Jake Drake Know-It-All
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
ALADDIN PAPERBACKS
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
Text copyright © 2001 by Andrew Clements
Illustrations copyright © 2007 by Janet Pedersen
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
ALADDIN PAPERBACKS and related logo are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Also available in a Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers hardcover edition.
The text of this book was set in Century ITC.
The illustrations were rendered in pen and ink.
First Aladdin Paperbacks edition July 2001
This Aladdin Paperbacks edition June 2007
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Clements, Andrew, 1949-
Jake Drake, know-it-all / Andrew Clements ; illustrated by Dolores Avendaño.
Summary: Jake is determined to win the third grade science fair not only for the grand prize, but to beat the annoying class know-it-alls, as well.
[1. Drake, Jake (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Science projects—Fiction.
3. Science—Experiments—Fiction. 4. Magnets—Fiction. 5. Friendship—Fiction.
6. Schools—Fiction.]
PZ7.C59118 Jak 2001
[Fic] 21—lcac 2001032782
ISBN: 978-0-689-83918-4 (hc.)
ISBN: 978-1-4169-3931-3 (pbk.)
ISBN: 978-1-44246-236-6 (eBook)
To Kathy, Mary, and Frank Despres
in appreciation of their loving, dedicated service
to the children of Westborough
Contents
CHAPTER ONE The Catch
CHAPTER TWO Big News
CHAPTER THREE The Rules
CHAPTER FOUR Hunters
CHAPTER FIVE K-I-A/D-I-A
CHAPTER SIX What to Do
CHAPTER SEVEN Secrets and Spies
CHAPTER EIGHT Dropouts
CHAPTER NINE Sticking Together
CHAPTER TEN Teamwork
CHAPTER ELEVEN Winners
CHAPTER ONE
The Catch
I’m Jake, Jake Drake. I’m in fourth grade, and I’m ten years old. And I have to tell the truth about something: I’ve been crazy about computers all my life.
My first computer was an old Mac Classic with a black-and-white screen. I got to play Reader Rabbit and Magic Math. I got to draw pictures on the screen, and I played Battle Tanks. And that was before I could even read.
Then our family got a Mac with a big color monitor. And I got to play Tetris and Shanghai and Solitaire and Spectre. Then I got a joystick for Christmas when I was four, and so did my best friend, Willie. Whenever Willie came to my house we played computer games together. It’s not like we played computers all the time, because my mom made a one-hour-a-day rule at my house. But Willie and I filled up that hour almost every day.
Then the computers started getting super-fast, and I started messing around with Virtual Drummer, and then SimCity, and SimAnt, and PGA Golf, and about ten other games. And then the Internet arrived at my house, and all of a sudden I could make my computer do some pretty amazing stuff. It was like a magic window.
I’m telling all of this because if I don’t, then the rest of this story makes me look like a real jerk. And I’m not a jerk, not most of the time. I just really like computers.
When I started kindergarten, there was a computer in our room. When the teacher saw I was good on it, I got to use it. I even got to teach other kids how to use it. Except for Kevin and Marsha. They didn’t want me to tell them about computers or anything else.
Like I said before, I’m ten now, so I’ve had some time to figure out some stuff. And one thing I know for sure is this: There’s nothing worse than a know-it-all.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m pretty smart, and I like being smart. And almost all the kids I know, they’re pretty smart, too.
But some kids, they have to prove they’re smart. Like, all the time. And not just smart. They have to be the smartest. And that’s what Marsha and Kevin are like.
Marsha McCall and Kevin Young were nice enough kids back in kindergarten—as long as I didn’t try to tell them anything about the computer. Because when I tried to show Kevin how to make shapes with the drawing program, he said, “I know that.” But I don’t think he really did. And when I tried to show Marsha how to print out a picture of a kitten, she said, “I can do that myself.”
But a lot of the time Kevin and Marsha were pretty nice because kindergarten was mostly playtime.
But when we got to first grade, school changed. All of a sudden there were right answers and wrong answers. And Kevin and Marsha, they went nuts about getting the right answers.
But it was worse than that. They both wanted to get the right answer first. It was like they thought school was a TV game show. If you get the right answer first, you win the big prize. Anyway, they both turned into know-it-alls.
Our first-grade teacher was Miss Grimes. Every time she asked a question, Marsha would start shaking all over and waving her hand around and whispering really loud, like this: “Ooh, ooh! I know! I know! I know!”
And while Marsha was going, “Ooh, ooh,” Kevin looked like his arm was going to pull his whole body right out of his chair and drag it up to the ceiling, like his arm had its own brain or something.
It was pretty awful. But Miss Grimes, she liked it when Kevin and Marsha tried to be the best at everything. She liked seeing who could get done first with a math problem. She liked letting everyone with a hundred on a spelling quiz line up first for lunch or recess. First grade felt like a big contest, and Miss Grimes smiled at the winners and frowned at the losers.
