All About Sam by Lois Lowry

though they didn't have the gerbil anymore.
    What was a
better
name than Prince?
    King, Sam thought, with satisfaction. He grinned, climbing the porch steps. He patted his pocket.
    King of Worms, he thought.

9

    Sam was at the public library with his sister and his mother late one afternoon. The public library was one of his very favorite places.
    He liked to call it the
liberry,
even though everybody—his mom, his dad, his sister, and the librarian herself—had all told him about a million times that
liberry
was wrong. He knew that. He knew it was really
library.
    So he said it correctly, aloud. But to himself, Sam always said "liberry." He liked the sound of it better.
    Sometimes on Saturdays, the librarian showed children's movies.
The Red Balloon
was the one that Sam liked best. It had no scary parts at all.
    Winnie-the-Pooh
was pretty good, too, but Sam always got a little nervous when Pooh was up in the air, dangling from the balloon, and bees came along. Sam was just a teensy-weensy bit frightened of bees.
    After he had chosen his books, and the librarian had checked them out, Sam went to the bulletin board by the library's front door. He wanted to see if they would be having a movie soon. He looked all over the bulletin board for a picture of Dumbo, or Bambi, or Willy Wonka.
    None of those things was there.
    But Sam
did
see a sheet of pink paper with some drawings of dogs and cats. They weren't very good drawings, but you could tell they were dogs and cats.
    And there were some words on the paper.
    Sam screwed up his face and began to sound out the letters.
    P was easy. "P, p, p," Sam sounded in a whisper.
    And "T, t, t," he said.
    "Pet," Sam read aloud.
    Then he started on the second word. Sam knew that "Sh" was the sound of being quiet, and the second word began with "Sh."
    "Pet Shhhhh," Sam said quietly. He looked at the next letter. An
O
.
    "PET SHOW!" Sam yelled.
    Everyone in the library turned to look at him. A man with a newspaper scowled, but most people smiled.
    "That's right, Sam," the librarian said. "We're having a pet show for children on Saturday morning. With
prizes.
Do you have a pet to bring?"
    Anastasia was at the counter, checking out
Gone With the Wind
for the fourteenth time. "You can't take my goldfish," she said hastily. "Frank the Second is not one bit interested in being exhibited."
    "I'm afraid he doesn't have a pet," Mrs. Krupnik said to the librarian in a sad voice. "My husband is allerg——"
    "I do!" Sam said. "I do! I didn't tell you! It was a secret!"
    Back at home, he raced up the stairs to his room, with his mother and sister behind him. He opened his closet door, pushed aside the boots and sneakers and slippers on the floor, and found the little box he had hidden in the corner.
    His mother was looking very nervous. "Sam, what do you have in there? If it's a snake or something, I really don't think I can—"
    Sam took off the lid. "Shhh," he said. "He may be asleep."
    "Yuck," Anastasia said, peering into the box. "It's just
dirt
"
    "No, no, it's
in
the dirt! Look! I'll find him!" Carefully Sam poked through the dirt until he found his pet. "Here he is! His name is King of Worms!" Sam held the earthworm in the air.
    His mother and sister stared at it. They didn't say anything.
    "I could tie a ribbon around him for the pet show," Sam suggested.
    "Yeah, right," said Anastasia. "Cute."
    "I have to get dinner started," Mrs. Krupnik said. "Sam, be sure to wash your hands carefully after you put your, uh, your pet away. Anastasia, make sure he washes, would you?"
    Anastasia nodded.
    "Funny," Mrs. Krupnik murmured as she headed down the stairs. "I was going to cook spaghetti for dinner. But now I've changed my mind."

    Anastasia walked with Sam to the public library on Saturday morning. Their mother and father had decided to stay at home.
    "Dad would have liked to come," Anastasia told Sam, "but you know with his allergies, he was worried about being around dogs and