I didn’t want to lie, but I did want to be in a club.
With Brave Cali.
“Yeah,” I said. “We’re friends.”
“A club of just Cali and Elizabeth?” Anna asked.
“No, silly!” Cali said. (It came out, No, thilly!) “You can be in it, too! It’s a club for everybody.”
Chapter
48
“That’s a dopey club,” Smelly Dan said. “It’s for dopey kids like Babyish Cali.”
“No, it’s not,” I said. “And she’s not babyish. So pipe down, you.”
“Oh yeah?” Smelly Dan asked. “Who wants to be in a club that lets everyone in?”
“I do,” I said, standing right up to him.
I felt like Super Elizabeth, doing that.
“Me too,” said Bucky, next to me. “Can boys be in your club?”
“Of course!” Cali said.
“How about kids in Class 2A?” Rose asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Absolutely. It’s a club for everybody.”
“Cool,” Rose said.
Cali smiled. A big, toothless smile.
Chapter
49
I smiled back at her with all my baby teeth showing.
Whatever.
I am in the club.
With everybody.
Nobody’s left out.
We’re all right in.
Even Dan.
I am trying to not call him Smelly Dan anymore.
Chapter
50
Not everything in life is easy.
Acknowledgments
With thanks and love to:
Amy Berkower, Elizabeth’s champion
Elizabeth’s best friends at Feiwel and Friends: Liz Szabla, Jean Feiwel, Liz Dresner, Kim Waymer, and Starr Baer
Paige Keiser, new partner and pal in Elizabeth’s world
Zachary and Liam, with all their big teeth now, still friends with each other and me (even when it’s not easy)
Nina, who checks to make sure I’ve cracked the truth of a little girl with gigantic feelings
My nieces, nephews, cousins, and kid friends who share their funny stories
Mitch, best guy to be around whether I’m up in the dumps or down in them
Mom and Dad, who have loved me through unlost and lost teeth, friends, roller skates, and schemes
The news, for being so unrelenting that my normally chill feelings feel fiercer, and the quest to inculcate empathy feels even more urgent than it’s ever felt before
Carin, Meg, Deborah, Lynn, Stacy, Tracy, and more: my virtual club of writers
Mrs. Sudak, my second-grade teacher, who taught me to deal with disappointments like teeth that wouldn’t fall out by making up stories and teaching me that you can make anything you imagine happen, if you are the writer
And all the other teachers like Mrs. Sudak, librarians like Katie Dersnah Mitchell, and parents like my own—who put pencils and books in their kids’ hands, knowing those are the real magic wands
About the Author
Rachel Vail is the author of the acclaimed Justin Case series, as well as other middle-grade novels and several picture books. She lives in New York City. Visit rachelvail.com, or sign up for email updates here.
About the Illustrator
Paige Keiser is the illustrator of Little Chef by Matt Stine and Elisabeth Weinberg. She lives in Alexandria, Virginia. Visit paigekeiser.com, or sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Acknowledgments
About the Author and Illustrator
Copyright
Text copyright © 2019 by Rachel Vail. Illustrations copyright © 2019 by Paige Keiser.
A Feiwel and Friends Book
An imprint of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
mackids.com
All rights reserved.
Feiwel and Friends logo designed by Filomena Tuosto
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Vail, Rachel, author. | Keiser, Paige, illustrator.
Title: Big mouth Elizabeth / by Rachel Vail; illustrated by Paige Keiser.
Description: First edition. | New York: Feiwel and Friends, [2019] | Summary: Elizabeth, the younger sister of Justin Case, is frustrated about being one of the few Class 2B students to still have all of her baby teeth.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018039305 | ISBN 9781250162175 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781250162182 (ebook)
Subjects: | CYAC: Schools—Fiction. | Teeth—Fiction. | Growth—Fiction. | Clubs—Fiction.
Classification: LCC PZ7.V1916 Big 2019 | DDC [E]—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018039305
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First hardcover edition 2019
eBook edition May 2019
eISBN 9781250162182