Ben Franklin’s Fame Read online

  In the end, we didn’t even get a chance to say good-bye.

  We landed in the school cafeteria.

  We ran. Down the hall. Through the gym. Hopping down the stairs. Straight to Mr. C’s laboratory under the school.

  At the large wooden door, we knocked. Mr. C called, “Come in,” and we did.

  “Welcome back,” Mr. C said as he tossed a black cloth over the project he’d been working on. It was a sphere. That was all we knew about his new invention.

  “I was waiting for you,” Mr. C said. “I’ve been so nervous, I could hardly work at all.” He snatched up his textbook teacher’s guide and set it out on the table. “This must have been a tough adventure,” he said. “How did it go?”

  “Well,” I answered for us all, “to be honest, we aren’t sure what happened in the end. We ran out of time.”

  “Let’s check.” Mr. C started flipping through the pages of his book, looking for Ben Franklin.

  I was worried.

  So was Zack. “What if,” he began, “Ben Franklin simply quit his dreams and never became a printer? What if he remained a chandler? What if we light Franklin candles on my next birthday? What if—”

  “Knock it off, Zack.” Jacob got in Zack’s face. “No use in freaking out before Mr. C checks his book.”

  Zack puffed out his chest, saying, “What if James changed his mind and—”

  Bo wedged himself between the boys, ready to break up the fight. But suddenly, Jacob and Zack were laughing.

  “We tricked you!” Zack told Bo.

  “It was Zack’s idea,” Jacob said, still giggling. “He knows you hate it when we argue.”

  Bo rolled his eyes. “Just wait,” he warned. “I don’t only read biographies. I’ve read a few books of tricks and jokes myself. When you least expect it—”

  Bo didn’t finish. Mr. C interrupted: “I found the page.”

  Slowly we approached Mr. C’s worktable.

  In the middle of page 144 was a painting of Benjamin Franklin! In the picture, Ben was showing a printing press to two men.

  “Whew,” Mr. C said, wiping the back of his hand across his forehead. “That was close.” He was very happy that we’d saved American history. Again.

  “We did our best,” Jacob said. “And we worked together as a team. Just like you told us to.” Jacob gave Mr. C the computer and cartridge. He told our teacher how he’d had to tweak the wires. And even how we’d used the explosion to escape from Babs.

  I gave Mr. C his notebook and pencil. I told him thinking like a detective had helped me figure out a bunch of things, like about being too late and how we needed James to apprentice Ben. Mr. C asked if he could read what I’d written. “Of course,” I agreed.

  “I’m going to try Pottery Club tomorrow,” Zack announced. “Just one more thing I’d like to check out.” Zack told Mr. C about how he helped Ben Franklin try a bunch of different jobs in 1718. “I’m super glad I don’t have to decide what I want to be when I grow up yet,” Zack added.

  “And what did you do, Bo?” Mr. C asked, knowing Bo wouldn’t share on his own.

  Bo pointed at page 144. Under the picture was a time line. The time line showed all the great things Ben Franklin did during his lifetime. “That’s what I did,” Bo said proudly, albeit softly.

  Mr. C closed his book with a smile.

  As we walked out the laboratory door, I turned and asked, “Mr. C, on this adventure, Babs was jumping all over Ben Franklin’s life. How are we going to find her next time?”

  “Luck,” was all he said. And he closed the door behind us.

  A Letter to Our Readers

  Dear Readers,

  Ben Franklin’s Fame is a mixture of fact and fiction. The fiction part is all the stuff we made up, like the kids, and the time travel, and Babs Magee.

  But it is a fact that there really was a person named Ben Franklin. It is true that he was one of the greatest Americans who ever lived and that is why we wanted Jacob, Zack, Abigail, and Bo to go meet him.

  It is also true that Ben Franklin worked for his father, Josiah. But he was never apprenticed as a chandler. Ben went to school for two years to become a minister, but when his father ran out of money, Ben came home. He wanted to be a sailor, but his parents didn’t like that idea.

  Josiah Franklin took twelve-year-old Ben all around Boston to see different kinds of jobs. Ben made knives for a while, then candles in his dad’s shop. He also thought about becoming a shoemaker, a bricklayer, a barrel maker, and a tailor. There were so many things Ben was interested in.

  But mostly, Ben Franklin loved to read. He’d spend all his money on books, then sell them to get new books. Working in a print shop allowed Ben to be around books, to write and read. He was apprenticed to his brother James for nine years. In 1723, while James was in jail, Ben ran the paper himself.

  Right after James was released, Ben broke his apprenticeship contract and ran away. To avoid arrest, he snuck onto a boat and ended up sailing to Philadelphia.

  Ben bought the Pennsylvania Gazette and opened his own print shop. From the shop he was an inventor, politician, soldier, statesman, poet, ambassador, shopkeeper, bookseller, printer, cartoonist, scientist, journalist, chess player, weight lifter, and still . . . a reader.

