Cam Jansen and the Graduation Day Mystery
Page 1
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
A Cam Jansen Memory Game
The Cam Jansen Series
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the U.F.O.
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Dinosaur Bones
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Television Dog
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Gold Coins
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Babe Ruth Baseball
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Circus Clown
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Monster Movie
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Carnival Prize
Cam Jansen and the Mystery at the Monkey House
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Corn Popper
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of Flight 54
Cam Jansen and the Mystery at the Haunted House
Cam Jansen and the Chocolate Fudge Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Triceratops Pops Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Ghostly Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Scary Snake Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Catnapping Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Barking Treasure Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Birthday Mystery
Cam Jansen and the School Play Mystery
Cam Jansen and the First Day of School Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Tennis Trophy Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Snowy Day Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Valentine Baby Mystery—25th Anniversary Special
Cam Jansen and the Secret Service Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Summer Camp Mysteries—A Super Special
Cam Jansen and the Mystery Writer Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Green School Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Sports Day Mysteries—A Super Special
Cam Jansen and the Basketball Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Wedding Cake Mystery
DON’T FORGET ABOUT THE YOUNG CAM JANSEN SERIES FOR YOUNGER READERS!
VIKING
Published by Penguin Group
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First published in the U.S.A. by Viking,
a member of Penguin Young Readers Group, 2011
Text copyright © David Adler, 2011
Illustrations copyright © Penguin Young Readers Group, 2011
All rights reserved
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA IS AVAILABLE
ISBN : 978-1-101-54790-8
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For Eileen and David Lesnick.
Hi, neighbors!
—D.A.A.
To Rachel: “CONGRATULATIONS, Grad!”
—J.A.
Chapter One
“I’m so proud of Ben,” Mrs. Shelton said.
“Me, too,” Eric Shelton told his mother. “I’m very proud of Dad.”
Grandpa Shelton, Mrs. Shelton, Eric and his twin sisters Donna and Diane, and Cam Jansen were sitting on folding chairs. Eric’s baby brother Howie was there, too. He was sleeping on his mother’s lap. They were in a large open area in the middle of a college campus. A few thousand other people were there, too.
“Are you sure Dad’s here?” Donna asked. “I don’t see him.”
“I know he’s here,” Grandpa Shelton said. “I drove him here early this morning.”
“He wouldn’t miss his own graduation,” Mrs. Shelton said.
“And he wouldn’t want to miss going to a restaurant to celebrate with us afterward,” Grandpa Shelton said.
“Hey, what’s taking so long?” a small boy sitting behind the Sheltons asked. “I’m hungry. I want something fun to do.”
“Oh, Harry,” his mother said. “Eat some animal crackers. Play with your toys.”
The boy took some crackers and a toy train from a small shopping bag. He sat on the ground.
“Choo! Choo!” he said as he pulled the train through the grass.
“Eric’s father has dreamed of this day for a long time,” Grandpa Shelton told Cam.
He spoke softly. He didn’t want to wake Howie.
“Right after he graduated from high school, he joined the army.”
“That’s where we met,” Mrs. Shelton said. “I was also in the army.”
She closed her eyes and smiled. “Ben looked so handsome in his uniform. We got married as soon as we were discharged from the army. Then Ben got a job. He never had time for college.”
“Me, too,” Eric’s sister Diane said. “I don’t have time for college. I don’t even have time for third grade. After second grade I’m getting a job. I’ll bake cookies and sell them.”
“Oh, no, you won’t,” her mother told her. “You’re staying in school.”
Harry pulled his train through the grass and said, “Choo! Choo!” Then he stopped his train and called out, “All aboard!”
“Your father had to make time for college,” Grandpa Shelton whispered to Diane. “He went at night, after work.”
“I don’t see him anywhere,” Donna said. “I think we’re at the wrong graduation.”
“He’s sitting in front,” Mrs. Shelton told Donna. “He’s wearing a black cap and gown.”
“Mom!” Donna said, and pointed ahead. “Millions of people up there are wearing black caps and gowns!”
“Millions?” asked Mrs. Shelton, smiling.
“Well, a lot. I’m going up front to look for Dad.”
“Me, too,” Diane said.
“I’ll go with you,” Grandpa Shelton told the twins. “I want to take Ben’s picture.”
