To all the Nikkis and Dejas everywhere

 ​— ​K.E.
To my Mom, Trudy
 ​— ​L.F.

Clarion Books
215 Park Avenue South
New York, New York 10003

Text copyright © 2013 by Karen English

Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Laura Freeman

All rights reserved.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to
Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 215 Park Avenue South,
New York, New York 10003.

Clarion Books is an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

www.hmhbooks.com

The text was set in Warnock Pro.

The illustrations were executed digitally.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

 English, Karen.
  Nikki and Deja : substitute trouble / by Karen English ; illustrated by Laura Freeman.
p. cm.
Summary: While Ms. Shelby-Ortiz is recovering from an injury, substitute Mr. Willow
takes over Nikki and Deja’s third-grade class with disastrous results.
  ISBN 978-0-547-61565-3 (hardcover)
 [1. Substitute teachers—Fiction. 2. Teachers—Fiction. 3. Behavior—Fiction. 4.
Schools—Fiction. 5. Best friends—Fiction. 6. Friendship—Fiction. 7. African
Americans—Fiction.]  I. Freeman-Hines, Laura, ill. II. Title. III. Title: Substitute teacher.
 PZ7.E7232Nj 2013
[Fic]—dc23
2012021009

Manufactured in the United States of America

DOC  10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1
4500415330

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 1

Where Is Ms.
Shelby-Ortiz?
S omething not-so-good happens the first
Monday after Deja gets her puppy, Ms. Precious
Penelope. She wants so much to write about her
new pet in her morning journal and then read it
to the class when Ms. Shelby-Ortiz asks if there
is anyone who would like to share. She pictures
herself being one of the only kids to throw a hand
up and wave it in the air. Deja imagines reading
her entry and Ms. Shelby-Ortiz smiling with ap-
proval and surprise that Deja is using so many
supporting details and descriptive adjectives.
But something not-so-good happens to that pic-
ture in her head. Ms. Shelby-Ortiz is not there!
When the whole class is lined up nicely and
quietly, waiting to be led into the school, Deja
sees an unfamiliar person heading their way

*1 *

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 across the yard. It’s a man! A substitute teacher!
Where is Ms. Shelby-Ortiz? Where is their beau-
tiful teacher, who just got married a few months
ago and has done that fancy thing with her name
(which Deja is going to do with her name too,
when she finally grows up and marries)?
The substitute walks right up to the line and
stands there in front of the class without saying
anything. Nikki, Deja’s best friend, looks back at
her and frowns. Good. Nikki feels just the same
as Deja. That is the good thing about best friends.
Most of the time, they feel just like you do.
He holds his hands in front of him and looks
up and down the line, as if he’s trying to decide
who the bad kids are. His eyes stop at Deja for
a moment and he seems to look at her more
closely, squinting. A few kids behind her begin
to whisper to each other. He puts his forefinger
over his mouth to quiet them, but real timid-like.
Deja already knows two things. She isn’t go-
ing to like this sub, and her best friend, Nikki,
isn’t going to like him either.

As soon as the students enter the classroom

and do their morning things ​— ​hanging up their
coats, putting away their lunches, taking their
homework out of their backpacks and putting
it in the homework tray on Ms. Shelby-Ortiz’s

*2 *

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substititute_trouble_int__f_4-24-13.indd 3 4/24/13 3:41 PM
 desk ​— ​the new teacher writes his name on the
whiteboard in cursive handwriting: Mr. Willow.
Too little, Deja thinks. Mr. Willow . . . What
kind of name is that, anyway? That’s the name of
a tree, not a person. He turns around and puts
his hands in his pockets.
“My name is Mr. Willow, and I’m going to
be your substitute teacher during Ms. Shelby-
Ortiz’s absence.” He says this in a quiet voice
without much confidence. Maybe he’s new to
teaching. He does look pretty young.
Deja doesn’t like hearing the word “absence,”
and she doesn’t know why. “Teacher” and “ab-
sence” just shouldn’t go together. Mr. Willow
continues with a little smile on his face like he’s
secretly happy that Ms. Shelby-Ortiz is absent.
“Your teacher had an accident and —”
There’s a big, collective gasp. Nikki looks over
at Deja. Deja feels her eyes widen. For the past
two weeks, Ms. Shelby-Ortiz has been experi-
menting with letting the kids who usually pay
attention sit where they choose. Her only re-
quirement is that they listen when she’s talking
and that they stay on task when they’re work-
ing. Nikki and Deja have proven that they can do
both, so they get to sit at the same table across
from each other. Of course.

