Ms. Green shows us the cafeteria next. Then I ask her where the gym is, but she just shrugs.
“They’ve got a gym at Union High,” she says. “Here at the middle school, we just sectioned off a part of the parking lot. Sometimes we take students to the park down the street.”
And I haven’t even talked about the other kids yet.
At UMS, the sixth-grade classes are on the second floor. Seventh grade is on the third floor. And eighth grade is on the fourth floor. In other words, the higher you go, the more dangerous it gets. Because those eighth graders… I can’t even front… they can be a little intimidating—scratch that, they can be straight-up scary sometimes. About half of the boys have full beards, and I’ve seen at least three girls with healthy mustaches. No lie.
Believe me, you do not want to get caught alone on the fourth floor in this place.
Or in the stairwell.
And definitely not in the bathroom. Never in the bathroom. I’ve already decided that if I ever have to go, I’m just going to hold it until high school. Peeing your pants is not a good look, but you know, sometimes in life, especially life at Fort Union, a brotha has to weigh his options. Carefully.
So wish me luck. I think I’m going to need it.
Contents
COVER
TITLE PAGE
WELCOME
DEDICATION
CHAPTER 1: THIS IS NOT A DRILL
CHAPTER 2: ROUGH START
CHAPTER 3: SPECIAL
CHAPTER 4: AMBUSH
CHAPTER 5: NO COMMENT
CHAPTER 6: AND NOW FOR MY NEXT BAD MOVE
CHAPTER 7: MAYA, DEE-DEE, JONNY, AND ME
CHAPTER 8: FLIP OUT
CHAPTER 9: HOME RUN(BUT NOT THAT KIND)
CHAPTER 10: NEW ADDITION
CHAPTER 11: NAME THAT DOG!
CHAPTER 12: LEARNING KILLS
CHAPTER 13: PROOF
CHAPTER 14: THERE’S ALWAYS ART
CHAPTER 16: Q.T. PIE
CHAPTER 17: A LITTLE BIT FAMOUS
CHAPTER 18: CHASE SCENE
CHAPTER 19: HERE’S THE DEAL
CHAPTER 20: NOT EXACTLY A NEWS FLASH
CHAPTER 21: GIVING MOM THE SLIP
CHAPTER 22: ALL THE HAIRY DETAILS
CHAPTER 23: MILLER-FREE ZONE
CHAPTER 24: ME REALLY, REALLY TIRED! PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
CHAPTER 25: A LITTLE HELP?
CHAPTER 26: BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD
CHAPTER 27: GOOD ADVICE
CHAPTER 28: WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA?
CHAPTER 29: STROKE OF GENIUS
CHAPTER 30: SAM
CHAPTER 31: ART SHOW
CHAPTER 32: SLEEPOVER BOOT CAMP
CHAPTER 33: FACE YOUR FEARS
CHAPTER 34: MORE, PLEASE!
CHAPTER 35: BLENDING IN
CHAPTER 36: GAME FACE
CHAPTER 37: HERE GOES NOTHING
CHAPTER 38: RUNNING SCARED
CHAPTER 39: TOUCHDOWN!
CHAPTER 40: GIRL TROUBLE, ON THE DOUBLE
CHAPTER 41: COOL KIDS’ TABLE
CHAPTER 43: MAKE A STATEMENT
CHAPTER 44: TALKING IN CODE
CHAPTER 45: AFTER-SCHOOL SPECIAL
CHAPTER 46: PARTY DOWN
CHAPTER 47: THE RUNAWAY
CHAPTER 48: DÉJÀ POO
CHAPTER 49: FALCONS AND SPECIALS
CHAPTER 50: IT’S NEVER TOO LATE
CHAPTER 51: SECRET ARTIST MAN 2.0
CHAPTER 52: PHASE TWO
CHAPTER 53: HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
CHAPTER 54: THE BIG REVEAL
CHAPTER 55: AWESOME AND ANONYMOUS
CHAPTER 56: GAME TIME
CHAPTER 57: RUN FOR YOUR LIFE
CHAPTER 58: LIKE TALKING TO A BRICK WALL
CHAPTER 59: IN THE NEWS
CHAPTER 60: SPECIAL SESSION
CHAPTER 61: MINE
CHAPTER 62: BIG MESS
CHAPTER 63: WHAT DO YOU SAY?
CHAPTER 64: END RUN
CHAPTER 65: GOOD (FOR NOW)
CHAPTER 66: I GOTTA BE ME
CHAPTER 67: YOU DOG!
CHAPTER 68: LASAGNA, APPLE PIE, AND ICE CREAM
JAMES PATTERSON GETS KIDS READING!
BOOKS BY JAMES PATTERSON FOR READERS OF ALL AGES
A SNEAK PEEK OF PUBLIC SCHOOL SUPERHERO
COPYRIGHT
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 2015 by James Patterson
Illustrations by Laura Park
Middle School® is a registered trademark of JBP Business, LLC.
Excerpt from Public School Superhero copyright © 2015 by James Patterson
Illustrations in excerpt from Public School Superhero by Cory Thomas
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at permissions@hbgusa.com. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
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First ebook edition: June 2015
ISBN 978-0-316-29983-1
E3