The Penderwicks in Spring by Jeanne Birdsall Read Free Book Online

boys who had been forbidden to sing were showing signs of regret, tapping their feet along with the music, and when at the end of the class Mrs. Grunfeld was leading the group in a rousing rendition of “I Go to Rio,” all four were singing along. Henry had in fact been the first to politely ask if they could do so.
    The mood of the students filing out of the auditorium was very different from when they’d come in. Everyone was crazy about the new teacher. One girl did protest that the twist was a dance for grandparents, but when Vasudev asked if she wanted Mr. Rudkin back, that was the end of complaints.
    Batty was preoccupied with why she, Keiko, Melle, and Abby had been asked to sing together.
    “What do you think Mrs. Grunfeld was listening for?” she asked Keiko.
    “Our dulcet tones.” Keiko was working on her twist moves. “Why don’t you ask her? She’s coming over here.”
    Mrs. Grunfeld was indeed making her way toward them. Batty froze, suddenly more wild deer than fifth-grade girl. Mrs. Grunfeld said hello and asked for Batty’s name. Since Batty was still frozen, Keiko answered.
    “She’s Batty Penderwick.”
    “Thank you. But she’s not mute, is she?”
    Keiko nudged her friend. “Say something, Batty.”
    “I’m not mute.”
    “That’s good,” said Mrs. Grunfeld, smiling. “I wonder if you would mind stopping by the music room at the end of classes today.”
    “Yes, all right. I mean, no, I wouldn’t mind.”
    Mrs. Grunfeld moved away, and Batty grabbed Keiko for support.
    “Am I in trouble?”
    “I don’t think so,” answered Keiko. “She smiled at you.”
    “She could have been smiling to soften the blow.”
    “Teachers only do that while they’re delivering the blow, not five hours before the blow. Speaking of which, you didn’t happen to write a book report last night, did you?”
    “Rats, no.” Batty hummed a little Marvin Gaye. “I guess I forgot again.”
    Ms. Rho’s book report chart hung directly in Batty’s line of sight, a constant reminder of her ongoing failure. By shifting a little sideways she could avoid seeing it, but then she was pointed right at Henry, who made faces at her, and she couldn’t help laughing. Then Ms. Rho would tell her for the hundredth time to face forward, and there, again, was that awful blank line next to B . PENDERWICK . Only one other student had a blank line, Vasudev, and he didn’t provide anycomfort, since he’d already written the required ten but kept forgetting to turn them in. Most of the rest of the class had around five stars on the chart, one star for each book report. Keiko had eight. And then there was Ginevra Santoleri, who already had fourteen and this morning popped up with another two. Ms. Rho made a great display of taping an extra piece of paper to the side of the chart to accommodate the overflow of stars.
    Today, though, the chart had, for Batty, lost its usual sting. She was too busy thinking over the wondrous surprise of Mrs. Grunfeld and, mostly, why she wanted to meet Batty after school. This thinking lasted through lessons on clouds, exponents, and the effects of global warming on the Greenland tundra. It wasn’t until they were in the midst of ancient Egypt that Batty thought she’d found her answer. She must have been playing her imaginary piano while singing in chorus, and Mrs. Grunfeld had noticed and now wanted to ask her to accompany the chorus on the piano. If this was so, Batty knew she was much too shy to play in front of the entire fifth grade. She would tell Mrs. Grunfeld no. But also thank her for “I Go to Rio,” because that had been great.
    After the last bell, Batty had to collect Ben before heading over to the music room. He was too young to walk home by himself, especially since the first rock he came across would distract him, and the next thing would be that no one knew where he wasand the Penderwick family would go into a panic. When she reached the second-grade hallway, she found