*4 *

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 Mr. Willow holds up his palm. “Hold on, hold
on. . . . Your teacher is fine. It’s just a broken ankle.
She’s only going to be out two or three weeks.”
Two or three weeks! Deja thinks. Impossible!
“A broken ankle!” Carlos calls out, and it
sounds like a protest. He often forgets to raise his
hand and wait to be recognized before he speaks.
Mr. Willow looks over at him. “It seems she
was out walking around her neighborhood​— ​
for exercise ​— ​and stepped on one of those
acorn-type things that fall from trees.” Everyone
is listening with their full attention. Probably
imagining their teacher out walking around for
exercise, Deja guesses. And then actually falling
and hurting herself.
Nikki raises her hand nicely, and Mr. Willow
points at her as if he’s a cop directing traffic.
“How did Ms. Shelby-Ortiz get home?” she
asks quietly, and Deja wonders if she’s going to
cry.
“I’m not sure,” Mr. Willow says. “But she man-
aged to get to the hospital and have her ankle
x-rayed, and it was broken, unfortunately. So
she has to spend the next few weeks off her feet.
That’s why I’m here.”
There is a long moment of silence. Deja looks
around. It seems as if everyone is busy taking this

*5 *

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 in. Some are probably imagining Ms. Shelby-
Ortiz sitting on her sofa, her foot up on her cof-
fee table with a big cast on it.
“Now, your teacher’s husband brought in her
lesson-plan book. . . .”
A few kids giggle at the mention of Ms.
Shelby-Ortiz’s husband. The fact that she now
has a husband is still so strange, even for Deja,
who was at her wedding.
Mr. Willow goes on. “And a list of the most
helpful students.”
Deja holds her breath. Has Ms. Shelby-Ortiz
noticed how helpful she’s been? Especially as
lunch monitor and office monitor? Has she no-
ticed how good Deja is at folding her hands and
listening with both ears when Ms. Shelby-Ortiz
is explaining something or giving directions?
Deja glances over at Nikki. She can tell Nikki
is waiting too. Mr. Willow is examining a paper
in his hand. It must have the names of all the
helpful kids on it. Deja thinks her name should
be at the top of the list.
“Who’s Antonia?” Mr. Willow asks, looking
around.
Antonia raises her hand straight up. Like a
person reaching for the sky, Deja thinks.
Antonia smiles to herself and looks over at
her best friend, Casey.

*6 *

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 This is what Deja can’t understand. Why
would Antonia be on the list when Deja has had
way more jobs? She’s sharpened pencils for the
teacher, cleaned the whiteboard, and taken the
recycling bin out to the big recycle receptacle
or whatever it’s called. She has, without being
asked, arranged the books in the class library.
Why, she could go on and on ​— ​in her head, of
course. And really, what has Antonia done?
“Antonia, it seems you’re paper monitor this
week.”
Antonia frowns at this. She clearly had ex-
pected more.
“Carlos? Where’s Carlos?”
Carlos shoots his hand up. Deja is surprised.
Carlos can’t be on the helpful kids list!

*7 *

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 “You’re in charge of keeping the class pencils
nice and sharp.”
Carlos grins as if he’s been given some great
job, like office monitor or lunch monitor. Deja
shakes her head.
“Who’s Deja?” Mr. Willow asks.
Deja shoots her hand up.
“You’re book monitor this week.” Mr. Willow
doesn’t even look at her while he says this. He
just looks at the paper on the clipboard he has in
his hand and calmly checks off something with
his pencil. He continues this way until the moni-
tors for the week have been announced. But Deja
still can’t tell who the helpful kids are. Who did
Ms. Shelby-Ortiz put on her “helpful” list?

*8 *

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