Grandpa Shelton took his camera from the small shopping bag he had brought to the gra
duation. Then he hurried down the aisle with Donna and Diane.
Eric looked in the bag.
“Grandpa has something wrapped in silver paper.”
Mrs. Shelton said, “That’s a gift for Dad.”
“Do you know what it is?”
Mrs. Shelton shook her head. She didn’t know.
“Do you know how many graduates there are?” Eric asked.
Mrs. Shelton shook her head again.
“I don’t know how many there are,” Cam said, “but I know how to find out. We just have to count the number of names in the printed program.”
Eric opened the graduation program and started to count.
Then he stopped.
“Did you already look at the program?” he asked Cam.
“Yes.”
Eric laughed.
“Close your eyes and say, ‘Click!’ Look at the pictures you have in your head of all the names on the program. Then tell me how many graduates there are.”
Cam closed her eyes. She said, “Click!” Then, with her eyes still closed, she said, “There are six pages of names. Each page has four columns.”
With her eyes still closed Cam counted the names in the first column.
“One, two, three . . . eighteen, nineteen, twenty.”
Cam Jansen has a photographic memory. After she takes just one look at something, she remembers it perfectly. It’s as if she has a mental camera and pictures in her head of everything she’s seen.
Cam says, “Click!” whenever she wants to remember something. She says it’s the sound her mental camera makes.
“Six pages of names with four columns on each page,” Cam said. “That’s twenty-four columns. There are twenty names in each column.”
Cam opened her eyes.
“We just have to multiply twenty-four by twenty.”
“I’ll do that,” Eric said. “I’m good at math.”
Eric borrowed his mother’s pen. He wrote the problem on the back of his program.
“Cam,” Eric said. “There are four hundred and eighty graduates.”
Cam’s real name is Jennifer. But when people found out about her amazing memory they started calling her “The Camera.” Soon “The Camera” was shortened to “Cam.”
Meow!
“Hey, Mom,” Harry said. “There’s a cat at the graduation.”
Harry held out a few animal crackers.
“Here, kitty. Have a giraffe. Have a monkey.”
Meow!
“Hey, Mom,” Harry said. “The cat ate the cookies.”
A woman in a black cap and gown stood on the platform. She tapped on the microphone.
Tap! Tap! Tap!
“Please be seated,” she said. “We are about to begin.”
Chapter Two
“That’s Dr. Bette Guterman,” Eric’s mother whispered. “She’s the president of the college.”
The large crowd was suddenly quiet. Donna, Diane, and Grandpa Shelton hurried to their seats.
“We found Dad,” Donna said. “He’s sitting in the middle of the fourth row. We waved to him, and he waved back.”
“Everyone please rise,” Dr. Guterman said.
Thousands of people in the huge field stood.
Mrs. Shelton stood slowly. She didn’t want to wake Howie.
“Stand straight,” the woman sitting behind the Sheltons told her son. “Hold your hand over your heart.”
Harry held his hand and his toy train over his heart.
“Hold your paw to your heart,” Harry told the cat.
Dr. Guterman and the people at the graduation faced the flag of the United States. They recited the pledge of allegiance. Then they sang the national anthem.
Dr. Guterman asked everyone to be seated.
“What happens now?” Diane asked.
Grandpa looked at his program.
“A speech,” Grandpa answered.
“And then what?” Diane asked.
“Another speech,” Grandpa said, “and another, and another.”
Diane complained, “No one told me I’d have to listen to so many speeches.”
“You don’t have to listen,” her mother whispered. “You just have to sit quietly.”
Diane and Donna sat quietly for a while. Then they played with Harry and the cat.
Cam and Eric turned and watched Donna, Diane, and Harry feed the cat animal crackers.
“It’s almost over,” Mrs. Shelton whispered to Cam and Eric. “The graduates are getting their diplomas.”
One by one Dr. Guterman called out the names of the graduates in the order they were listed in the program. One by one the graduates stepped onto the platform. They received their diplomas. Then they returned to their seats.
“Yay, Jacob!” a few people sitting in front of the Sheltons called out.
A young man with short dark hair had just received his diploma. He held it up and smiled.
“Yay, Margery!” Harry and his mother called out.
A young woman just climbing onto the platform turned and bowed to the crowd.
Donna said, “I’m hungry.”
