EllRay Jakes Rocks the Holidays! (15 page)

Things are going just swimmingly for EllRay. But everything comes
SCREECHING
to a halt when his younger sister accidently overfeeds the classroom goldfish EllRay was taking care of over spring vacation. Zippy is a goner. Fortunately, most of his classmates are sympathetic. But not bossy Cynthia. She sees this as an opportunity to
BLAME
EllRay for her own mess-ups. Will EllRay now walk the plank for stuff that he
didn’t
do?

EllRay knows a thing or two about getting picked on. So when he sees his sister, Alfie, being
BOSSED
around by a dragonlike girl at her school, EllRay wants to help. As her older (and wiser!) brother he has a duty to show her that she should
STAND UP
for herself. But it’s a bit more complicated than he thought. Can EllRay help Alfie figure out her own way to slay this dragon?

EllRay Jakes may get into trouble from time to time, but he can always count on his
BEST FRIENDS
, Kevin and Corey. But lately, Kevin has been skateboarding with the meanest boy in class. Could EllRay be losing one of his friends?

Not giving up without a fight, EllRay asks his older neighbor to show him a few jaw-dropping skateboard moves—like
OLLIES
and
KICKFLI PS
. EllRay must learn as many tricks as he can before the secret boys-only third grade skate-off. But will it be enough?

When EllRay and his friends hear about the school
TALENT
show, they’re not impressed. They’re too old for that stuff. But their teacher, Ms. Sanchez, isn’t so quick to let her students off the hook. Five students absolutely
must
try out, and EllRay somehow ends up being one of them. Now the pressure is on for EllRay to figure out something he’s talented at . . . like maybe
MAGIC?