{"product_id":"calvin-coconut-the-zippy-fix-isbn-9780375846014","title":"Calvin Coconut: The Zippy Fix","description":"\u003ci\u003eCalvin Coconut needs to fix things with Stella—and fast!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eStella from Texas is now officially a member of the Coconut household. As if getting a bossy babysitter isn’t bad enough for Calvin, Stella teases him mercilessly. What’s a nine-year-old boy to do? Calvin decides to “fix” her, and he dumps his neighbor’s cat Zippy on Stella’s bed, knowing she’s allergic. But when Stella breaks out in hives and misses her first big date, Calvin realizes his “zippy fix” went too far. He’s got to make it up to her, and decides to give her a birthday present. But he has no money. Along with the help of his loyal friends and little sister, Darci, Calvin works hard, and comes up with enough cash to give Stella the best birthday gift ever.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eGraham Salisbury’s voice perfectly captures the inner workings of Calvin’s mind, and Jacqueline Rogers’ delightful pictures add zest and humor to \u003ci\u003eThe Zippy Fix.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eGraham Salisbury\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eCalvin Coconut: Trouble Magnet\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as several novels for older readers. He lives in Portland, Oregon.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJacqueline Rogers\u003c\/b\u003e has illustrated more than 90 books for young readers. She lives in Chatham, New York.1 - Rodents of Hawaii\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eManly Stanley the centipede, our class pet, looked out at us from inside a jar on our teacher Mr. Purdy's desk. He was frowning and pounding fifty of his one hundred legs on the glass. I knew what he was thinking: why were we _drawing pictures of things that would love to eat him?\u003cbr\u003eHey! he seemed to shout. What's going on out there? Let me see!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJulio, Rubin, Willy, and I were crowded around my desk working on a science poster. Our project was called Rodents of Hawaii.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe'd drawn pictures of a mouse, a rat, a guinea pig, and a gerbil. We wanted to put a hamster and a mongoose in there, too, but Mr. Purdy said hamsters were illegal in the islands. They could bring in diseases. And a mongoose is a carnivore, not a rodent.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe were stumped.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eManly Stanley raced up onto his rock and stretched his neck for a better look. \"Hey, Manly,\" I said. \"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYou know of any more rodents we can draw?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJulio snorted. \"He should. Rodents love centipedes.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eManly Stanley cringed and scurried down into the shadows.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Look, Julio. You scared him.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Pfff.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI tapped on the glass. \"Don't worry, Manly, I'll protect you.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Come on, guys,\" Rubin said. \"We're wasting time.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI poked my chin with my black Sharpie. \"Are moles rodents?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Yeah, moles!\" Julio said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"You got moles here?\" Willy asked. He was from California and knew lots of stuff we didn't. \"I haven't seen any.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I got a mole in my armpit,\" Rubin said. \"Want to see it?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWilly laughed.Me and Julio looked at Rubin like, Are you for\u003cbr\u003ereal? Rubin put up his hands. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"I'm just saying.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMr. Purdy walked by and glanced down at our poster. \"Great work, boys. Keep _going.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe looked up and grinned. \"We will, Mr. Purdy. But we can't think of any more rodents.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMr. Purdy pinched his jaw. \"Well now. Let's see. Why don't you think of yourself as a cat? What rodents might you see if you were hunting in the weeds?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Yeah-yeah,\" Julio said. \"Be a cat. That's good, Mr. Purdy, thanks.\"\u003cbr\u003eMr. Purdy winked and moved on.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRubin bent close and mumbled, \"Just don't be a black cat, or else we might get bad luck.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJulio scoffed. \"Then I'm a black one, _Rubin. Just for you.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Black, yellow, green, or purple,\" I said. \"Mr. Purdy had a good idea. So pretend you're a cat. What do you see?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRubin snapped his fingers. \"A mouse.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"We already have a mouse,\" I said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"We can have two.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJulio elbowed Rubin away from the table. \"You're not helping, Rubin. Go breathe your dead squid breath on Shayla or something.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMr. Purdy was leaning over Maya's desk, helping her. He looked at us over his shoulder.