SuperFan by Jeff Gottesfeld Read Free Book Online Page B

Wolfenbarger was obviously unhappy. She was the most senior teacher on the middle school faculty and had the gray hair and tough attitude that came with that status. Shawn liked her, though. All she wanted was for her students to do their work and do it well. “Not a single person?”
    No one. Most of the kids got really busy studying their desktops.
    Mrs. Wolfenbarger marched to the whiteboard. “Gee. That’s too bad. Because if you can prove you’ve read the book by now, I’ll give you an A and you won’t have to do the report.
    The class gasped as their teacher wrote an A on the whiteboard and circled it. “That’s how much I hate letting work go until the last minute.”
    Shawn was stunned. Did Mrs. Wolfenbarger just say that there was a way for him not to do an oral report?
    Before he could change his mind, he flung his right hand skyward.
    â€œShawn Reynolds, yes?”
    â€œMrs. Wolfenbarger, I’m reading Tom Sawyer for my report. I mean, I’ve finished it.”
    Jeff Harrison, who sat in the back of the classroom, protested immediately. “That is totally unfair. That’s the book he has to read for SuperFan!”
    The teacher glared at Jeff. “Jeff, did I call on you?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œThen cease the verbal diarrhea. I don’t recall ever saying that you couldn’t read the same book for two purposes. Did I say that, Jeff?”
    â€œNopers.”
    â€œExcuse me? A word in actual English?”
    â€œNo, ma’am,” Jeff muttered.
    â€œExactly. In your case, it might be nice to read a single book for a single purpose—namely, this book report. And it might be nice for it to be at least one reading level up from The Cat in the Hat. So, let’s see whether Shawn has, as he claims, read Tom Sawyer. ”
    She spun back around, faced Shawn, and fired off a string of questions. “Who wrote the book? What was the author’s real name? Where did Tom and Becky find themselves toward the end of the story? What was the name of Tom’s best friend? What did Tom get the other kids to paint?”
    Yikes. Shawn felt anxiety flood the pit of his stomach. This wasn’t the same thing as giving an oral report, where he had to stand in front of his class and talk for ten minutes. But it was almost as bad.
    When he spoke, he was so nervous that he barely even stopped between the sentences. “ Tom Sawyer was written by Mark Twain. The author’s real name was Samuel Clemens. Tom’s best friend is Huckleberry Finn. Tom gets the other kids to paint a fence. Near the end, he and the girl named Becky get lost in a cave.”
    For a moment, Mrs. Wolfenbarger stood in silence. Then she went back to the whiteboard and re-circled the letter A .
    â€œCongratulations, Shawn. That’s your grade. Even if you could have enunciated better. And class? If it took SuperFan and WWE to get Shawn to prepare like this?” Her eyes flitted from face to face. “I advise all of you to become wrestling fans.”
    As six thirty approached, Shawn was noodling around on his guitar and thinking back on his awesome day. An almost home run. An A from the English teacher famous for never giving an A. The only thing that could be better would be if—
    A knock on his open door pulled Shawn back to reality. He looked up; his mother stood in the doorway. “Shawn? Are you busy?”
    â€œNot really.” He put his guitar aside. His mother hadn’t asked him to play for her in a long time, and he didn’t want her to ask now.
    â€œGood. I thought maybe we’d check e-mail a little early. It can’t hurt, can it?”
    â€œSounds good. Where’s Peter?”
    Carla chucked her chin back toward the living room. “Already waiting. Come on.”
    Shawn followed his mother to the computer in the living room. What he saw brought a huge lump to his throat. His father was smiling into a webcam, connected