Praise for

the Bluford Series:

“As soon as I finished one book, I couldn’t wait to start the next one. No books have ever made me do that before.”

— Terrance W

“The suspense got to be so great I could feel the blood pounding in my ears.”

— Yolanda E.

“Once I started reading them, I just couldn’t stop, not even to go to sleep.”

— Brian M.

“Great books! I hope they write more.”

— Eric J.

“When I finished these books, I went back to the beginning and read them all over again. That’s how much I loved them.”

— Caren B.

“I found it very easy to lose myself in these books. They kept my interest from beginning to end and were always realistic.The characters are vivid, and the endings left me in eager anticipation of the next book.”

— Keziah J.

Copyright © 2002 by Townsend Press, Inc.

Printed in the United States of America

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

of this book may be reproduced without

the written permission of the publisher.

For permission to reproduce more than

one chapter, send requests to:

Townsend Press, Inc.

1038 Industrial Drive

West Berlin, New Jersey 08091

ISBN 0-944210-02-3

Library of Congress Control Number:

2002103950

Chapter 1

Darcy Wills winced at the loud rap music coming from her sister’s room.

My rhymes were rockin’

MC’s were droppin’

People shoutin’ and hip-hoppin’

Step to me and you’ll be inferior

’Cause I’m your lyrical superior.

Darcy went to Grandma’s room. The darkened room smelled of lilac perfume, Grandma’s favorite, but since her stroke Grandma did not notice it, or much of anything.

“Bye, Grandma,” Darcy whispered from the doorway. “I’m going to school now. ”

Just then, the music from Jamee’s room cut off, and Jamee rushed into the hallway.

“Like she even hears you,” Jamee said as she passed Darcy. Just two years younger than Darcy, Jamee was in eighth grade, though she looked older.

“It’s still nice to talk to her. Sometimes she understands. You want to pretend she’s not here or something?”

“She’s not,” Jamee said, grabbing her backpack.

“Did you study for your math test?” Darcy asked. Mom was an emergency room nurse who worked rotating shifts. Most of the time, Mom was too tired to pay much attention to the girls’ schoolwork. So Darcy tried to keep track of Jamee.

“Mind your own business,” Jamee snapped.

“You got two D’s on your last report card,” Darcy scolded. “You wanna flunk?” Darcy did not want to sound like a nagging parent, but Jamee wasn’t doing her best. Maybe she couldn’t make A’s like Darcy, but she could do better.