Read Judy Moody Declares Independence for Free Online

way. A big green garbage truck screamed by, way too close. Judy’s wheels wobbled. Her handlebars shook. The truck honked at her,
wooomp,
deep like a foghorn. Her heart pounded.
    What if she got run over by a P.U. garbage truck?
    She rode her bike all the way to Bacon Avenue. Traffic! Cars! Trucks! Red lights!
    Then she saw it. The bus! The school bus, bright as a big cheese in the middle of the road. It had crossed the intersection and was heading up the hill on the other side of Third Street.

    Mom and Dad would FREAK if she crossed the busy street in the middle of traffic by herself. But they might freak more if she came home late . . . without Stink!
    WWSLD? What would Sybil Ludington do? Sybil would think for herself. Be independent. Be brave.
    Judy hopped off and wheeled her bike to the crosswalk. She waited for the Big Red Hand on the sign to change to the Big Bright Walking Man. “Hurry up!” Judy yelled at the light. “The bus is getting away!”
    Finally, the light changed. She looked both ways, took a deep breath, and crossed the street safely.
    Judy hopped back on her bike and zoomed up the hill. Puff, puff, puff.
    Judy huffed and puffed until she caught up with the bus. “Stink!” she shouted, biking on the sidewalk, right alongside the bus. The bus driver looked over. Judy pointed to the back of the bus. “My brother!”
    At last! The bus stopped to let some kids off. The door rattled open. “My little brother . . .
puff, puff
. . . is . . .
puff, puff
. . . on that bus!” Judy yelled.
    Stink was already rushing up to the front of the bus. “I fell asleep!” he told Judy. “And then I woke up and you were gone and I didn’t know where I was! I was so scared.”
    “It’s okay,” said Judy. “I chased you and I found you and you’re safe now.” Stink clutched her shirtsleeve and wouldn’t let go.
    “Thank you,” she said to the driver. “Thanks for stopping. C’mon, Stinker. Let’s go home.”
    When Judy and Stink got home — over an hour late — Mom was mad-with-a-capital-
M
. “I thought I asked you to come straight home after school,” Mom said. “You scared me half to death!” She said she was scared and worried sick, but she did not look sick. Just M-A-D.
    She did not even give Judy a chance to explain. “Judy, you know better than this. Go to your room. Now!”

    “Stink should go to his room, too. He’s the one who fell asleep and —”
    Mom’s lips turned into a thin white line. “I don’t want to hear it!” said Mom. She pointed upstairs.
    Judy slunk up to her room, crawled into bed, and got under her baby quilt. She, Judy Moody, Friend of Sybil in History, was in trouble again. Trouble with a capital
T
. Worse than the Boston Tub Party.

    Grownups! They sure acted like they wanted you to be all independent, but as soon as you were, they went and changed their minds. Independence. HA! All it did was get her in trouble.
    Maybe if Judy just declared UN-independence, everything would go back to the way it was. At least she wouldn’t have to clean up so much. And get run over by P.U. garbage trucks while chasing runaway buses.
    Judy tried to do her homework, but all the spelling words looked like scrambled eggs. She tried chewing gum for her ABC collection, but all it did was stick to her teeth. She tried starting a scrapbook of her trip to Boston, but even the Declaration of Independence looked sad.
    To cheer herself up, Judy wrote a postcard to Tori:

    Judy tiptoed to the top of the stairs to see if she could hear anything. Mom was talking to Stink. Traitor! He was probably blaming the whole thing on her. Redcoat!
    Judy climbed back up to her top bunk. “Here, Mouse,” called Judy. At least her cat wasn’t mad at her. At least her cat was not a traitor.
    Mouse hid under the bottom bunk. “Here, Mousie, Mousie.” Mouse still did not budge. Even her cat was declaring independence.
    Judy’s whole room was in a mood. For sure and absolute positive.
    After about a