The Biggest Klutz in Fifth Grade

Neal Moffet had called me "Fat Pat Berry, the Twinkletoes Fairy" one time too many. ANd when he started going on about what a klutz I was just because a flying tackle got me stuck under a chain-link fence...well, something snapped.

So when he bet me I couldn't get through the summer without getting stitches or breaking any bones, I took him on. Whoever lost had to kiss Kristine Pimpton (otherwise known as "The Blimp") in front of the entire school on the first day of sixth grade.

Just the thought of having to pucker up for those pudgy lips is enough to make me want to spend the summer sitting still. But the rules say I have to keep on playing football and basketball and riding bikes -- all that dangerous stuff. And Neal is so desperate to win, I don't trust him for a minute. Boy, is it going to be a long summer. Especially for a klutz like me.

BILL WALLACE was born in Chickasha, Oklahoma where he later spent ten years as a principal and physical education teacher at the same elementary school he attended as a child. Bill still lives in Chickasha with his wife, son, four dogs, three cats, and two horses. The Wallace family spends much of their spare time outdoors fishing, and tending cattle on the family farm. Bill lectures at schools around the country, answers mail from his readers, and of course, works on his books. Bill is now a full-time author and his novels have been a great success -- they have won more than thirty state awards and have made the master lists in seventeen.