The Notebook of Doom #5: Whack of the P-Rex (A Branches Book)
Author: Cummings, Troy
Date: 2014-08-26
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.

of
Troy Cummings
The
The
Doom
Whack
Notebook
P-REx
of

Whack of The
P - REX
by Troy Cummings

scholastic.com/branches

table of contents
Chapter
1
: Bed Bugged 1
Chapter
2
: falling into step 6
Chapter
3
: Swept Up 13
Chapter
4
: showstopper 20
Chapter
5
: shake on it 28
Chapter
6
: cracked up 33
Chapter
7
: hole in the wall 37
Chapter
8
: sticky situation 45
Chapter
9
: battle plans 51
Chapter
10
: follow the leader 56
Chapter
11
: don’t lose your head 60
Chapter
12
: blind side 65
Chapter
13
: keR-Plooie! 70
Chapter
14
: Playtime! 74
Chapter
15
: stomp, chomp, and roll 80
Chapter
16
: Feeling Antsy 85

To Mason. If I had to rank my nephews,
you’d definitely be in the top two.

Thank you, Katie Carella and Liz Herzog, for helping me hack away at this
until we got to the sweet surprise.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage
and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented,
without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc.,

Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cummings, Troy, author.

Whack of the P-rex / by Troy Cummings.

pages cm. — (The Notebook of Doom ; 5)

Summary: When Alexander and his friends find a very large footprint and piles of candy everywhere, they realize the school
is being threatened by a Piñata-saurus Rex, a sweet-tasting monster who likes to smash things—and they find that the
solution may be as near as a broken ant farm.

ISBN 0-545-69895-2 (pbk.) — ISBN 0-545-69896-0 (hardcover) — ISBN 0-545-69897-9 (ebook) 1. Monsters—Juvenile fiction.

2. Ants—Juvenile fiction. 3. Elementary schools—Juvenile fiction. 4. Friendship—Juvenile fiction. 5. Horror tales. [1. Monsters—

Fiction. 2. Ants—Fiction. 3. Schools—Fiction. 4. Friendship—Fiction. 5. Horrorstories.] I. Title. II. Series: Cummings, Troy.

Notebook of doom ; 5.
PZ7.C91494Wh 2014
813.6--dc23
2013050556
e-ISBN 978-0-545-69897-9
Copyright © 2014 by Troy Cummings

All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.

SCHOLASTIC, BRANCHES, and associated logos are trademarks
and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

First Scholastic printing, September 2014

Book design by Liz Herzog

1
chapter
Bed
Bugged

A lexander watched the six-legged creature
creep out of its tunnel. It wiggled its antennae.

Then it lifted a big white crystal above its shiny
black shell.

Alexander leaned in. There were a hundred
more of these things crawling around.

“Hey, kiddo,” said Alexander’s dad. “Is that an
ant farm?”

“Yeah,” said Alexander. “We’ve been studying
ants all week for science class. Our farms are
due tomorrow.”
“Look at them go!” said
Alexander’s dad. “All those
legs and antennae! And those
sharp jaws! They give me the
willies!”

Alexander smiled. “They’re just ants, Dad!”
“I know, Al,” his dad said. “But they are so
creepy!”
Alexander had seen things much creepier
than bugs since moving to Stermont. He had
seen monsters! Slimy, drooling,
chomping, honest-to-badness
monsters! The town was
full of them.

“Creepy or not, your ant farm is awesome,” his
dad said. “I’m super proud of you, Al.”
Alexander smiled. “Thanks, Dad!” He gave his
dad a good-night squeeze and
climbed into bed.
“Sleep tight!” said Alexander’s
dad. He pointed to the ant
farm. “And don’t let the
bedbugs bite!”

Alexander waited for his dad to close the door.

Then he reached under his pillow and pulled out
an old notebook. He had found
the notebook on his first day
in Stermont and had been
studying it ever since. It was
filled with drawings and
notes about monsters.
Alexander started to open
the notebook — but then froze. He could hear
the faint
SKRITCHH, SKRITCHH of the ants digging
around. Or, at least, he thought he could.

Well, he thought, maybe ants are a little creepy.

