Upside-Down Magic by Mlynowski Sarah

Author:Mlynowski, Sarah [Mlynowski, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: mg fantasy
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Published: 2015-10-15T07:00:00+00:00

* * *

But the next morning at school was just as bad as the first day. “Today we’re going to do math and geography and vocabulary just like any other class,” Ms. Starr said. “But I like to get creative with literature.” She smiled. “You’re not just going to read poems and write essays. You’re going to read poems and do interpretive dance.”

“Huh?” said Elliott.

“Part of developing your Upside-Down Magic is getting in touch with your emotions. You want to understand your feelings so you don’t—well, you know, turn into a bitten. Or a rock. Or cause a rainstorm when you don’t want one. Or shrink someone’s car. UDM is not about controlling your feelings, it’s about understanding them!”

“Whatever,” grumbled Bax. “I don’t have feelings.”

Then he turned into a rock and had to be taken to Nurse Riley. Marigold took him in a wheelbarrow Ms. Starr had brought to class that morning for this very purpose.

The rest of the students read a poem called “The Lost Mermaid.” Then Ms. Starr played ocean music through the speakers and called them to the carpeted area of the classroom. “She can’t find her parents! Feel her sadness!” cried Ms. Starr. She dropped to her knees and made swimming motions with her arms. “Feel her panic! Feel her terror! Feel whatever it is the poem made you feel! Get in touch with it!”

“I didn’t sign up for a dance class,” whined Andres from the ceiling.

“Give it a chance,” said Ms. Starr. “You can be a hungry shark if you want to! Or an angry shrimp! Or a stoic rock. On second thought, don’t be a rock. We never want to make fun of Bax.”

“There are no such things as mermaids,” Willa grumbled.

“Not true,” Ms. Starr said. “No one has seen one for over a hundred years, but they did exist.”

Sebastian rolled around on the carpet, apparently feeling feelings.

Pepper scrunched into a ball with her head between her knees.

Nory pretended to be a sad seaweed. She swayed over to Elliott, waving her hands swishily above her head.

“I’m really, really sorry,” she said to him. “About the skunkephant. And your Sparkie friends.”

“Go away,” Elliott said. “I’m very busy being a blobfish.”

“A blobfish?” Nory studied Elliott. He was leaning against the wall, not doing a thing.

Elliott became even more blob-like. “Yes, and I am feeling annoyed. I wonder if you can guess why.”

“Because blobfish look like they’re made out of dough?” Nory asked hopefully.

“Nope. That’s not why.” He scowled. “You’re not going to turn into a blob-kitten now, are you? A blitten?”

Nory shivered. Gross. “I can’t make any promises,” she said. “But I’ll try not to.”

Just then, the ceiling opened and rain poured down on all of them.

A lot of rain.

“Sorry!” yelled Willa.

“No need to apologize,” cried Ms. Starr, running to grab the umbrellas. “This is a teachable moment! Let’s talk about why that rain just happened. Let’s understand the connection between your feelings and your magic.”

The rain stopped.

Everyone got their spare clothes from their cubbies, and the janitor was called in again.

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.