So funny how much memory a random object can bring. I found a beat up copy of this book in my parents' basement, where there is a walk-in closet of all of my childhood nicknacks.
Growing up, my friend Cami and I were inseparable. We met, by the stroke of luck, on the first day of second grade when we were both in Mrs. C's class ... I was terrified of Mrs. C so delighted in having found a kindred spirit.
Of course, with my luck, Cami moved away like two weeks after that.
But then she came back! We were in the same third grade class, and quickly became best friends. We loved Mrs. M. dearly. She let us "publish" books by binding a bunch of papers together with those plastic spirally things that I don't know the name for but they are used on hedge fund pitch books LOL. We wrote and illustrated so many stories during our free time in Mrs. M's class.
Around that time, we also met a boy named Shrimp. I'm pretty sure he had a real name, but for whatever reason, he was called Shrimp. My theory was that Cami actually liked him but because it wasn't cool to like boys then, we had to be mean to him in some way. Calling him by a nickname he hated was one way to do that. Cami, Shrimp and I ruled the playground, daring one another to spin faster and faster on the merry-go-round, zooming down the rolly-slide face first and on our feet. We were a pretty wild crew.
At some point, Cami's family moved closer to us. Giving us even greater reason to spend every single minute together. Our families became one -- our moms traded recipes, carpooled us to and from school, alternated as den of destruction for our sleepovers. This book was a Christmas present from Cami's family, and it was most likely given in conjunction with a pack of Lipsmackers (Yes, it is not hard to know what a third grade girl would love for presents).
Great timing, too, because like Peter in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, I was dealing with the travails of a toddler sibling at the time... I hope that fictional Peter, like me, has learned to overcome the craziness of a little brother and cherishes him now!
We were again in the same class for fourth grade and fifth grade, with Miss D. and Mrs. D., respectively, chasing us down with detention slips. I truly did feel like a Fourth Grade Nothing, as I struggled with certain subjects, failed to win the approval of the "cool girls", etc. But through it all, I shared my tears and laughter with Cami - so it was all good. Let me tell you, Mrs. M. must have been a saint to be able to handle us.
It's so strange to be able to remember our elementary school antics now, decades later, and it still seems so fresh in mind. Cami and I lost touch as our families moved, but recently, we reconnected on social media. I have loved catching up through the lens of Facebook to see all that she's accomplished in these past years. In many ways, Cami is still the same Cami. And I'm probably still the same me, a bigger, taller, (more restrained?) version of that Fourth Grade Nothing. Anyway, Cami, if you are reading this, I loved that we shared so much of our childhood, and I would love so much to see you again in person.