When she asked the class a question, most of the time Miss Grimes called on Marsha first. If Marsha was slow or didn’t know something, then Kevin got a turn. If Kevin messed up, then she would call on someone else.
And I think I know why Miss Grimes always called on Marsha and Kevin. I think it’s because she’s kind of a know-it-all herself. I bet she was just like Marsha back when she was in first grade.
Second grade wasn’t much better. The only good thing was that my second-grade teacher wasn’t like Miss Grimes. Mrs. Brattle didn’t want school to be a big contest. So she hardly ever called on the know-it-alls.
All year long, Mrs. Brattle kept saying stuff like, “Kevin and Marsha, please look around at all the other students in this class. They have good ideas, too. Just put your hands down for now.”
That didn’t stop Kevin and Marsha. The “oohoohing” and the arm waving never let up.
But last year, when I was in third grade, that’s when things got out of control. And I guess it was partly my fault.
And Mrs. Snavin, my third-grade teacher? She had something to do with it. And so did the principal, Mrs. Karp.
And so did this guy named Mr. Lenny Cordo over at Wonky’s Super Computer Store. He had a lot to do with it.
Because Mr. Lenny Cordo came to my school one day back when I was in third grade. And Mr. Lenny Cordo told me that he had a present for me. Something really wonderful. Something I had been wishing for.
But there was one small catch. Because there’s always at least one small catch.
And this was the catch: Before Mr. L
enny Cordo could give me this wonderful thing that I wanted so much, I would have to do something.
I would have to turn myself into Jake Drake, Know-It-All.
CHAPTER TWO
Big News
When something big is going to happen at school, the kids are always the last to know. First the principal and the teachers and the other grown-ups get everything figured out. Then they tell me and my friends about it. Which doesn’t seem very fair, but that’s how it happens.
So one Tuesday morning before Christmas vacation, there was an assembly for the kids in third grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade. I sat up front with all the other third graders.
The principal looked huge. Mrs. Karp is always tall. But standing up on the stage that morning in a green dress, she looked like a giant piece of celery.
There was someone else on the stage. It was this man I had never seen before. He was wearing a yellow sport coat and a purple tie with green polka dots. It was the first time I had ever seen a yellow sport coat. Or a purple tie with green polka dots. I thought maybe he worked for a circus.
He sat on a folding chair, and he had a wide roll of paper lying across his lap. It was noisy in the auditorium. Then Mrs. Karp held up two fingers and leaned toward the microphone.
Mrs. Karp should not be allowed to have a microphone. She doesn’t need one. Every kid in the school knows how loud she can yell. When Mrs. Karp yells, it feels like the tiles are going to peel up off the floor and start flying around.
No one wanted to hear Mrs. Karp yell, and especially not into a microphone. So it got quiet in about one second.
Mrs. Karp said, “Good morning, students.”
And then she paused.
So all of us said, “Good morning, Mrs. Karp.”
Then Mrs. Karp said, “I have some good news this morning. The people at Wonky’s Super Computer Store have been talking to our Board of Education. And in just one month, our school is going to have twenty brand-new computers for our media center. Twenty new computers—isn’t that wonderful?”
Mrs. Karp paused, so all the kids and the teachers in the audience clapped. Some of the fifth graders started cheering and shouting stuff like, “Yaaay!” and, “All riiight!” and, “Awesome!”
So Mrs. Karp had to hold up two fingers again. It got quiet right away.
Then she said, “But there’s a reason that I’ve asked just the third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade classes to come here this morning. And that’s because during the next-to-last week of January our school is going to have a science fair!”
Mrs. Karp paused again.
But no one clapped this time.
Then she said, “This is the first time we’ve had a science fair at Despres Elementary School, so this is something brand-new for all of us. And to tell you more about our very first science fair ever, I’d like to introduce Mr. Lenny Cordo. He’s the manager of Wonky’s Super Computer Store. Mr. Cordo.”
The man in the yellow sport coat and the purple tie with green polka dots stood up. He forgot he had that roll of paper on his lap. It dropped onto the floor and rolled off the front of the stage. A lot of kids started laughing. Then Mrs. Karp moved back toward the microphone, and the laughing stopped.
Mrs. Snavin got up from her chair in the front row. She picked up the wide roll of paper and handed it back to the man.
Mr. Lenny Cordo was a lot shorter than Mrs. Karp, so he had to pull the microphone down. Then he said, “Thank you, Mrs. Karp. I am so glad to be here.”
That’s what Mr. Cordo said, but he didn’t look that way. There was sweat all over his forehead, and the roll of paper in his hands was shaking. I guess we looked scary. So he talked fast to get it over with.
“At Wonky’s Super Computer Store, we love kids. At Wonky’s Super Computer Store, we think it’s never too early to get kids excited about science and computers and the future. And that’s why Wonky’s Super Computer Store is proud to sponsor the First Annual Despres Elementary School Science Fair.”
And that’s when Mr. Cordo held up the wide piece of paper and let it unroll. It was a banner. It said WONKY’S FIRST ANNUAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SCIENCE FAIR.
