Crazy House Page 22

  Suddenly Ms. Strepp jumped up and slammed her hands on her desk.

  “There’s no time for dithering!” she shouted, seeming much more familiar. “It’s time to act! With everything I’ve told you, shown you, do you know what the point of all this is?” She waved one arm as if to encompass all of creation.

  “Do you know the most important thing that you’ve learned?” Her voice was loud and harsh. “Do you know what your real value is to us? It isn’t your decision making! I don’t care if you can make sense of all this! I don’t care if you have feelings or thoughts you want to share! You!” she pointed one long finger at me. “What is your value?”

  My brain raced, unable to formulate a coherent thought. Then suddenly it was there. The one thing I’d gotten out of everything we’d been through. I remembered that when they’d opened the van, Becca and I had been laughing.

  I looked right into Strepp’s icy eyes. “I’m not afraid to die.”

  “We’re not afraid to die,” Becca repeated. “That is our value.”

  Ms. Strepp sat back as if struck, an odd, cold glint of triumph crossing her face.

  “Yes,” she said quietly. “Exactly.”

  ABOUT THE AUTHORS

  James Patterson received the Literarian Award for Outstanding Service to the American Literary Community at the 2015 National Book Awards. He holds the Guinness World Record for the most #1 New York Times bestsellers, including Confessions of a Murder Suspect and the Maximum Ride series, and his books have sold more than 350 million copies worldwide. A tireless champion of the power of books and reading, Patterson created a children’s book imprint, JIMMY Patterson, whose mission is simple: “We want every kid who finishes a JIMMY Book to say, ‘PLEASE GIVE ME ANOTHER BOOK.’” He has donated more than one million books to students and soldiers and funds over four hundred Teacher Education Scholarships at twenty-four colleges and universities. He has also donated millions to independent bookstores and school libraries. Patterson invests proceeds from the sales of JIMMY Patterson Books in pro-reading initiatives.

  Gabrielle Charbonnet is the coauthor of Sundays at Tiffany’s, Witch & Wizard, and Crazy House with James Patterson, and has written many other books for young readers. She lives in South Carolina with her husband and a lot of pets.

  JIMMY PATTERSON BOOKS FOR YOUNG ADULT READERS

  JAMES PATTERSON PRESENTS

  Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

  THE MAXIMUM RIDE SERIES BY JAMES PATTERSON

  The Angel Experiment

  School’s Out—Forever

  Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports

  The Final Warning

  MAX

  FANG

  ANGEL

  Nevermore

  Maximum Ride Forever

  THE CONFESSIONS SERIES BY JAMES PATTERSON

  Confessions of a Murder Suspect

  Confessions: The Private School Murders

  Confessions: The Paris Mysteries

  Confessions: The Murder of an Angel

  THE WITCH & WIZARD SERIES BY JAMES PATTERSON

  Witch & Wizard

  The Gift

  The Fire

  The Kiss

  The Lost

  NONFICTION BY JAMES PATTERSON

  Med Head

  STAND-ALONE NOVELS BY JAMES PATTERSON

  Crazy House

  First Love

  Homeroom Diaries

  Cradle and All

  For exclusives, trailers, and other information, visit jamespattersonya.com.

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