a hat,” Miranda said. But she jammed her hand into her pocket to keep it safe.

  The bell rang. Miranda quickly took her backpack and lined up at the door. She stole a glance over her shoulder. Jaiden was giving her a funny look. It seemed like he was watching her every move.

  Would he see her put the hat into her desk?

  Miranda was going to have to be sneaky about this.

  Chapter Five

  As the students entered the classroom, Miranda dashed to her seat. She sat down and started pulling books out of her desk.

  Neela saw this. “Why are you taking out your textbooks? It’s not desk cleanup day today.”

  “I’m trying to stay organized, Neela,” Miranda said. “I can’t keep missing recess.”

  But that wasn’t the real reason. Miranda needed to put the hat at the bottom of her desk. She looked over her shoulder. Ms. Basil was busy helping Abdu take off his boots. They were stuck on tight and on the wrong feet.

  It was time!

  With nobody wat
ching, Miranda slowly pulled the crumpled hat from her pocket. She smoothed it back into a flat disk and slid it into the desk with its brim facing up. She pushed the hat to the back of her desk so it would not be seen. Then she took her books and placed them on top of the hat.

  The books fell right into the hole in her desk. Perfect! She could fit all sorts of things into the magic hat. Just how much could she fit? Miranda was going to find out. Today was book exchange at the library. Miranda was going to try a little experiment.

  Just then a shadow fell across Miranda’s desk. She turned around. Jaiden was standing there. He was chewing on the end of a pencil. The pointy end! He pulled it out of his mouth and licked his lips. “That desk is really clean, Miranda,” he said. He had a funny smile on his face, like he knew Miranda was up to something. “Can I see?”

  “Uh, sure,” Miranda said.

  Jaiden bent down low to get a good look. He sniffed the inside of the desk. “Smells different today,” he said.

  “Uh, I guess,” Miranda said. Her heart beat faster.

  “Where’s that Frisbee thing you brought?”

  “My bag!” Miranda said quickly. “And don’t even think about touching it!”

  Jaiden stood up suddenly. He backed away. Miranda followed Jaiden’s gaze. He was staring at Ms. Basil, who had come by. Ms. Basil looked down at Miranda’s desk. Now it was her turn to inspect it. “Wow, Miranda! It sure looks clean in there. I hope it stays that way until Friday.”

  “Oh, it will,” Miranda said.

  As Ms. Basil walked away, Miranda tore a page out of her reading journal. She crumpled it into a ball. Then she threw it into the desk and pushed it over to the hat. The paper vanished into the hole. The mess was gone. This was going to be a fun week!

  As the day went on, Miranda practiced making things appear and disappear. During math, she put her ruler into the hat. When nobody was looking, she pulled it back out again. “Presto!” Miranda said.

  Everybody in the class looked at Miranda.

  “Presto?” Ms. Basil said. “I thought we were doing a measuring lesson. Not magic.”