Judy Moody Saves the World! (4 page)

“Are you really going to take that baby lunch box on the bus? Where the whole world can see?” asked Stink.

“I’m riding my bike today,” said Judy. “To save energy.”

“See you at school, then.” Stink waved his
paper-bag
lunch at her. If only she could recycle her little brother.

“Go ahead. Be a tree hater,” called Judy. “It’s your funeral.”

Making the world a better place sure was complicated.

At school, Judy wiggled all during Math in the morning. She squirmed through Spelling. At last it was Science.

“Over half the world’s plants and animals are found in rain forests,” Mr. Todd said. “Which is why it’s so important to protect the rain forest. The health of our whole planet depends on it. But did you know that there are endangered species right here in Virginia?”

Endangered species! Right here in Virginia! Judy leaned forward in her seat.

“If we want to take care of our planet, it helps to begin in our own backyard. That’s why I’m asking each of you to adopt an endangered animal from Virginia this week. Tell us about the species, why it’s disappearing, and what can be done to help.”

Adopt an animal! She could help an endangered species. She, Judy Moody, could help save the entire state of Virginia!

Mr. Todd was shaking a coffee can. “Each slip of paper has the name of one endangered animal on it. When I call on you, come up and take one slip of paper from the can. Who wants to be first?”

All hands went up in the air.

“Rocky.”

“Shenandoah salamander!” said Rocky, reading his slip of paper.

“Frank Pearl.”

“Monkeyface mussel!”

Rare! Judy waved her hand in the air like a flag. Mr. Todd still did not call on her.

Brad got the bald eagle. Hailey got the puma. Randi got the leatherback sea turtle.

“Jessica Finch.”

“Shiny pigtoe,” said Jessica. “Yippee!”

Judy could not think of anybody else who would want to adopt a pig’s toe. Only Jessica Finch. Jessica Finch liked everything about pigs. Even shiny pigs’ toes.

While Mr. Todd called out more names, Judy turned around and said to Jessica, “A shiny pigtoe is a pig with nail polish!” She cracked herself up.

“Judy Moody.”

Judy turned around, her hand the only one still left in the air. “One left,” said Mr. Todd. “C’mon up.”

Finally! Judy unfolded the small slip of paper. “Northeast beach tiger beetle,” she read.

Northeast beach tiger beetle! A northeast beach tiger beetle was not even an animal. It was a bug. An icketty cricketty old creepy crawly.

“If we don’t like ours, can we trade?” Judy asked.

“I’d like everybody to stick with their choices,” said Mr. Todd.

“What if we never even heard of it? What if we don’t even know what it looks like?” said Judy.

“That’s the fun of it,” said Mr. Todd. “Find out. Go to the library and look at books and magazines. Or search the Web at the computer lab. And this Thursday, we’ll be taking a class field trip to the museum, which should have information on all of your adopted animals.”

“Big museum or little museum?” asked Frank.

“Little,” said Mr. Todd. The class groaned.

The big museum meant the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. Or the one with all the planes. The little museum meant the science museum down the street. It had toy trains, plastic dinosaurs, and one-hundred-year-old pictures of Virginia stuff.

“The best exhibit there is cobwebs,” Rocky said.

When Thursday came, Judy wore her tiger-striped pajama pants to school in honor of the tiger beetle. At the museum, Mr. Todd introduced the class to the museum lady. “This is Ms. Stickley, and she’s going to tell us about endangered species in Virginia.”

Ms. Stickley looked like a stick bug. Even her socks were brown.

“Call me Stephanie,” said Ms. Stick Bug.

“Class,” said Mr. Todd. “I expect you to give Stephanie your best third-grade listening ears.” Frank pretended to take off his ears and hand them to her. Judy cracked up.

Ms. Stephanie Stick Bug took them on a tour of
Where the Wild Things Aren’t
. She showed them a real live Shenandoah salamander, a Virginia fringed mountain snail that looked extremely sluggy, and a stuffed flying squirrel glued to a board.

“A flying squirrel! Is his name Rocky, like in
Rocky and Bullwinkle
?” asked Frank.

“Yes,” said Ms. Stick Bug. “As a matter of fact it is.”

“His name is Rocky, too!” said Frank, pointing at Rocky. “Hey, Rocky, you’re a squirrel!”

“And you’re Bullwinkle!” said Rocky. “You’re a moose! Ha!”

Judy was dying to ask Ms. Stick Bug a question. She raised her hand, holding it as straight as a shortnose sturgeon. At last, Stephanie called on her.

“Do you have any northeast beach tiger beetles?” asked Judy.

“No, I’m sorry we don’t,” said Stephanie. “Those
are
endangered in Virginia and that would be a good specimen for our collection.”

What kind of endangered species museum did not have any northeast beach tiger beetles?

“Do you have any cave isopods?” asked Jessica Smartypants Finch.

“What’s an ice-o-pod?” asked Rocky.

“An isopod is a crustacean like a sow bug,” answered Stephanie. “Think of it like a pill bug, or a wood louse. You’ll find those in Arachnid Hall.”

“Ick! A louse is lice!” said Rocky.

Judy still couldn’t see why they didn’t have any northeast beach tiger beetles. After all, they had a bunch of creepy crustaceans, licey isopods, and pillbuggy pests.

Judy raised her hand again. She wanted to sound as smart as Jessica Finch.

“Excuse me,” she said. “Do you have any two-toed sloths here? Tropical treehoppers? Nocturnal aye-ayes?”

“We don’t have a rain forest exhibit,” said Ms. Stick Bug. “But it’s a great idea. Maybe someday.”

The whole class got to touch an orange-foot pimpleback pearlymussel shell and hear a story about a Dismal Swamp shrew.

“Everything in this whole place is endangered,” said Frank.

“My grade in Science is endangered, too,” said Judy.

The very next morning, Judy started her own search for a real live northeast beach tiger beetle. Before school, she grabbed a peanut butter jar from the recycling bin and ran out into the backyard. She tapped on tree bark. She crawled through itchy grass. She peered down into the dirt.

“Here, beetle, beetle,” called Judy. “Don’t be endangered.”

She did not find one single beetle. All she found was an acorn hat, a slug, and a not-recycled candy wrapper.

“Judy!” called her Dad. “What are you doing out there in your pajamas?”

“Looking for a northeast beach tiger beetle,” said Judy. “They’re endangered. Mr. Todd says saving endangered species begins in your own backyard,” said Judy.

“Not before breakfast in your pajamas,” said Dad. “All the beetles are still sleeping.”

At school that day, Judy searched for a picture of her beetle. And a few facts. She looked in the dictionary. She looked in the encyclopedia. She looked in bug books. She even looked on the computer. No luck. Most of the beetles in the computer were the John Lennon and Paul McCartney kind of Beatles.

The next day was Saturday. Frank Pearl called Judy. “Can I come over?”