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4
Uncool Shoes
    Everything started one morning when I was putting my backpack in my cubby at school.
    I heard Gus shout my name.
    “Roscoe! You gotta see this! Hassan and Coco have talking shoes!”
    Gus grabbed my arm and pulled. “Come on! This is major!”
    Gus says lots of crazy things.
    Once he told me he was pretty sure his guinea pig could count to ten in Spanish.
    So when he told me two kids in our class had talking shoes, I wasn’t all that surprised.

    “They’re called Walkie-Talkies,” Gus said. “I saw them on TV. You will not believe the amazingness of these shoes!”
    We ran into class.
    And there before me was a whole new world of shoe possibilities.
    Kids surrounded Hassan and Coco, who were each wearing a kind of sneaker I’d never seen before.
    The shoes were made of shiny plastic. Like the boots my sister wears when it rains.
    On one shoe was a big W .
    On the other shoe was a big T .
    There was a black push button near the toe of each shoe.
    Coco’s sneakers were pink. With glitter shoelaces.
    Hassan’s sneakers were blue withlightning stripes.
    Coco and Hassan were sitting in chairs on opposite sides of the room.
    Coco had her left leg crossed over her knee.
    She was whispering something into her shoe.
    Which I have to admit looked pretty weird.
    Hassan had his right leg crossed over his knee.
    And here’s the can-you-believe-it thing: Coco’s voice was coming out of Hassan’s shoe!
    “See?” Gus whispered. “Walkie-Talkies! You talk into that little circle on the left shoe. It’s sort of like talking into a cell phone. And if you have a friend with a pair of Walkie-Talkies on, they can hearyou out of a little bitty speaker in their right toe!”
    I did not even know what to say.
    It was a science miracle.
    Better even than Silly Putty.
    Coco whispered something to her foot.
    Hassan’s shoe said, “I just love my Walkie-Talkies!”
    Hassan’s shoe.
    Coco’s voice.
    Hassan grinned. “My dad got mine in Los Angeles on a business trip. Last time he just brought me a pack of peanuts and a cocktail napkin.”
    “Wow,” I said.
    “Yeah,” Hassan agreed. “The only bad thing is that they are kind of uncomfortable. I have three blisters already.”
    “I have four,” Coco said.
    We sat there, oohing and aahing.
    I knew what we were all thinking.
    We were wondering what we could say to our parents that might make them say, “Hmm, this kid is so sweet I think I will run to the nearest store and buy him some Walkie-Talkies before they are all sold out.”
    I tried hard to think of something sweet to tell my dad.
    He is getting balder every day.
    Maybe I could tell him I’d noticed some fresh hair sprouts.
    “My mom bought the last pair at Shoe Palace,” Coco said. “They said they might get some more next week.”
    Ms. Diz, our teacher, came over to see what all the fuss was about.
    “Why are you talking to your shoes?”she asked in a polite way.
    “This is the latest in fashion footwear, Ms. Diz!” said Coco.
    “I can talk to Coco from anywhere in the room,” Hassan said.
    Ms. Diz frowned.
    “Hmm. I’m not sure teachers are going to be too thrilled about this idea,” shesaid. “I liked the last shoe fad better. The ones that lit up. At least they were quiet!”

    “What’s a fad?” I asked.
    “It’s something that’s very popular,” Emma answered.
    Emma knows all kinds of interesting words.
    “Fads don’t usually last very long,” Ms. Diz added.
    “I saw an ad for Walkie-Talkies on TV yesterday and asked my mom if I could get some,” Gus said. “She said no. And then Babette spit up on Mom’s bathrobe.”
    “How is your new baby sister doing, Gus?” Ms. Diz asked.
    Gus shrugged. “It’s just like when my little brother was born. Every time Babette burps, my parents think she’s a genius.”
    “It’s hard being a big brother,” said Ms. Diz.
    “It’s hard being a little brother, too,” I said. “We have to wear used-up big-brother clothes.”
    I