Trivia Queen, Third Grade Supreme Read online

  Before we walked off the stage, I scooted up to my microphone and answered the question that I’d missed earlier. It just came to me. “By the way … rhinos are related to horses. Just thought you guys would like to know that. Thank you.”

  Man, that felt good!

  On Saturday, Daddy made a date to use our free Bellow Rock City Zoo passes. It was a beautiful day and a perfect day to see a bunch of animals and to eat cotton candy and peanuts. When Daddy and I came outside, Ty, Ro, and Marcellus were on the stoop. They didn’t look too happy.

  “Have a good time, ladybug,” Marcellus mumbled as he tapped a set of drumsticks on the steps.

  “Yeah, Rube, have fun at the zoo. Take some pictures for me,” Ty added, while leaning over Ro’s shoulder to watch Ro play his portable video game.

  “Whatever, Ruby,” Ro said. “Daddy, bring back a candy apple for me, will ya?” Ro didn’t even look up once to congratulate me.

  “Thanks for telling me how good a job I did on Tuesday, Ro,” I said. I playfully pushed him in the head when I walked past.

  When Daddy and I got to the bottom of the steps, I turned around, faced the boys, and said, “Come on, guys, did you think I would leave you hanging like that? Especially you, Ro. You were so helpful getting me ready for the contest. I couldn’t forget to thank my big bro Ro. And I sure couldn’t forget to celebrate the other Booker boys for going up against the trivia queen supreme.”

  “What are you talking about?” Marcellus asked. They all looked puzzled.

  “Well, you know that everyone in the third grade won free passes to the zoo, right?” I asked my brothers.

  They all spoke at the same time, “Right.”

  “Seeing how I was the big winner … they also gave me enough free passes for my whooooole family. Who’s the girl? Who’s the girl!?” I asked excitedly. They jumped down to the sidewalk where I stood and gave me a big group hug.

  “She tricked you fellas, huh, guys?” Daddy asked the boys.

  “Not me, Daddy. I knew that Ruby would come through.” Ro chuckled.

  “Yeah, right,” Marcellus replied with a big smile. Ma came out wearing a bright yellow sundress. She looked pretty, as usual. She had the passes in her hand. Before she gave each boy his own pass, she asked them, “Okay, boys, so who do we have to thank for this wonderful gift?” She looked at me and winked.

  Then they all came over to hug me again and said, “Thanks, Ruby!”

  I laughed. Daddy laughed. We all laughed, hopped into the van, and then drove to the zoo, where we had the greatest time ever.

  All hail Bellow Rock City’s queen of trivia — Ruby Marigold Booker!

  Of course, there’s only one Ruby Marigold Booker. But now that I’ve been crowned Trivia Queen Supreme, I’m ready to share my glory with anyone who can match my royal status.

  Here’s my very own animal quiz. Take the Ruby challenge, and see if you, too, could get free passes to the zoo.

  Unlike the Hope Road Academy trivia contest, where only Mrs. Tuma knew the answers, my test has the answers at the end. No peeking allowed!

  (If you answer all ten correctly, ask your parents to take you to the zoo.)

  RUBY’S ROYAL SUPREME TRIVIA TEST

  Which animal runs the fastest? a) Lion

  b) Cheetah

  c) Horse

  d) Grizzly bear

  True or False: All zebras have stripes that are exactly alike.

  Which animal is the world’s largest mammal? a) Human

  b) Giraffe

  c) Shark

  d) Blue whale

  Baby penguins are called: a) Chicks

  b) Ducklings

  c) Little penguins

  d) Babes

  A female turkey is called a: a) Lady turkey

  b) Tom

  c) Hen

  d) Gizzard

  True or false: Spiders do not have skeletons.

  True or false: All spiders spin webs.

  True or false: All spiders produce silk.

  What is the name of a baby frog? a) Slimy

  b) Tadpole

  c) Froggy

  d) Bullfrog

  What is the largest land animal? a) Cheetah

  b) Bear

  c) African elephant

  d) Lion

  What’s the difference between an herbivore and a carnivore?

  True or false: The rhinoceros has a life span ranging from 25 to 45 years.

  Answers

  1: b) Cheetah 2: False. No two zebras have stripes that are exactly alike. 3: d) Blue whale 4: a) Chicks 5: c) Hen 6: True. They have an outer shell called an exoskeleton. 7: False 8: True 9: b) Tadpole 10: c) African elephant 11: Herbivores eat plants; carnivores eat meat. 12: True

  The last time Ruby had friends over for a slumber party, her older brother, Roosevelt, aka Ro, pranked and scared the girls all night long. Now it’s payback time! Ruby and the girls make up their minds to teach Ro a valuable lesson, using all the tools at their disposal, including a little bit of lipstick and a lot of Ruby style. Bottom line — don’t mess with Ruby Booker! Read The Slumber Party Payback to find out why.

  The author would like to give special thanks to Andrea Pinkney and Regina Brooks.

  Derrick Barnes is the Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Honor–winning author of Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut. As well as the Ruby and the Booker Boys series, he has also written Stop, Drop, and Chill and Low-down Bad Day Blues as well as books for young adults. Derrick and his wife, Tinka, reside in Kansas City with their own version of the Booker boys—Ezra, Solomon, and Silas.

  Other RUBY books

  by Derrick Barnes

  Brand New School, Brave New Ruby

  Trivia Queen, Third Grade Supreme

  The Slumber Party Payback

  Ruby Flips for Attention

  Text copyright © 2008 by Derrick Barnes

  Illustrations copyright © 2008 by Scholastic Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.

  SCHOLASTIC, LITTLE APPLE, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Available

  First printing, July 2008

  e-ISBN 978-1-338-31908-8

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.