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Francie’s starting second grade, and could things get any worse? She doesn’t like her name. She doesn’t have the right lunchbox. And she’s pretty sure her teacher, Sister Ursula Agnes, is going to be hard. To top it all off, she gets the worst role in the class play. But when things go wrong at the last minute, Francie discovers that there’s more than one way to be a star!

Maryann Macdonald grew up near Detroit. She spent her childhood making things, exploring, and playing games with her seven brothers and sisters. With her husband and two daughters, she lived more than twenty years in England and France. Now she lives in New York City. Maryann has written twenty-five books for children. She still enjoys making things, exploring, and playing games!

Starring Fran

cie O’Leary

Macdonald/R

ichards

Fiction/Primary

By Maryann

Macdonald

Illustrated by Virginia Helen Richards, fsp

Pauline Books &

Media

$6.95 U.S.

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¶Chapter 1

Second-Grade Scare

“Mom!” yelled Francie. “Jo Jo is eating my notebook!”

Jo Jo, her baby sister, was lying on the floor. She was chewing on Francie’s notebook. Jo Jo looked happy. Taffy, the dog, looked happy, too.

Mom didn’t come. She was resting. She was going to have another baby.

Francie pulled the notebook away from Jo Jo. It had teeth marks on it. It had baby slobber on it, too. Francie sighed.

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Tomorrow was the first day of school. Francie wanted to start second grade with the right things. She had a new Teensy Turtle lunch box. She had a new red barrette. But now her new notebook was ruined.

“Thanks a lot, Jo Jo,” she said. Jo Jo started to cry. Francie’s big sister, Katie, came in. She picked up Jo Jo.

“Let’s sing a song,” she said.They all sang Taffy’s favorite song, “How

Much Is That Doggie in the Window?”“Woof, woof,” went Jo Jo.“The one with the waggly tail?”“Woof, woof!” went Taffy. She wagged

her tail.After the song, Jo Jo crawled off with

Taffy.“Jo Jo thinks she’s a dog,” said Francie.

“She’s chewing everything.”“She’s working on her baby teeth,” Katie

said. Katie always understood. She was good and she was smart.

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Francie asked Katie, “Would you swap notebooks with me?” Katie shook her head.

“Ask Ambrose,” she said.Ambrose was in the basement. He

was taking apart a broken vacuum cleaner. Ambrose was always taking things apart. He didn’t ride his bike or play baseball. He took things apart.

Ambrose wiped his glasses on his T-shirt.Francie asked him for his notebook.“Okay,” he said. “It’s in my book bag.”So Francie got her brother’s book bag. It

was brown. It was dull and sturdy, just like Ambrose.

Francie sat down at the kitchen table. She printed “Francie” on her new notebook. She liked that name. It was prettier than her real name, Frances. Katie looked over Francie’s shoulder.

“Second grade is easy,” she said. “Unless you get Sister Ursula Agnes.”

“Who is she?” asked Francie.

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“One of the sisters,” said Katie. “Everyone calls her Sister Grizzly.”

Oh, no! thought Francie. She had a baby sister who thought she was a dog. She had a big brother who was weird. She had a big sister who was perfect. What if she got Sister Ursula Agnes? What if Sister Ursula Agnes was mean—like a grizzly bear? What else could go wrong?

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