He buried his head under his pillow.

Why are you walking like
a zombie?”
Alexander knew that gruff-sounding voice
without looking up.
“Good morning, Rip,” he said. “I’m trying to
keep my ant farm from shaking. I don’t want to
mess up the tunnels!”

“Yeesh,” said Rip. “It’s just a box of bugs. Who
cares?” He gave his ant farm a toss in the air.

Alexander kept his eyes on his ants.

2
chapter
Falling
into Step

“Oh, great,”
said Rip. “Here comes
another zombie — and this one’s
wearing a hoodie!”

Nikki shuffled into view, holding her ant farm
at arm’s length.

“Go kiss a balloon goon, Rip!” she said.

Alexander laughed. Rip and Nikki were his
two best friends, and this was about as good as
the two of them ever got along. Together, the
three friends were the only members of the

Super Secret Monster Patrol — the S.S.M.P. They
went to school by day and battled monsters
by night. And morning. And late afternoon.

Weekends, too.

“You guys can take baby steps to school if
you want,” said Rip. “But I’m not going to creep
around like a sleepwalking zombie because of
some weenie ants! That’s just — Oooh! Candy!”

Alexander peeked over his ant farm. Pieces
of candy lay scattered all over the sidewalk. Rip
was on his knees, scooping up as much candy
as he could.
“Don’t eat that!” said Alexander. “You don’t
know where —”
“Too late!” said Rip. He popped a lemon
sucker in his mouth. “Wow! Super sour!”

“Was there a parade?” said Nikki. “Sometimes
people throw candy from parade floats . . . and
look! There are strips of paper — like
confetti — near the curb.”
Alexander thought for a
moment.
“I think we would have heard
if there had been a parade,”
he said. “Especially a parade
where something crashed
into a pole!”

Alexander pointed up
to a nearby lamppost.

Rip gave his sucker a
slurp. “Yow. It’s totally
wrecked.”

“This lamppost was
fine yesterday,” Alexander said.

He took a step back to look at the damage.

“That means — WHOA!”

Alexander stumbled and fell backward. Into
a huge hole.

“Salamander!” Nikki yelled. “Are you okay?”
Salamander was Alexander’s nickname. His
friends called him that when they were joking
around, doing homework
together, or helping him
climb out of a big hole.
“Oh, no!” said
Alexander. He held
up his ant farm. The
glass was cracked and
the sand was shaken up.
Alexander slid the ant farm into his
backpack. “Sorry, ants,” he said. “I didn’t
even see that hole.”
“Uh, Salamander . . .” Rip said.
He crunched off the rest of his
sucker and pointed to the
ground with the stick.
“That’s no hole. It’s a
giant footprint!”

3
chapter
Swept up

That footprint
was as big as a kiddie
pool!” said Alexander.
He lagged behind Rip
and Nikki as they walked
up the hill toward school.
His nose was buried in the
notebook.
“What could have made such a supersized
footprint?” asked Rip.
“It had to be a monster,” Alexander said. He
flipped to a page with sticky purple thumbprints
along one side. “Listen to this, guys.”

HABITAT
That strip
of grass between the
sidewalk and the street.
Cute little critter with ENORMOUS feet!
TRAMPLE HAMSTER

Trample hamsters
wear a size 340.
SHOE-IN!
Anything flat
and round. Pancakes,
tortillas, baloney slices.
Trample hamsters
dislike geese.
Waddle around honking to avoid
getting flattened.
DIET
WARNING!
Trample hamsters love
stomping things flat with their
perfectly round, elephant feet.
BEHAVIOR

Alexander closed the notebook. “Hmm . . . I’m
not sure if our footprint maker was a trample
hamster.”

“Let’s ask the oldest member of the S.S.M.P.,”

said Rip, pointing.

“Him?” said Nikki. “He never wants to help.”

They watched a tall, shaky, white-haired man
push a tall, shaky, white-haired broom in front
of their school.

“Hi, Mr. Hoarsely,” said Alexander.

Mr. Hoarsely was the school secretary. He was
also the bus driver, the nurse, the gym coach,
and today: a janitor.

