Judy Moody Gets Famous! Read Free

of the day, Judy went to talk to her teacher. “Mr. Todd,” she asked, scratching her ankle, “do you think not telling the truth can make a person itch?”
Scratch, scratch, scratch.

    “I think so,” said Mr. Todd. “Is there something you’re itching to tell me?”
    “Yes,” said Judy.
Scratch, scratch.
“In Science today?”
Scratch.
“It was my mealworm.”
Scratch.
“My fault.”
Scratch, scratch.
“Not Jessica Finch’s.”
    Judy told the whole truth.
    “Thank you,” said Mr. Todd. “I appreciate your coming to me with the truth, Judy. I know that’s not always easy.”
    “Does this mean I don’t have to get a third white card?”
    “I’m afraid not,” said Mr. Todd. “I still want you to learn to pay better attention.”
    Mr. Todd erased Jessica’s name on the board and wrote Judy’s name in its place. Judy hung her head.
    “Honestly, it’s not so bad staying after school with me. We’ll find something useful to do, okay? Like maybe clean out the fish tank.”
    “Mr. Todd, is there a word for somebody who gets famous for all the wrong reasons?” asked Judy.
    “Yes,” said Mr. Todd. “That would be . . .
infamous
.”

Judy peeled a banana.
    “Can I have that?” asked Stink. Judy handed him the banana peel.
    “Not
that
!” said Stink.
    Judy took a monster bite, then handed Stink the banana. She picked up a cherry instead.
    “What are you writing?” she asked her dad, popping the cherry into her mouth.
    “Garage sale,” said Dad. “I’m running an ad in the paper. It’s time to get rid of all that old stuff out there.”
    “Old stuff?” asked Judy, perking up. Old stuff got people in the newspaper. Really really old stuff even got people on TV. “What old stuff?”
    “Your old bike, Mom’s books from college, Stink’s baby clothes.”
    “Don’t we have any old-old stuff?”
    “There’s Dad,” said Stink.
    “Thanks a lot,” said Dad.
    “No. I mean like Cleopatra’s eyelash,” said Judy. “Or a hammer used to build the Statue of Liberty. You know. Stuff old enough to be really worth something.”

    “Stuff you didn’t know you had and you find out you’re rich?” Stink grinned. “Like antiques from your great-great-great-grandmother? You go on TV and they tell you it’s worth a bunch of money.”
    “I’m afraid nobody’s going to get rich around here. Our old stuff is junk,” said Dad.
    “ROAR,” said Judy. She pulled the stem off another cherry.
    If only she had something unusual. Really rare. Like maybe a broken plate from another century, or an old letter from the American Revolution.
    “So, what’s happening in school these days?” Dad asked.
    Judy sat up. Had Dad heard about the white cards? “What do you mean?”
    “I mean, is anything interesting going on?”
    “Can I stay after school Friday?” asked Judy. “Mr. Todd says I can help clean the fish tank.”
    “P-U,” said Stink.
    “We’ll see if Mom can pick you up. How about you, Stink?”
    Judy popped another cherry into her mouth.

    “We learned this funny story about George Washington,” said Stink. “It’s about not telling a lie.”
    Judy chomped down on the cherry.
    “See, he chopped down this cherry tree. And when his dad asked who did it, Washington said, ‘I cannot tell a lie.’ And he told on himself.”
    Judy almost choked. She spit out her cherry pit. It went zinging across the table at Stink.

    “Hey,” said Stink. “She spit at me.”
    “It was an accident,” said Judy.
    “Judy!” said Dad.
    “Okay. Okay. I cannot tell a lie. I coughed a cherry pit at Stink.”
    “Pick up the cherry pit,” said Dad.
    Judy reached under Stink’s chair and picked it up off the floor.
    “No fair,” said Judy. “Why should anyone get famous for telling a lie? The whole story about the lie is a lie!”
    “Most people don’t realize it’s not true,” said Dad.
    “It’s still a good story,” said Stink.
    Judy turned the cherry pit over and over. It gave her a