SVK #32 - Left Back!
The tagline asks, “Is Kisho the class dummy?” Ahh Sweet Valley - always sensitive when dealing with issues.
Jessica and Elizabeth’s second grade class is getting a new student. Everyone is way excited. Mrs. Otis says that Kisho and his mother are in the principal’s office, but she’s sure he’ll be in the classroom soon. She then tells the class to get out their books and start their reading lesson while they wait. Cue the twins spiel, in which we’re told that Liz likes reading and makes up stories about pirates and Indians. Call me crazy, but I always thought it was cowboys and Indians. Jess, on the other hand, doesn’t like reading, and she doesn’t like to wait. She also likes dolls. However, to confuse their friends, the twins both like to dress alike.
While they’re taking turns reading aloud, the new boy enters the classroom. Kisho Murasaki is his name and, if you haven’t guessed, he’s Japanese. The writer points out that he’s “a little taller than the other second-grade boys.” I wonder if this will come into play later…
Kisho just moved here from Oklahoma! Todd asks Liz if Kisho plays soccer. Because, obviously, Liz must know, since she’s seen Kisho for all of one minute. Liz helpfully suggests that they ask Kisho at recess!!
Liz: Solving problems for Todd since 1983.
The reading lesson continues, and Kisho is called upon. He can’t read! Mrs. Otis has to sound out words for him! The sentence: “Together, Mr. and Mrs. Brown made a delicious dinner.” Liz doesn’t seem to think this is a big deal, but the rest of the class thinks he’s kind of a dummy.
During art class, Caroline asks Kisho why he has such a funny name. Liz asks Kisho if he has a bicycle. It is discovered that Kisho is a very good artist.
Kisho is going to have a birthday party in eight days and the whole class is invited!
After this, Todd asks Kisho if he plays soccer.
Todd: Always late for the Q&A.
Ken chimes in that Kisho must be good at soccer because he’s one of the biggest boys in second grade. Kisho quietly says, “You guys will catch up to me.”
Kisho hands out party invitations. Everyone’s excited! After all, what is Sweet Valley without a party?
In math class, Mrs. Otis announces that they will be going over the multiplication tables for times two and times three. Liz thinks about how hard multiplication is. Kisho is the first one done and he gets 100%. Jessica asks Kisho why he’s so good at multiplication. Kisho explains that he studied it in Oklahoma. Caroline says, “You learned multiplication in first grade?” Kisho is forced to admit that he learned it in second grade because he was in second grade last year as well.
Liz, a little slow, asks, “You mean this is your second time in second grade?”
Thanks for rubbing it in, Liz. Now you know he needs help.
Lila whispers to Jess that Kisho must be dumb. Jess sticks up for Kisho for two sentences… and then she agrees with Lila. Lila says, “I’m not going to be friends with a dumbo.” Jessica agrees. They are not going to go to his party.
At recess, Jess and Liz run to the swings. Jess, Ellen, and Lila start talking about the “dumbo” and how they’re not going to go to the party. Liz and Amy are confused and point out that on Friday, they all liked Kisho. Lila says, “On Friday, we didn’t know he’d been left back.”
Kisho comes over to the swings. Lila, Jess, and - amazingly enough - Liz get up to leave. Amy, in her pre-cheerleading days, stays with Kisho. Lila and Ellen tell Kisho they can’t go to a party given by a dummy. Jessica, Lila, Ellen, and Todd laugh. Surprisingly, Charlie Cashman isn’t teasing Kisho. He actually stands up, clenches his tiny hands into fists, and says, “Stop teasing him or else!”
It is like a wannabe ToddPunch.
During class the next day, Liz, Kisho, and Charlie are talking, and Kisho announces that he was born in Japan. Liz asks if Kisho had to repeat the second grade because he was always moving. Kisho says that yes, he has missed a lot of school, but he learned Japanese before English, and it’s very different from reading English. Kisho gives this speech:
“I just wish everyone would stop teasing me. In my old school, nobody acted like being left back was a big deal.”