“Oh, hi,” said Mr. Hoarsely. “Ugh! Kids can
be so messy! Someone spilled candy on the
sidewalk!”

“Candy?” said Alexander. He and Nikki gave
each other a look.
“Don’t mind if I do!” said Rip. He jumped in
front of Mr. Hoarsely’s broom to snatch a piece
of bubble gum.

“So, Mr. Hoarsely,” said Alexander. “We, uh,
stumbled across a huge footprint on the way to
school. Do you think there could be a trample
hamster in town?”
“Well, trample hamsters do have big feet,”

said Mr. Hoarsely. “They make round footprints,
and — HEY! We had a deal! You run the S.S.M.P.

now! My monster-fighting days are over!”

“But —” said Nikki.

SHISHHH! Just then, the school doors slid open.

A huge bug-eyed ant monster peeked out of
the doors. It had a hard shell, long antennae, and
a mean-looking mouth.

“Eep!” Mr. Hoarsely dove into a trash can.

The monster’s head turned slowly.

“I’ve been looking for you three!” it said.

Actually, it wasn’t an ant monster popping
out the doors. It was Alexander’s teacher, Mr.

Plunkett. He was wearing a full-body ant suit.

“Happy Ant Day, students!” he said. “Head
to the auditorium right away. We’re having a
surprise assembly!” He handed Alexander a
red flyer.
4
chapter
Showstopper

“Oh — and, Alexander,” said Mr. Plunkett,
chuckling, “did something follow you out of the
bathroom this morning?”

“Huh?” said Alexander.

“You’ve got toilet paper stuck to your shoe,”

said Nikki.

Alexander looked down. Sure enough, a white
strip of paper trailed behind his heel. He tore it
off and tossed it in the trash.

“Okay, sticky foot,” said Rip. “Let’s head to
the auditorium and get this over with.”

Alexander followed his friends into Stermont

Elementary, which used to be Stermont Hospital.

“This building has an auditorium?” he asked.

They came to a set of doors.

“Yeah,” said Nikki. “This used to be the room
where doctors could watch other doctors do
surgery.”

“Ugh. We’re going to need surgery on our
brains after sitting through Plunkett’s Ant Day
assembly,” said Rip.

The three friends sat in the back of the
crowded auditorium. A moment later, the lights
went out. Rip tossed a piece of bubble gum into
his mouth.

Mr. Plunkett came onto the stage in his ant
suit. He was wheeling out something tall and
flat, covered by a sheet.

“Good morning, Stermont Elementary!” Mr.

Plunkett said. “Every year, I have my students
keep ant farms. And every year, I collect those
ant farms. But where do I put all the ants?”

The crowd was silent. Rip
snapped his gum.

Mr. Plunkett smiled.

“I add them to THIS!”

He yanked away the sheet, revealing a glass
rectangle the size of a billboard. The glass
was filled with sand. The sand was filled with
tunnels. And the tunnels were filled with ants.

Millions of them.

“A giant ant farm?!” said Alexander.

“That’s no farm,” said Nikki. “That’s an ant
city!”

The crowd cheered. Until a voice shouted
from offstage: “STOP!”

Everyone gasped as
Principal Vanderpants
charged onto the stage.
Mr. Plunkett took a few
steps back.
“How dare you bring
these insects into Stermont
Elementary!” said Ms. Vanderpants.
“Especially after what happened to our
old school!”
Alexander looked over to his friends. Nikki
shrugged. Rip was busy blowing a bubble.
“I, um, er —” Mr. Plunkett said.
“You said that this assembly would be
educational,” Ms. Vanderpants said. “But instead
you’ve brought in millions of pests! Move this
project outside, behind the school!”

She faced the audience. “Students, you’ll
have lunch early today — bring your backpacks.

Afterward, you will have science class outside,
on the playground.”

The students cheered, louder than before.

Mr. Plunkett’s antennae drooped as he dragged
his ant farm offstage.

“Now,” Ms. Vanderpants continued, “I will be
giving you a surprise spelling quiz.”

The cheering stopped.

“Your first word is —” She paused.

Then she pointed to the back
row. “Ripley Bonkowski,”

she growled. “No gum
in school!”

POP!

