The Big Shrink by Sarah Mlynowski

Author:Sarah Mlynowski [Mlynowski, Emily Jenkins, Lauren Myracle, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2019-10-07T16:00:00+00:00

Nory felt like a hummingbird, all flutter-flutter. She was so excited, telling everyone she knew about the Big Shrink.

“Our small protest is going to be capital-B Big!” she told Bax on Tuesday during lunch.

Bax regarded her dourly. “Count me out,” he said.

“What?” Nory said. “Why?”

“When I get stressed, I flux into a rock.”

“Duh.”

“Well, if I’m small and I get stressed, I might flux into a pebble.”

Nory saw it in her mind: Bax as a pebble, kicked down Dunwiddle’s halls. She hated to admit it, but that did sound dangerous. Nory knew Bax couldn’t turn back into a boy without help from Nurse Riley. If he became a pebble, he could skid into a crack and be lost forever.

Andres turned Nory down, too. He was afraid that if he turned tiny and somehow floated into the air, he’d disappear as easily as a dust mote or a puff of cat hair. “It’s a cool idea, and it does sound fun, and I’ll help out if you need me to. But as regular-sized me, not tiny me.”

“Fine,” Nory said. “I get it.”

“I’m sorry to let you down, but I’m sure you’ll get tons of other kids to say yes,” Andres said.

Nory tried not to feel disheartened. She continued flitting from fifth grader to fifth grader, though with slightly less hummingbird energy than before. Some kids said no. Some said maybe. Lots of kids scratched their heads and looked skeptical, but Nory told herself that those kids could end up being yeses.

At least Elliott, Pepper, Sebastian, Willa, and Marigold were locked in. If they each recruited ten more people, that would be a lot of protesters.

“Tomorrow morning, fifteen minutes before school starts, by the invisible water fountain,” she said over and over. “Be there and help us show the administration they shouldn’t ban Dreggs. It’s not fair for them to dictate what we play with in our free time.”

When Wednesday finally arrived, Nory stood anxiously by the fountain. She held a sign she’d made over her head that read THE BIG SHRINK. Elliott had a clipboard for writing down the names of the kids who came. That way Marigold could make sure to big up every one she’d made small.

They waited.

And waited.

“Good morning, wonkos,” said Lacey Clench, strolling up with Zinnia.

What? There was no way Lacey Clench was joining their protest. Was there?

Lacey was easily Nory’s least favorite person at Dunwiddle. Still, Nory lifted her chin and said, “Thanks for coming. We’ll give the others another minute to get here, and then we’ll start.”

Lacey cleared her throat. “I’m only here to give moral support. Zinnia told me what you guys are doing and I do agree that banning Dreggs is stupid. My dad took me to Brilliant Ned’s last night, and I bought four Dregg assortment packs. Each pack has ten Dreggs in it, which means I now have forty Dreggs.”

“Gee, thanks for the math lesson,” Nory said.

“Actually, forty new Dreggs plus the two I already had makes forty-two Dreggs.”

“Whoop-dee-doo.”

“I am all about Dreggs,” Lacey pronounced.

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