by Gary Paulsen
(c) so junky the neighbors’ cat keeps trying to bury it in the backyard?
4. Do you
(a) make your bed to army regulations—so tightly a dime could bounce off your sheets?
(b) make your bed when your mother makes you make it?
(c) need hypnosis therapy to remember the last time you made your bed?
5. Have you been known
(a) to organize the paper clips in your desk drawer?
(b) to find last week’s homework hidden in your desk drawer?
(c) to leave slices of pizza in your desk drawer?
6. In your bedroom, do you
(a) rotate the posters monthly to prevent visual boredom?
(b) convince yourself that last year’s arrangement is good enough for this year to avoid the bother of changing them?
(c) use the one poster on the back of your door for a dart board?
7. Do you
(a) count hairs to be sure to part your hair in exactly the same place every time you comb it?
(b) brush your hair with your hands on your way out the door?
(c) just put on a hat in the morning rather than look in a mirror?
8. Do you
(a) turn in extra-credit reports along with your regular homework just to be safe?
(b) frantically finish your assignment before the bell rings?
(c) have trouble remembering if you did your homework when the teacher asks?
9. Do you
(a) color-coordinate everything in your closet?
(b) feel lucky if what you’re wearing makes it to a hanger by the end of the day?
(c) fear for your life when you open your closet?
10. Are you
(a) perfectly able to answer a ringing telephone?
(b) nervous when the phone rings, because it might be someone you owe money to?
(c) hard-pressed to get to the phone without wrecking at least one room in your house?
Give yourself 10 points for every (c) response, 5 points for every (b) response, and subtract 5 points for every (a) response.
* You may want to answer on a separate sheet so others can take this challenge too.
PERSONALITY KEY
If you scored LESS THAN ZERO points, then you are a dead ringer for Dunc—get out your detective kit, you may have investigative talents you haven’t discovered yet.
If you scored BETWEEN ZERO AND 20 points, you’re a Dunc-in-training.
If you scored BETWEEN 25 AND 60 points, you have some definite Amos tendencies (especially if you answered [c] on question #10!).
If you scored OVER 60 points, then you probably have most in common with Amos’s dog Scruff!
Be sure to join Dunc and Amos in these other Culpepper Adventures:
The Case of the Dirty Bird
When Dunc Culpepper and his best friend, Amos, first see the parrot in a pet store, they’re not impressed—it’s smelly, scruffy, and missing half its feathers. They’re only slightly impressed when they learn that the parrot speaks four languages, has outlived ten of its owners, and is probably 150 years old. But when the bird starts mouthing off about buried treasure, Dunc and Amos get pretty excited—let the amateur sleuthing begin!
Dunc’s Doll
Dunc and his accident-prone friend Amos are up to their old sleuthing habits once again. This time they’re after a band of doll thieves! When a doll that once belonged to Charles Dickens’s daughter is stolen from an exhibition at the local mall, the two boys put on their detective gear and do some serious snooping. Will a vicious watchdog keep them from retrieving the valuable missing doll?
Culpepper’s Cannon
Dunc and Amos are researching the Civil War cannon that stands in the town square when they find a note inside telling them about a time portal. Entering it through the dressing room of La Petite, a women’s clothing store, the boys find themselves in downtown Chatham on March 8, 1862—the day before the historic clash between the Monitor and the Merrimac. But the Confederate soldiers they meet mistake them for Yankee spies. Will they make it back to the future in one piece?
Dunc Gets Tweaked
Dunc and Amos meet up with a new buddy named Lash when they enter the radical world of skateboard competition. When somebody “cops”—steals—Lash’s prototype skateboard, the boys are determined to get it back. After all, Lash is about to shoot for a totally rad world’s record! Along the way they learn a major lesson: Never kiss a monkey!
Dunc’s Halloween
Dunc and Amos are planning the best route to get the most candy on Halloween. But their plans change when Amos is slightly bitten by a werewolf. He begins scratching himself and chasing UPS trucks—he’s become a werepuppy!
Dunc Breaks the Record
Dunc and Amos have a small problem when they try hang-gliding—they crash in the wilderness. Luckily, Amos has read a book about a boy who survived in the wilderness for fifty-four days. Too bad Amos doesn’t have a hatchet. Things go from bad to worse when a wild man holds the boys captive. Can anything save them now?
Dunc and the Flaming Ghost
Dunc’s not afraid of ghosts, although Amos is sure that the old Rambridge house is haunted by the ghost of Blackbeard the Pirate. Then the best friends meet Eddie, a meek man who claims to be impersonating Blackbeard’s ghost in order to live in the house in peace. But if that’s true, why are flames shooting from his mouth?
Amos Gets Famous
Deciphering a code they find in a library book, Dunc and Amos stumble onto a burglary ring. The burglars’ next target is the home of Melissa, the girl of Amos’s dreams (who doesn’t even know that he’s alive). Amos longs to be a hero to Melissa, so nothing will stop him from solving this case—not even a mind-boggling collision with a jock, a chimpanzee, and a toilet.
Dunc and Amos Hit the Big Top
In order to impress Melissa, Amos decides to perform on the trapeze at the visiting circus. Look out below! But before his best friend for life, Dunc, can talk him out of his plan, the two stumble across a mystery behind the scenes at the circus. Now Amos is in double trouble. What’s really going on under the big top?
Dunc’s Dump
Camouflaged as piles of rotting trash, Dunc and Amos are sneaking around the town dump. Dunc wants to find out who is polluting the garbage at the dump with hazardous and toxic waste. Amos just wants to impress Melissa. Can either of them succeed?
Dunc and the Scam Artists
Best friends for life Dunc and Amos are at it again. Some older residents of their town have been bilked by con artists, and the two boys want to look into these crimes. They meet elderly Betsy Dell, whose nasty nephew Frank gives the boys the creeps. Then they notice some soft dirt in Ms. Dell’s shed, and a shovel. Does Frank have something horrible in store for Dunc and Amos?
Dunc and Amos and the Red Tattoos
Dunc and Amos head for camp and face two weeks of fresh air—along with regulations, demerits, KP, and inedible food. But wherever these two best friends go, trouble follows. They overhear a threat against the camp director and discover that camp funds have been stolen. Do these crimes have anything to do with the tattoo of the exotic red flower that some of the camp staff have on their arms?
