This Journal Belongs to Ratchet Read Online Free PDF Page B

stood at the microphone. He spat out words like he couldn’t stand the thought of what he was saying. “You people are downright destroying the planet for the kids you pretend to care about.”
    Someone in the audience laughed. Dad shot him the “death look” (a look of disgust that would make the worst criminal crumble). The man slumped down in his seat.
    Then Dad looked over the rims of his glasses like a crazy professor and went on. “Ocean acidification from too much carbon dioxide is already happening, and the warnings have been given by scientists about the risk of devastating our marine life and fisheries. And worse than that, higher levels of smog due to warmer temperatures potentially could increase respiratory illnesses.”
    Dad shook his head and went on. “And you, Mayor Prindle, catapault yourself into the twenty-first century with your statement in today’s paper — ‘Global Warming: There just might be something to it.’ It’s about time you buffoon.”
    Dad grabbed his pile of crumpled notes from the podium, bumping the microphone and making a loud hollow sound before he walked back to his seat.
    Pretty Boy Eddie said his usual comment to Dad in his usual smarmy way, and the next speaker in line looked like he wished he’d stayed home.
    (Dad would be proud if he read this. Proud of himself.)

WRITING EXERCISE: Poetry
    Dad is saving
    The planet
    For the Good Lord.
    Sometimes
    I wonder
    If anyone
    Is worried
    About saving
    Me.
    !?

WRITING EXERCISE: Write about something that didn’t turn out the way you expected.
    I dreaded helping Dad with the go-cart class. For obvious reasons. The teasing. The jokes. The boys. The teasing. The jokes. The boys. But something surprised me.
    It’s not normal for me to know so much about engines. But it’s more un-normal for the boys to know so little. Most of them didn’t know a piston from a crankshaft. They didn’t know an adjustable wrench from a combination wrench. And forget about knowing how to use the tools. They were clueless. It was kind of embarrassing.
    So when it came time to build their engines, the jokes came to a screeching halt. They needed too much help. Dad couldn’t help everyone at the same time; but when he was busy, I could help. So they all started being A LOT nicer to me. I didn’t trust them at first. Thought maybe they were planning some big prank. But when I saw that most of them didn’t even know which way to turn a screwdriver, I knew none of them were smart enough to be planning a prank AND building an engine.
    They couldn’t believe I knew exactly how to do everything. I was living up to my nickname. Making everyone’s job easier.
    All day long, it was, “Hey, Ratchet, can you c’mere a minute?”
    â€œHey, Ratchet, how do I get these oil rings on?”
    â€œHey, Ratchet, can you show me how to use this torque wrench?”
    Even without Charlize’s tips for being charmed, I was getting noticed.

WRITING EXERCISE: Write a multiparagraph answer.
    Writing Format —MULTIPARAGRAPH ANSWER: Thoughts organized into more than one complete paragraph in order to answer an essay question.
    What did Dad find out about Moss Tree Park from Herman Moss’s niece?
    Dad found out that Herman Moss has one relative still alive — a niece who lives in England. Dad thought she might know something about the park, so he found her number and called her.
    She told Dad that every year on her birthday, she got a card from Uncle Herman with a photo of a tree that he planted in her name somewhere on one of his pieces of property. His card always said:
    â€œShade for man
    And shelter for animals,
    Planted in your name,
    May you be the same for those around you,
    Every year the same.”
    She had saved all the photos and cards and still had them in a box.
    She knew that when her uncle died, he had donated all the land he owned to different