Free Secret Identity by Wendelin Van Draanen Page A

animals.
    And plants.
    And rocks and sand and
skulls.
    One side of our classroom is set up like the desert. The other is like a jungle. The jungle has a waterfall that he turns on when we're taking tests. It's supposed to relax us and help us think, but all it does is make me have to use the bathroom.
    Some kids—like Bubba—think Mr. Green's weird, but I think he's cool. Bubba calls him the Happy Hippie because he's got a ponytail, he likes to play guitar, and he wears jeans and sandals to school. He also drives an old van with dolphinspainted all over it that everyone calls the Green Machine.
    Every month, Mr. Green gives us a project to do. A
hard
project. We've had to build all kinds of things:
    Ecosystems.
    Solar systems.
    Igloos.
    The Great Pyramids!
    And since my mom and dad think it's good exercise for me to do my own work, my projects are always disasters.
    My igloo looked half melted.
    My pyramids crumbled on the way to school.
    The trees in my ecosystem looked like pencils with hula grass.
    My solar system looked like it really had gone through the Big Bang.
    Give me ten pages of triple-digit multiplication. Twenty! But don't ask me to build pyramidsor create the universe. Pm still working on tying my shoes so they don't come undone in P.E.

    So when Mr. Green strummed his guitar and announced, “Listen up, gang. Time to tune in to this month's project,” I groaned and flopped my head on my desk.
    Mr. Green looked at me with a smile. “You're gonna dig this one, Nolan. I promise.”
    My head stayed put. If it was a project, I was going to hate it.
    “This month you get to design your own newspaper page,” he said. “Your mission is to go around Cedar Valley and bring back our friends Who, What, When, Where, and Why. You can choose any topic you want. All I'm asking is that you follow these guidelines!” He wagged a stack of lime green papers and said, “Don't lose this sheet! It lists everything you need for an A.” He started passing them out to the different tables, which are just four desks pushed together. “If you can check off everything on this list, you'll get an A, guaranteed! And please note the last item.” He pointed and read,
“Turn this sheet in with your project.”
He went back to passing them out. “I will not—hear me now, gang—I will
not
give you replacements if you lose yours.”
    He counted out four sheets at our table and handed them to Randy Ricardo, next to me.Randy handed one to me, one to Trinity, and one to Freddy, across from him.
    Then Mr. Green said, “And yes, you read that right. You
may
use your computer on this one.”
    I sat up a little. What was that? He always made us do everything by hand.
    “If you have software at home that's designed for page layout and you know how to use it, use it!”
    I sat straight up.
    My jaw dropped.
    Was I dreaming?
    “Or you can use your word-processing skills, then print and paste. Book some time with Miss Surkit in the computer lab. She's expecting you!
Or
if you want to do the whole thing by hand, that's cool with me.” He shook the last table's papers in the air and said, “However you decide to do it, follow this sheet!”
    He went back to his director's chair, saying, “And yes, you
may
use clip art. You
may
scan inphotos. You
may
use a digital camera, if you've got one. Or if you're not a fan of computers, you may draw your illustrations.”
    I blinked like crazy.
    I shook out one ear.
    I could use my digital camera?
    For
homework 7 .
    He looked my way and grinned. “Some of you are thinkin’, Outtasight! Some of you are thinkin’, Aw, maaaaan—but all of you will grow from the experience, so remember…” He picked up his guitar again, strummed through some familiar chords, and right on cue we all sang out, “Attitude is everything!”
    He swung the guitar back onto its stand. “Right on! Now let's dig into the details. We've got until the bell rings to hammer this thing out.”
    The more he went over the green