After visiting a sanctuary for retired lab chimpanzees, Marty wants to follow in the footsteps of her idol Jane Goodall and help with their care. But "adopting a chimp" is expensive, so Marty and her third-grade pals hatch a plan to raise money by holding a talent show at school and opening a pet-sitting business in Marty's basement. It turns out that each pet has a personality of its own, and wrangling them is much harder than Marty expected. How will Marty keep her latest great idea from going to the dogs?
Brian Floca
Brian Floca is the author and illustrator of the Caldecott Medal-winning book
Locomotive. He also wrote and illustrated
Lightship and
Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11, both Sibert Honor Books, and illustrated Avi's Poppy Stories series as well as Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan's
Ballet for Martha: Making Appalachian Spring, also a Sibert Honor Book. Brian grew up in Texas and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. Find him online at www.brianfloca.com.
Kate Messner
Kate Messner is the author of
The Seventh Wish;
All the Answers;
The Brilliant Fall of Gianna Z., winner of the E. B. White Read Aloud Award for Older Readers;
Capture the Flag, an SCBWI Crystal Kite Award winner;
Hide and Seek;
Manhunt; and the Ranger in Time and Marty McGuire chapter book series. A former middle-school English teacher, Kate lives on Lake Champlain with her family and loves reading, walking in the woods, and traveling. Visit her online at katemessner.com.
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- ! "From MARTY MCGUIRE HAS TOO MANY PETS!
\t\"Is that a baby porcupine?\"
\t\"She's
my African hedgehog. I'm going away for a teaching workshop, and unfortunately,
I just found out Lady Macbeth is not welcome at the doggy day care where my mom
takes her poodle.\" She sighs.
\t\"I'll take her!\" I blurt out.
\tMs. Stephanie
smiles. \"That's nice, Marty, but I can't ask you to --\"
\t\"No, really. Annie
and I have a pet-sitting business.\" The words are out of my mouth before they even
finish getting through my head. And it's not really a lie, even though our pet-sitting
business isn't open yet, because it totally will be open as soon as I tell Annie
about it. It's a perfect way to raise money for the chimps!
\t\"We're experienced.
I've helped my mom with the animals she rehabilitates, like raccoons and owls, and
how different could a hedgehog be?\"
\t\"Well . . .\" She's thinking about it,
I can tell. \"It's okay with your parents?\"
\t\"Absolutely!\""
