from:
Germy Johnson's Piano War

   J.J.’s heart thumped harder. Now was the time! He lifted the cuff of his sweatshirt sleeve. The snake peeked out. Ms. Wall didn’t notice. She was playing Submarine Ride again so he could really hear what it sounded like.
   J.J. helped the snake out of his sleeve. It went onto the piano keys and quietly slithered over to Ms. Wall’s hands.
   All of a sudden Ms. Wall stopped playing. She made a funny noise. A kind of squeak. She took her hands off the piano in a hurry.
   Suddenly J.J.’s face was very hot. He didn’t know what to say.
   “Um,” said Ms. Wall. “Is that your snake, J.J.?”

from:
Germy Johnson's Secret Plan

   J.J. dreamed he was in his bedroom, building a Lego fort. Aunt Pru’s false teeth sat on his bed. They were enormous! And for some reason, his Weirdosaurus comic was covered with germs. The germs were so big he could see them.
   Suddenly the huge teeth clicked and flashed. The germs started crawling toward him!
   In the dream J.J. tried to run away. But he couldn’t.
   “No!” he screamed. Now the germs were crawling all over him. Aunt Pru’s teeth were as big as Dad’s desk. Open – shut – open – shut. Click, click, click… They were coming for him! “Aaaauughhhhh!”

from: Pie

  Hester walked up the aisle in the light of the flickering candles, the scent of lemon polish mingling with tomato, potato, and apple. She reached out a trembling hand to the pumpkin. It seemed to glow. With both hands, Hester reached out. She only menat to see how heavy it was, to test the weight by lifting it up in her hands. It came up easily and settled like a contented baby in her rounding arms.
   When Hester got home...

from: Honey Trouble

   Josie stopped at the corner. She looked to the left. No cars were coming. She looked to the right. No cars were coming. Josie quickly crossed the street.
   She saw her teacher, Mr. Rapchuk, sitting at the bus stop on the corner. He was reading a book.
   "Hi, Mr. Rapchuk," said Josie. "Where are you going?"
   "Hello, Josie," he replied. "I'm just on my way home. I was at the library." He held up his book bag to show Josie.