Operation Frog Effect Read online

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2019 by Sarah Scheerger

  Cover art copyright © 2019 by Andy Smith

  Interior illustrations copyright © 2019 by Gina Perry

  Emoji copyright © Apple Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

  Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.

  Visit us on the Web! rhcbooks.com

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Scheerger, Sarah Lynn, author.

  Title: Operation frog effect / Sarah Scheerger.

  Description: New York: Random House Books for Young Readers, 2019. | Told from eight perspectives, one in graphic novel form, one through poetry, and one as a movie script. | Summary: “Ms. Graham’s fifth-grade class wants to promote change in the world; but when eight of them take an assignment too far, they must take responsibility for their actions and unite for a cause they all believe in” —Provided by publisher.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2018030807 | ISBN 978-0-525-64412-5 (hardcover) | ISBN 978-0-525-64413-2 (hardcover library binding) | ISBN 978-0-525-64414-9 (ebook)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Responsibility—Fiction. | Schools—Fiction. | Teachers—Fiction.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.S34244 Ope 2019 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  Ebook ISBN 9780525644149

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v5.4

  a

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  If you’d like to learn more…

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Especially for Ben, Noah, Jacob, and Ella.

  You make the world a better place.

  BLAKE

  EMILY

  Status:

  Dear Hope,

  Ms. Graham said we could give our journal a name (so we feel like we’re writing to a real person). I’ve always liked the name Hope. It sounds so optimistic. Okay, I just reread that and duh! Of course “hope” sounds optimistic. That’s basically the definition, right?

  I’m feeling pretty hopeful about my First Day of Fifth Grade! We’re the kings and queens of White Oak Elementary! I’ve got both my besties in my class—Aviva (my number one) and Kayley (close second). They came today with matching bracelets (I bet they’ll surprise me with one too). They’re sitting together in the back of the room. I wish they’d grabbed seats at my table, but oh well. Maybe they didn’t see me when they came in?

  I can’t believe Ms. Graham let us pick our own seats. She looks kinda young, maybe that’s why? I hope she winds up being cool. She’s gonna lock up the journals at the end of every day. My secrets will be safe with you, Hope, right?

  Love and luck,

  Emily

  PS I think Blake is making frog noises. This doesn’t surprise me.

  KAYLEY

  Dear Ms. Graham,

  I know you’re reading this. I’m tired of pretending I don’t know what adults are up to. I’m not being conceited or anything here, Ms. Graham, but I’m harder to fool than other kids.

  No offense—but if you tell the kids you’re not reading the journals, you know half of them won’t write at all, right? You’ll wise up. And then some will be kiss-ups—like Emily, for example. I can see her up front, practically writing a Novel. Aviva and I are outgrowing her. Last year we only sat next to her at lunch to be nice.

  Blake Benson is the other one who drives me bananas. Somehow I got stuck with him at my table group, and all he’s doing is drawing in his journal and making strange noises under his breath. I hate Blake Benson more than I hate knockoff jeans, and that says a lot. He’s basically the cause of every problem.

  I’ll write every day, like you’ve asked us to, but I want you to know I’m not fooled. Come on! We’re kids! We have Zero Privacy. And anything written at school and collected by a teacher is most certainly not private.

  PS I can’t even see Blake’s mouth moving. Maybe he’ll be a ventriloquist someday. That boy needs a plan, because he is not good at doing the school thing.

  SHARON

  I’m going to write my journal in poems.

  Sometimes it’s easier

  To speak the truth through a ballpoint pen

  Than through my lips.

  Probably because no one can interrupt.

  When I talk,

  I get interrupted (corrected) all the time.

  Mostly, people don’t want to hear the truth.

  Instead, they want some softened-up, sugared-over

  Version of reality.

  Me—I like my truth

  Naturally fresh and flavorful

  Without added sugar or preservatives.

  Just like my food.

  We buy organic.

  BLAKE

  HENRY

  Someday I’ll be a real movie writer/director, and I’ll be so famous and rich that I’ll pay someone to do the boring things like making my bed and setting the table.

  My movies will be comedies. None of that sappy tearjerker junk for me. I think I’m pretty funny. Ma agrees. Not that I’m actually funny, but that I think I’m funny. She’s always saying, “You think you’re so funny.”

  And I say, “True dat,” like a gangsta from a TV show, which makes her frown.

  If I’m gonna be rich and famous, I’ve got to prepare. That’s why Ba gave me his old cell phone. It’s ancient but it has service (sometimes) and takes videos and photos, so I can practice making movies. I’ll practice in my journal too, by writing scenes instead of regular boring journal entries. Ms. Graham said we could write our journals any way we want, so here goes. The dollar signs ($) below are for inspiration.

