by David Lubar
“It’s good to be young.”
“Do you really want to hear stories about my adventures?”
“I’d love to.”
The elevator door opened. He let me go first. I didn’t argue. Not too much, at least.
Later
So I’d had my first chance to be a spy. I’d gotten through my doctor’s appointment. And I’d saved millions of people from spending a lot of time in the bathroom. Not a bad week.
The computer files I’d stolen had tons of useful information about RABID. BUM was able to give a lot of help to our government, and to several other countries. They also fixed my phone. I don’t think they added anything to it, since it hasn’t exploded so far, but I’m not completely sure about that. They also got Mookie’s iClotz back.
All the water is fine now. The goop is gone. Even so, Ferdinand didn’t take a shower for two whole weeks. That was definitely not a good thing.
Mr. Murphy hasn’t changed. He still bosses me around and makes fun of me when I mess up. He’s always smirking and giggling. He never really thanked me for saving him. But every once in a while, when he doesn’t think I’m watching, I catch him looking at me with a little bit of a friendly smile.
I haven’t told him what I can do with my eyes. After all, spies work on a need-to-know basis. Especially superspies.
Mookie is still grinning from being called brilliant by both Abigail and Dr. Cushing. He’s never going to let me forget about that. His new jacket has orange and white stripes. It’s a little too small for him, so he looks like a piece of saltwater taffy. But he loves the logo on the back for Yaggie’s Candy-Coated Sardine Chips.
Abigail and Dr. Cushing have become e-mail pals. Neither of them seems to be worried about the security of e-mail. I have a feeling I wouldn’t understand most of the things they talk about. I know they’re working on the problem of painless bone glue, and also a bone-strengthening machine that won’t blow me into a billion pieces. If anyone can make that stuff work, they can. Dr. Cushing gave Abigail a gas chromatograph. Whatever that is.
Rodney and Mr. Lomux are back. That’s not good. I think they both sort of blame me for what happened to them, even though they have no idea what really went on that day. Somehow, Abigail’s last heat-up gumball got slipped into Rodney’s back pocket when he was about to sit down in the cafeteria on Friday. I have no idea who might have done that. Someone sneaky, I guess. Maybe someone with cool spy skills and very steady hands.
Dad and I played pool that weekend. We had a great time. It turns out I’m pretty good. As I said, I do have a steady hand. And a dead eye.
There are lots of other dangerous groups out there for BUM to fight. And RABID is far from out of the picture. They probably hate BUM now even more than ever. I’m sure they’re going to keep me busy. But I’m glad about that. It’s nice being useful.
I guess Dad’s right. Life is good. Giga-good. No, make that tera-good.
TURN THE PAGE
FOR A SNEAK PEEK AT
Nathan Abercrombie,
Accidental Zombie
BOOK FOUR
1
Raising a Stink
This stinks,” Mookie said.
“It certainly rots,” Abigail said.
I had to agree—it wasn’t a good situation. But, compared to being turned into a walking dead kid, it wasn’t a big deal, so I tried to look on the bright side. “At least it’s only for a week or two.” I shifted around in the tiny seat. If I crossed my feet, I could barely fit my legs under the little desk. I almost felt like I was wearing it.
“Hey, you know what? We can pretend we’re giants.” Mookie grabbed his desk with one hand and lifted it up a couple inches. Then he growled and shook it.
“Cool. I hadn’t thought of that.” I stared at my desk and pretended it was normal sized and I was huge. That was fun. Down at the boardwalk in Wildwood, they have this giant chair. You can sit in it and get your picture taken. They have a giant pencil you can hold, too. It makes you look like a miniature person. I guess this was the opposite. The miniature desk and chair made me look like a giant.
“Well, fee fie yippee foe fum,” Abigail said. “That makes it all better.”
“I smell the blood of an Englishman.” Mookie sniffed. “No, wait. My mistake. I smell last night’s bean soup.”
“Ew.” Abigail slipped out of her seat, staggered away from Mookie, and sat at the empty desk on the other side of me. “Mookie, you need to register your digestive system with the government as a toxic waste dump.”
He patted his gut. “It’s more like a national monument.” He sniffed again. “Actually, I can’t smell anything. I think I’m getting a cold. But you don’t see me acting all grumpy.”
“Yeah, what’s up?” I asked Abigail. “You don’t normally complain this much.”
“This place brings back too many bad memories,” she said. “I never thought I’d have to revisit them.”
“It’s all good memories for me,” Mookie said. “Crayons, songs, puppets. Tons of good stuff. Especially the cupcakes. I remember lots of cupcakes.” He smacked my shoulder. “Remember?”
I thought back. “Sure. With big globs of icing.”
“Parents baked them every time someone had a birthday.” Mookie said. “I had three birthdays one year because Mom won two hundred cupcakes in a radio contest and she wanted to get rid of them. I guess nobody kept track. Or they just loved cupcakes as much as I do. We don’t have cupcakes nearly enough, now. I miss this place.”
I remembered those cupcakes. They were green. I think they were made with broccoli or zucchini or something. But almost anything tastes great if it has enough icing on it, so nobody complained.
