Frindle by Andrew Clements

Author:Andrew Clements [Clements, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
ISBN: 0689806698
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 1996-10-01T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten - Freedom of the Press

JUDY MORGAN WAS a reporter for The Westfield Gazette, the local newspaper. Westfield was a quiet little town. There was the occasional burglary, the teenagers got rowdy once in a while, and there was some shouting at the town council or the planning board now and then. But mostly, things were calm and orderly in Westfield, and every Thursday The Westfield Gazette proved it.

Ted Bell sold advertisements for the paper, and he had a daughter in fourth grade at Lincoln Elementary. He told Judy that a bunch of fifth graders were making trouble and were not obeying teachers anymore, that there was something about a secret code word they were all using. And half the students had been kept after school one day last week—including his own little girl.

The only other story Judy was working on was about eighteen new trees that were going to be planted along East Main Street. The trees could wait. This thing at the elementary school sounded like a real story.

So Judy Morgan showed up at Lincoln Elementary School at three o’clock the day after Mrs. Chatham had been to visit Nick’s parents. The sign on the door said, “All Visitors Must Report to the Office,” and she did.

On the bulletin board outside the office, Judy saw Mrs. Granger’s notice about the punishment for using the word frindle. She stepped back two paces, aimed her camera at the notice, and snapped a photo. She read the notice once more, and then stepped into the office.

Mrs. Freed, the school secretary, looked up and smiled. “May I help you?”

“Yes, I’m sure you can. My name is Judy Morgan, and I work for The Westfield Gazette. I’d like to know about that poster outside the office, the one about this word frindle. Who should I talk to?”

Mrs. Freed stopped smiling. She was sick and tired of anything to do with that word. For the past week her phone had been ringing off the hook. If it wasn’t a parent complaining about a child who had to stay after school, it was someone from the school board trying to get in touch with Mrs. Chatham or Mrs. Granger. Mrs. Freed pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. She said, “You’ll have to speak with the principal. Let me see if Mrs. Chatham is free.”

She was. There isn’t a principal alive who won’t find the time to talk to someone from the local newspaper. The reporter was invited into Mrs. Chatham’s office.

Judy noticed right away that the principal was not comfortable talking about this stuff. When asked about the poster outside the office door, Mrs. Chatham laughed and said, “Oh, that? It’s nothing really. Some kids have been playing a prank, and it was time to put a stop to it.”

The principal’s laugh sounded phony to Judy Morgan. “And did that notice put an end to the prank? I heard that a lot of children were kept after school last week. Would you tell me a little about that? Parents would like to know what’s going on.

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