Judy Moody

track 04 Judy Moody, Mood Martian 39~56p

Judy Moody Mood Martian by Megan MacDonald.
Illustrated by Peter H. Reynolds.

Who’s who? Not Moody Judy.
Stink. Rocky. Frank.
Jessica. Mom. Dad.
Amy. In a mood. She, Judy Moody, was in a mood.
A sourball mood. A madface mood. All because school pictures had come home that day.
If Stink came into her room, he would ask to see her school picture. And if he asked to see her school picture, he would see that she had been wearing her I Am A Girl Hear Me Roar t-shirt, the same one she wore today. And if he saw her wearing her Roar t-shirt in her school picture, he would also see that she looked like Sasquatch, with bird’s nest hair in her face and in her eyes.
Mom and Dad were going to freak. Just once, we’d like to have a nice school picture of our girl, Dad had said just this morning. Maybe this will be the year, Mom had said.
But third grade was no different. Moody. If you are moody, your feelings change often and quickly.
Judy spread out her school pictures on the floor. She looked like a clown, kindergarten. A one- eyed pirate, second grade.
Sasquatch, third grade. If only Mom and Dad would forget about school pictures this year. Fat chance.
Maybe Judy could pretend the dog ate them. Too bad the Moodies didn’t have a dog. Only Mouse the cat.
She could say that an evil school picture bandit erased them from the master computer. Hardly. To make things worse, Rocky had grabbed her Sasquatch picture in class and wouldn’t give it back.
Then he passed it to Frank, which made Judy yelp and jump up out of her seat instead of doing her math. That’s when Mr. Todd said the A word. Antarctica.
The desk in the back of the room where Judy had to go to chill out. For the third time that day. Never in the history of Judy had she been to Antarctica that many times in a row.
A donut-sized sticky spot sat in her stomach just remembering it. That’s why she, Judy Moody, was in a mood. A finger-knitting, don’t-think-about-school-pictures, need-to-be-alone mood.As in, by herself. As in no stinky little brother to bug and bother her like a pesky mosquito. Bzzzz.
Stink was always in her ear. Pesky. Something that is pesky is annoying.
Judy’s number one favorite place to curl up with Mouse was on her top bunk. But Stink would for sure find her there. She crawled over gobs of flip-flops and blobs of dirty clothes to her second favorite spot to be alone—the way back of her closet.
She popped a wad of Stink’s yard-long bubblegum in her mouth. Don’t look at me like that, Mouse. What Stink doesn’t know won’t hurt him.
She picked up a skein of gray-brown yarn and looped it around her thumb. Mouse batted the finger-knitting chain with her paw. Over, under, over, under, back, loop-de-loop-de-loop.
Judy tugged on the long chain of apple-green yarn that dangled from her left hand. Her fingers flew. She, Judy Moody, was the fastest finger-knitter in Frogneck Lake, Virginia—the fastest finger-knitter in the East—probably the fastest in the whole wide world.
Finger-knitting was the greatest. No knitting needles needed. She looped the yarn over her fingers.
One, two, three, four, back, over, under, through—just like Grandma Lou had taught her during the big blackout of Hurricane Elmer. Judy’s closet was like a secret little room all to herself. It even had a window—a small, round window, just like the kind they had on ships—sailing ships —pirate ships.
The ship sailed across the blue ocean, bobbing on the waves under a sky full of marshmallow clouds. Judy and Mouse rocked back and forth as the ship’s hammock swung in the breeze— until the ship hit a giant wave and—Mouse overboard! Judy tossed her chain of knitting to Mouse. She felt a tug on the line.
It was— Stink! Judy snapped out of her daydream. Her gum went flying. You scared the bubblegum out of me! Where’d you get that gum? asked Stink.
Nowhere. It’s ABC gum. She picked it up and popped it back in.
How’d you find me, anyway? I followed the chain of yarn. The long, colorful chain of finger knitting snaked across the bottom of her closet, climbed up and over piles of books and towers of toys, wound around Sock Mountain, and crept out the door. Well, bad idea.
I’m in a mood. How was I supposed to know? Clues 1, 2, and 3. Those doohickeys that hang on the doorknob? Oh, I thought you were going to say school pictures. That, too.
Somebody’s in a mood. Bingo! Can I help it if I don’t go around reading doorknobs? Judy looked around and grabbed a fuzzy pillow. See this pillow? This will be my mood pillow.It’ll be our signal. If the pillow’s sitting up, it means I’m in a good mood. Come on in.
But if it’s lying down, bad mood. Go away. Much better than a doorknob doohickey.
But what if the pillow was standing up and the window was open and a hurricane came and super high winds blew down the pillow and knocked it on its side? Or what if a giant monster bigger than King Kong came and picked up our house and shook it like a toothpick and the pillow fell over? Fine. Judy plucked a marker from her pencil box. She set the pillow in her lap.
On one side, she drew a happy face for good mood. On the other side, she drew a frowny face for bad mood. This will be my mood pillow.
Happy face means come on in. Frowny face means go away. Judy leaned the pillow against the wall, frowny face out.
