My Stomach Explodes

By Rebecca Shelley

In the Smartboys Club Book 5, the Smartboys visit a Plymouth Reenactment Park where they get to dress, work and play like Pilgrim children.

Too bad Monkey's worst enemy, Eric Dripp, also comes to the park.

As if doing tons of chores isn't bad enough, Eric and Monkey end up lost in the woods where William Bradford's warning that they must work together or die takes a turn for the real.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wonder Realms Books
• Release date: Jul 20, 2011
• ISBN: 9781466169326

Rebecca Shelley

Rebecca Shelley writes a wide variety of books—everything from picture books to spy thrillers.She especially likes to write about fantasy creatures such as dragons and fairies.Her children’s books are written under the Rebecca Shelley name.Her thrillers and other books for adults are written under the R. L. Tyler pen name.She also has two books out under the R. D. Henham pen name—Red Dragon Codex and Brass Dragon Codex.

Book preview

My Stomach Explodes

Smartboys Club Book 5

Rebecca Shelley

Illustrated by Abby Goldsmith

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011 Rebecca Shelley

Illustrations Copyright 2011 Abby Goldsmith

Published by Wonder Realms Books

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any print or electronic form without permission. Permission is hereby granted for educators or students to print pages from the Smartboys Club Secret Notebook to distribute to their classes for educational purposes.

All characters, places, and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual places or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

The Smartboys Club

Book 1: Bees in My Butt

Book 2: We Flushed it Down the Potty

Book 3: I Took a Burp

Book 4: I Lost My Head

Book 5: My Stomach Explodes

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Pilgrims

Chapter 2: I Wear Garters

Chapter 3: I Work Like a Pilgrim

Chapter 4: More Chores, Can You Believe It?

Chapter 5: A Big Pile of Poo Goes Splat

Chapter 6: Lost

Chapter 7: Led By a Star

Chapter 8: We Work Together or We Die

Chapter 9: Fun Without Electronics

Chapter 10: Gobble Gobble

Chapter 11: Five Kernels of Corn

Chapter 12: My Stomach Explodes

Secret Notebook

Secret Notebook Printable PDF

About the Author

Books by Rebecca Shelley

Firebird (sneak peek)

Black Dragon (sneak peek)

Mist Warriors (sneak peek)

Ebon Blade (sneak peek)

My Stomach Explodes

Chapter 1

Pilgrims

Hi, my name's Monkey. I attend fourth grade at Rainbow elementary, also known as Chrom-El. With all the stuff that happens at our school, it truly is a colorful place. My friends in the Smartboys Club and I have had to deal with everything from ninjas to ghosts. But none of that prepared us for Mrs. Red's announcement a few days before Thanksgiving recess.

Listen up, class. Mrs. Red hovered at the front of our classroom. Our class has been given a rare and exciting opportunity. Every fall the Plymouth Reenactment Park allows a select group of students to spend two days and a night at the park and participate in Thanksgiving activities. I have a note here that you must bring back tomorrow signed by your parents.

Bean froze with his pencil an inch away from the sharpener. Art looked up from his drawing of Pilgrims. Vinny raised her hand and asked if the park had Wi-Fi internet.

Mrs. Red frowned. No, Virginia. The Mayflower landed at Plymouth long before anyone figured out how to use electricity for anything. If you go to the park, you will have to leave behind television, radio, computers, and all other electronic devices.

Vinny's lower lip quivered.

The whole class stared at Mrs. Red in stunned silence.

I reached in my desk and fingered my ebook reader. It had a long enough battery life that it could last a couple of days at least without recharging. With my luck, my mom wouldn't let me take it anyway.

Sandra stopped tapping her fingers and blinked up at Mrs. Red. Did I miss something?

Yes, we get to be Pilgrims, Bean shouted and did a happy dance back to his desk.

Mrs. Red started to write his name up on the board for being out of his seat, but since he was the only student that seemed happy about her announcement she decided to let him off.

She handed the notes out to the class and told us we had to bring them back the next day with our parents' signatures. I stared at the brown piece of paper. A turkey decorated the top right corner. At the bottom, the paper had a box for my mom to check mark if I would attend the activity and a different box to check mark if I would not be attending.

I knew for sure my mom would make me go. The thing was, I wasn't sure if I wanted to or not. I mean, it would be wonderful to see how the Pilgrims lived. And Mrs. Red was right. I doubted I'd get another chance like this. I'd probably have a lot of fun too. But the look on Vinny's face made me worry. It wouldn't be so easy leaving behind all the things I loved, like TV and computers.

The Smartboys and girls met in our secret hideout during first recess. That's the unused janitor closet in C hall. Vinny plopped down on the old floor waxing machine. I leaned up against the shelves with empty cleaning bottles.

Well? Art said, looking at me. What do you think, Monkey?

I hesitated, not sure what to say.

It'll be great, Bean said, jumping up and down with shiny eyes. I've walked through the park before. They have everything. Chickens and goats and gardens. All the houses are built using hand tools, just like the Pilgrims built them. They cook everything real-for-real over a fire.

Vinny locked her arms across her chest. I'm not going if I can't take my cell phone to keep in touch with my dad.

Vinny's dad is in the army. There's been a lot of fighting where he's stationed. Several soldiers in his unit have died. She worries about him all the time, and I don't blame her.

They can't stop you from taking your cell phone, Art said. Mrs. Red was just being difficult.

Sandra cleared her throat and stood. We all stared at her. She doesn't speak out very often. Listen, she said. We could walk away from this chance to go to Plymouth Reenactment Park. No one will care. Except us. We'll know that the Smartboys and girls chickened out of what just might be the greatest adventure of our lives.

Sandra turned to Vinny. "Art's right, Vinny, you can take your cell phone. Just make sure it's fully charged before you leave. I know that the thought of staying overnight somewhere without my family makes my gut hurt. But just think for a minute how the Pilgrims must have felt when they boarded the Mayflower to leave England. They were probably scared too. They knew they were leaving behind all of their families and the comfortable life they'd lived so far to go off to a wild country where they'd be responsible for their own survival. They'd have to build their own houses. Grow their own food. Take care