Lost and Found CHAPTER 1 ALPHABETICAL Jay Grayson was twelve years old, so the first day of school shouldn't have felt like such a big deal. But when he turned the corner onto Baker Street and saw the long brick building, he had to force himself to keep walking toward it. And Jay knew exactly why he felt so tensed up on this Tuesday morning in September: He was a new kid at a new school in a new town. Plus, his brother had stayed home sick today, so there wouldn't be even one familiar face in the whole school. He had to deal with this first day of sixth grade all on his own. Jay's mom had offered to come to school and help get him checked in. "I'm not some little baby, Mom." That's what he had told her. Which was true. So as he walked through the front doors of Taft Elementary School with a small crowd of other kids, Jay tried to look on the bright side. He told himself, This could be a lot worse. Excerpted from Lost and Found by Andrew Clements All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.