1 Countabunga!

 

  Addy McBean lives with Mom and their poodle, Minus, at 100 Division Drive, South Summit, New Jersey. Addy is nuts about her address because she’s nuts about numbers.

  She loves math just like Dad, who is a coding genius. He lives and works in San Francisco—2,887 miles away. Addy’s parents are divorced, but she texts her dad all the time on her smart watch.

  Addy to Dad:

  I am minus one workbook, one Rubik’s Cube, and one toothbrush.

  Dad to Addy:

  I bet you ten dollars that Minus took them.

  Look under your bed.

  Sure enough, when Addy pushes aside three pairs of socks and one box of dominoes, she finds them.

   

  Countabunga! That is Addy’s favorite expression.

  She says it when she’s excited.

  Addy likes to count things in their condo. She counts her footsteps when she walks Minus and the cornflakes in the cereal box. She also counts the books on the floor around her mom’s bed.

  Addy’s mother is a librarian at the South Summit Public Library. She brings home great books for Addy to read.

  After school on Monday the doorbell rings while Addy is feeding Minus.

  She looks out the window and sees Star Atlas. Star lives only two blocks away, and they’ve been best friends forever. Addy thinks it’s funny that Star’s last name is Atlas since Star likes maps. She even has a globe in her bedroom that lights up.

   

  Star’s eyes are flashing alarm when Addy opens the door.

  She rushes into the hallway.

  “What’s wrong?” asks Addy.

  “You can’t believe what Mom just told me!” exclaims Star.

   

  Ms. Atlas works in the principal’s office at PS 8. She finds things out before they happen.

  “It’s about Mr. Vertex,” Star blurts out. “Tomorrow he’s assigning an important math project. He wants us to work with new partners. That means we’ll have to split up!”

  Addy’s heart skips three beats.

  “But we are a one-plus-one team,” she says.

  “I know,” says Star. “Remember the pumpkin catapult we made for our Halloween project?”

  “And that picture we drew of how we’ll look at one hundred years old? It was a big hit on Hundredth Day,” says Addy. “Maybe Mr. Vertex will change his mind.”

  “I doubt it,” answers Star. “My mom says Mr. Vertex wants his students to work with different people.” Star walks toward the front door. “I can’t stay. Dad’s waiting to help me with my homework.”

  During dinner Addy tells Mom about Mr. Vertex’s plan.

  “That’s too bad,” says Mom. “But maybe you’ll get a new partner who likes math as much as you do.”

  Addy is still a wreck. What if she ends up with someone who hates math? Or with one of the boys who call her Beanpole?

  When she goes to bed, she counts by tens to one hundred, since that usually helps her fall asleep.

  But not tonight. Addy can’t stop thinking about what will happen at school the next day.