To my “bestest” good friend, Sunny Hall. What would I do without you? Contents 1. Ricardo 2. Grinded 3. Being a Grown-up Lady 4. Flower Girls 5. Bo 6. The Alternate 7. Hope 8. A Little Tussle 9. Loose Feet 1/ Ricardo My name is Junie B. Jones. The B stands for Beatrice. Except I don’t like Beatrice. I just like B and that’s all. I am a bachelorette. A bachelorette is when your boyfriend named Ricardo dumps you at recess. Only I wasn’t actually expecting that terrible trouble. It happened today on the playground. First I was playing horses with my friends Lucille and Grace. Then, all of a sudden, my boyfriend named Ricardo runned right past me. And he was chasing a new girl named Thelma! “RICARDO!” I hollered real loud. “HEY! RICARDO! ’ZACTLY WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING, MISTER?” Then I zoomed right after that guy. And I tackled him on the grass. And we wrestled. And tangled. And rolled all around. Finally, I sat on his legs. And I smoothed my hair very attractive. “Hello, Ricardo,” I said. “How are you today? I am fine. Only I just saw you chasing new Thelma. And so please knock it off. And I mean it.” Ricardo raised his eyebrows very surprised. “Why? How come?” he said. I sucked in my cheeks at that guy. “Because, Ricardo. Because I am your girlfriend. And you are my boyfriend. And boyfriends and girlfriends are only allowed to chase each other. That’s how come.” Ricardo kept on looking at me. I shrugged my shoulders. “Sorry. Those are just the rules,” I explained. Ricardo’s face turned very glum. “But I like chasing new Thelma,” he said kind of whiny. “It’s fun.” I patted his arm very understanding. “Yes, well, I don’t make the rules, Rick. I just enforce them,” I said. After that, I got off his legs. And I sat in the grass next to him. Ricardo didn’t talk for a long time. Then finally, he stood up. And he shook my hand real nice. “Junie B., it’s been fun being your boyfriend,” he said. “But I think it’s time we started chasing other people.” After that, he waved good-bye. And he ran off to chase new Thelma again. My eyes got big and wide at him. “NO, RICARDO!” I shouted. “NO, NO, NO! COME BACK! COME BACK!” But Ricardo kept right on running. I felt weakish and sickish inside. I slumped back down in the grass. Only too bad for me. Because just then, the bell rang for the end of recess. And all the children started running to the building. But not me. I just kept sitting and sitting in the grass. My teacher called my name. Her name is Mrs. She has another name, too. But I just like Mrs. and that’s all. Finally, Mrs. came out to get me. “Junie B., honey?” she said. “Why aren’t you coming in? What’s the trouble?” I looked up real depressed. “Ricardo,” I said real sad. “Ricardo is the trouble.” After that, tears came in my eyes. And my nose started to run very much. Mrs. closed her eyes. “Oh no. Not boy problems,” she said. “Not already.” After that, she gave me a tissue. And she stood me on my feet. And she walked with me to Room Nine. 2/ Grinded Mother had the day off from work. She met me at my bus stop. She was pushing my baby brother named Ollie in his carriage. I ran and hugged her legs. “Mother! Mother! I am so glad to see you!” I said. “’Cause today was the worstest day of my life. I have been run through the milk, I tell you.” Mother raised her eyebrows kind of confused. “Oh. I think you mean the mill, Junie B.,” she said. “Run through the mill means you’ve had a hard, grinding day.” I nodded my head. “Yes, Mother. That’s ’zactly what kind of day I had. ’Cause my boyfriend named Ricardo wants to chase other people. And that news grinded me right into the ground.” I reached in my pocket and pulled out my snack cookie. “Look. See how upset I was, Mother? I couldn’t even eat my snack cookie at snack time. ’Cause my stomach felt squeezy and sickish inside.” Mother took my snack cookie out of my hand. She took a big delicious bite of it. “Mmm. Thank you, honey,” she said. I stared and stared at that woman. ’Cause she missed the point, apparently. “No, Mother. You are not supposed to eat my snack cookie,” I said. “You are supposed to feel sorry for me. Plus also you have to tell me how to get Ricardo back.” Mother bended down and gave me a hug. “I’m sorry, honey. I know that you’re upset about Ricardo. But really and truly, Junie B., you are way too young to have a boyfriend.” She stood back up and smiled. “You’re just a little girl,” she said. I stamped my foot. “No, I am not little!” I said back. “And anyway, all the girls at school have boyfriends, Mother! My bestest friend Lucille has a boyfriend named Clifton. And my other bestest friend Grace has a boyfriend named Roger. And Charlotte has a boyfriend named Ham. And Rose has a boyfriend named Vincent. And Lynnie has a boyfriend named Crybaby William. And now I am all alone with nobody.” Mother did a sigh. “I’m sorry, honey. But all of those girls are too young to have boyfriends,” she said. “Please, Junie B. Do not start this boy stuff so soon. Little girls are supposed to be footloose and fancy-free.” I did a frown. “What’s loose feet got to do with this problem?” I asked. Mother laughed. “It’s just an expression, Junie B.,” she said. “Footloose and fancy-free means that you can run and play with anyone you want.” She ruffled my hair. “You don’t have to worry about picking out a boyfriend till you’re much, much older,” she said. I did a huffy breath at her. “But I’m already much, much older!” I said. “And besides, I don’t want loose feet! I want the same kind of feet everybody else has. I’m not a baby, you know.” I quick runned over to Ollie. And I held up his teensy hand. “See this, Mother? This is a baby hand. See how teensy it is?” I held my hand right next to it. “Now look at my hand. See how big it is next to Ollie’s? Huh, Mother? Do you?” After that, I picked up one of Ollie’s baby feet. “And see this teensy foot? My feet are a bajillion times bigger than these little baby things.”