Amber Brown Is Green with Envy Read Online Free PDF Page A

all right with you.”
    I nod.
    “I want you to know,” he says, “that this may not change what is going to happen. There are times in our lives when we have to do things that we don’t like.…Nothing’s perfect, life doesn’t always seem fair. If you have to move to another town, go to another school, it may be hard for you…but I think you are a terrific kid, and you’ll do all right. And you can always write to me….. and I’ll write back.”
    I really like Mr. Robinson.
    That makes me want to cry again.
    I’m sorry that I really like him so much.
    That’s one more person that I’m going to miss.

Chapter
Eight

    I’m back in class.
    I have washed my face, and I hope I can hide the fact that I’ve been crying.
    What I can’t hide is the fact that I have been eating black licorice. I know this because when I went into the bathroom to wash my face, I stuck my tongue out at myself, and my tongue is black.

    I look at the board.
    January 11—Happenings
    Birthdays:
    1175—Alexander Hamilton—first U.S. Treasury secretary
    1885—Alice. Paul—founder of the National Women’s Party and women’s rights leader
    1938—T.E. Moulton—the first American woman to become a bank president
    Events:
    1878—Alexander Campbell became the first milkman to deliver milk in glass bottles.
    1935—Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Pacific—her 18-hour flight went from Honolulu to Oakland.
    1964—The Surgeon General declared cigarettes hazardous to health!
    Other Special Events for January 11:
    This is International
Thank you Day
&
    A Special Day that you will
find out about later !!!!!
    Ever since we came back from vacation, Mrs. Holt has been putting the day’s list of happenings on the board.
    I am very happy about that because for Christmas I gave her a book of events throughout the year.
    I even have the same book at my house. I gave that to myself as a Christmas present.
    Mrs. Holt asks us what interests us about the list.

    Bobby Clifford says, “I thought only girls are secretaries. How come Alexander Hamilton was a secretary, and he’s a guy?”
    Alicia Sanchez raises her hand and turns to Bobby. “Doofus.”
    “No name-calling,” Mrs. Holt says.
    Alicia stares at Bobby. “Men can be secretaries too. It’s a good thing that Alice Paul was born to help women’s rights…. It’s a shame that she isn’t around to help you, Bobby.”
    She says “Bobby” in a tone of voice that sounds like she is saying “Doofus.”

    Fredrich Allen raises his hand. “Being a secretary in the United States Cabinet is different from the traditional secretary.”
    For a nose-picker, Fredrich Allen is very smart.
    Bobby shakes his head. “I don’t get it. Why was Alexander Hamilton in a cabinet? Didn’t he have a room?”
    For a non-nose-picker, Bobby Clifford is not very smart.
    Mrs. Holt looks at Bobby as if she is not sure if he really can’t figure it out or if he is just being stupid.
    She explains what the President’s Cabinet is.
    Brandi waves her hand.
    Mrs. Holt calls on her.
    “I’m glad that the Surgeon General said that cigarettes are hazardous to our health. I wish that my grandpa had listened. He didn’t, and he got lung cancer.”
    She looks sad.
    I feel bad for her.
    I am glad that the grown-ups in my life do not smoke, even if I am so mad at them.
    Next we talk about whether we get milk delivered or whether we get it from the store. Everyone says that their milk is from the store. No one knew that milk was ever delivered to houses.
    Jimmy says that when he was little, he got milk from his mother.
    “Gross,” Hannah Burton says.
    Mrs. Holt says, “It’s really not gross.”
    Hannah makes a face and looks disgusted.
    I stick out my licorice-covered tongue at her.
    She looks at it and again says, “Gross.”
    This time she is talking about my tongue.
    Mrs. Holt says, “I’m going to read to you all now…. This is a wonderful book.”
    She holds up a picture