The end of third grade turns into a disaster for Jake when he inadvertently becomes the teacher's pet, and no matter how hard he tries, he can't shake the image.
Mrs. Snavin looked right past all those waving hands. She looked right at me and she smiled and said, "I think I'll have Jake take it." Then Mrs. Snavin said, "but be sure to hurry right back, Jake, because we're going to work on our number-line project, and you have to be my special computer helper, okay?" And I could feel every kid in the class looking at me. They weren't saying anything. They weren't even whispering. But right then, I heard what they were thinking anyway. They were thinking, teacher's pet.