The Gollywhopper Games
Page 16
Or not. Even before their car turned the corner to their street, both sides of the road were lined with people. Holding signs.
“I don’t want to look,” said Gil.
“Why not?” said his dad.
“What if they’re mad I made the final ten?”
“I wouldn’t worry,” said his mom. “Mad doesn’t come with balloons.”
The signs had balloons. The people had balloons. And as they passed, the people launched their balloons into the air.
“But they don’t know if I won or lost. They don’t know anything.”
They pulled into the driveway to the claps and cheers of the crowd. Mrs. Hempstead, whose lawn had almost made him too late for this moment, rushed up with a cake. “You’re our hero no matter how you did,” she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. “Now tell us how you did.”
“Sorry, Mrs. Hempstead,” Gil said, trying not to smile too big. “They won’t let me.”
“Hey, Gil,” came a voice from the crowd. “Over here! Gil! Catch!” Frankie lobbed a football over three rows of people.
The ball drifted back, back, sending Gil toward the side of the house, leaping over a small bush. Making the catch.
The crowd cheered.
“He’s our new wide receiver!” Frankie yelled. “Right, Gil?”
Gil looked at his mom. Looked at his dad. Looked at Frankie.
A normal kid with normal friends.
Gil looked at his parents again. Pointed to a sign that said, WELCOME HOME.
He lobbed the ball back in the air. “You got it, Frankie.”
One More Puzzle
Gil double-clicked his mouse. Onscreen, the door opened. He was in the office of Ackrud Toy Company’s Evil President. Before Ackrud Weevil ran out the back door, Gil clicked on the slip of paper attached to his shoe.
“Yeah!” he said. It was the last two letters of the grid. Finally. With all his travels for Golly this past summer, it had taken Gil a month to navigate to the last level of KidZillionaire—or at least the last level in this test version. Now he’d get the password to Ackrud’s computer. Except…
“Dad, you’re missing a word here.”
Gil’s dad got up from the other desk chair in their new upstairs office. “Huh?”
“Look. It reads, ‘Start with a,’” he said. “Start with a duck? Start with a doughnut? Start with a what?”
His dad grew a sly smile. “Just solve the puzzle,” he said, then left the room.
Gil shrugged, clicked through the building, back to the company’s main computer. Fine. He’d type the letters in order.
No. Gil had learned his lesson from the Games. Those letters meant something. He sat there and stared.
Start with a
Start with a what? Start with a what? Start with a—
“Hey, Gil!”
“Upstairs, Frankie!”
Time for freshman football practice. This would have to wait. Again. Or…aha! Gil saw his way through that maze of letters. Seconds later, he knew what he needed to do. Watch out, Weevil! Soon the Ackrud Toy Company will be mine!
Gil grabbed his cleats. He’d figure out the password later.
HINTS:
* This is a maze of letters
* Figure out where to start
* Move vertically, horizontally, or diagonally
* Use each letter only once
* The letters will spell three words
* The words all can be used to modify the name of an object
* That object is your answer
ANSWER:
That night, when Gil typed in the answer, he set off a timer connected to the common object—a bomb (puzzle words + “bomb” = “atomic bomb,” “stink bomb,” “time bomb”). “If I can’t keep this toy company,” said the Evil President, “no one can.
It was now up to Gil to race onscreen around Ackrud and find out how to stop that bomb from exploding.
Acknowledgments
When it came time to write my acknowledgments, I decided to think about it as a competition. The only rule: Name each person whose support contributed to the publication of The Gollywhopper Games. No problem, I thought. I can name every one of those people in my sleep. Just watch.
Thanks go to Rebecca Davis, who brought this book to the table; to editors Steve Geck, Martha Mihalick, and Sarah Cloots, whose invaluable feedback kept me honest; and especially to my editor Virginia Duncan, who, with her quiet confidence, pushed me to get more from my characters and their story.
Also to art director Paul Zakris, to cover artist John Rocco, and to artist and designer Victoria Jamieson, whose vision and talents added a whole new dimension.
A huge amount of gratitude goes to my agent, Jennie Dunham, who believed in Gil as much as, and sometimes more than, I did.
I’m supremely grateful for my writing community. This is such a solitary business, I’d go bonkers if it weren’t for the camaraderie and critiques of writers and authors Cindy Lord, Lynn Fazenbaker, Carol Norton, Tracy Hurley, Claudia Pearson, Barbara Ehrentreu, and the rest of the YA-Authors who have helped my writing grow; of Leslie Wyatt, who found me from across the state; of Kate Raybuck, Maggie Fowler, and Doris Mueller, who have read far too many versions; and of the YAckers 2, whose direct fingerprints may not appear on this book but whose influences certainly do.
I can’t forget Phillip Norfleet, my first fan, and Julia Bald, whose eye for detail is remarkable.
Much love and more thanks than I could ever give go to my friends and family for believing this would happen, for giving me space when it didn’t, and celebrating with me when it did. Special mention goes to Debbie Poslosky, who supplies me with her boundless enthusiasm and an endless pool of young minds whenever I need them; to Bill and Carol Simon, who made books and art a steady part of my life; to Dick Feldman, who understood how important it was for me to try this; to Cassie Feldman, who kept me laughing and distracted when I needed it most; and to Paige Feldman, who has been my biggest supporter ever since she fell in love with Gil from the first draft, who never allowed me to get away with anything less than perfection, and who also vowed to produce The Gollywhopper Games if no one jumped on it before she was ready.
After I finished this part of the list, I realized I could never win the acknowledgments game. What about all the other editors who have no clue how much impact they’ve had on this book? What about the rest of the people I’ll remember I forgot to mention once this is in print? And what about the student who returned Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to the school library one day when I was volunteering? He asked the librarian for another story like it, but neither she nor his teacher could find a title to satisfy him. It was at that moment I decided to write a book for that ten-year-old boy, and I will be forever indebted to him…whoever he is.
About the Author
JODY FELDMAN holds a journalism degree from the University of Missouri, and she worked in advertising before becoming a full-time author. Her writing has appeared in newspaper and magazine ads, as well as on television and radio. The Gollywhopper Games is her first children’s book. She lives in St. Louis, Missouri.
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Credits
Jacket design by Paul Zakris
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are drawn from the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE GOLLYWHOPPER GAMES. Text copyright © 2008 by Jody Feldman. Illustrations copyright © 2008 by Victoria Jamieson. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into an
y information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Adobe Digital Edition May 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-195731-4
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