Cam Jansen and the Graduation Day Mystery

BOOK: Cam Jansen and the Graduation Day Mystery
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Table of Contents
 
 
The Cam Jansen Series
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Diamonds
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the U.F.O.
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Dinosaur Bones
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Television Dog
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Gold Coins
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Babe Ruth Baseball
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Circus Clown
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Monster Movie
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Carnival Prize
Cam Jansen and the Mystery at the Monkey House
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Stolen Corn Popper
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of Flight 54
Cam Jansen and the Mystery at the Haunted House
Cam Jansen and the Chocolate Fudge Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Triceratops Pops Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Ghostly Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Scary Snake Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Catnapping Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Barking Treasure Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Birthday Mystery
Cam Jansen and the School Play Mystery
Cam Jansen and the First Day of School Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Tennis Trophy Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Snowy Day Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Valentine Baby Mystery—25th Anniversary Special
Cam Jansen and the Secret Service Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Summer Camp Mysteries—A Super Special
Cam Jansen and the Mystery Writer Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Green School Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Sports Day Mysteries—A Super Special
Cam Jansen and the Basketball Mystery
Cam Jansen and the Wedding Cake Mystery
DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE YOUNG CAM JANSEN SERIES FOR YOUNGER READERS!
VIKING
Published by Penguin Group
Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2, Ireland
(a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124,
Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)
Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre,
Panchsheel Park, New Delhi – 110 017, India
Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632, New Zealand
(a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank,
Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
 
Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
 
First published in the U.S.A. by Viking,
a member of Penguin Young Readers Group, 2011
 
 
Text copyright © David Adler, 2011
Illustrations copyright © Penguin Young Readers Group, 2011
All rights reserved
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA IS AVAILABLE
ISBN : 978-1-101-54790-8
 
 
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author's rights is appreciated.

http://us.penguingroup.com

For Eileen and David Lesnick.
Hi, neighbors!
—D.A.A.
 
To Rachel: “CONGRATULATIONS, Grad!”
—J.A.
Chapter One
“I'm so proud of Ben,” Mrs. Shelton said.
“Me, too,” Eric Shelton told his mother. “I'm very proud of Dad.”
Grandpa Shelton, Mrs. Shelton, Eric and his twin sisters Donna and Diane, and Cam Jansen were sitting on folding chairs. Eric's baby brother Howie was there, too. He was sleeping on his mother's lap. They were in a large open area in the middle of a college campus. A few thousand other people were there, too.
“Are you sure Dad's here?” Donna asked. “I don't see him.”
“I know he's here,” Grandpa Shelton said. “I drove him here early this morning.”
“He wouldn't miss his own graduation,” Mrs. Shelton said.
“And he wouldn't want to miss going to a restaurant to celebrate with us afterward,” Grandpa Shelton said.
“Hey, what's taking so long?” a small boy sitting behind the Sheltons asked. “I'm hungry. I want something fun to do.”
“Oh, Harry,” his mother said. “Eat some animal crackers. Play with your toys.”
The boy took some crackers and a toy train from a small shopping bag. He sat on the ground.
“Choo! Choo!”
he said as he pulled the train through the grass.
“Eric's father has dreamed of this day for a long time,” Grandpa Shelton told Cam.
He spoke softly. He didn't want to wake Howie.
“Right after he graduated from high school, he joined the army.”
“That's where we met,” Mrs. Shelton said. “I was also in the army.”
She closed her eyes and smiled. “Ben looked so handsome in his uniform. We got married as soon as we were discharged from the army. Then Ben got a job. He never had time for college.”
“Me, too,” Eric's sister Diane said. “I don't have time for college. I don't even have time for third grade. After second grade I'm getting a job. I'll bake cookies and sell them.”
“Oh, no, you won't,” her mother told her. “You're staying in school.”
Harry pulled his train through the grass and said,
“Choo! Choo!”
Then he stopped his train and called out, “All aboard!”
“Your father had to make time for college,” Grandpa Shelton whispered to Diane. “He went at night, after work.”
“I don't see him anywhere,” Donna said. “I think we're at the wrong graduation.”
“He's sitting in front,” Mrs. Shelton told Donna. “He's wearing a black cap and gown.”
“Mom!” Donna said, and pointed ahead. “Millions of people up there are wearing black caps and gowns!”
“Millions?” asked Mrs. Shelton, smiling.
“Well, a lot. I'm going up front to look for Dad.”
“Me, too,” Diane said.
“I'll go with you,” Grandpa Shelton told the twins. “I want to take Ben's picture.”
Grandpa Shelton took his camera from the small shopping bag he had brought to the graduation. Then he hurried down the aisle with Donna and Diane.
Eric looked in the bag.
“Grandpa has something wrapped in silver paper.”
Mrs. Shelton said, “That's a gift for Dad.”
“Do you know what it is?”
Mrs. Shelton shook her head. She didn't know.
“Do you know how many graduates there are?” Eric asked.
Mrs. Shelton shook her head again.
BOOK: Cam Jansen and the Graduation Day Mystery
12.96Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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