The unique lou fox, p.1
The Unique Lou Fox, page 1
First published in Canada and the United States in 2022
Text copyright © 2022 Jodi Carmichael
This edition copyright © 2022 Pajama Press Inc.
This is a first edition.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For an Access Copyright licence, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free 1.800.893.5777.
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The publisher gratefully acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for its publishing program. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund (CBF) for our publishing activities.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Title: The u-nique Lou Fox / Jodi Carmichael.
Names: Carmichael, Jodi, author.
Description: First edition.
Identifiers: Canadiana 20210384697 | ISBN 9781772782585 (hardcover) | 9781772782592 (ePub)
Classification: LCC PS8605.A7559 U55 2022 | DDC jC813/.6—dc23
Publisher Cataloging-in-Publication Data (U.S.)
Names: Carmichael, Jodi, author.
Title: The U-nique Lou Fox / Jodi Carmichael.
Description: Toronto, Ontario Canada : Pajama Press, 2022. | Summary: “Louisa, a fifth grader who has ADHD and dyslexia, wishes her overly tough teacher would disappear—then fears she has unleashed a curse when Mrs. Snyder becomes ill. Lou throws herself into the play she is writing and directing for her friends, but conflict follows when she becomes too pushy. At home, Lou alternates between jealousy and excitement as she prepares to become a big sister at last” -- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: ISBN 978-1-77278-258-7 (hardcover) | 978-1-77278-259-2 (ePub)
Subjects: LCSH: Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder – Juvenile fiction. | Teachers – Juvenile fictions. | Siblings – Juvenile fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / School & Education. | JUVENILE FICTION / Disabilities & Special Needs. | JUVENILE FICTION / Social Themes / Emotions & Feelings.
Classification: LCC PZ7.1C37Un |DDC 813.6 – dc23
Cover art and interior illustrations by Peggy Collins
Cover and book design—Lorena González Guillén
Set in 12-point Helvetica and 18-point/24-point OpenDyslexic with considerations for dyslexia-friendly design
Manufactured by Friesens
Printed in Canada
Pajama Press Inc.
11 Davies Avenue, Suite 103, Toronto, Ontario Canada, M4M 2A9
Distributed in Canada by UTP Distribution
5201 Dufferin Street Toronto, Ontario Canada, M3H 5T8
Distributed in the U.S. by Ingram Publisher Services
1 Ingram Blvd. La Vergne, TN 37086, USA
To my critique partners Deborah Froese, Alice Hemming, Louise Morriss,
and Candice Sareen.
Without you, Lou Fox
would not exist.
Sarah, Emma, and Drew:
you are my heart.
And finally, to my mom.This one’s for you!
—J.C.
Text design and font selection for this book have been made with consideration for readers with dyslexia.
The body text is set with Helvetica; headers have been set with OpenDyslexic.
An accessible EPUB format
is also available under the
ISBN 978-1-77278-259-2
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Three-Headed Fifth Grader 13
Chapter 2
Be Careful What You Wish For 19
Chapter 3
Frus-trat-ing 25
Chapter 4
Five-dollar Words 31
Chapter 5
Mistakes. So Many Mistakes. 35
Chapter 6
U-nique 43
Chapter 7
Abnormal Normal Sandwich 53
Chapter 8
Further Mom Weirdness 59
Chapter 9
The Four Musketeers 67
Chapter 10
Lies and More Lies 75
Chapter 11
Less of Me 81
Chapter 12
If Only Every Class Was Art 91
Chapter 13
Silliest Man on Earth 101
Chapter 14
Lazy Weekend 105
Chapter 15
Perfect Plan in Place 107
Chapter 16
Old-lady Winks. Shivers. 111
Chapter 17
Double Trouble 119
Chapter 18
Unexpected Fear 123
Chapter 19
Time Flies 129
Chapter 20
Raging Jealousy 133
Chapter 21
Freckle Dipper 139
Chapter 22
Note to Self: Listen to Talking Eyeballs 145
Chapter 23
Lou Fox is Stunned 153
Chapter 24
A Not-so-simple Name Change 155
Chapter 25
Big Deal 161
Chapter 26
Un-wishing Wishes 165
Chapter 27
Worst Day Ever 169
Chapter 28
Babies. Babies. Babies. 173
Chapter 29
The Rain Before the Storm 181
Chapter 30
9-1-1 183
Chapter 31
The Five Musketeers 189
Chapter 32
Nothing Better Than a Double-crossed Heart 193
Chapter 33
Courage Needed 201
Chapter 34
Apology Gifted 207
Chapter 35
Monumental 211
Chapter 36
Not Easy But Worth It 215
Chapter 37
Fun. Better Than Perfect 219
Chapter 38
The Best Wish of All 227
Chapter 1
Three-Headed Fifth Grader
I have big plans. Huge plans. Boldly au-da-cious plans.