After the world’s
longest spelling quiz,
the students headed
to the cafeteria.
“Aw, rats,” said
Nikki. “I miss
having pie for
lunch.”
Alexander, Rip,
and Nikki sat at
their usual table.
Alexander pulled his lunchbox out of his
backpack. It was covered in sand from his
cracked ant farm. “Hey, Nikki,” he said, “I packed
some strawberry gummies for you.”

5
chapter
Shake ON IT

“Thanks, Salamander.” Nikki smiled, flashing
her sharp-looking fangs. She was secretly a
monster — a good monster — called a jampire.
Jampires loved red, juicy treats.
Alexander brushed off his lunchbox and
flipped it open.
AAAAAGH! He jumped out of his
chair.
Rip and Nikki
peeked inside the
lunchbox. It was
full of ants. Most of
them were crawling
around on the red
gummies.
“Looks
like ants
really do
love the sweet
stuff,” Rip said.
“Were those ants in your backpack?” asked
Nikki, taking an ant-free gummy.

“They must have crawled out of my cracked
ant farm,” Alexander said. “So much for that
science project.”
Alexander sat back down. He checked his
sandwich for bugs. There were none. He took
a bite as he watched the ants march out of his
lunchbox.
“Cheer up!” said Rip. “It’s not like Plunkett
needs any more ants! There were a zillion in
his giant ant farm!” He tossed Alexander a
peppermint.
Alexander made a yuck-face. “Is this more
sidewalk candy?”

“Yep!” said Rip. “I still have a few pieces left!”

“Uh, no thanks,” Alexander said. He scooted
the peppermint back to Rip. “We really need
to figure out what kind of monster left that
footprint! I don’t think it’s a trample hamster
since the footprint wasn’t round. But it still must
be big enough to —”

There was a thundering rumble as the whole
building shook for a few seconds. The cafeteria
grew quiet.

“What was that?” asked Rip.

“Was that an earthquake?!” asked Nikki.

This is Principal Vanderpants.
You may have noticed a minor vibration.
This shaking was likely caused by
bulldozers at our new school building
down the street. There is no reason
to panic.
Alexander shook his head. “It —”
He was interrupted by the loudspeaker.
Alexander watched the
ants scurry down the table
leg and out of sight. “I think
those guys have the right
idea,” he said.

Class outside is going to
be awesome!” said Rip.
Alexander slid his sandy lunchbox into his
backpack. “As long as we don’t get squashed by
the huge-footprint-leaving monster,” he said.

Alexander, Rip, and Nikki followed their
classmates to the playground.

Rip stopped walking and started laughing.

“What?” asked Alexander.

“Second time today!” he said. Rip pointed to

Alexander’s left foot.

6
chapter
Cracked
Up

Alexander looked down. A pink square of
paper clung to his shoe. He rolled his eyes and
tore it off.

“Line up, everyone!” Mr. Plunkett shouted.

He had set up his ant city near the jungle gym.

“Have your ant farms out! It’s time to move your
ants into their new home!”

Alexander watched as the other students
gave Mr. Plunkett their farms, filled with ants.

Finally, it was his turn.
“Let’s see what you’ve
got!” Mr. Plunkett said.
Alexander handed
over his cracked ant
farm. Sand spilled
to the ground. A
single, dizzy ant
ran along the frame.

“Uh, sorry,” said Alexander. “It kind of broke.”

“Well,” said Mr. Plunkett, “one ant is better
than none.” He added Alexander’s ant to his ant
city. “Welcome to Antville, little guy!” he said.

Then he turned to the class. “Alexander’s ant
farm may have cracked,” he said. “But that won’t
happen to Antville!”

TOCK TOCK TOCK! He tapped
the thick glass. “A wrecking ball couldn’t crack
this baby!”

Mr. Plunkett nodded toward the school. “I
wish I could say the same for this place!”

Alexander looked up and gasped.

An enormous crack ran down the
side of Stermont Elementary. At the
bottom of the crack, there were two
wide holes.
“More giant footprints!” whispered
Alexander.
“And check it out!” said Rip, pointing.
“Another pile of candy.”
“The earthquake at lunch —” said
Nikki.
“Come on, Nikki, we know it wasn’t
an earthquake,” said Alexander. “It
was the huge-footprint-making monster
attacking our school!”

