Pickle The (Formerly) Anonymous Prank Club of Fountain Point Middle School

This is the story of THE LEAGUE OF PICKLE MAKERSBen: who began it all by sneaking in one night and filling homeroom with ball-pit balls.Frank: who figured out that an official club, say a picklemaking club, could receive funding from the PTA. Oliver: who once convinced half of the class that his real parents had found him and he was going to live in a submarine.Bean: who wasn't exactly invited, but her parents own a costume shop, which comes in handy if you want to dress up like a giant squirrel and try to scare people at the zoo.TOGETHER, they are an unstoppable prank-pulling force, and Fountain Point Middle School will never be the same.

Kim Baker moved around a lot as a kid, which taught her two things: silliness is a great way to make pals, and goofy people make the best firends. She lives in Seattle with her family and still goofs off. A lot. This is her first book.

1
Top Secret
 
 
Can I trust you? I mean, to tell you this story I need to know that you can keep a couple of secrets. I’m already in a whole lot of trouble, and it’s not just me. But I want to tell you everything that happened. Everything. I’ll assume that you can keep the important stuff secret and not pass this book on to anyone older than twenty. I’ve been paying attention, and I’m pretty sure that’s when a person’s sense of humor starts leaking out. If somebody is that old, this isn’t their kind of story, anyway.
I’m talking about the League of Pickle Makers. Can you think of a club a person would be less curious about? That’s the point. Five of us meet on Thursdays, after school in the science lab. You’d expect somebody would think it was fishy that a group of kids are excited enough about making pickles to meet every week. On meeting days we take turns making a show out of carrying around some vinegar or a sack of cucumbers. We even have a website. Check it out—www.picklesforever.com. Click on the “Fizzy Pickle Soup” recipe, and then click on the word “simmer” down at the bottom. The password is “cheese.”
Now you know we’re not really an organization of picklers. Honestly, I don’t even like pickles that much. Only a few people know how it all started. Us—and if you think you can handle it—you.


 
Text copyright © 2012 by Kim Baker
Illustrations copyright © 2012 by Tim Probert