Yes, welcome to Sweet Valley, Kisho!
Charlie and Liz are jealous that Kisho has been on a plane three times. He asks Liz and Charlie if they want to come over after school the next day and see photos he took out the window of a plane. They say yes. Charlie suggests that the three of them play space explorers at the park after school.
Liz asks Jess if she wants to play space explorers with them. Jess replies, “With those two dumbos? No way.”
Jessica then has to explain to Lila, Ellen, and Caroline where Liz is. Lila thinks that Liz must like Kisho. Jess says that Liz just feels sorry for him. Jessica goes over to Liz, despite the fact that Charlie yells he’s pointing his ray gun at her, and tells Liz to stop being “that dumbo’s friend.”
Liz doesn’t understand, but Jess whines that Lila and Ellen are now teasing her! Amazingly, she does not realize that she’s doing the same thing to Kisho.
Liz agrees to go home with Jess but does not talk to her. Jess hopes this means that Liz is thinking about not being Kisho’s friend.
At dinner that night, Liz asks her mom why some kids have to repeat a grade. Steven answers, “Because they’re stupid.”
Jessica says to Liz, “See, I told you.”
Mrs. Wakefield explains that everyone learns at a different pace.
The next day after school, Liz and Charlie go over to Kisho’s. While at his house, Kisho’s grandmother calls from Japan. Kisho begins speaking to her in Japanese. Charlie is surprised that Japanese is really different from English. Liz agrees that it’s neat. Kisho reads to them from a book written in Japanese, and Liz and Charlie are amazed how different reading in Japanese is from reading in English. We also find out why Charlie is being so nice to Kisho: when his grandparents came to the United States from Italy, they didn’t speak any English, and a lot of people made fun of them. Sometimes, people still tease his grandfather for speaking a little funny.
Charlie’s grandfather must have lived in Sweet Valley, where prejudice never dies.
Charlie says it’d be great if Mrs. Otis taught in Japanese one day. And the next day, Kisho adds, class could be in Italian! They all agree that Lila and Ellen would stop laughing then. And then - Liz gets an idea!!!
Mrs. Otis agrees to Liz’s plan (as if there were any question about that).
Caroline calls Kisho the class dummy without realizing that Mrs. Otis is right behind her. Caroline does not even get a lecture!!! Mrs. Otis just talks about how unique the U.S. is for having people from all over the world.
Jess starts to think that being nicer wouldn’t be such a bad idea (ya think?) because if everyone was friends with Kisho, then Lila and Ellen wouldn’t tease her because Liz was nice to him.
The next day, Liz, Charlie, and Kisho’s plan is put into action. Kisho’s grandfather and Charlie’s grandmother come to their class to talk about coming to America! Lois suggests that the class learn a word in Japanese and Italian. Specifically, the word “good.” The class discovers that between all of them, they know how to say good in six languages: English, Japanese, Italian, French, German, and Spanish.
During recess, most of the students practice saying the new word.
Jessica says that she doesn’t think Kisho is dumb anymore; after all, she can’t Japanese and she’s not dumb. She also tells Liz that she wants to buy a box of 64 crayons for Kisho’s birthday.
At home, Mrs. Wakefield says their great-great-grandmother, Alice Larson, came to America from Sweden in 1866 (so you know this book was written after the sagas). She then informs the twins of how to say “good” in Swedish, which makes them one language smarter than everyone else in their class.
At Kisho’s birthday party, Todd tells Kisho that they should play a Japanese game. Kisho suggests baseball because everyone in Japan loves it. Everyone fights to have Kisho on their team.
On the ride back from the party, we find out that Kisho was given an astronaut’s helmet for his birthday and that he might be an astronaut for Halloween. Liz says he can even get rocks from the park and pretend they’re moon rocks. Caroline says that she’s going to win best costume award. Find out what happens in #33, Caroline’s Halloween Spell.