Judy Moody Gets Famous!.

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This time Judy's in a jealous mood - jealous of Jessica Finch, who has got her picture on the front page of the newspaper. So Judy sets off in pursuit of her own fame and fortune. But she'd better watch out - all her efforts could just end up making her more infamous than ever

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Judy Moody marched into third grade on a plain old Thursday, in a plain old ordinary mood. That was before Judy got stung by the Queen Bee. Judy sat down at her desk, in the front row next to Frank Pearl. "Hey, did you see Jessica Finch?" asked Frank in a low voice. "Yeah, so? I see her every day. She sits catty-cornered behind me." "She's wearing a crown." Judy turned to look at Jessica, then whispered to Frank, "Where'd she get that? Burger Barn?" "I don't know," said Frank. "Ask her. She says it's bejeweled." "Well, it looks be-dumb, if you ask me," said Judy, though secretly she admired the sparkling ruby-like gems. "Hey, are those real rubies?" Judy asked Jessica. "They're costume jewelry," Jessica said. "Who are you dressing up as? The Queen of England?" "No, I'm the Queen Bee," said Jessica. "I won the N. V. Spelling Bee on Saturday." "The envy spelling bee?" Judy asked. Judy didn't envy anybody who had to spell long words into a microphone with a million and one people staring bug-eyed at her. She knew those people were silently yelling FLUB IT UP because they wanted their own kid to win. "Not envy. N. V. As in Northern Virginia." "Oh," said Judy. "Is that where you got the crown?" "It's a tiara," said Jessica. "T-I-A-R-A. A tiara is a fancy crown like the Queen of England wears. Queen of the Bee has to know tons of definitions." "What word did you win for?" Judy asked. "Frank wants to know," she added, in case Jessica thought she was interested. "Artichoke. It's a fourth-grade word." Artichoke! Judy could barely spell meatloaf! Give me S-C-I-E-N-C-E any day, she thought. Was that the rule? I before E? Or was it E before I? "I have spelling posters in my room at home," said Jessica. "With all the rules. I even have a glow-in-the dark one." "That would give me spelling nightmares. I'll take my glow-in-the-dark skeleton poster any day. It shows all two hundred and six bones in the body!" "Judy," said Mr. Todd. "The back of your head is not nearly as interesting as the front. And so far I've seen more of it today than I'd like." "Sorry," said Judy, facing front again. Jessica tapped Judy and passed her a folded page from the newspaper. Right there, SMACK-DAB in the MIDDLE of the newspaper for the whole world to see, was a picture of Jessica Finch. It even said LOCAL GIRL BECOMES QUEEN BEE in big fat headline letters. "My dad says I got my fifteen minutes of fame," Jessica whispered to the back of Judy's head. Judy did not turn around. She was green with N-V. Jessica A. Finch, Queen of the Dictionary, Class 3T, was famous! Judy could not help thinking how stupendous it would feel to be able to spell better than meatloaf and be the Queen Bee and wear a tiara. To get her own picture in the paper! But she, Judy Moody, felt about as famous as a pencil. As soon as Judy got home from school, she decided to memorize the dictionary. But she got stuck on aardwolf. Three lousy words. Who ever heard of an aardwolf anyway? Silly old termite-eater. It had a pointy little head and beady little eyes and a pinched-up face that looked just like . . . Jessica A. Finch! Jessica Aardwolf Finch might be famous, but she was also a silly old termite-eater. Since Jessica had become Queen Bee with the word artichoke, Judy decided to skip the dictionary and spell all the vegetables in the refrigerator instead. "Do we have any artichokes?" Judy asked her mother, opening the door of the fridge. "Since when did you start liking artichokes?" asked Mom. "Don't worry, I'm not going to eat them or anything," said Judy. "It's for Spelling." "Spelling?" Stink asked. "Mr. Todd does have some creative ways of teaching Spelling," said Mom. "Never mind," said Judy, giving up when she saw asparagus. Vegetables were too hard to spell. There had to be a food group that was easier. At dinner Judy slurped up a noodle and asked, "How do you spell spaghetti?" "N-O-O-D-L-E," said Stink. "S-P-A-G-H-E-T-T-I," said Dad. "Or P-A-S-T-A," said Mom. "Never mind," said Judy. "Please pass the B-R-E-A-D." "How was school today?" Mom asked. "W-E-L-L," Judy said. "Jessica Finch won a T-I-A-R-A in a spelling bee and got her picture in the P-A-P-E-R. Even if she does look like an A-A-R-D-W-O-L-F, aardwolf." "So that's what all this spelling is about," said Mom. "You're W-E-I-R-D," Stink told his sister. "I comes before E, Stink. Except after C. Everybody knows that." What a meat-loaf. "Actually," said Mom, "your brother's right." "WHAT?" said Judy. "How can he be right? He broke the rule!" "Lots of rules have exceptions," said Dad. "Times when you have to break the rule." "No fair!" Judy slumped down in her chair. She was not going to become famous by spelling, that was for sure. The three strings of spaghetti left on her plate made the shape of a mean face. Judy made a mean face back. Dad took a bite out of his garlic bread and asked Judy, "You're not in one of your famous moods again, are you?" JUDY MOODY GETS FAMOUS! by Megan McDonald. Copyright (2001) by Megan McDonald. Published by Candlewick Press, Inc., Cambridge, MA. Excerpted from Judy Moody Gets Famous! by Megan McDonald All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

