Copyright James Patterson 2012. All rights reserved.

. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Copyright James Patterson 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Also by James Patterson

Middle School series Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life (with Chris Tebbetts and Laura Park) Maximum Ride series The Angel Experiment Schools Out Forever Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports The Final Warning Max Fang Angel Nevermore (to be published August 2012) Daniel X series The Dangerous Days of Daniel X (with Michael Ledwidge) Daniel X: Watch the Skies (with Ned Rust) Daniel X: Demons and Druids (with Adam Sadler) Daniel X: Game Over (with Ned Rust) Daniel X: Armageddon (with Chris Grabenstein, to be published October 2012) Illustrated novels Daniel X: Alien Hunter Graphic Novel (with Leopoldo Gout) Maximum Ride: Manga Vol. 1 (with NaRae Lee) Maximum Ride: Manga Vol. 2 (with NaRae Lee) Maximum Ride: Manga Vol. 3 (with NaRae Lee) Maximum Ride: Manga Vol. 4 (with NaRae Lee) Maximum Ride: Manga Vol. 5 (with NaRae Lee) For more information about James Pattersons novels, visit www.jamespatterson.co.uk Or become a fan on Facebook

Copyright James Patterson 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

and

Chris Tebbetts Laura Park

Illustrated by

Copyright James Patterson 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published by Young Arrow, 2012 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 Copyright James Patterson, 2012 Illustrations by Laura Park James Patterson has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the authors imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser First published in Great Britain in 2012 by Young Arrow Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road, London SW1V 2SA www.randomhouse.co.uk Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at: www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009 A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Hardback ISBN 9780099567523 Trade paperback ISBN 9780099567530 The Random House Group Limited supports The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the leading international forest certification organisation. Our books carrying the FSC label are printed on FSC certified paper. FSC is the only forest certification scheme endorsed by the leading environmental organisations, including Greenpeace. Our paper procurement policy can be found at: www.randomhouse.co.uk/environment

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, St Ives Plc

Copyright James Patterson 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

THE AUTHORS WOULD LIKE TO THANK:

Andrew

Junge at Oak land School for the Arts

ur Hinesb ser at rage Alice T hool nity Sc ommu C

Janie Bynum

agano Lisa P

tl d Cai m an Sa ies Jeffer

in

Alfi L

each a nd Ben G regor y

Copyright James Patterson 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Chapter 1

WHOOM!

ell, whod have thought so much could change in one summer? Not me, thats for sure. Not my best buddy, Leonardo the Silent. Probably not the folks at Airbrook Arts Community School either. Thats where I was supposed to start seventh grade in the fall. Supposed to. You caught that, right? Theres a reason my last book was called Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life. Sixth grade was only the start. Ive got a whole lot more to tell you about. But first I should introduce myself.

Copyright James Patterson 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Copyright James Patterson 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Copyright James Patterson 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Anyway, I guess I should have seen it coming. Its like every time things start to look okay in my crazy life, something always comes along to change it. Its like it just falls out of the sky.

Copyright James Patterson 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

And everything changed on the day Swiftys Diner burned to the ground. Heres what happened. See, theres this thing called a grease trap over the grill at the diner, where Swifty (also known as Fred) cooked about fifteen dozen greasy burgers every day. If you dont clean out the trap once in a while, it turns into a giant fireball, just waiting to go off. And guess what? I didnt get to see much. I was in the storage room in the back, just passing the time and waiting for Mom to finish her lunch shift. Then all of a sudden, I heard this giant WHOOM! People started yelling, the fire alarm started blaring, and I could smell smoke. A second later, Mom was there. Come on, Rafe, she said. We have to goright now! And she hustled me out the back door.

Copyright James Patterson 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Nobody was hurt, but flames were coming through the windows and up through the roof before the Hills Village Fire Department even got there. By the time the firefighters finally put out the fire, Swiftys Diner looked more like Swiftys Big Pile of Ashes. Everything was all black and smoking, and the restaurant was justgone. And thats not all.

Copyright James Patterson 2012. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

No Swiftys meant no job for Mom. No job meant no money to pay the rent on our house. No house meant we had to pack up all our stuff and get out. (See what I mean about everything changing?) The only place we could go was Grandma Dottys. She told Mom we could come stay there as long as we wanted, which was really nice of her and everything, but the problem was, she lived in the city, about eighty miles away. In other words, way too far for me to even think about going to Airbrook anymore. Now I was going to be starting seventh grade at some big-city middle school, where kids like me get turned into chopped meat every single day. So there you have it. Chapter 1 isnt even over, and Im already starting a whole new life. Try to keep up if you can. This is only the very beginning, where I say Good-bye, Hills Village! Good-bye, lucky breaks! And hello, seventh grade!