CHAPTER ONE Michael Wilson couldn’t sleep He lay in bed staring at the ceiling Why won’t it work he muttered out loud to himself Michael go to sleep already his best friend Leo Hammer said from the top bunk bed in Michael’s room Leo’s dad was out of town for work so Leo was staying with Michael for the weekend Your busy brain is keeping me awake I know It’s terrible My brain’s keeping me awake too Michael said He rubbed his head I just don’t understand why the telescope won’t work I’m positive that I made it right Michael looked across the room to where a long cardboard tube sat on his computer desk Next to the tube were two lenses from two magnifying glasses that Michael’s science teacher had given him He also had scissors and tape Those were the things he knew he needed But when he put it all together the telescope didn’t work Everything appeared fuzzy and out of focus Why Michael ran a hand over his short brown hair and muttered There has to be a way Dude some people need their beauty sleep Leo complained He yawned and sat up in bed His long sand-colored hair was standing up in a thousand directions If you want me to look up telescopes on the Internet then maybe we can No Michael cut him off No thanks Michael and Leo along with Michael’s cousin Liv liked to make things Liv and Michael’s moms were sisters and they were both ten years old Leo was nine Since all three of them lived on Shaker Street they called themselves the Makers of Shaker
Street When they were making things if there was a problem they always worked together to figure out the solution They were a great team but this time Michael was determined to find an answer on his own I’ll figure it out he said surely Figure it out faster Leo said crashing back against his pillow This is supposed to be a fun sleepover Key word is sleep Sorry Michael said climbing out of bed I’m just going to try rearranging things one more time Maybe if I put the pieces together in a different order He scooped up the parts and started to tape one of the lenses to the end of the tube I could turn the tube around Would the other side work better Maybe I Dude Leo complained You’re talking to yourself He tossed his pillow at Michael’s head It missed Oh sorry Michael said He did that when he was thinking really hard I’ll go downstairs He handed Leo back the pillow Yippee Leo said I was just getting into the best dream We were in a strange village where there was this awesome house made of cookies It had candy decorations Like the witch’s house in Hansel and Gretel Michael said gathering his supplies I’d suggest you don’t eat the house Well now you’ve ruined everything Leo moaned It was the best dream ever You turned it into a nightmare It’s your dream Michael said as he opened his bedroom door Change the ending Yeah Leo said in a soft voice I’m going to dream that I get to eat that whole house and be gone before the witch comes back He gave a happy snore and fell back to sleep Michael chuckled to himself then slipped into the darkened hallway His parents
were asleep so he tiptoed past their bedroom to the stairs He was heading down when an old man’s voice stopped him in his tracks Where ya headed whippersnapper Grandpa Henry whispered Michael jumped He was surprised that Grandpa was awake this late I’m working on a project Grandpa Michael explained He showed him the pieces of the telescope Hmmm Grandpa Henry was eighty years old with wild gray hair and a lot of wrinkles He was Michael’s dad’s dad and everyone who lived on Shaker Street called him Grandpa When Grandpa retired he gave his old toolshed in the backyard to Michael Now it was a clubhouse where Michael and his two best friends could create new things They called it the Maker Shack Want some help Grandpa Henry asked Michael knew that Grandpa could fix up the telescope in minutes Truthfully he’d probably make it even better But that wasn’t what Michael wanted He was determined to solve this on his own I’ll figure it out Michael told him You’re just like me when I was your age Grandpa said with a chuckle Well whippersnapper come on upstairs I’ll give you a quiet place to think Grandpa pointed to the narrow steps at the end of the hallway At the top of Michael’s purple-painted Victorian house was a tower room with windows facing every direction Grandpa Henry lived in that tower Come along Grandpa said I’ll share my snack He was carrying a small plate piled with cookies Clearly he’d been sneaking back from the kitchen when he’d found Michael Yum Michael said Thanks He followed Grandpa up the stairs They sat in two super comfy overstuffed chairs that faced a big window Grandpa
Henry had his own telescope and Michael stared at it while they ate the cookies The telescope was big and Grandpa had made it himself It was called a Galileo telescope He’d used two lenses One was concave That meant it was thinner at the center of the circular glass disc The other was convex The convex lens was thicker in the center and thinner at the edges The two lenses were placed at opposite ends of a white plastic pipe It was a great telescope Grandpa could see the stars clearly Plus he could see everything from their house all the way to Liv’s house at the bottom of Shaker Street Michael wasn’t trying to make such a fancy telescope Liv’s birthday was coming up and he wanted to make her a present She loved looking at the stars Actually she liked to search the sky for alien life and UFOs But since those didn’t exist Michael thought a telescope to look at stars would be the next best thing His little telescope wouldn’t see much further than the moon but it would be cool and he knew she’d love it Michael was staring at Grandpa’s telescope when he realized that his grandfather had fallen asleep in his chair His loud snore rattled through the room Smiling Michael got up He moved to a small empty table and set down the supplies for Liv’s present Looking at Grandpa’s telescope he realized that the problem with Liv’s was that there was no way to focus the lenses His weren’t fancy concave and convex lenses Instead Michael had taken the simple lenses out of the two magnifying glasses They looked like two clear glass discs Using tape he’d secured one lens on one side of a cardboard tube and another lens on the other side With another long look at Grandpa Henry’s amazing scope he saw that there was a
