Whales on Stilts! (15 page)

Jasper looked at him, tight lipped. “No, sir, I'm afraid not.” He shook his head solemnly.

“No?”

“No,” Jasper said, very gently and consolingly. “In three years I'll run into you, and you'll be working full-time at an industrial carpet-cleaning service.”

Larry's head drooped. He said sadly, “The one on Ethan Boulevard?”

“No,” said Jasper, “a little farther south, on the corner of Twelfth and Harrison. You'll be writing your memoirs at night.”

Larry nodded. “They'll be too long and boring for publication, won't they?”

Jasper felt he shouldn't answer this. He put his hand, still webbed with bubble, on Larry's shoulder. “You gave it your best go, sir. That's all any of us can do.”

“Thank you,” said Larry. “I'll see you some other time.”

“Remember, evil never pays.”

“Okay,” said Larry. “Thanks for... you know, the tip and all.” He shuffled off to an unforgiving future.

Meanwhile, Jasper Dash gasped for breath, trying to find the way out of his Marvelous Non-Osmotic Hypo-Allergenic Oxysphere.

A week later a very triumphant little party was gathered in the Aero-Bistro, floating over the sea. Of course, Lily, Jasper, and Katie were there. They were joined by their parents and the governor of the state, who was congratulating Lily on her brilliant scheme to foil Larry's invasion.

“Lily, it's quite a feat. You really have shown the people of this state what one girl can do,” the governor said. “Just one girl, some androids, a flying restaurant, twenty vintage Victrola phonograph players, a small submarine, and a boy in a plastic bubble.”

Katie said, “She's the one who first noticed that there was something fishy about the Abandoned Warehouse.”

Jasper said, “And she's the one who figured out what Larry's plan was.”

Katie said, “And she's the one who figured out how we could remind the whales of what they were missing underwater. She figured it out by listening to her grandmother.”

The governor nodded. “I hate to think what would have happened if you hadn't stepped in, Lily. If those whales had made it to the state capital ... I see an awful picture in my head: whales in the state legislature, wearing white wigs ... making lots of laws .. . where schoolkids had to eat plankton ... It makes me proud to be a non-whale elected official of this great state.” He smiled for the cameras.

Several of Katie's writers from Simon & Schuster were at the next table. “Lily,” said one, “when you first saw Barry the fish-man, did your eyes ‘stick out' in horror?”

The second writer lit a cigarette. “When you thought of your plan, I assume you said, ‘It's so
crazy... it
just might work.'
I'm writing that down:...
so crazy ...it.. .just... might...
”

“Lily, do you have any superpowers you haven't told us about?”

“Here. Bend my keys with your mind.”

Lily took a step backward.

“Do you ever wear a cape and a bodysuit?”

“A crash helmet?”

“You really need a pet rat named Nimrod. He's a scoundrel, but he'll worm his way into your heart.”

“Be quiet!” yelled Katie.

The three men stopped their scribbling and typing.

“All this attention is frazzling her,” said Katie.

Lily looked at her own knees.

For a second, the three writers looked ashamed.

Then one of them said, “Mr. Dash, when you fought off the killer bees, did you—”

Katie grabbed her friends' arms and pointed.

She, Lily, and Jasper pulled away from all the people who wanted to hear their story, and they stepped over to the railing to watch the sun set over the sea. Around them the potted ferns waved and the seagulls cried. The clouds turned a rich, rumbling kind of red as the sun disappeared. The sky stretched peach above their heads. The wind blew at them.

Katie said, “Well, Lily—are you proud?”

Lily didn't say anything. She just smiled and nodded.

Jasper looked at her. He said shyly, “Why-Lily—with your hair blown back like that— you're beautiful.”

Lily quickly covered her eyes with her bangs.

Katie shook her head. “Walking whales,” she said. “Is there a single weird thing that doesn't happen to us?”

“Could have been worse, fellows,” said Jasper. “It could have been evil, flying kelp. Or giant man-eating sea anemones.”

Katie shrugged. “With fiends like these, who needs anemones?”

She grinned and spread her hands.

“Katie,” said Jasper, “we could laugh, but that would be like lying to a friend.”

He turned to look at the clouds. Katie punched him lightly on the arm. Jasper just whistled a tune and kept looking at the clouds. Katie leaned her elbows on the railing next to him. Jasper kicked Katie in the shin, in a polite, gentlemanly kind of way. Katie, admiring the way the water reflected the light, put her pinkie in Jasper's ear. Jasper took his elbow and— “Break it up,” said Lily, “or I'm throwing my Jell-O at both of you.”

