Free How to Survive Summer Camp by Jacqueline Wilson

sort it out. Can I take it along to him and see what he says?’
    I hesitated, not really wanting to hand it over.
    ‘Can it be mended?’ I said doubtfully.
    ‘I don’t know for sure. We’ll just have to keep our fingers crossed, eh? So I can take your book, all right? I’ll make sure you get it back long before it’s time for you to go home.’
    ‘My mum’s going to be furious,’ I said in a very small voice.
    ‘Cheer up, lovie, it’s not the end of the world,’ she said worriedly.
    She felt in her pocket and found a bar of KitKat.
    ‘For my coffee break. But you can have it if you want,’ she said, and she pressed it into my hand.
    I ate it up quickly before she changed her mind.

‘ H onestly, Stella, you’re a hopeless case,’ said Miss Hamer-Cotton, waving my activity sheet in front of my nose. ‘You can’t do Art Art Art, nothing but Art.’
    ‘I like Art,’ I said.
    ‘I daresay. But there are heaps of other activities you’ll enjoy.’
    ‘I only really like Art,’ I said.
    Miss Hamer-Cotton looked at me.
    ‘I think you’re being a bit awkward, chum,’ she said, and she filled in my activity sheet for me.
    I found myself being very active indeed. I kept trying to get out of everything but it was no use. I even had to do judo with that awful Jimbo. Louise and Karen thought he was really good looking, especially in his loose white judo clothes, but I couldn’t stick him. He was such a show off, bouncing about impressing everyone. Well, he didn’t impress me. I stood at the back and deliberately looked the other way when he was demonstrating all the holds.
    ‘Stella! I’d watch carefully if I were you. I’m thinking of pairing you with young James here. He’ll flatten you in a flash.’
    ‘You bet! She’s wet,’ said James, flexing his muscles and grinning. The huge moon of his stomach shone through his judo jacket.
    I decided to pay attention. For a couple of minutes. Jimbo was going on about the history of judo and he was being so incredibly boring that I started mimicking him. I copied all his silly gestures and the way he tossed his long fair hair out of his face. The others cottoned on to what I was doing and started giggling. Jimbo started to get seriously annoyed.
    He paired us all up to do exercises and I thought for one moment he really might put me with James, but I ended up with Janie instead. Jimbo talked us through all the actions and I pretended not to know my left from my right and my backwards from my forwards so that Janie and I kept collapsing into a giggling heap.
    Jimbo didn’t find it very funny though. He called me over at the end of the class. I started to get scared but I sauntered over to him as if I couldn’t care less.
    ‘Did you enjoy your judo, Stella?’ he asked.
    I shrugged.
    ‘Did you get anything out of the session?’
    ‘Not really,’ I mumbled. ‘Only I didn’t want to do judo in the first place.’
    ‘Right. Only all the other children chose to do judo. Do you think they learned anything today? Or did they just mess about because you were determined to disrupt the whole proceedings?’
    ‘It wasn’t just me,’ I argued.
    Jimbo sighed.
    ‘I don’t think I’m going to get anywhere with you, Stella. You’d better go and get changed. What are you doing next?’
    ‘Macramé,’ I said, pulling a face.
    ‘You go and tie yourself in a great big knot then,’ said Jimbo, ruffling my stubbly hair.
    I wondered if he might be quite nice after all. Perhaps I’d try harder in judo. But I couldn’t bear to be good in macramé. Jilly was in charge of macramé, and Jilly was silly . She wore a flowery smock and sandals and a lot of old grey string jewellery dangled down her big chest. Janie and Rosemary and some of the other little girls wanted to make string necklaces so Jilly got them started off.
    Marzipan wanted to make a weird string tassel thing to suspend potted plants in mid air.
    ‘What do you want to make that for?’ I whispered.