Alexander kept looking over his shoulder on
the walk home.

“Keep your eyes peeled,” he said. “The
monster could still be nearby!”

“So, what kind of monster is it?” Rip asked. “It
must be enormous!”

Alexander shook some sand out of the
notebook. “Here’s a super-big one,” he said. He
read the page aloud.

7
chapter
Hole in
the wall

Bricks, glass,
and steel.
SKYSCRAPER
-
SCRAPER
DIET
HABITAT
50-story-tall snail,
covered in spikes.
49-story-tall
buildings.

Skyscraper-scrapers
always come in last place.
SLOWPOKE!
WARNING!
This monster grinds its
spiky shell against tall buildings. It
eats whatever falls off.
BEHAVIOR
Skyscraper-scrapers
are only afraid of
one thing: French
chefs. Carry a
spatula and say
“BONJOUR” a lot to
stay safe.

“What do you think, guys?” Alexander asked,
shutting the notebook.
“I don’t know,” said Rip. He popped a
chocolate drop into his mouth. “That snail-thing
attacks skyscrapers, not lampposts and grade
schools.”
“Good point,” said Alexander. “I wonder if —”
BBOOOOMMMM!!!
The ground shook. A trash can fell over.
Its lid rolled down the sidewalk, stopping at
Alexander’s feet.
“Did you feel that?” Alexander asked.
The air was still. In the distance, a woman
was jogging with her dog.
“Over there! Behind the roller rink!” said
Nikki. She pointed to a roundish building
nearby.
They watched birds
scatter from behind the
roller rink. The trees
were shaking.

Rip swallowed. “That must be —”

BBOOOOMMMM!!!

The trees shook even more. And then —

A terrible, lizard-shaped
monster rose above the
roller rink. It was partly
hidden by trees.

Alexander squinted.

“Is that a DINOSAUR?”

he asked.

“I think so!” said Rip.

GRRAAARRR!

Just then, the jogger
bounced past, talking
to her little dog. “Some
strange weather
we’re having!
Huh, Sniffy?”
She jogged off,
smiling.

“The dinosaur-thing is right there,” said Nikki.

“How could she not have seen it?!”

“Hold on — it’s moving!” said Rip.

The monster dropped down behind the big
roller rink.

Alexander started running toward the rink.

“Come on, guys! We need to get a closer look!”

They ran over and peeked around the edge
of the building.

“Where’d that dino-thing go?” asked Nikki,
looking around.

“I don’t know,” said Rip. “But look what it
did!”

A huge hole had been smashed into the
back wall of the roller rink. There were gigantic
footprints everywhere. Hundreds of candies lay
scattered about.

“That dino-thing is definitely our building
basher,” said Alexander.

“But what’s with the candy?” asked Nikki.

“We’ve seen gobs of it next to everything this
monster has smashed.”

“Maybe it’s bait,” said Alexander. “Maybe the
monster throws candy around to trap the kids
who eat it.”
“In that case,” said Rip, “let’s scram!” He
pocketed a jawbreaker.
“Yeah. And I should get home. It’s almost
dinnertime,” said Alexander. “But tomorrow’s

Saturday. Let’s meet at S.S.M.P. headquarters,
first thing in the morning!”

“To make battle plans!” said Rip.

“Yes! And in the meantime,” said Nikki, “try
not to get stepped on!”

Alexander looked back at the extra-extra-
extra-large footprints. Then he ran home.

Al! You’re home!” said Alexander’s dad. He
was on the front porch, reading the latest issue
of Captain Cuspid. “How did everything go with
your ant farm?”

“Ant farm?” Alexander asked, looking over
his shoulder. “Oh! I forgot about that.”

“Really?!” said his dad. “What could make
you forget something so important! I bet your
ant farm was a big smash!”

8
chapter
Sticky
Situation

“Uh, yeah,” said Alexander, “you could say
that.” His eyes darted to the swaying treetops
across the street.

Alexander gulped. “Dad, uh, can we go inside
now?”

