Ruby Finley vs. the Interstellar Invasion by K. Tempest Bradford

Author:K. Tempest Bradford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

* * *

When Ruby got home, her parents were sitting together in the TV room and she could tell from their faces they weren’t happy about something. At first, she wondered if it was another theft, then her daddy called her in.

“We need to talk, young lady.” It was almost never good when she got called “young lady.” “I got an email from Mrs. Bailey today. She says that you’ve been disrespectful and defiant in class.”

Ruby’s jaw dropped. What did she do that for? “I apologized!” This did not make their frowns go away.

It wasn’t fair. She had done what Miss Valya had suggested and told Mrs. Bailey that she was sorry for her tone and that she was wrong. Mrs. Bailey had said she accepted the apology. What was the problem?

“Why were you disrespectful in the first place?” Mama said.

“I was tired because I didn’t get any sleep when they took Wit—I mean Mrs. Reed away, so I wasn’t really thinking right. Miss Valya said that can happen when you’re exhausted.”

“Miss Valya?” Mama asked.

“School counselor,” said Daddy.

“I talked to her when I got sent to the principal’s office. She said I should apologize and so I did.”

“Mrs. Bailey also said that you’re being defiant in class and won’t do the assignments she gives you,” Daddy said.

“That’s not true!”

“Ruby…” Mama said in her I’m-warning-you voice.

“It’s not! I do all my assignments.”

“Is that the whole truth? Because your track record hasn’t been the best lately.”

“You can look in my homework folder. I did every single one, even the boring ones.” Ruby used to skip those assignments in elementary school until Mama and Daddy gave her a talking-to and said she couldn’t do that simply because she already knew the answers. They clearly remembered this because they gave each other “a Look.” What if they didn’t believe her? She could feel even more punishment coming on and she did not want that. “I promise!”

“Okay, baby,” Daddy said. “I’m going to come to your school tomorrow and talk to Mrs. Bailey and Principal Martinez and get all the details.”

Now her daddy was going to see the principal? Great, she thought, I really will be branded a bad kid. Ruby went up to her room and tried not to cry. She couldn’t believe that studying bugs for science—her favorite thing in the whole world—could cause her so much trouble. But it was true. That stupid giant bug had ruined everything.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.