Justine McKeen, Pooper Scooper

JUSTINE McKEEN

POOPER SCOOPER

Sigmund Brouwer
illustrated by
Dave Whamond

ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

Text copyright © 2012 Sigmund Brouwer
Illustrations copyright © 2012 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

Brouwer, Sigmund, 1959-
Justine McKeen, pooper scooper [electronic resource] / Sigmund
Brouwer ; illustrated by Dave Whamond.

(Orca echoes)

Electronic monograph.
Issued also in print format.
ISBN
978-1-55469-932-2 (
PDF
).--
ISBN
978-1-4598-0317-6 (
EPUB
)

I. Whamond, Dave II. Title. III. Series: Orca echoes (Online)
PS
8553.
R
68467
J
878 2012        j
C
813'.54        
C
2012-902630-1

First published in the United States, 2012
Library of Congress Control Number
: 2012938310

Summary
: In the third book in the Justine McKeen series, Justine leads a group of kids in cleaning up a park located across from the school board's offices as part of a plan to get her school librarian back on the job.

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 Reba Baskett

www.orcabook.com

15   14   13   12   •   4   3   2   1

To all the story divas—you know who you are,
and you are proud of it!

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter One

“This is great,” Justine McKeen said to Michael and Safdar. She sat on a bench, holding her new ebook reader. “My backpack is so empty without all my books.”

It was a beautiful fall day. Justine and her friends had stopped at the town's Central Park on their way home from school.

“Guys?” she said, lifting her head.

Michael and Safdar were playing catch with a football. Jimmy Blatzo was sitting by himself on the grass in the middle of the park. He was looking at his own new ebook reader. Jimmy Blatzo often sat alone. Justine thought this needed to change.

She set her ebook reader on the bench. She ran and caught the ball.

“Interception!” she yelled and danced a victory dance.

“Hey!” Michael said. “We had a game going.”

“Hey!” Safdar said. “If I had caught that, I would have won.”

“Hey, yourself,” Justine said. “In a real game, people try to take the ball away. Nyah-nyah, booboo, crybabies.”

She laughed and ran through the park with the ball. Michael and Safdar chased her.

“Blatzo,” she called as she got close. “Go for the long bomb!”

“You're a girl,” he said as he stood. “You can't throw.”

She stopped and fired the football. He couldn't catch it because he was holding his ebook reader. The football hit him in the stomach. He groaned loudly.

Michael and Safdar caught up to Justine. Jimmy Blatzo picked up the football and stomped toward them.

Justine said, “Bad catch, Blatzo. Run over there. I'll let you try again.”

“How many times do I have to tell you?” he said. “Don't call me Blatzo. People will think we are friends.”

Jimmy Blatzo had been the first one to call Justine the Queen of Green. Now everybody did. Justine McKeen really was a queen of green. And everybody except for Justine was afraid to disagree with Jimmy Blatzo.

“How many times do I have to tell you?” she said. “We are friends.”

“Michael and I won't call you Blatzo,” Safdar said.

“We know we are not your friends,” Michael said.

Jimmy Blatzo looked at Michael and Safdar. “I didn't give you permission to speak.”

“I forgot,” Safdar said.

“Me too,” Michael said.

“You are still speaking.” Jimmy Blatzo stopped and sniffed. “Hey, who stepped in dog poop?”

Justine checked the bottom of her shoes. Michael checked his shoes. Safdar checked his shoes. Jimmy Blatzo checked his shoes.

Nobody found dog poop on their shoes.

Justine sniffed and sniffed.

She walked behind Jimmy Blatzo. A big brown patch was smushed across Jimmy Blatzo's butt.

“I was afraid of that,” she said. “You were sitting in it on the grass.”

Michael and Safdar were smart enough not to laugh.

Chapter Two

At school the next morning, Justine walked down the hallway before the bell rang. Jimmy Blatzo tapped her on the shoulder. “You didn't tell anybody about the dog poop on my pants, right?”

“A promise is a promise,” Justine said. “But what's the big deal if people find it funny?”

“It's my job to scare people, not make them laugh.”

Two boys walked past. Jimmy Blatzo raised his arms like a monster and growled. The boys jumped and ran away.

“See?” he said. “Like that.”

“Nice,” she said. “Now come to the library with me.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Right after I slam a door on my fingers. Do you think I want people to see me walking with you? You're a couple of grades younger than me.”

“I'm serious,” Justine said. “We need to do something about the dog poop in the park. Safdar told me that kids were making snowmen last winter and found little brown chocolate bars in the snow. Except they were not chocolate bars.”

Jimmy Blatzo laughed. “One kid didn't know what it was. He used it for the snowman's nose. Some of the dog poop melted in his mittens. His mother freaked. It was great!”

“No,” she said. “The kid's mother was right. Dog poop is unsafe, especially for little kids. And it's not good for the environment.”

Jimmy Blatzo frowned. “I see a problem here.”

“Thank you,” she said. “We're going to write a letter to the paper about this.”

“That's the problem,” Jimmy Blatzo said. “I knew you were going to make me help you with something.”