Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page GROSSET & DUNLAP Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.) Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.) Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.) Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi—110 017, India Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.) Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) 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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available. eISBN : 978-1-10115732-9 http://us.penguingroup.com Plink, plink, plink, plink. You drop your mancala pebbles in holes around the game board. One of the pebbles lands in an empty hole opposite your opponent’s side of the board. “Capture!” you cry happily. The three pebbles in that hole drop into your mancala. You tap your flipper to the beat of the funky music piped into the top floor of the Coffee Shop. Your opponent is a good friend of yours. She always beats you at mancala. But this time, you’re going to win . . . “Capture!” your friend shouts. You see five of your pebbles drop into her mancala. The game is over! “Good game,” you say as you collect your coins. “Want to play again?” “Sure,” your friend replies. But before you can sit back down at the game table, you get a postcard. “Hold on,” you say. “I’ve got a message.” You look at the postcard and see a picture of none other than Gary the Gadget Guy. Your heart beats faster as you read the card. “Check this out!” you say. You read the message out loud. “Congratulations! You are the winner of the Club Penguin Invention Contest! Your prize is a twenty-four-hour apprenticeship with me, Gary. We will begin at exactly 10:00 PST. Directions to my workshop will be sent in a separate postcard.” “Wow!” your friend says. “You get to meet Gary in person?” “I can’t believe it!” you say. You feel like jumping up and down with excitement. You were so excited when you read about the Invention Contest. Gary announced it in the newspaper. He asked penguins to design an invention that would amp up one of the games on Club Penguin to make it more extreme. The only thing you like better than inventing is eating pizza, so you decided to enter. You mailed Gary your plans for a freeze ray. You love playing ice hockey. With a freeze ray, you could turn patches of the sled-racing hill into ice so you could sled faster! You never thought you’d win. You never win at anything—until now! You glance at your watch. “Yikes! It’s almost ten,” you say. “I’d better go. I want to stop at my igloo and get the freeze ray I made.” “Meet me when your apprenticeship is over,” your friend says. “I want to hear every detail!” “You got it!” you promise. You race to your igloo. It’s a cold day, and you’re glad you’re wearing your favorite turtleneck and fuzzy snow boots. Inside your igloo, you quickly feed your yellow puffle, Einstein. Then you stuff the freeze ray into your messenger bag. Before you leave, you receive another postcard. You’ll find my workshop at the bottom of a hill, in a place where sports fans can get their fill. It’s the riddle from Gary! You study the first line. The hill must be the Ski Hill. There are two buildings at the bottom—the Ski Lodge and the Winter Sport Shop. You know where Gary’s workshop is! Snow crunches under your boots as you waddle up to the Sport Shop—the place where sports fans can get their fill. You are climbing up the stairs when you hear a voice behind the door. “I see you’ve found my workshop! Good work, apprentice!” You turn and find yourself face-to-face with Gary! He looks exactly like his picture: blue, wearing a white lab coat. His round eyeglasses are so thick, you can’t see the eyes behind them. “Gary, I can’t believe it’s you! I am your biggest fan! I am so happy I won the contest! I worked really hard on my invention. So, does my apprenticeship start now? What do I do? Do I get to make inventions with you? Do I—” Gary smiles and holds up a flipper to stop you. “I can see that you are excited. Enthusiasm and passion are trademarks of any good inventor. It’s exactly what I’m looking for,” he says. “Follow me.” Gary leads you inside the Sport Shop. “There’s no shortage of work to be done or contraptions to invent,” he tells you. “I mentioned this to Aunt Arctic and she suggested I get an apprentice— someone to help me with my many inventions. It was such a good idea, I wish I had thought of it myself.” “I am ready to do whatever you want, Gary,” you say. “Perhaps we should begin with a tour of my workshop,” Gary suggests. “Then I can show you some of the inventions I’ve been working on.” That sounds great to you. Then you remember the freeze ray in your bag. You can’t wait to show it to Gary! But you’re worried that might not be polite. You wonder if you should wait until Gary gives you his tour first. If you decide to wait to show Gary your freeze ray, click here. If you interrupt Gary and show him your freeze ray, click here.