Free Judy Moody Declares Independence by Megan McDonald Page A

us like the American Revolution, Stink,” said Judy. “Let freedom ring!” she shouted. Hair flew across her face.
    “Judy, I thought I asked you to use a brush this morning,” Mom said.
    “I did use it,” said Judy. “On that pink fuzzy pillow in our hotel room!” Mom poked at Judy’s hair, trying to smooth out the bumps. Judy squeezed her eyes shut, making an Ouch Face. Dad snapped the picture.
    “Hear ye! Hear ye!” called Judy. “I, Judy Moody, hereby declare freedom from brushing my hair!”
    “Then I declare it from brushing my teeth!” said Stink.
    “P.U.” said Judy, squinching up her nose.
    Dad snapped another picture.
    Three worst things about Boston so far were:
        1. Stink
        2. Stink
        3. Stink

“Time to hit the Freedom Trail!” said Dad.
    “Let’s head up Park Street,” Mom said, pointing to a line of red bricks in the sidewalk. “Follow the red brick road!”
    “Look!” Judy cried, running up the hill. “Look at that big fancy gold dome!”
    “That’s the State House,” said Mom. “Where the governor works.”
    “Judy!” Dad called. “No running ahead. Stick close to us.”
    “Aw,” said Judy. “No fair. This is supposed to be the
Freedom
Trail.”
    “Stay where Dad and I can keep an eye on you,” said Mom.
    “Roar!” said Judy.
    After the State House, Mom and Dad led them to Park Street Church, where the song “My Country ’Tis of Thee” was sung for the very first time.
    Stink looked for famous-people initials carved into a tree outside. PLOP! Something hit Stink on the head. “YEE-UCK! Bird poo!” said Stink. Judy cracked up. Mom wiped it off with a tissue.
    Stink sang:
        “My country pooed on me
        Right near the Pigeon Tree.
        Of thee I sing. . . .”
    “Mom! Dad!” said Judy, covering her ears. “Make him stop!”
    Judy ran ahead. “Hurry up, you guys! The church has an old graveyard!”
    Mom read the plaque at the entrance: “‘May the youth of today . . . be inspired with the patriotism of Paul Revere.’”
    “Paul Revere’s grave is here!” Judy shouted. “So is John Hancock’s, First Signer of the Declaration. For real!”
    Judy saw gravestones with angel wings, skulls and bones, and a giant hand with one finger pointing to the sky.
    “‘Here lies buried Samuel Adams, Signer of the Declaration of Independence,’” Dad read. “Did you know he also gave the secret signal at the Boston Tea Party?”
    “‘Here lyes y body of Mary Goose,’” Stink read. “Boy, they sure did spell funny.”
    “And I thought I was the world’s worst speller,” said Judy. She took out pencil and paper from her backpack and made a sketch of Mother Goose’s grave. Stink made drawings of a skull and bones, a leaf, and a sidewalk crack.

    “Do we have to keep seeing stuff?” Stink asked when they got to the Ben Franklin statue. “So far it’s just a bunch of dead guys and some old stuff that isn’t even there anymore.”
    “But what about the Boston Tea Party?” asked Judy.
    “AW!” Stink whined. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
    “Stink, don’t be the town crier,” said Judy. “I mean, the town
crybaby
!”
    “Tell you what,” said Mom. “Dad, why don’t you and Judy go see the Paul Revere House. I’ll take Stink to the bathroom, and we’ll meet back here.”
    “Great idea!” said Dad.
    Judy and Dad walked and walked. At last they came to 19 North Square. “Did you know that Paul Revere made false teeth?” Dad asked. “And he made the first bells in America. He even drew cartoons.”

    “Wow!” said Judy. “All that on top of riding his horse lightning-fast and warning everybody that the British were coming!”
    “That’s right,” Dad said. “A friend of Paul Revere’s climbed out a window and over a rooftop to give the lantern signal from the Old North Church: one if by land, two if by sea . . .”
    “Star-spangled bananas!” said Judy.
    “And it says here he rode all the way to