In addition to being the youngest playwright in history, I want to be the world’s youngest Cirque du Soleil gymnast. That means I must be as rubbery as humanly possible. Even though I am extremely bendy, I am not alone in my bendiness. There are plenty of flexible kids out there. In fact, my two best friends, Lexie and Nakessa, are also ex-ceed-ing-ly bendable, which is why we’ve called ourselves the Bendables since first grade. Being surrounded by all this bendability is a constant reminder to practice my flips, splits, and tumbling whenever and wherever possible.
Every morning before the bell rings, Nakessa, Lexie, and I meet under the massive oak tree in the school field to take turns stretching out each other’s legs. Just like every day, that’s what we were doing the day everything began to change.
“Remember, Lexie,” I said as a cool fall breeze blew my hair in every direction, “no matter what I say, do not let go.” I tucked tangled strands behind my ears and pressed my back against the nubby tree bark, then I kicked my leg out straight.
“But what if you beg?” Lexie grabbed my ankle, slowly pushing my leg up toward my shoulder.
“Nope.”
“What if you cry?” A gust of wind rained oak leaves down on us.
“Never.”
“What if your face turns blue?” Nakessa asked, as she zipped up her navy puffer vest. She flung her black braids over her shoulders and began to sing. “If Lou’s face turns blue,” she trilled, stretching her arms out wide, “what will we dooooo?”
Nakessa is forever making up songs. About everything. It’s my number one favorite thing about her. My next favorite Nakessa thing is that she raids her dad’s closet every morning.
Lexie laughed. “Nice song. I like the tune, but why would Lou’s face turn blue?”
Nakessa shrugged. “Faces always turn blue in movies.”
“This is not a movie,” Lexie replied. She slowly pushed my leg up a few inches.
“Imagine if this was a movie. I would be a famous gymnast, dazzling the world with my moves,” I said, beginning to feel real pain.
“At least if it was a movie there wouldn’t be singing,” Lexie said.
“Wrong.” Nakessa crossed her arms. “There are plenty of movie musicals. What about Annie?” She burst into song again. “The sun’ll come out tomorrow!”
“Bet your bottom dollar, she’ll sing the whole song,” Lexie finished.
Nakessa cartwheeled behind Lexie, her long legs poker straight. It was nearly as good as my cartwheels.
Another gust of wind blew. Shivering, Lexie propped my leg against her hip so she could pull up her jacket hood. Her pale face looked even tinier encircled by the gray fur trim.
“Blue faces….” I said, as Lexie pushed my leg up again. “Maybe we can add blue faces into our play!”
Lexie frowned. “If there are blue faces in The Haunting at Lakeside School, I wa nt magic. You already agreed to Nakessa’s ghosts. I think I should be able to use my Harry Potter wand.”
“Fine. Magic…is…in.” My hamstrings burned. My heart began to pound.
Nakessa stopped cartwheeling and stepped closer. Her cheeks now flushed pink. “Your face is actually going bright red—like a fire engine.”
“It’s…okay….” I exhaled. My heartbeat boomed in my ears. “Don’t…stop!” It was hard to speak.
“Are you sure? You’re normally fish-belly pale.” Lexie lowered my leg an inch.
“F-fish…belly?”
Lexie moved her face so close to mine our noses almost touched. “You’re sweating across your nose. Your freckles are even sweating.”
“No pain…no—”
The morning bell rang. Lexie dropped my leg.
I slumped against the tree and rubbed my thigh muscles. “Was my foot close to my ear?”
“Uhm…maybe a little closer than yesterday.”
My whole body sagged.
“Don’t worry, Lou. We’re here for…you!” Nakessa sang as she linked an arm through mine.
“All for one and one for all!” Lexie took my other arm.
“Ready,” I said.
“Steady,” Lexie said.
“Freddy,” Nakessa sang.
“Go Bendables!” we cheered.
Then, like every morning, we ran across the field like a three-headed fifth-grader. With arms linked, we dodged around the other students.
And like every morning, my heart soared.
Why?
Because just before school was my favorite time of the day. I could still pretend the day ahead would be spec-tac-u-lar, which would be way better than the best. That was before I stepped a pinky toe into school and the reality of the place sank in, squashing my soul. Okay. Maybe a little dramatic, but if you were me, you’d find school soul-sucking too.
Chapter 2
Be Careful What You Wish For
My gaze flew around the classroom, past the huge world map with font so small it was impossible for me to read, over the list of classroom rules we were supposed to have memorized, and stopped on our teacher’s favorite poster. That I had memorized, because Mrs. Snyder had said the words nearly every day at the beginning of September: Life is all About Making Mistakes and Learning From Them. I’m a pro at making mistakes. Learning from them, not so much. Mrs. Snyder said it’s supposed to encourage us. I don’t need any encouragement when it comes to making mistakes.
“I’m pleased with almost everyone’s scores,” Mrs. Snyder said as she placed my spelling test face down on my desk. “Some of you will have to work harder.” My heart cannon-balled into my stomach.
Hmmm. Who could Mrs. Snyder possibly be talking about?
Hint One: “Some of us” was a she.
Hint Two: She was astoundingly bendy.
Hint Three: She planned to be a famous Broadway playwright.
I glared at Mrs. Snyder’s slightly rounded back as she continued up the aisle. I wanted to growl at her, but that’s way too grade one-ish. No one growls in fifth grade.