  $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

  SCENE: 5th-grade classroom at White Oak Elementary School, 32 students sitting at desks in groups of 4. Ms. Graham moves her hands when she talks, like she’s conducting an invi
sible orchestra.

  MS. GRAHAM: Look around you. The seats you’ve chosen today will be yours for the whole year.

  HENRY: (whispers to seat partner) Rats! Should’ve sat closest to the door.

  EMILY: (raises hand)

  MS. GRAHAM: (conducts) Get to know your table groups because you’ll need to work cooperatively for each assignment. We’ll be learning through hands-on group projects. Yes…Emily?

  EMILY: Since we didn’t know about yearlong table groups when we sat down, can we switch today before we get started?

  MS. GRAHAM: Great question! And thank you for warming us up by being the first to raise your hand. But no…the table groups are set. I do this on purpose so that students have a chance to work through any peer problems that arise.

  KAYLEY: (raises hand) Will we be graded individually or as a team?

  MS. GRAHAM: As a team.

  KAYLEY: (looks at our table group and sighs)

  HENRY: (under breath to Kayley) Okay, this is how it’ll be. You work, and I’ll supervise. (Henry spies a frog leaping from Blake’s pocket. It hops away from the table.)

  KAYLEY: Eek! (scrambles onto her chair and points) Ms. Graham! THERE’S A FROG BY YOUR FOOT!

  MS. GRAHAM: Well, hello there. (surprisingly calm, picks up frog) He’s injured.

  KAYLEY: (shrieking) Now there’s a FROG IN YOUR HAND!!!!!

  MS. GRAHAM: So there is. (smiles) First class vote of the year: What do you all propose we do with this frog?

  KAI

  Dear Frog,

  Yes, I’m writing to you.

  At this moment, you’re the single most interesting thing in this class.

  Wait—is Emily crying? She keeps sniffling and poking her fingers at the corners of her eyes. She usually hooks up with Kayley and Aviva for projects. But this time she’s got me, Sharon, and that new girl Cecilia (who started at White Oak last year). Cecilia smells like flowery girl shampoo.

  Maybe Emily’s sorry she’s stuck with us. I kind of want to reassure her that I’ll be a good team member. Just because I finish my work super-fast and teachers are always after me for reading under my desk, that doesn’t mean I’m a slacker. Classwork is so easy that I can finish it all, get 100%, and still read half a novel during the school day. That’s not being a slacker, that’s being efficient. Same philosophy at home. I can read and mop at the same time. Don’t bother asking me how (I refuse to reveal my secret method).

  We’re a big reading family. Maybe because both my parents are education professors at the university. They stagger their teaching schedules so that someone’s always home for the four of us kids after school, and we all pitch in to help. Everyone in my house has got lots to say…all the time. Sometimes the only way to get away from them is to hide in the coat closet with a flashlight and read.

  Reading is a good thing, right? But guess what I get in the most trouble for? Reading. Somehow no one thinks it’s a good idea to read while walking the dog, taking out the trash, or mowing the lawn. Apparently, I got all the creative genes.

  PS Writing in private journals on shared desks is a recipe for disaster. People will peek. Not me, of course. Other people.

  CECILIA

  Hola Abuelita,

  It’s the first day of school, and my teacher held a frog in her bare hands! ¡Guau! I thought that girl Kayley was going to have a heart attack.

  We have an assignment to write every day in journals. I’ll write to YOU, Abuelita. What better way to practice your English than to read my letters, right? I’ll write in English, but I’ll translate any words I don’t think you’ll know. When my journal is full, I’ll mail it to you, and you’ll know I’m missing you.

  Mami misses you too. Mexico is too far. Every night we dream of bringing you back here to stay with us. I remember being a little girl and snuggling up on Mami’s lap while you two talked and drank café de olla. “Hungry, mija?” Mami would ask, and I’d shake my head (even though I was starving) because it was so cozy sitting with you both that I didn’t want her to move. Hopefully, someday we’ll live together again.

  Between my letters, our phone calls, that English class you’re taking, and watching television from the US—you’re gonna be practically fluent! ¡Practica tu inglés!

  WORDS TO PRACTICE (I know you can do it!)

  journal = el diario

  assignment = la tarea

  heart attack = el infarto

  practice = práctica

  Besos y abrazos,

  Cecilia

  AVIVA

  Date: September 5

  Everyone is super-excited about the idea of having a class frog. Ms. Graham let a few students take a break from journaling and convert a big plastic storage container into a frog habitat. They’re gathering grass and poking holes in the lid. I’m an amphibian lover, so normally I’d be volunteering to help, but I can’t shake a worry.