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Publishers Weekly Review

This sequel to Judy Moody handily matches the original in zip and wit, portraying the spunky Judy in her quest for recognition. Famous for her changeable moods, the third-grader wants to become just plain famous after her arch rival, Jessica, wins a spelling contest to earn the title of Queen Bee, an honor accompanied by a bejeweled tiara and a front-page headline in the local newspaper. In contrast, green-eyed Judy "felt about as famous as a pencil." When it becomes clear that her spelling prowess will not pave Judy's way to fame, the resourceful child tries to pass off a hammered cherry pit as one from George Washington's ill-fated tree a ruse that bombs when a boy mistakes it for an M&M and swallows it. Judy's cat, Mouse, makes another appearance, helping the heroine attract the spotlight when it wins second place in a pet contest; but the newspaper photo shows only her elbow, and her name appears as "Judy Muddy." McDonald provides an inventive conclusion to her tangy tale, as an altruistic undertaking on Judy's part garners her fame (hint: her medical school aspirations once again come into play) but anonymously. Even Judy could spell two words that describe both the plot and its heroine: f-r-e-s-h and f-u-n-n-y. Here's to her quick return. Ages 6-10. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

School Library Journal Review

Gr 2-4-Third-grader Judy Moody is back in her second adventure for the young chapter-book crowd. She has a mood for all seasons, and this time it is jealousy. She thinks everyone else is famous except for her-even her parents and brother all have claims to fame. Sure that she'll be a winner when her cat makes toast for the "Famous Pet Contest," she loses to a boy whose chicken plays "Three Blind Mice" on a toy piano. In the end, Judy becomes famous anonymously after she steals some broken dolls from the hospital, fixes and cleans them, and mails them back, and the local newspaper picks up the story. To her surprise, she finds her secret even more satisfying than having everyone know who did the good deed. Funny black-and-white cartoons appear throughout. Dialogue is right on target for the character's age and feelings. The child's self-centered attitude may be tiresome to some adult readers, but kids will relate to her every concern. Look for future adventures of this feisty heroine, and don't miss her time in the spotlight.-Sharon R. Pearce, Geronimo Public School, OK (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Horn Book Review

(Primary, Intermediate) In this sequel to Judy Moody, the irrepressible third grader-envious of goody-goody classmate Jessica Finch, who gets a tiara and her picture in the paper when she wins a spelling bee-is in the mood to get ""f-a-m-o-u-s."" Her relentless and indiscriminate pursuit of fame yields few results, however. She tries to pass off a cherry pit as belonging to George Washington, but a little kid swallows it before she can attract reporters; she manages to win second place in a pet contest (her cat makes toast), but only her elbow makes it into the newspaper photo. Worse, when she recruits the gang to try to set the world record for farthest human-centipede walk, her friend Frank ends up in the hospital. When she eventually does make it into the newspaper, it's anonymously, as a secret philanthropist-but it's for a cause she really cares about, and it makes her feel ""famouser"" than even George Washington. The ending may leave some readers bemused-it's not really clear why Judy's lust for fame is satisfied by her anonymous rehabilitation of the hospital dolls-but the force of Judy's personality and the story's great energy and humor should carry the day. Everything about these Judy Moody books-from the liberally illustrated, spaciously designed, accessible format to the believability of Judy's third-grade worldview-spells g-o-o-d n-e-w-s for early chapter book readers. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Book Review

Envious of classmate and spelling-bee champ Jessica's picture in the local paper, the irrepressible third grader introduced in Judy Moody (2000) tries for her own 15 minutes of fame. As she quickly discovers, it can be elusive. Like its predecessor, a disarming plot and likable characters are matched to an equally appealing format: small pages, generously spaced and sized type, die-cut windows in the dust jacket, and frequent ink-and-wash illustrations featuring smiles and high spots inside. In the end, Judy Moody earns her write-up inadvertently, after spiriting away a bagful of battered dolls from a hospital's playroom, refurbishing them from her large private collection of loose doll parts-plus hospital gowns made from an old sheet and little casts of "oogey wet newspaper"-then returning them anonymously. "Phantom Doll Doctor Strikes County Hospital," reads the headline. Only she, her affectionate nuclear family, and her likely-to-burgeon fan base know the truth. New chapter-book readers will enjoy watching Judy's moods, and the ensuing complications, unfold. (Fiction. 8-10)