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Chapter One

September

Sam Dawkins, grade 5

The police lady says me and Brenton and Judy and Kelsey have to each come in separately and talk about what happened.

Okay, so here goes. Is this thing on? My name is Sam Dawkins, but everybody calls me Snikwad onaccount of that's my last name spelled backward. Dawkins. Snikwad. Get it? Most kids call me "Snik." It's kinda cool. Beats having a nickname like Booger Face or Fart Boy or something stupid like that.

I was new to the school. I didn't know anything. And I didn't get kicked out of my old school because I refused to get a haircut. That's a lie. I don't know how that rumor got started. I don't care if you believe me. That's the truth. Anyway, my parents moved here from Oregon. My dad was in the air force and that's why we moved to Arizona. He was assigned to Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix.

The bottom line is, we messed up. Stuff happens. We're not perfect. We all feel bad. We won't do it again. What are you gonna do, throw us in jail? That's my statement.

What, you need more than that? Details? Okay, okay. What do you want to know?


Kelsey Donnelly, grade 5

My name is Kelsey Donnelly. I really don't see the reason why we gotta do this. The police lady told me that I have to make a "statement" in private and tell the whole story of what happened from the very beginning in September. Like I'm a creep or something! I barely remember what happened last week. Forget about way back in September.

Look, we're sorry about what happened. We were just having a little fun and it got out of hand. It's not like we robbed a bank or anything. That's my statement. I can't believe I have to spend my summer in this room with a tape recorder when I could be out having fun. Can I go now?


Judy Douglas, grade 5

My name is Judy Douglas. My mom works at home and my dad works for the National Park Service. He cuts down dead trees and does controlled burns to prevent forest fires.

The whole thing started because certain people who shall remain nameless did some thoughtless things that I don't need to discuss here.

This is so unfair. I have almost straight A's and I'm in the G&T program. That's gifted and talented. I would never break the law or do anything dishonest. Things just got out of control. The next thing we knew, we had to go talk to the police.

Do you have any idea of how humiliating this entire ordeal has been for me? Do you know how upset my parents were when they found out? And now this is going to be on my permanent record, probably for the rest of my life. If this keeps me out of law school someday, I will be so angry.

I'll sue. That's what I'll do. Well, if I get into law school I'll sue. But if I get into law school I won't need to sue. Oh, I just wish I could go to sleep and wake up and find out it was all a dream. Like it never happened.


Judy's mom

My first reaction was that it was discrimination. We are one of the few African-American families living in this area. When something bad happens to Judy, I can't help but wonder if it is bigotry at work. But I looked into it, and that wasn't the case. She and the others just did a dumb thing and they got caught. It's as simple as that. And now they're going to have to pay for it.


Brenton Damagatchi, grade 5

It's interesting how things happen sometimes. If I line up ten dominoes and I push over the first one, the others will fall one by one. But if I leave the first one alone, the other dominoes remain standing.

Life is like that. The way your life plays out depends on which dominoes you choose to push over and which ones you leave alone. In this case, we pushed over the wrong domino. Can I get a drink of water or something?

Doing homework becomes a thing of the past!

Meet the D Squad, a foursome of fifth graders at the Grand Canyon School made up of a geek, a class clown, a teacher's pet, and a slacker. They are bound together by one very big secret: the homework machine. Because the machine, code-named Belch, is doing their homework for them, they start spending a lot of time together, attracting a lot of attention. And attention is exactly what you don't want when you are keeping a secret.

Before long, things start to get out of control, and Belch becomes much more powerful than they ever imagined. Now the kids are in a race against their own creation, and the loser could end up in jail...or worse!