Along the shore, the forest and the gorge turned red with sunset. For a long time, they stood by the railing and talked about things that mattered to them. There are times when friendship feels like running down a hill together as fast as you can, jumping over things, spinning around, and you don't care where you're going,
and you don't care where you've come from, because all that matters is speed, and the hands holding your hands. That's how it felt to Katie, Jasper, and Lily: Though the night was falling, it was as if they could still feel the sun on their faces, and they stood together talking until the sky turned to black, the party balloons sagged, and the androids came to take them home.

Questions for Further Study

We hope that you have enjoyed
Whales on Stilts!
Many readers may be coming across this book for the first time in a classroom setting or in a structured reading group; for them we have endeavored to provide questions to aid in a thoughtful and insightful conversation about the themes, characters, and real-world story that the author, M. T. Anderson, has woven into the rich tapestry that is this book. The editors at Simon & Schuster have employed child-learning specialist Ann Mowbray Dixon-Clarke to come up with a series of talking-points that will enrich, enliven, and enlighten.

When everyone in your group is seated comfortably, the designated moderator should begin by asking the following questions:

1. Who chose this book?

2. Can I hit him/her in the stomach?

3. Which character is your favorite character?

4. Out of all the page numbers in the book, which one is your favorite? Discuss.

5. What's that out the window?

6. If you could legally drive any whale at all, would you drive a baleen whale (Suborder Mysticeti) or a toothed whale (Suborder Odontoceti)? (Please show your work.)

7. In the scene with the giant starfish, who should have picked up the powdered sugar?

a. Katie

b. Jasper

c. Whoever spilled it, thank you very much

d. Nimrod, the debonair pet rat. What antics!

8. Which whale book with a character named Lily and another one named Jasper is your favorite?

9. Oh, really?

10. Lily notices many strange things around the streets of Pelt. What strange things do you notice around your town?

11. Should you report something like that to the police?

12. Jasper Dash owns a pair of electric pants. If you could electrify any article of your best friend's clothing, which would it be, and how many volts?

13. What do you think the theme of this work is? Please hum it in its entirety.

14. When you are reading this book and you begin to weep, is it because of:

a. the plight of Pelt

b. the terror of whales

c. too many fictional helmets

d. you are reading this book

e. Ann Mowbray Dixon-Clarke

15. Anchovies: Why?

16. In one scene, Jasper Dash wears a futuristic photocopier-repair outfit. If you were walking down the street and one of your friends came up in a futuristic outfit, for example some futuristic shorts or maybe a futuristic swim cap—on a bright, sunny day, let's say, and the swim cap was green and sparkly, and this friend comes up, and you haven't seen her for three days because you've had a lot of work to do
around the yard, and you've been burying your head in
The Chronicles of Chowder #7: The Saw That Cut Time,
and haven't come to the phone ever when your friend called, and now you see that your friend is wearing this outfit, and across the street there are three guys who you know a little bit from 4-H, would ... um ... I forget the question. Could I borrow some gum?

17. Has anyone else noticed that Larry is kind of adorable?

by Ann Mow bray Dixon-Clarke

1. How are Katie, Jasper, and Lily different? Why do you think they are friends? Do you have any friends who are very different from you? What are they like? Why don't you think that Ann Mowbray Dixon-Clarke has any friends? She bought a big grill for her backyard, hoping that people would come to cook their ribs. She has that great dress with the twisty things on the arms. Do you think she's different? Is she
distinctively
different, i.e.,
with a certain flair
?

2. Why do the whales decide to go home? What do they miss about their home? If you are in a classroom or a reading group, do you wish you were at home right now? Do you wish you were at Ann Mowbray Dixon-Clarke's home, where there are ribs a-plenty? Maybe you could bring your class and some coleslaw.

3. Larry is a bad person in most of this book. Do you think he could become a good person? What would make the difference in Larry's life?
Maybe he needs the love and attention of a very special lady, who can help him choose his suits and grain sacks, someone who can spray his flukes, someone who could help him channel those destructive energies into the building of birdhouses and the cooking of ribs in her darling backyard. Who might that person be? Have you read about anyone recently who might be the perfect person for a handsome, rubbery, concealed overachiever like Larry?