  In this book, we told you about many of the inventions Ben Franklin made. But he was also one of the great politicians and thinkers for America when our country was first forming. He signed the Declaration of Independence. He made treaties with France and Great Britain. And he signed his name on the U.S. Constitution.

  Ben Franklin was an amazing man. His contributions to America will never be forgotten.

  If you want to learn more about the series or want to contact us, you can visit our website at www.BlasttothePastBooks.com.

  Enjoy,

  Stacia and Rhody

  BLAST TO THE PAST in the next adventure:

  #7 Washington’s War

  When I entered the classroom, Maxine Wilson was already sitting at her table.

  “Hey, Abigail,” she greeted me, like always. I’ve been friends with Maxine since kindergarten. She’s an awesome person and she has a really awesome stopwatch.

  “Are you ready?” I asked her.

  “Ready, Freddy,” Maxine replied. She held up her stopwatch and winked at me.

  The school bell was the signal.

  Brrring.

  Maxine pressed the little black button on her watch. We all rushed to our seats and turned to stare at the classroom door. No one dared look away, not even for a second.

  Maxine kept track of the time. “Five minutes.” She began the countdown. “Four minutes and thirty seconds.”

  Maxine announced the time until there were only ten seconds left. The whole class always chanted the last ten seconds out loud together: “Ten. Nine. Eigh—”

  The door swung open. Was it our favorite teacher, Mr. C? Could he be early for the first time all year? Nope.

  “I had to make a pit stop on the way to class,” Zack explained to everyone as he walked into the classroom.

  “Sit down! Quick!” I told him. “Mr. C will be here in a few seconds.”

  “I’ve got plenty of time.” Zack yawned as he dragged himself over to our table. Zack and I sat with Jacob and our new friend Bo. Bo’s real name is Roberto Rodriguez.

  “Four seconds,” Maxine warned. Zack plopped into his chair and turned to face the door. “Three. Two. One. Zero.” Just as Maxine clicked off her stopwatch, the classroom door swung open. This time, it really was our teacher.

  “See?” Zack said, leaning over and whispering in my ear. “I told you I had plenty of time. I saw Mr. C in the hallway when I was headed to class. I rushed ahead to get here first and—”

  “Be quiet.” Jacob cut Zack off. “Mr. C’s about to begin.”

  Zack snorted at his brother and challenged, “Make me.”

  Even though the boys were twins, they were as different as night and day.

  Today Zack
was wearing long pants that were torn in a hundred places. Different-colored patches covered the rips. He had a sweatshirt on that looked like it was older than my great-grandma. Breakfast stains were all over the sleeve. When it came to personality, Zack complained a lot and quit everything he tried. But he was totally funny and always came through when we needed him most.

  Jacob, on the other hand, was neat and clean and focused on just one thing: computers. Today he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, khaki pants, a leather belt, and a button that read, “West Hudson Elementary School Computer Club.” Jacob was the Computer Club president.

  Looking at the twins’ snarly faces, I was afraid they might start to fight, but they both turned toward Mr. C as soon as he started talking.

  “My apologies for being late,” Mr. C said with a slight bow.

  Every Monday was the same. Every Monday Mr. Caruthers was five minutes late. Every Monday he was wrinkled and messy. Only Jacob, Zack, Bo, and I knew the real reason why.

  STACIA DEUTSCH is the author of more than fifty children’s books. She loves to write adventure, mystery, and movie novels, but time-travel stories are her favorite. Just in case she gets the chance to time travel, Stacia keeps a long list of the people she would like to visit. For now she lives in California with her three children.

  RHODY COHON wishes she could time travel too! Until her machine is in working order, she’ll travel through her imagination to wild and woolly places from her prickly home in Tucson, Arizona.

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  Simon & Schuster, New York

  Read all the books in the Blast to the Past® series!

  #1 Lincoln’s Legacy

  #2 Disney’s Dream

  #3 Bell’s Breakthrough

  #4 King’s Courage

  #5 Sacagawea’s Strength

  #6 Ben Franklin’s Fame

  Coming soon:

  #7 Washington’s War

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

  1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

  www.SimonandSchuster.com

  This Aladdin paperback edition September 2014

  Text copyright © 2006 by Stacia Deutsch and Rhody Cohon

  Interior illustrations copyright © 2006 by Guy Francis

  Cover illustration copyright © 2014 by Fernando Juarez

  Cover design by Jeanine Henderson

  All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

  ALADDIN is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and related logo is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  BLAST TO THE PAST is a registered trademark of Stacia Deutsch and Rhody Cohon.

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  The text of this book was set in Minion Pro.

  Library of Congress Control Number 2006921955

  ISBN 978-1-4424-9539-5

  ISBN 978-1-4424-9347-6 (eBook)