There are no time-outs when the super burp takes control! George knows that his basketball team, the Fighting Ferrets, is really good. So when Louie proposes a bet for their upcoming game, George accepts the challenge: the person on the losing team has to be the winner's butler for a week! George is confident he'll lead his team to victory. But then his best friend Alex, a school safety monitor who's been on a rule-enforcing frenzy, reports George after the super burp makes him misbehave. That means George can't play in the big game! After he's lost the chance to play, will he also lose the bet? Nancy Krulik has written over one hundred books for children and young adults, including two New York Times Best Sellers. Her very first story (in first grade) was about how she wanted to be Mary Poppins because she wanted to dance in the park with Bert and the penguins. Aaron Blecha was raised by a school of giant squid in Wisconsin and now lives with his family by the south English seaside. He works as an artist designing funny characters, animating cartoons, and illustrating books, including the Harry Hammer shark series. You can enjoy more of his weird creations at www.monstersquid.com. Chapter 1     “Pass it!” Julianna shouted as George Brown dribbled the basketball down the court. “I’m open!”   But George didn’t pass the ball. He just kept dribbling down the court. Finally, he stopped near the basket . . . aimed . . . and shot!   The basketball soared through the air.   It bounced off the backboard with a thud.   It swirled around and around the rim.   It teetered. It tottered.   And then . . .   Plop. The ball fell to the ground without going through the hoop.   “Oh man!” George groaned. “I was sure I was gonna sink that one.”   “That’s what you get for being a ball-hog,” Julianna told him.   “Why didn’t you pass?” Coach Hooper asked George. “Julianna had a clear shot.”   George shrugged. “I wanted to be the one to score,” he replied.   “It doesn’t matter which player scores,” Coach Hooper told him. “Remember, there is no i in team .” George rolled his eyes. Coach Hooper said that same thing every practice.   “I think you could all use some more shooting practice,” Coach Hooper told the team. “Our first game is Saturday afternoon. I want the Fighting Ferrets to come out on top.”   “How about a game of horse?” Julianna asked the coach. “That’s a really fun way to practice shooting.”   George groaned. He hated playing horse. The whole point of the game was for every player to make the exact same shot the first player had made. That was no problem for Julianna. She was one of the best players in the Beaver Brook Junior Basketball League and could make any kind of shot—a layup, a free throw, even a jump shot.   But George wasn’t as sure of a shot as Julianna. And every time he missed the basket, he got another letter in the word horse . George always felt rotten when he missed that fifth shot and got the letter e , because that meant he was out.   “Why don’t you go first, Julianna?” Coach Hooper passed her the ball.   “Sure thing, Coach!” Julianna dribbled the ball three times as she ran toward the basket. Then she grabbed it with two hands and took her shot.    The ball banked off the backboard, and fell right through the net.   “Nice shot!” Coach Hooper exclaimed excitedly. “Now it’s your turn, Alex. See if you can copy exactly what Julianna just did.”   Alex grabbed the ball and dribbled three times as he ran toward the basket. Then he grabbed it with two hands and . . .   George couldn’t watch anymore. Not because he was worried his best friend might miss the shot. George couldn’t watch because he was too worried about what was going on inside his belly to think about anything else.   There were bubbles dribbling around inside of George. Hundreds of them. They were bouncing up and down and all around.   Gulp. That could only mean one thing. The magical super burp was back. And that was ba-a-ad ! Because whenever the burp appeared, it brought trouble.   The bubble trouble had all started when George and his family first moved to Beaver Brook. George’s dad was in the army, so the family moved around a lot. George had had plenty of experience at being the new kid in school. So he’d expected the first day in his new school to stink. First days always did. But this first day was the stinkiest.   In his old school, George had been the class clown. He was always pulling pranks and making jokes. But George had promised himself that things were going to be different at Edith B. Sugarman Elementary School. No more pranks. No more squishing red Jell-O between his teeth and telling everyone it was blood. No more trouble.   Unfortunately, being the well-behaved kid in a new school also meant that George was the new kid with no new friends. No one at Edith B. Sugarman Elementary School even seemed to notice him. It was like he was invisible.   T