I Kill the Mockingbird (16 page)

“Wow!” says Dad.

We watch as the boy floats backward then tumbles into the grass. He lies there for a moment then pops up with the ball in his hand. Every person—spectators and players alike—leaps to their feet and cheers.

“That was awesome,” says Mort.

“Good catch,” says Mrs. Buskirk.

I look down at the dugout and find Michael. He is shaking his head and
smiling. Even though the game is over and his team defeated, he hops onto a wobbly bench near the dugout and applauds the player who is jogging back toward the infield with the ball. Michael turns his attention to the stands, catches me staring at him, and waves.

“I’ll be right back.” Before Mom and Dad can answer, I hop down the bleachers and trot toward the dugout. I find Michael standing near
home plate watching me approach. “Good game,” I say when I reach him.

“We lost,” he points out.

Around us, players from both teams gather up gloves and bats and balls. Most of them smile and laugh when the outfielder who made the magic catch gets wrapped up in a big hug from a woman who must be his mom.

“Of course,” says Michael, “if you have to lose, it’s not a bad way to go.”

“That’s how
I feel about our summer,” I tell him.

He nods. “Except that we didn’t lose.”

“No,” I say. “We really didn’t.”

Our conversation is interrupted by a couple older boys who approach Michael and give him high fives. “We wish you were on our team next year,” they tell him.

Michael just smiles.

“Won’t you be playing with them in high school?” I ask when they walk away.

“They’re in college,” he
explains.

“Oh.”

Michael reaches out and takes my hand. We start walking toward the bleachers together. “So what happens now?”

I think about what Officer Buskirk said at the police station. “That’s up to us,” I remind him.

“That works for me,” says Michael.

“Me too,” I tell him.

I look around the park. I see family and friends everywhere I turn. Mom has an arm around Dad as they work their
way down the bleachers. Elena is making Mort and Mrs. Buskirk laugh. The sky above us is turning dark blue, and Michael’s hand is warm and strong in my own.

As we walk off the field, a light breeze lifts a scrap of white paper off the ground. It blows against the leg of a nearby baseball player. He picks it up, reads it, and then waves it at his friends. I recognize the bull’s-eye and the bird
from here.

“Hey!” the kid hollers, “did anybody read that Mockingbird book this summer? It was awesome!”

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The very first spark for
I Kill the Mockingbird
began with a conversation about summer reading lists that started on blogs including Pam Coughlan’s
Mother Reader
, Colleen Mondor’s
Chasing Ray
, Leila Roy’s
Bookshelves of Doom
, and Elizabeth Bird’s
A Fuse#8 Production
among others. Barely a day goes by that I don’t learn something new and also laugh out loud because of
these fantastic writers and their peers in the incredible community of kidlit bloggers. I was also inspired by friends and fellow writers who encouraged me to read early pages of the manuscript aloud at the wonderful Kindling Words retreat in Vermont. Thank you to Marnie Brooks, Allison James, Tanya Lee Stone, and all my KW friends. Your overwhelming kindness, enthusiasm, and laughter turned a small
spark of an idea into a bit of a bonfire.

My heartfelt thanks go to super friend, co-conspirator, and remarkable editor, Nancy Mercado. Somehow, in a few slap-dash lines and notes, she saw an entire novel. Not only that, she believed that I could write it. Nancy is truly a co-creator in this work. Thanks also to Simon Boughton and the entire team at Roaring Brook and Macmillan for bringing this
book to life.

I owe special thanks to my everyday heroes including Michelle Acampora, David Donovan, Scott Hardek, Mark Harris, Joyce Hinnefeld, Greg Lasalle, David Lubar, John and Geri Ann McLaughlin, Kathy Rooney, Ruth Knafo Setton, Melissa Starace, Virginia Wiles, and many others. I don’t know what I would do without you. Also, my wife, Debbie, and my children, Nicholas and Gabrielle, deserve
a special note: You keep me sane, laugh at my jokes, help me stay focused, and encourage me to keep going. I love you with all my heart.

During the writing of this book, both of my parents went ahead and survived bouts with cancer so that I’d have even more authentic material to work with. Thanks, Mom and Dad. Next time, please limit your assistance to old photos, family stories, encouraging
words, and good meals.

Finally, thank you to Harper Lee for
To Kill a Mockingbird
. If you haven’t read it, you really should.

Also by Paul Acampora

Rachel Spinelli Punched Me in the Face

Text copyright © 2014 by Paul Acampora

Published by Roaring Brook Press

Roaring Brook Press is a division of Holtzbrinck Publishing Holdings Limited Partnership

175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

mackids.com

All rights reserved

eBooks may be purchased for business or promotional use. For information on bulk purchases, please contact Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department
by writing to [email protected].

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Acampora, Paul.

    I kill the mockingbird / Paul Acampora. — First edition.

        pages cm

    Summary: “When best friends Lucy, Elena, and Michael receive their summer reading list, they are excited to see To Kill A Mockingbird included. But not everyone in their
class shares the same enthusiasm. So they hatch a plot to get the entire town talking about the well-known Harper Lee classic”—Provided by publisher.

    ISBN 978-1-59643-742-5 (hardback) — ISBN 978-1-62672-057-2 (ebook)

  1.  Lee, Harper. To kill a mockingbird—Juvenile fiction.   [1.  Lee, Harper. To kill a mockingbird—Fiction.   2.  Books and reading—Fiction.   3.  Friendship—Fiction.]   I.
  Title.

    PZ7.A17298lak 2014

    [Fic]—dc23

2013044998

eISBN 9781626720572

First hardcover edition, 2014

eBook edition, May 2014