Spider Stampede

Books in the
S.W.I.T.C.H. series

#1 Spider Stampede

#2 Fly Frenzy

#3 Grasshopper Glitch

#4 Ant Attack

#5 Crane Fly Crash

#6 Beetle Blast

Text © Ali Sparkes 2011

Illustrations © Ross Collins 2011

“SWITCH: Spider Stampede” was originally published in English in 2011. This edition is published by an arrangement with Oxford University Press.

Copyright © 2013 by Darby Creek

All rights reserved. International copyright secured. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the prior written permission of Lerner Publishing Group, Inc., except for the inclusion of brief quotations in an acknowledged review.

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Minneapolis, MN 55401 U.S.A.

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Main body text set in ITC Goudy Sans Std. 14/19.
Typeface provided by Monotype Typography.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sparkes, Ali.

Spider stampede / by Ali Sparkes ; illustrated by Ross Collins.

p. cm. — (S.W.I.T.C.H. ; #01)

Summary: While seeking their lost dog, Piddle, twins Josh and Danny encounter their next-door neighbor, Petty Potts, a mad scientist whose SWITCH spray accidentally turns them into spiders.

ISBN 978–0–7613–9199–9 (lib. bdg. : alk. paper)

[1. Spiders—Fiction. 2. Brothers—Fiction. 3. Twins—Fiction. 4. Science fiction.] I. Collins, Ross, ill. II. Title.

PZ7.S73712Spi 2013

[Fic]—dc23

2012026631

Manufactured in the United States of America

1 – SB – 12/31/12

eISBN: 978-1-4677-1121-0 (pdf)

eISBN: 978-1-4677-3105-8 (ePub)

eISBN: 978-1-4677-3104-1 (mobi)

For Naill

 

Losing Piddle

Turning Yellow

Too Many Knees

A Hairy Experience

A Bit Drained

Scratch and Sniff

Lunch

A Bit of Gas

Hair Today

Top Secret!

Glossary

Recommended Reading

“AARRGGHH!!!!

GETITOFF! GETITOFF! GETITOFFMEEEE!!!!”

Josh looked up from his book. He saw his twin brother running around in circles by the hedge. He was wearing nothing but swimming trunks and a look of panic.

Actually, that's not true.

He was also wearing a spider.

“DON'T just sit there!” squeaked Danny. He whirled around. “Get it OFF!”

Josh sighed. He put his book down on the grass. It was amazing, he thought, that the spider could possibly hang on while his brother was thrashing about so wildly. It was a garden spider and quite large. Probably female. It had run up Danny's arm when he went to pick up his water pistol. Then it had scampered over his shoulder. Josh knew this because of the kind of dance his brother had just done across the grass. A sort of backward shimmy, with gasps of horror. Followed by wildly flapping arms and then the whirling as his unwelcome passenger legged it down his shoulder blade.

“You could win the Under Nines Dancing Championship,” Josh said. He dodged under a flailing arm to scoop up the dizzy spider. It was now hanging onto the waistband of Danny's trunks.

“Very funny!” squealed Danny. “Have you got it? Is it gone?!”

“Yes, calm down. Look! She's a beauty!” Josh cupped the spider in his hands. He held it out for Danny to see. It was nut brown with mottled yellow patterns on its back.

“NOOO! Get it away from me!”

“But look! She's got these amazing feet that can hook on to stuff while she's hanging upside down and—”

“Just STOP talking about the S-P-I-D-E-R!” growled Danny. He shuddered and refused to look. Josh gently dropped it behind the shed.

“She'll be back over by the hedge again in no time,” said Josh. This didn't comfort his twin much. “Along with all the others. You're never more than a few feet away from a spider, you know.”

“Not
one
more
word
about…those…
things
!”