The pillow has spoken, stink. The Jessica Experiment She, Judy Moody, had an idea. A not-bad- mood idea.
She was going to try to be in a good mood for one whole week. Judy asked her friends, Hey, guys, what puts you in a good mood? When I do a really good magic trick, like the fake finger trick, said Rocky. He pulled his index finger, pretending to yank it off.
If everybody claps and is amazed, it puts me in a good mood. Uh-huh, Judy scribbled a note to self. I get in a good mood when I’m done with my homework, said Frank.
Uh-huh, uh-huh, Judy looked at her notes. Next it was Amy’s turn. Writing stories puts me in a good mood.
I dream stuff up and make it into a book and illustrate it. Illustrate. If you illustrate a book, you draw pictures that go with the story.
Judy scribbled some more. She looked at her notes. One, magic trick.
Two, homework. Three, write a story. I can do this, said Judy.
Do what? asked Amy. Do what? asked Rocky and Frank. Um, nothing.
Never mind. Judy ran home and took out her list. Magic trick.
She tried a magic card trick on Stink, but all she did was spill the deck of cards everywhere. Homework. Judy did not see how homework would put her in a good mood.
She crossed it off the list. Write story. Judy tried to write a story.
This story could go on and on and on. What a lemonhead! Writing a story was so not putting her in a good mood. Who else could she get ideas from? Mom? Dad? Stink? It had to be somebody smart and somebody who never got sent to Antarctica.Wait just a ding-dong minute! What could be more perfect than to talk to Little Miss Perfect? Somebody who brushed her hair every day and followed all the rules and got good grades and had never even been near Antarctica. Somebody who had a happy Magic 8-Ball. Jessica A. Plus Finch.
Of course! Judy could learn the facts about doing everything right all the time. Being perfect was sure to put her in a good mood. All she had to do was study her subject, like a science experiment.
She grabbed her notebook and hopped on her bike and pedaled down the street and around the corner to Jessica Finch’s house. Ding-dong! Judy rang the bell. Jessica A. Not Ardwolf opened the door.
Judy Moody? What are you doing here? She could not tell Jessica Tell All Finch her secret. Then the whole world would know. I, um, thought we could hang out, said Judy.
But you never want to hang out. Never say never, said Judy, pushing past Jessica. Can I come in? You are in, said Jessica.
Well, um, how about if I come up to your room? Sure, said Jessica. I was just going to start measuring things for Measure Up, our new math unit. But that doesn’t start till Thursday, said Judy.
I like to get a head start, said Jessica. Judy perched on the edge of the bed next to Jessica. She bounced up and down, testing out the jump factor.
My mom doesn’t like me to bounce on the bed, said Jessica. Check, said Judy. She scribbled, Do not bounce on bed in her notebook.
Judy stared sideways at Jessica. Her hair was brushed back into a very neat ponytail, and she was wearing pink. Judy wrote, Put hair in ponytails and wear pink in her notebook.
Why are you staring at me, asked Jessica. It’s rude. No reason, said Judy.
She looked around. The bed was made, and there were a hundred million fluffy pink pillows on it. Stuffed animal pigs were lined up in a row on the dresser.
So was a piggy bank collection. No books or clothes were on the floor. No arts and craft supplies were on the floor.
No gum wrappers were on the floor. A pink robot poster on the wall said, Obey. It was creepy, but Judy didn’t say so.
Your floor is very neat, said Judy. I can see the rug. Thanks, said Jessica.
I like my room clean. It puts me in a good mood. Check, Judy wrote, Clean room in hernotebook.
Why are you writing stuff down, asked Jessica. No reason, said Judy, sniffing the air. I smell cupcakes.
Do you smell cupcakes? Jessica cackled. That’s my lip gloss. She flipped open a teeny tiny pink plastic cupcake.
Inside was gooey lip stuff. Judy tried some. Yum, yum.
Maybe cupcake lip gloss was another key to a good mood. Judy wrote down, Wear cupcake lip gloss. You like smiley faces, huh? In Jessica’s room, Judy saw a smiley face pillow, pencil holder, and paper clips.
She saw smiley face sunglasses and slippers. Even a smiley face mobile hung over Jessica’s desk. She picked up Jessica’s smiley face magic eight ball.
Can I try? Jessica nodded. Judy had a burning question, but it was a secret. So she asked herself the question silently.
Will I be able to stay in a good mood for one whole week? She shook the happy eight ball. Nice outfit. She asked the question and shook it again.
Your breath is so minty. She tried again. You smell great.
It keeps telling me that I smell great, said Judy. It’s the lip gloss, Jessica nodded knowingly. Want to do homework now? Judy wrote, Do homework on time in her notebook.
She also got out her positively pink see-through ruler. She got out her positively pink tape measure. She even had a positively pink yardstick.
Wow, you have a yardstick? I have a yardstick of bubblegum. It’s this long. She stretched out her arms.
Well, it used to be. There’s actually only two and three-quarters inches of gum left. But the box is a yard-long ruler, for real.
And it has jokes and… I wouldn’t use it for homework if I were you, said Jessica. Judy looked around for something to measure. Do you have a cat? We could measure stuff like the cat’s tail, said Judy.