Mookie stood up on his chair and shouted, “Hey, any birthdays coming up? Don’t forget the cupcakes. You have to bring them. It’s a rule here.”
I guess I had good and bad memories, which kind of canceled each other out. Back then, the art teacher was always putting my stuff on the display board and telling me I had talent. I’d had a mean first-grade teacher who yelled at all the kids and smelled like mouthwash, but she quit, and the teacher who took over for her was really nice. So, unlike Abigail, I didn’t mind being here again—except that everything was too small for us fifth graders. Not only were the chairs and desks tiny, but the water fountains were so low they looked like they were made for dogs.
“Hey, come on. Birthdays?” Mookie shouted. He stepped up on the desk. I heard it groan, but it didn’t break. “It doesn’t have to be right now. It can be any time this month.”
The bell rang and Ms. Otranto, our language, arts, and social studies teacher, walked into the room. She stared at Mookie.
“Sorry,” he said as he climbed off his desk and sat back down. “I was taking a poll.”
As Ms. Otranto walked toward the desk in front, which was full sized, she looked up at the drawings of nursery-rhyme characters that lined the wall above the blackboard, sighed, and said pretty much the same thing I’d just said. “Don’t worry, class. It’s just for one or two weeks. We should be happy they had room for us. All the other fifth graders have to double up and share classrooms.”
So there we were, crammed into a first-grade classroom at Borloff Lower Elementary School while our own school—Belgosi Upper Elementary—got cleaned and disinfected. Apparently, the building had developed some sort of dangerous mold spore problem, thanks to the leak in the cafeteria ceiling. This had nothing to do with the giant slime mold I’d run into—actually, dived into—the other week. It was something that had happened to a lot of schools in the state. Either way, we were stuck here until the Board of Health said it was safe to go back to Belgosi.
Mold spores aren’t good for kids to breathe. That’s not a problem for me. I don’t need to breathe. I could sit at the bottom of the ocean for a month without any problem. I could walk through a cloud of poison gas and not even blink. Mookie could turn every pot of bean soup in the whole universe into toxic gas bombs and I wouldn’
t care.
I’m sort of half dead. I’ve been like that since my friend Abigail’s mad-scientist uncle accidentally splashed me with a whole bunch of Hurt-Be-Gone. I don’t feel pain. I don’t need to sleep. I don’t have a heartbeat, either.
As for being giants, I have to say Mookie nailed it with that description. Not only were the chairs and everything really small, but so were the Borloff kids. At Belgosi, we were already the big kids. Our school was for grades three through five. Being the fifth graders, we were the biggest kids in the place.
Here at Borloff, we got to walk through the halls to our classroom with kids from kindergarten, first, and second grade. The kindergartners seemed especially small. I was almost afraid that I’d step on one, or that Mookie would trip over his laces, stumble into a group of them in the hallway, and crush them like bugs. Mookie trips a lot.
So we were the giants. Until the real giants shuffled into our classroom. Twenty of them. Big and scary. They didn’t look happy.
READER’S
GUIDE
ABOUT THIS GUIDE: The information, activities, and discussion questions that follow are intended to enhance your reading of Goop Soup. Please feel free to adapt these materials to suit your needs and interests.
WRITING AND RESEARCH ACTIVITIES
I. Being Undead
A. Throughout the novel, Nathan reflects on his absent heartbeat, lost sense of pain, and other physical changes that come with being a zombie. Make a list of at least ten of these changes. Beside each item on the list, note the positive and/or negative aspects of this physical characteristic.
B. On page 113, Dr. Cushing refers to Nathan’s lack of an “autonomic nervous system.” After researching at the library or online, prepare an informational poster on the autonomic nervous system, including the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, and the fight-or-flight reaction. Use this information as the basis for a group discussion as to whether the absence of an autonomic nervous system makes Nathan a better or worse spy than Peter Murphy.
C. Create an illustrated Zombie Handbook for kids who have accidentally become undead. Include a list of advantages and disadvantages of zombie life, tips for tricking people into thinking you’re alive, situations to avoid, suggested ways to spend your unlimited waking hours, and repair ideas for zombie accidents.
D. One way to look at the Nathan Abercrombie series is as the result of the author asking a cool “what if” question: What if an unfortunate accident turned an ordinary kid into a half-dead zombie? Frame your own question by modifying the one above (perhaps substituting “were-wolf,” “genius,” or “criminal mastermind” for “half-dead zombie”), or create an entirely new “what if.” Write a short story, story summary, or novel chapter outline describing what would happen in your new “what if” situation. Give your story a catchy title.
II. Friends, Family, and Fungus
A. Becoming a zombie has made Nathan appreciate the friendship and support of Abigail and Mookie. In the character of Nathan, write a note to one of these friends thanking them for their help with the zombie situation. Or, write a short essay describing the way in which a friend was there for you during a difficult time.
B. In the character of Nathan, write a two-paragraph journal entry that begins, “It definitely isn’t easy being dead around Mom (or Dad).”