“Sure thing, Al!” his dad said. “Just as soon as
you get that paper off your shoe.”
Alexander blinked.
“Not again!” he said. He pulled the strip of
paper from the bottom of his shoe.
This time, the paper
was bright green,
and covered in
sticky purple
goo. This isn’t
toilet paper,
he thought.

He touched the goo and gave it a sniff: sour
grape. Taffy? he thought. More candy! This must
be connected to the dino-monster . . . but how?

Alexander looked at his sticky, purple finger.

He gasped. Purple thumbprints!
He dashed upstairs to his room. He opened the
notebook to the trample hamster pages. Purple
thumbprints ran along one side. He sniffed. The
page smelled grapey. The next two pages were
stuck together by purple taffy! He carefully
peeled the sticky pages apart.

“Aha!” he shouted.

(Piñata-saurus Rex)
The P stands
for “piñata,” like
the colorful paper
container you bust open
at your cousin’s birthday
party. Except this
piñata is the size
of a T-rex.

P-rexes are friendly to
smaller piñata monsters.
HOWDY!
They don’t eat
anything. That’s because
they’re full of candy!
Whack a P-rex before it
whacks you! Here’s how:
DIET
WARNING!
P-rexes love smashing
things. The bigger, the smashier!
HABITAT
BEHAVIOR
Outdoors. They’re way too big
to come inside.
(PSSST! SWEET SURPRISE INSIDE!)
Wear a blindfold and spin
around three times.
Watch it
break open!
Wallop the P-rex
with a stick.

Alexander closed the notebook. Everything
made sense now: the giant footprints, the piles of
candy, the smashed buildings — even the paper
stuck to his shoe.

He couldn’t wait to tell Rip and Nikki!

Alexander raced through the woods bright
and early the next morning. He came to an old
caboose: the S.S.M.P. headquarters. He rushed
inside.
Nikki was studying a map of Stermont. Rip
was eating a peanut butter cup.
“Gross, Rip!” said Alexander. “Did you find
that on the ground, too?”

Rip nodded. “Yup. Next to a flattened mailbox.”

“I wouldn’t eat it if I were you. That candy came
from our latest monster!” warned Alexander.

Rip swallowed. “Say what?”

9
chapter
Battle
plans

Alexander whipped out the notebook. “Look!

I found the monster last night. It’s right here!” he
said. “It’s a piñata monster!” He showed the P-rex
pages to Rip and Nikki.

“A piñata?” asked Nikki. “Like the kind you
break open at birthday parties?”

“Yeah,” said Alexander. “And this one wants to
break things open all over Stermont.”

Rip poked the P-rex drawing, leaving a
chocolate smudge on its belly. “It sounds like
this monster will be easy to beat: We tap it with
a stick, and —
POW! — sweet-surprise time! We’ll
have a lifetime supply of candy!”

“But the P-rex is enormous!” said Nikki. “How
can we hit it without getting smashed?”

“The notebook says the P-rex is nice to little
piñata monsters,” said Rip. “Too bad we don’t
know any.” He snorted.
Alexander clapped Rip on the back. “That’s
it!” he said. “We can fool the P-rex! We’ll become
a little piñata monster!”

“Huh?” asked Rip.

“Here, I’ll show you,” said Alexander. He flipped
over the map of Stermont and started sketching
on the back.

“Great plan,
Salamander!” said
Nikki. She pulled out a box
of art supplies. “It’s burro-building time!”

T
he rainbow-colored
paper Battle Burro wobbled
to its feet. Seconds later, the three
voices inside began to argue.
“You really think this costume will fool the
P-rex?” asked Nikki.
“Yes, definitely!” said Alexander. “Probably!
Well . . . we’ll see.”

10
chapter
Follow the
leader

“You mean you’ll see!” said Rip. “We’re totally
blind back here!”

“If it makes you feel better,” said Alexander, “I
can barely see through these noseholes.”

“That does not make us feel better,” said Nikki.

The Battle Burro tromped through
the woods. It was awkward at first, but
after a few stumbles, Alexander, Rip,
and Nikki began marching as one
six-legged donkey.
“Are we there yet?” asked Rip.
“Not far now,” said Alexander. “We’re
almost out of the woods. . . . Here comes
the sidewalk. . . . Okay, turn left NOW!”
The Battle Burro made a wide left turn, and
somehow didn’t fall over.