\u003cbr\u003eJulio pointed at Rubin and started to say something.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI grabbed his arm. \"Don't, Julio, you're going to get us in trouble.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMr. Purdy gave us his raised-eyebrow look. He had been in the army and could really do that good, even better than Mrs. Leonard, the principal. \"Is there a problem over there, boys?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI gave Mr. Purdy my best smile. \"No, Mr. Purdy. No problem. Right, Julio?\" I banged Julio's arm.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Just kidding,\" Julio said, white teeth gleaming.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMr. Purdy nodded and turned back to Maya.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRubin leaned close and tapped the table with his finger. \"See what I mean? You just mention black \u003cbr\u003ecats and you got trouble. You got to watch out. Believe it, or don't.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd I didn't.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eToo bad...because Rubin was right.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e2 - Zippy\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter school I rode my bike home with Willy and Julio.\u003cbr\u003eUsually I had to walk with my little sister, Darci. But she had a cough that morning and was over at Mrs. Nakashima's house while Mom was at work.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe rode straight up, with our arms hanging loose at our sides. It was so hot even the mynah birds were looking for shade.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen we cruised around the corner onto our street, I slammed on my brakes.\u003cbr\u003eJulio nearly fell off his bike trying to keep from crashing into me.\u003cbr\u003eWilly swerved and sailed into somebody's hedge.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Why'd you stop?\" Julio spat.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Look.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI dipped my head toward Maya's cat, sprawled in the middle of the street.\u003cbr\u003eJulio looked at me like, Are you nuts? \"You caused a wreck because of Maya's cat?\"\u003cbr\u003eWilly yanked himself and his bike out of the hedge and studied the scratches on his arms.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Sorry,\" I said.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWilly waved it off. \"I'm okay.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJulio stared at me.\u003cbr\u003e\"What?\" I said. \"It's a black cat.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"It was black yesterday, too. And last month and last year. So what?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Well, Rubin said-\"\u003cbr\u003eJulio threw up his hands. \"Not Rubin again.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"No, but...it's...well.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWilly held his front tire between his legs and straightened out his handlebars. \"They must be bad luck. Look how we crashed.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"That was Calvin,\" Julio spat. \"Not the cat!\"\u003cbr\u003eI chewed on my thumbnail and considered the furry black mass lying in the middle of the road. His name was Zippy, but zippy he wasn't. He was lazy as a slug. Not very smart, either, because any cat that lounges in the middle of the street is looking to get run over by a car.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"You're right,\" I said, trying to shake Rubin's warning out of my head. \"It's just superstition.\"\u003cbr\u003eWe got back on our bikes and coasted toward Zippy, circling him twice. Zippy stretched, his claws flashing out like knife blades.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJulio stopped and studied Zippy. \"You are the laziest cat I've ever seen in my life, no question.\"\u003cbr\u003eI got off my bike and kicked down the stand. \"Come on, Zip.\" I scooped him up. \"You stay out here in the street, some car's going to flatten you.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eZippy purred in my arms. I bet he weighed like a hundred pounds. \"You should be out in the jungle chasing down the rodents of Hawaii.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eZippy gave me a lazy blink.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI set him down in the shade of a plumeria tree in Maya's yard. The grass was warm and soft, way better than the street. \"I just don't want to see you get squashed, okay?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eZippy gave me dirty looks.\u003cbr\u003eI laughed. \"You're something, Zipster.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Laters!\" Julio called from the street, heading home.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWilly jumped on his bike. \"Me too.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI waved and turned back to Zippy. \"Don't you give me bad luck, now. I did this for your own good. You listening to me, Zip?\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI scratched under his chin and left when he started purring again. I had no idea what a bad listener Zippy was.","brand":"Yearling","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46302057431269,"sku":"NP9780375846014","price":6.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780375846014.jpg?v=1767723294","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/calvin-coconut-the-zippy-fix-isbn-9780375846014","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}