6 Daddy says kids in Germany where he grew up didn't have contests to learn how to spell It's for English he tells me because so many words don't follow rules Daddy knows firsthand there's a lot to memorize And he's helping me learn every night with his red dictionary the one he used to teach himself how to read and write for a new life in America
7 Hamburger When I walk into the kitchen I can smell that Momma's broiling hamburgers the way our family likes with onion soup mix inside It's one of our favorite meals All for different reasons Momma likes how my baby brother puts the soft chopped meat into his mouth not all over his high chair tray or on his head Daddy says he loves hamburgers because he ate them for the first time at a barbecue before he was married when he was learning to love American things including my mother
8 I like how my family sits at our round table just eating a tasty food not a last name I wish didn't go with my first At home I'm just a girl enjoying dinner not the Trudie Hamburger kids tease at school
9 Daniel Reynolds He squints his dark eyes which makes him look mean before he ever opens his mouth And he thinks a Jewish girl with the last name Hamburger deserves that cackly laugh I hear each time he looks my way Sitting beside him in Mrs. Bryan's class I can see the red marks on his papers Daniel Reynolds never came close to qualifying for the spelling bee Not that it matters to any of the boys who join him on the playground to call me chopped meat But Mrs. Bryan seems to care This happy morning she's decided