Jessica crinkled her forehead. I was just going to measure the carpet. She started to stretch the tape measure across the rug.
Boring. This being in a good mood was harder than it looked, Judy’s fingers itched. If only she were back in her closet with her finger knitting.She stared at Jessica some more. Do you ever miss the bus to school? Judy asked. Jessica wrinkled her forehead again.
Why would I do that? I mean, are you ever late to school? Say you slept late. Or read your book under the covers when you should have been getting ready. Or didn’t do your spelling homework and decided to stay home sick.
I always do my spelling homework. I never fake sick. And I have a walkie-clockie, said Jessica. She pulled an alarm clock with wheels from her nightstand. It beeps like a robot and jumps off my nightstand when it’s time to get up. I have to get out of bed to chase it around.
Can I try? asked Judy. Sure. Jessica set the clock to go off in one minute.
They waited. They waited some more. Eep! Beep! Walkie-clockie leaped to the floor.
Out of bed, sleepyhead! It zoomed across the carpet. Up and at’em, madam! It zoomed under the bed. Rise and shine, friend of mine! Judy chased it all around Jessica’s room.
Wow! said Judy. It walks. It talks.
It rhymes. It chimes. She wrote down, get walkie-clockie so I’m never late in her notebook. That was fun. Let’s do it again. This time.
It’s not really a game, said Jessica. She put the clock back on her nightstand. Come on.
Let’s do our homework. Judy looked at her to-do list. She had a lot to do if she was going to stay out of Antarctica.
She had a lot to learn about being in a good mood. I can’t, said Judy. I have to, um, go finish my science experiment.
Science experiment? Jessica sat up straight. Her eyes got wide. What science experiment? We don’t have any.
But Judy was already down the steps and halfway out the front door. Yippee skippy! Spaghetti yeti. First things first.
As soon as Judy got home, she pulled her hair back into two Jessica Finch ponytails. Then she cleaned up her room like a friend without an R. F-I-E-N-D. Spelling word number 23 on Mr. Todd’s homework list.
Definition? Maniac. She huffed and puffed, picking up books and games and art supplies and stuffed animals. Yawn-o-rama.
Mouse watched her every move. She huffed and puffed more, putting away shirts and shortsand socks and pajamas. Boring times two.
Mouse pounced on a sock. Give it. It’s not playtime, Mouse.
I wish. She even tossed her finger knitting into the closet. Jessica Finch was cuckoo for coconuts if she thought cleaning your room could put you in a good mood.
Next, Judy did her this week homework. Read, read, read. Spell, spell, spell.
Multiply. Divide. Done.
Doing her homework on time did not put her in a good mood. Now what, Mouse? Judy asked. She checked her notebook.
Eureka! She, Judy Moody, had an idea. Judy dug and dug like a badger to the way back of her closet. She pulled out her last year Christmas presents.
Under the hand-knitted dancing mouse sweater from Grandma Lou was a present from Nana and Gramps in California. It was not a way-cool make-your-own-gum kit. It was not a way-cool make-your-own-seashell-nightlight kit.
It was a make-your-own-lip-gloss kit. Cotton candy, chocolate, cupcake! Double exclamation points! Last Christmas, Judy would not have been caught dead wearing smelly lip gloss. But that was before the Jessica experiment.
She had to try it now, in the name of good moods. Judy did not want to mess up her clean room, so she messed up the bathroom instead. Warm water, sticky hands, smelly flavor, and voila! Cupcake lip gloss! Mmm, mmm, mmm! Judy looked in the mirror and smacked her lips.
Yum, yum! She licked her lips. Oops! Now she needed more lip stuff. Smack, smack, smack! Lip- smacking good! Cupcake lip stuff did put her in a bit of a better mood.
Who knew? Judy went back to her room. Sing a song of tuna fish! Her finger-knitting chain snaked and snarled out the closet door, up, over, and around the doorknob, across the dresser, and onto the floor, where Mouse was curled up sleeping on a heap of it. Snarled.
If something is snarled, it is twisted and tangled. Judy tugged an end out from under Mouse. Who yarn-bombed my clean room, Mouse? She said.
Don’t even try to say it was stink. At last, she had time for her new rave, finger-knitting. She went to her closet to get some more yarn.
But there was no more yarn. Not one ball. Not one skein.
Not even a snippet. She was O-U-T out. Judy ran downstairs.
Mom! Mom! Can we go to Bullseye? It’s a yarn emergency! Sorry, honey, said Mom. All this yarncosts money. Let’s wait and ask Grandma Lou for some yarn next time we see her.
But… Judy was about to say it was so not fair. Judy was about to say she could not wait. Judy was about to stomp up the stairs.
But that would mean she was in a mood. Not a good mood. A bad mood.
Judy dashed back upstairs. Her frowny-faced mood pillow glared at her. It was only G-M-D number one.
Good Mood Day number one. Judy had to be stomp-free for the rest of the week. This being in a good mood all the time sure was not as easy-peasy, mac-and-cheesy as it looked.