  So here’s what happened. Kayley decided we should wear our matching rainbow best-friends bracelets today, and she saved me a place in class this morning. I tried to get Emily’s attention and wave her over, but Henry snagged the desk right in front of me, and Blake Benson slid into the seat in front of Kayley. She hates-hates-hates Blake Benson, so I was sure she’d say she was saving that seat. But she didn’t.

  I elbowed Kayley and whispered, “What about Emily?” But she shrugged and said we had to stop babying Emily all the time.

  I real quick scribbled Emily a note, telling her not to stress, that Blake would be moved up front within a week. I’ve been in Blake’s class every year since second grade, and teachers figure him out pretty fast. But then Ms. Graham said we’d be keeping the same seats and the same teams all year. (!!!!) So now I’m sitting here journaling and worrying about whether Emily is upset.

  I like writing. Because I’m quiet, people think I don’t have much to say, but the opposite is true. I have SO much to say. I probably have as much to say as Sharon, and she’s waving her hand to make a comment every five seconds. Kayley always sighs superduper loud when Sharon’s talking. I don’t mind Sharon talking so much. She’s not my friend or anything, but she makes me think.

  EMILY

  Status:

  Dear Hope,

  I told Aviva and Kayley that we should all write Ms. Graham letters to ask her to let us be in the same group. I was way too scared to go straight up to Ms. Graham and talk to her about it. Especially after she shut me down in class. But I thought maybe if Aviva and Kayley and I all wrote her…she’d listen?

  Aviva smiled and nodded at first, but then after Kayley said, “Can’t you take a hint? She already told you no,” Aviva stopped nodding.

  Well, I’m going to write one anyway. Kayley and Aviva are acting strange. I’m not sure what’s up? They’ve been wearing their rainbow bracelets all week (but never gave me one). And I just noticed they had matching ankle bracelets today too.

  Love and luck,

  Emily

  * * *

  —

  Dear Ms. Graham,

  I know you said “no changing groups.” I promise I’m not trying to argue. I want you to know that Aviva, Kayley, and I have been best friends since second grade. Mom says it’s hard to have a group of three, because someone can be left out. But it’s not normally like that for us.

  Only now they’re laughing at jokes I don’t understand, and dressing like twins, and eating their lunches really fast before I even sit down.

  This is our last year together. Kayley’s parents are putting her in a private middle school. So she’ll be leaving the rest of us. That’s why this year is extra important.

  This will all be better if you put me in their group. Please?

  From Emily

  AVIVA

  Date: September 8

  Kayl
ey says we have to let Emily make new friends, that it’s for her own good. This hurts my heart, but she’s probably right. Emily only hangs out with us, and we only hang out with her, so it usually works out okay.

  But I just found out that Ima and Aba (that’s what I call my parents) are sending me to La Ventana Prep next year for middle school. Say what? I thought I’d stay in public school. Kayley’s going to La Ventana too. Her parents reserved a spot there when she was in kindergarten. My parents signed me up last week (before they talked to me about it, by the way).

  Ima and Aba said they’d heard horror stories about public middle school. Horror stories? What exactly does that mean? When I asked, all I got was bullies-and-cigarettes. So middle school has bullies? Big whoop. Bullies are everywhere. I’ll survive. And do my parents seriously think I’d try a cigarette? I may not be a genius, but I’m not a complete idiot either. I like my teeth white and my lungs pink, thank you very much.

  No matter how much I argued that I’d be fine in public middle school, they couldn’t hear me. I told them that La Ventana is all girls and probably all rich girls. I won’t fit in at all. But then they said it’s the only non-Christian-based private school in the county (we’re Jewish), and public middle school is not-on-the-table, so it’s La Ventana or back to homeschooling. Yikes. They hugged me and told me they just want what’s best for me. They are so strict, and they think they know best all the time.

  This is exactly why I don’t share my thoughts. It’s like I’m yelling underwater and all I’m getting is wet. After a while I stopped arguing and sat there, deflated like a balloon.

  PS I’m worried about the frog. I did some research last night and found out that wild frogs have difficulty surviving in captivity. The trick is to make sure you know the type of species, so you can have the right habitat. I printed out the article, but I don’t want Ms. Graham to think I’m trying to tell her what to do. Maybe I’ll just set the article on her desk at recess.