The biggest word on the banner was “WONKY’S.” And the whole banner was upside down.
There was a little laughing, but it stopped because Mr. Cordo kept talking. He wasn’t scared anymore. Now he sounded like a guy selling cars on TV.
“In the real world, the world where all of you will live and learn and work in the future, people get rewards for doing good work. And that is why Wonky’s Super Computer Store is offering a GRAND PRIZE for the best science fair project in grade three, grade four, and grade five!”
When you say those two words, “GRAND PRIZE,” kids pay attention. It got so quiet, I could almost hear the sweat sliding down Mr. Cordo’s forehead. He saw we were listening now, so he took his time.
“That’s right. There will be three grand prizes for the First Annual Wonky’s Science Fair. And do you want to know what each grand prize will be?”
With one giant voice, every kid in the auditorium shouted, “YES!”
So Mr. Cordo leaned closer to the microphone and shouted back. “Then I’m going to tell you! The grand prize for the best science fair project in grade three, grade four, and grade five will be… a brand-new Hyper-Cross-Functional Bluntium Twelve computer system!”
I couldn’t believe it! For the past three months, the Bluntium Twelve computer had been advertised on every TV channel. And in every magazine and newspaper. I had seen it on billboards and even on the side of a bus.
The Bluntium Twelve was the computer I had been begging my mom and dad to get. It was the fastest computer with the coolest games and the best connections.
It was the computer of my dreams.
All around me kids were clapping and saying stuff like, “Great!” and, “Cool!” and, “Yeah!”
And then I noticed Kevin, and then Marsha. They were sitting in my row of seats.
Kevin and Marsha were not clapping. They were not talking.
Kevin and Marsha were sitting very still. They were thinking.
They were already planning how to win that Bluntium Twelve computer—my computer!
And when Mrs. Karp quieted everyone down, I kept looking around, and I could see that other kids were doing the same thing. Kids were starting to think and plan.
Mrs. Karp said some other stuff, but I didn’t listen. I was thinking, too.
Because I saw that the only thing standing between me and my very own, superfast, super-cool computer was about a hundred other third-grade brains.
But I had a feeling that the only other brains I really had to worry about belonged to those two know-it-alls—Kevin Young and Marsha McCall.
CHAPTER THREE
The Rules
After the assembly about the science fair, our classroom was noisy.
Mrs. Snavin came in and said, “Everyone please sit in your chairs. I have something to give you.”
Eric Kenner said, “Is it a computer?”
Everybody laughed, even Mrs. Snavin.
She said, “No, it’s not a computer, Eric. But it is some news about the science fair.”
That got things quiet fast.
“Now,” said Mrs. Snavin, “the first thing you all need to know is that no one has to be part of the science fair. This is something you can choose to do, or choose not to do. It will be good experience, but it will not make any difference in your grades either way.”
While she was talking, Mrs. Snavin took a pile of papers from her desk and started passing them out.
She said, “This is about the science fair. You should take this booklet home and read it with your mom or dad. There is a form that you and a parent will have to sign. Bring it back to me before Christmas vacation if you are going to enter the science fair. You should pay special attention to page three. That’s the page that tells the kinds of projects that are allowed, and the kinds of projects you should not make.”
br /> It was dead quiet in the room except for the rustling of paper.
I got my booklet and started to flip through it. It had ten pages, and it all looked pretty boring. I started to fold it up so I could put it in my backpack to take home.
But then I looked at Kevin. He was hunched over his desk, reading fast. He had a pencil and he was making little check marks and notes on the pages.
Then I turned my head toward the other side of the room and looked at Marsha. Same thing, except she was using a pink Hi-Liter.
Usually, I would have looked at Marsha and Kevin and said to myself, know-it-alls.
But not that day. I grabbed my red pen, I unfolded my science fair papers, and I started reading. No way was I going to let either of those kids get my Bluntium Twelve computer.
Then Mrs. Snavin said, “Are there any questions about the science fair?”
Right away Kevin’s hand went up.
Mrs. Snavin said, “Yes, Kevin?”
“Can kids work together on the science fair?”
Mrs. Snavin started flipping pages in the information packet. She said, “On page nine it says, ‘Students may work on a science fair project alone or with one partner.’”
Then I put my hand up. Mrs. Snavin nodded at me, so I said, “But what if two kids make a project, and it wins first place. Would both kids get a prize?”
Mrs. Snavin flipped some more pages. Then she said, “On page six it says, ‘Only one grand prize will be awarded for the winning project in grade three, grade four, and grade five.’ So the answer is no, Jake. If a team won first place, I guess they would have to figure out how to share the prize or split it up someway.”
So that was that. I had to work by myself. No way was I going to split my new computer with anybody else.
Mrs. Snavin said, “Any other questions?”
Two more kids put up their hands—Pete Morris and Marsha. Marsha got called on first.
Whenever Marsha talked, everything sounded like a question.