Free Mrs. Roopy Is Loopy! by Dan Gutman Page B

and Michael. Ryan stuck two of my carrot sticks in his nose, and I told him I’d give him a nickel if he ate them. He did, too. Me, I won’t even eat carrot sticks before you stick them in your nose.
    â€œDo you think that guy was really George Washington?” Ryan asked.

    â€œI don’t know,” Michael said. “What do you think, A.J.?”
    That’s when Andrea Young leaned over from the next table and opened her big mouth.
    â€œThat wasn’t George Washington, you dumb heads!” she said. “That was Mrs. Roopy wearing a powdered wig and an army uniform.”

    She may have been right, but I didn’t want to admit it, because I hate her. Ryan took out a dollar bill from his backpack and looked at the picture of George Washington.
    â€œHe sure looked like George Washington,” Ryan said.
    â€œGeorge Washington has been dead for like a hundred years!” Andrea said.
    â€œEven if George Washington was still alive,” Emily said, “I’m sure he would have more important things to do than come to our school and read us stories.”
    That’s when it hit me. If that army guy was really Mrs. Roopy dressed up as George Washington, maybe Mrs. Roopy isn’t a librarian at all!
    â€œMaybe she’s just pretending to be a librarian,” I said, “just like she was pretending to be George Washington.”
    â€œYeah!” Michael said. “Maybe she’s a kidnapper and she’s got our real librarian locked up in an empty warehouse at the edge of town. I saw that in a movie once.”
    â€œWe’ve got to save her!” Emily said withtears dribbling down her cheeks. Then she went running out of the room.
    There was only one way to solve the problem. We cleaned off our trays and went back to our classroom to ask Miss Daisy if George Washington was really Mrs. Roopy in disguise.
    â€œDon’t be silly,” Miss Daisy said. “As it turns out, Mrs. Roopy is absent today. She’s home sick in bed. It must have been the real George Washington.”
    But what does Miss Daisy know? Everybody knows Miss Daisy is crazy.

5
Mrs. Roopy’s Hero
    Everybody in our class was excited before the next library period. We all wanted to see if George Washington would be there again.
    When we got to the library, there was just this lady who looked a little bit like George Washington except she didn’thave on an army uniform or a wig. She looked like a normal lady.
    â€œGood morning, second graders,” she said. “My name is Mrs. Roopy. I’m sorry I couldn’t be here the other day for your library period.”

    â€œBut you were here!” Ryan shouted.
    â€œYou must bemistaken,” Mrs. Roopy said. “I was home sick in bed.”
    â€œCan we see your wooden teeth again?” Michael asked.
    â€œYeah, can we?”
    â€œWooden teeth? Did you know that George Washington didn’t have wooden teeth at all? His mouth was filled with cow’s teeth.”
    â€œEwww!” we all shouted.
    I asked Mrs. Roopy, “Did the cow have George Washington’s teeth in her mouth?”
    â€œBut that was you, wasn’t it, acting like George Washington?” said Michael.
    Mrs. Roopy’s forehead got all wrinkly just like George Washington’s did when we told him about computers. “I don’tknow what you’re talking about.”
    We all looked at one another. I wasn’t sure if she was telling the truth or not.
    â€œIf I were George Washington, would I have this?” Mrs. Roopy asked. Then she picked up her shirt and showed us her belly. She had a little tattoo of a heart right over her belly button. It was cool.

    I had to admit that George Washington would never have a heart-shaped tattoo over his belly button. So maybe that army guy with thewig wasn’t Mrs. Roopy after all.
    â€œLet me show you around the library,” Mrs. Roopy said. “Did you know that books can