Absolutely Lucy by Ilene Cooper, Amanda Harvey (illustrator)

B obby Quinn did not have any friends. He was shy. He had been shy as long as he could remember.
    He was very shy when he was three years old. His relatives came to the Quinns’ house for Thanksgiving that year.
    Bobby ran into his bedroom and crawled under his bed.
    “Bobby, come out and say hello,” his mother begged.
    Nobody could make him come out.
    Bobby was very shy when he was five years old. On the first day of kindergarten, Bobby cried. He didn’t want his mother to leave. He didn’t want to meet the children in his class.
    “But Bobby,” his mother said, “don’t you want to make new friends?”
    “Absolutely not!” Absolutely was the biggest word Bobby knew. He used it whenever he could.
    Bobby cried every day for a month. When he stopped crying, it was too late. By then, none of the children wanted to meet him. They called him Cry Bobby.
    Bobby was very shy in the first grade. He was shy in the second grade, too. He kept his head down. He didn’t look up, even when the teacher called on him.
    After school, Bobby did his homework. He spent the rest of his time drawing. He was good at drawing. He drew dinosaurs and fast cars.
    When second grade was over, Mrs. Quinn wanted Bobby to go to camp.
    “Absolutely not!” Bobby said.
    “But what will you do all day?” Mrs. Quinn asked.
    “I’ll read. I’ll draw,” Bobby answered.
    Mrs. Quinn sighed. “That sounds a little lonely.”
    Bobby didn’t think it sounded lonely. He thought it sounded great. He was very happy when his parents said he didn’t have to go to camp.
    One hot day in July, Bobby was sitting at his desk. He was drawing a big dinosaur with lots of spikes on its back. His mother came into the room.
    “It’s such a nice day,” she said. “Why don’t you go out and play?”
    “I don’t want to,” Bobby said. He didn’t look up from his drawing.
    His mother tried again. “Have you seen the new children who moved in across the street? They’re setting up a volleyball net. Shall we go introduce ourselves?”
    Bobby just shook his head no.
    “Bobby, if you don’t try to be friendly, you’ll never have any friends. Doesn’t that bother you?” Mrs. Quinn asked.
    “I don’t need friends,” Bobby whispered as his mother closed the door behind her.
    But when he was alone in his room, he put his pencil down and looked out the window. What he said to his mother wasn’t really true. He would like to make a friend. He just didn’t know how.

B obby’s eighth birthday came in the middle of July. His parents invited the relatives over for a party in the backyard.
    Bobby had three cousins. Ryan and Brian were twelve-year-old twins. They didn’t pay too much attention to Bobby. His cousin Jenny was only four. She paid too much attention to Bobby. She followed him wherever he went.
    Jenny and her mother and father were the first to arrive for the party. Bobby went outside. Jenny was right behind him. She watched him throw a ball against the side of the garage.
    “Mommy’s having a baby,” Jenny said.
    “I know,” Bobby answered.
    “That’s why she’s getting so fat. She’s as fat as a pig, don’t you think?”
    Bobby frowned. “That’s not a very nice thing to say, Jenny.”
    Jenny looked surprised. “It isn’t? But I love pigs.”
    Bobby didn’t know what to say to that.
    “Bobby, do you like your birthday?”
    “Absolutely,” Bobby answered.
    “What does that word mean?” Jenny asked.
    Bobby stopped throwing the ball. He thought for a minute. “Absolutely means yes. A real big, big yes. But if you say absolutely not, that means a real big no.”
    “Why do you always say it?”
    Bobby shrugged.
    “I like the way it feels on my tongue.”
    Jenny tried to say it. “Ab-see-loot-ee.”
    “No,” Bobby corrected. “Absolutely.”
    She tried again. “Ab-silly-oot-ly.”
    Bobby gave up. “Maybe you’ll be able to say it next year, Jenny.”
    Bobby started throwing his ball against the garage again.
    “Hey,