Chapter 1 MISSING Monday May 6 7:48 a.m. It was Monday morning Not just any Monday morning though Not for Mr Hargrove’s class staggering into school with still-wet paintings dioramas and not-so-miniature Statues of Liberty for the fifth-grade STEAM project fair Students lugged around home-sewn patchwork quilts sequined dance costumes something something that looked suspiciously like a stuffed alligator head peering out from under a dishcloth and no fewer than three Brooklyn Bridges built from craft sticks The first two bridges made it all the way to class in perfect condition but the third looked as if it had fought with Godzilla on the way in and lost Yes there was a Godzilla too an enormous snarling one made of papier-mâché with a wild look in his painted eyes and a bridge-shaped dent at the end of his scaly nose Your project can be anything you want Mr Hargrove had told the students a few weeks earlier as long as it follows the
theme of this term’s topic What My Country Means to Me You might want to base it on a special place a special memory or a special person It’s entirely up to you And the good news is that Miss Patterson and I will be working on a project of our own as well a themed treasure hunt around the school on the morning of the fair as a reward for all your hard work It had been hard work yes but fun too And apart from the poor owner of Craft-Stick Bridge Number Three who’d disappeared into the stationery cupboard in search of some radioactive-monster-proof glue the students couldn’t have been more pleased with the finished results proudly showing off their own projects while admiring everyone else’s Another Brooklyn Bridge Snap I’ve never seen an alligator up close before Look at those teeth Ninety-seven verses That must be the longest poem about a football game EVER There was no shortage of unique ideas Jake Parry had made a four-hour film about libraries Mina Henderson had made a tiny model of her own house inside a matchbox And Sam Witt well Sam had made a sandwich That’s right Sam Witt’s finished project was a sandwich But oh boy what a sandwich it was It was a wonder A whopper An eye-boggling breathtaking jaw-dropper of a thing It was America on a plate with flag-topped Sandwich Shenanigans
Missing burger picks to keep the tomatoes from escaping and a different filling for each state Yes Sam Witt's sandwich was a work of art a triple quadruple decker built with loaf sized slices and stuffed with some of the most delicious foods known to man from pastrami pickles and peanut butter to chipotle chicken and cheese with sauces in all the colors of the rainbow The other projects were forgotten the moment Sam walked in with his creation his classmates jostling around his desk for a closer look