“I’d like you to review the words you misspelled. Spelling can be tricky, but practice makes better,” Mrs. Snyder said, standing in front of the whiteboard next to her desk.
I groaned.
Although growling and groaning are very similar sounds, they’re not identical. They’re like fraternal siblings. Similar, but different. And groaning is one hundred percent acceptable in fifth grade. I mastered it in fourth.
That’s also when I determined that I hate English class—especially on spelling test days. And I triple-hate test result days.
I scowled at my paper. Stupid spelling. I already knew I’d bombed the test. It’s my MO—Modus Operandi. Dad says that’s Latin for the way someone does something. For me, the way I do spelling is by failing.
“Pssst, Lou. Give one to Nakessa.” Lexie reached across the aisle to pass me two Love Hearts. I passed a purple Cutie Pie heart over my shoulder to Nakessa, who sat right behind me.
I kept the orange heart. My favorite. I glanced at the words. Be Mine. Those I could read. I popped the candy into my mouth. The tangy sweetness zinged on my tongue.
“Yum, yum, yum,” Nakessa murmured behind me.
Nakessa’s MO is always to be tons of fun, that and to sing about…anything.
Lexie’s MO is to be stellar at everything academic. She’s academically gifted. That would be annoying, except she’s also a stellar friend.
And Lexie always has the best candy. Like, always. In fact, today she said she had a surprise for us. Candy her mom had brought back from her latest business trip to England. I knew Lexie could’ve eaten this surprise candy herself, and we’d never have known. But that’s not a Lexie Chan thing to do. She’s a do-unto-others kind of person. Lexie was saving this English candy to share for recess.
Best friends like the Bendables are hard to find.
Nakessa poked me in the back with a pencil. “How’d you do on the test?”
I rolled my eyes. Best friends like the Bendables are nearly as hard to find as a C on a spelling test for me. If I were the superhero Wolverine, spelling would be my lake or ocean. Wolverine drowns in water, I drown in the alphabet. Spelling is my biggest challenge, but to be honest, school in general is not one of my strengths. That’s not a huge secret. I like math only slightly better than English, and don’t get me started on social studies. Too much reading. Thankfully there’s art. I adore art.
“So, what’d you get?” Nakessa whispered.
I forgot she’d asked the question. I shrugged. “I’m a hundred percent sure I flunked,” I whispered back. “I wish it was different, but as my Grammers says, ‘Wishing for something that can’t be is like a hound dog wishing to fly like an eagle. It’s for fools who can’t accept the truth.’” I used my best Grammers’ South Carolina accent, which was hard to do with a Love Heart in my mouth.
Nakessa giggled. She always cracks up when I speak like my grandmother. Too bad Dad didn’t have the same accent. Or me. I’d love to talk “Southern” all day long.
“But then Grammers also says, ‘Be careful what you wish for, because it might come true.’” I switched back to everyday Lou. “I’ve been wishing school didn’t exist for forever, but here we are sitting in—”
“Ah-ah. No talking please,” Mrs. Snyder said.
I jumped in my seat, crunching down on what remained of my candy. Somehow our teacher had crossed the room without my noticing. She was crazy stealthy for an old lady. I squinted at her. “Tell me the truth, Ma’am,” I said drawling my words, South-Carolina style. “Are you part Shadow Phantom?” I’d read about those evil villains in one of Dad’s old comic books.
Everyone around us giggled hard.
“That’s enough class!” Mrs. Snyder frowned, sending dozens of new wrinkles across her crinkled forehead. Next time I needed an evil villain in a play, I was totally adding one with monstrous wrinkles. A cackling witch with bulging veins and bloodshot eyes emerged in my mind—
“No more nonsense, Louisa,” Mrs. Snyder snapped, interrupting my witch-villain daydream. She paused dramatically, which she loves to do. Shadow Phantoms must like to watch their victims squirm. She stared at me over the top of her black-rimmed glasses. “The truth is, you need to pay less attention to making jokes and more attention to your work.”
The truth is, if you looked in the dictionary under the words academically challenged, you would see the name Louisa. And then in those slanty letters that are supposed to tell you how to actually say the word: Loo-ee-zah.
Those slanty letters only help if you have a basic grasp of every sound in the English language. If you don’t—like me—they are useless Yu-sss-less. Like me at school.
“Psst,” Lexie whispered as Mrs. Snyder silently stepped down the aisle. “Don’t change Loubadoo. I like you just the way you are.”
Easy for Lexie to say. She and Nakessa were perfect. But even with the Bendables on my side, it didn’t change one simple, but important fact. The Shadow Phantom didn’t like anything about me. Never had and never would.
Chapter 3
Frus-trat-ing
Causing annoyance or upset
because of an inability to change
or achieve something.
Mrs. Snyder stooped over Little Jack’s desk in the front row, chatting quietly with him. He’s an ace at math. Ever since first grade, we’ve had two Jacks in our class. Little Jack isn’t nicknamed Little Jack just because the other Jack—Big Jack—is huge. Little Jack got his nickname because his birthday’s after Big Jack’s.