C. Go online to find a recipe for “goop” and make a batch, adjusting food coloring and other specifics to try to match the descriptions of the substance in Goop Soup (links: http://multiples.about.com/cs/familyfun/ht/Goop.htm or http://www.makingfriends.com/r_goop.htm). Find a definition for a non-Newtonian fluid. Is goop such a fluid? Why or why not? Make a list of fun things to do with goop but be aware, it stains!
D. You are the RABID scientist who invented the toxic fungus threatening East Craven. Write a speech explaining how and why you accomplished this gross feat. Dressed as a mad scientist, present your speech to friends or classmates. Or, make a live-action or animated movie (complete with a set and special effects, such as goop, if desired) of your speech to share.
E. Write a poem or song entitled “Diving into Goop.” Use details from Nathan’s heroic fungus-jump and/or your own imagination to describe the sounds, smells, sights, tastes, and sensations of your dive, and your thoughts or feelings afterward.
III. Wordplay
A. Invite friends or classmates to submit their choices for the funniest line in the novel. Take a class vote to select the top three lines. Prepare a poster announcing the vote results, including the winning lines accompanied by funny illustrations.
B. The author uses many literary devices to create humor in his story. Make a list of Goop Soup chapter titles. Try to figure out what type of wordplay (such as hyperbole, irony, or juxtaposition) is at work in each one. Note that some of the jokes make sense in relation to what happens in the chapter. For example, “Stare Case” (chapter 4) is a pun beginning a chapter in which Nathan experiments with staring. Library or online resources may be useful.
C. Find a definition for the term “acronym.” What words are used to form the acronyms BUM and RABID? On page 21, Mr. Murphy refers to some other evil organizations: SPLOTCH, GACK, MUCOUS, and PHLEGM. Create logical word sequences that would form these acronyms. Share your creations with friends or classmates.
D. How are the mathematical terms “mega,” “giga,” and “tera” put to clever use in the story? Go to the library or online to find the Latin and Greek origins of these words and other prefixes that denote units of measure, and some root words to which these prefixes are often attached (such as byte). On your own or in small groups, brainstorm a list of new words or phrases employing these prefixes (plus zocto, pico, zetta, yotta, and others) in fun, funny, or useful ways.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
1. In the introduction to the novel, Nathan notes that “Life is simple. Death is tricky.” In chapter 2, Nathan’s dad tells him that “life is good.” How are these observations both truthful and ironic in the context of the story? In what ways do you find life simple and/or good?
2. Compare Nathan’s relationships with Peter Murphy and Dr. Cushing to his relationships with his parents. In what different ways do his parents and his BUM supervisors worry about Nathan? What secrets or concerns does Nathan keep from each of these people? Can you be totally honest with your parents or with other adults?
3. For what spy-related skills does Mr. Murphy test Nathan? How does Nathan handle these tests? How does he react to Abigail’s observation that he isn’t “used to failing anymore” (chapter 5)?
4. What are some of the unusual methods and technologies BUM uses to contact Nathan? What more common (and reliable) technologies does Mr. Murphy avoid and why? Which BUM device would you most like to use to communicate with your friends? What type of information would you share through this method?
5. What do Abigail’s wall posters of Einstein and Monet tell you about her character? What does Mookie’s love of his iClotz and favorite jacket tell you about him? What two items from the novel would you select to create a sense of Nathan’s character? If you had to pick two objects or images to describe yourself to others, what would they be?
6. In what different ways do Mr. Murphy, Abigail, and Mookie each try to help Nathan develop a plan to trick his pediatrician, Dr. Scrivella, into thinking he is alive? How do their different strategies show readers what these characters consider to be the most important or difficult part of Nathan’s zombie state? What else do their problem-solving techniques reveal?
7. The second part of the story focuses on Nathan’s efforts to rescue Mr. Murphy by catching RABID agent and funeral director Smetchinski. Is there a relationship between these two problems? How does Nathan apply some of Abigail’s inventions to both problems?
8. When does goop first appear in the novel? How do Nathan and his associates connect the goop problem to the trouble with RABID? What is RABID’s evil plan for East Craven? Why is Nathan the only one who can carry out BUM’s defense s
trategy? How have his failed spy tests given Nathan insights that help him succeed in this effort?
9. How does Nathan’s relationship with Mr. Murphy change in the course of the story? Do you think the newfound friendship between Dr. Cushing and Abigail is a good thing? Explain your answers.
10. In a 2004 wordpress.com interview, David Lubar commented, “One of my favorite quotes . . . is from C. S. Lewis. He said, ‘A book worth reading only in childhood is not worth reading even then’ ” (http://entertheoctopus.wordpress.com/2009/09/04/interview-with-david-lubar-author-nathan-abercrombie-accidental-zombie-my-rotten-life/). Do you agree? To what adult would you most like to recommend this book and why?
11. On the final page of the novel, Nathan decides that life is “tera-good.” What does this expression mean to Nathan? Is this observation made with the same sense of irony used in the quotes noted in question number 1? In what ways has Nathan’s view of himself, “life,” and being a zombie changed in the course of the story?