“Soon we’re going to a restaurant,” Grandpa told her. “You’ll have plenty to eat.”
“Anne Sheldon,” Dr. Guterman called.
“Nancy Sheller.”
“Dad is next,” Mrs. Shelton whispered.
Grandpa hurried down the aisle.
“Benjamin Shelton,” Dr. Guterman called.
Eric told Cam, “Benjamin is Dad’s real name. Ben is just what most people call him. It’s his nickname.”
Cam said, “I know about nicknames.”
Mr. Shelton stepped onto the platform.
Cam stood. She looked straight at Eric’s father. She blinked her eyes and said, “Click!”
Mrs. Shelton stood. She was holding baby Howie. Eric and the twins stood, too.
Dr. Guterman gave Mr. Shelton his diploma. He held it up and smiled.
“Yay!” Mrs. Shelton and Cam called out.
“Yay, Dad!” Eric and the twins called out.
Howie opened his eyes. He looked at his mother and smiled.
“Isaac Shulman,” Dr. Guterman called.
Grandpa Shelton hurried back to his seat.
“Look,” he said, and showed everyone the small screen on the back of his digital camera. “I took some great pictures of Ben.”
“I took pictures, too,” Cam said, “but I took mine with my mental camera.”
After all the graduates had received their diplomas, Dr. Guterman held up her hands. She wanted everyone to be quiet.
“What’s happening now?” Diane asked.
“I don’t know,” her mother whispered. “There’s nothing else listed on the program.”
Everyone was quiet. They looked at Dr. Guterman and waited.
Dr. Guterman smiled. Then she announced, “Congratulations to the graduates !”
The graduates cheered. Many of them threw their caps into the air. The people in the audience cheered, too.
“Yay!” Donna and Diane called out.
They threw their programs into the air.
“That’s it,” Grandpa Shelton said. “When Ben gets here we’ll all go to Green Stripes Restaurant to celebrate.”
Donna and Diane picked up their programs.
The graduates walked down the center aisle. When they reached their friends and families there were lots of hugs, kisses, and happy cheers.
Eric’s father smiled and held up his diploma as he walked toward his family.
“Yay, Dad!” Eric called out.
Mrs. Shelton hugged her husband. Grandpa Shelton and all the children applauded.
“Grandpa has a surprise for you,” Eric said.
“It’s right in here,” Grandpa said.
He held up a small shopping bag.
“Let me see,” Diane said.
“It’s wrapped in silver paper,” Grandpa said. “No one sees what’s inside until I give it to Ben at the restaurant.”
> Diane looked in the bag.
“Grandpa,” Diane said. “There’s nothing silver in here. All you have are toys, crackers, and apple juice.”
Chapter Three
Grandpa opened the bag. He took out a small toy train.
“Is that the present you got for Dad?” Diane asked. “If he doesn’t want it, I’ll take it!”
Grandpa shook his head.
“This toy is not mine.”
He looked in the bag said, “None of the things in here are mine.”
Eric said, “That train looks like the one Harry had. He sat behind us.”
Grandpa looked under his chair. He looked under all the chairs in the row.
“Please,” he said. “Help me find my bag. There’s something very valuable in it.”
“I know what’s so valuable,” Diane said. “It’s the surprise you have for Dad.”
The Sheltons and Cam looked under all the chairs in their row and the ones in the nearby rows, too.
“Look what I found,” Diane said. “Lots of programs. When Donna and I get home we can have a pretend graduation. I’ll be the president and make a really long speech.”
“And I’ll be a graduate,” Donna said. “I’ll get a pildoma.”
“Diploma,” her mother said.
“Grandpa,” Diane said. “Maybe you took the bag with you when you went to take Dad’s picture. Maybe the bag is all the way up front.”
Grandpa shook his head and said, “No, I took the camera out of the bag when I walked to the front. Then I put it back.”
“I’m going to look up front,” Mr. Shelton said. “In a big crowd sometimes things get moved.”
Cam and Eric went with him.
The cat followed them.
Grandpa, Mrs. Shelton, and the twins continued to look near their seats.
Cam, Eric, and Mr. Shelton walked through the crowd of people leaving the field.
“Look carefully at what everyone is carrying,” Eric said. “Maybe someone has Grandpa’s bag.”
“Is it just a regular small brown shopping bag?” Mr. Shelton asked.