If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period

by Choldenko, Gennifer

• ISBN13: 9780152057534
• ISBN10: 0152057536
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-09-01
• Publisher: Harcourt Childrens Books

Summary

Kirsten's parents are barely speaking to each other, and her best friend has fallen under the spell of the school's queen bee, Brianna.It seems like only Kirsten's younger science-geek sister is on her side. Walker's goal is to survive at the new white private school his mom has sent him to because she thinks he's going to screw up like his cousin. But he's a good kid. So is his friend Matteo, though no one knows why hell do absolutely anything that hot blond Brianna asks of him.But all of this feels almost trivial when Kirsten and Walker discover a secret that shakes them both to the core. Fast paced, marvelously funny, and brutally honest, If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period touches on universal truths about human nature.

Author Biography

GENNIFER CHOLDENKO is the author of Al Capone Does My Shirts and Notes from a Liar and Her Dog as well as several picture books. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area. 

Excerpts

One
Kirsten
This is lame but I'm actually looking forward to school this year, because every day this summer was like crap: dog crap, cat crap I even had a few elephant crap days. Trust me, it was bad. For starters I hardly saw my best friend in the whole world, Rory. She was always in camp or on Maui. They probably don't even have crap on Maui. Besides Rory being gone all summer, my only other friend in the whole world, Nellie, moved away and my mom and dad fought all the time. They stopped seeing my little sister, Kippy, and me, and they definitely stopped hearing what we said. We even tried a little experiment on them. Kippy said there was a colony of worms living in the laundry hamper and my mom said: Leave your muddy shoes outside. And I said Brad Pitt had invited me to a slumber party and my mom said: You already had your snack. It was funny for a while. Then it wasn't. But summer is over. School is back. And all I can think about as my mom drives us up to the drop-off is how I really, really, really want to have a bunch of classes with Rory this year. Well, that's almost all I think of. I also consider my butt and how it will make its way out of our car. Nobody wants to see a gigantor butt coming out of a car first thing on a Monday morning, that much I know. Have a good day. Eat the lunch I packed. Don't buy junk . . . , my mom says when my feet hit the pavement. Kirsten! She unrolls the side window and beckons with her hand. Do you know that boy, that blaAfrican American kid? Her head cranes toward a guy who just got out of a red sports car. Tall, nice-looking guy. Shaved head, handsome . . . dresses like hes the governors son. I shrug. Must be new. The red car pulls out of the drop-off and my moms head snaps to the front. She pounces on the accelerator and her car flies forward with the door open and the seat belt clanking the side. She swerves around a big SUV, guns it, then pounces on the brakes, coming to a squealing, screeching halt. The stop sign. Her hand rotates a million miles an hour, gesturing to this poor huddled pedestrian, but the pedestrian wont move. Hes afraid. I cant blame the guy. . . . Id be afraid, too. When my mom sees the man is sticking, she shoots forward again like shes on the chase. Shes hunting down the red car, going to drive right over it and staple it to the ground. Oh, great: now shes getting weird in public, too. When I turn to leave, the black kid is standing next to me. That your mom? I nod, then giggle. God, I hate my giggle. You have to be size three and named Barbie for my giggle. Between my giggle and the extra forty pounds, Ive got to be the coolest girl in the whole seventh grade. She hits my moms car, gonna be trouble. He shakes his head. You don't wanna mess with my mom and that car. I'm sorry. My face flames so hot I could fry eggs on my cheeks. That's a 350Z. We just got it. My moms been shining it with her toothbrush. You should see her. Its nice. I bit

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Excerpted from If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period by Gennifer Choldenko
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.