“So, if the notebook is right,” said Nikki, “we
just walk up to the P-rex, spin around three
times, and whack it?”

“Exactly,” said Alexander. “Oops — birdbath
ahead! Swing right!”

“But how will we find the P-rex?” asked Rip.
Alexander put on the brakes, causing Rip and
Nikki to bonk heads.
“Uh, that should be easy,” he said.
Through the Battle Burro’s two noseholes,
Alexander could see a path of smashed trees,
broken fences, and tilted lampposts. The path
was stamped with P-rex tracks that led straight
to Stermont Elementary.

GRRRAAAAARR!”

“That sounds loud — and
close,” Nikki whispered from
the belly of the Battle Burro.
Alexander squinted through the costume’s
peepholes.
“We’re here,” he said.
They stood in the school parking lot. It was
empty, except for one school bus. Behind the
bus, Alexander could see the long crack running
down Stermont Elementary. He turned his
shoulders, craning the Burro’s neck around. He
could see a mound of shaggy, colorful stuff.

11
chapter
Don’t lose
your HEAD

“What do you see?” asked Rip.

“It looks like . . . a big leaf pile,” said Alexander.

He gasped. It wasn’t a pile of leaves. It was the
monster’s foot.

“Guys,” he whispered. “We found the P-rex.”

Alexander tilted the Burro’s head back to get
a better look. The P-rex was covered in colorful
strips of paper. It also had tiny arms, a long tail,
and teeth the size of tombstones.

BOOM. BOOM.

The P-rex took two giant steps away. Alexander
felt the ground shake with each step.

“I don’t think it saw us,” whispered Alexander.

“What’s it doing?” asked Rip.

“I think it’s . . . playing,” said Alexander.

The P-rex picked up the empty school bus and
pushed it around like a toy.

“Hmm . . .” said Alexander. “Let’s make our
move now, while it’s distracted.” He lowered the

Battle Burro’s neck into charge position. “Ready?”

The Burro’s head bobbled as it tiptoed toward
the P-rex.

“Attack now?” asked Nikki.

“Not yet,” said Alexander. “We need to get a
little closer.”

CRUNCH! Alexander stepped on a crackly candy
bar.

The P-rex looked up, growling. It
squeezed the bus in its claw. The stop
sign popped out.

“Guys!” Alexander shouted.

“It sees us!”

The friends froze.

The P-rex tossed the bus aside and stomped
over to the Battle Burro. It leaned down, sniffing
the Burro’s head.

The monster’s snout blocked Alexander’s
peepholes. The inside of the costume went dark.

Alexander tugged a string
in the Battle Burro’s
jaw. The Battle Burro
smiled.
The P-rex smiled
back.
“Looks like our plan
worked,” Alexander whispered. “The P-rex thinks
we’re a little piñata monster!”

“Yes!” Nikki whispered.

“HA!” Rip shouted. “WHAT A DUMMY!”

The P-rex stopped smiling.

“Rip,” said Alexander, “I think it heard —”

GLOMP!

The P-rex clamped its jaws around the Battle

Burro. And ripped its head off.

The P-rex looked confused by the strange
creature at its feet. It had the body of a colorful
piñata, and the head of an Alexander Bopp.

“Uh, howdy,” said Alexander. He gave a little
wave.

The monster roared, firing pieces of candy
from its mouth.

12
chapter
Blind side

Alexander’s cheeks stung as he got hit with
flying jellybeans. The P-rex raised its huge foot
above what was left of the Battle Burro, ready to
stomp.

“ATTACK!” Alexander shouted to his friends.

Alexander, Rip, and Nikki tore out of the
costume.

They rolled to the side, just as the P-rex’s foot
came crashing down.

“BLINDFOLDS ON!” Alexander shouted.

Rip and Nikki pulled the bandanas down over
their eyes. They each spun around three times.

Then they ran in different directions, swinging
their sticks like battle-axes.

Alexander circled the P-rex, shouting orders
to his blindfolded friends.

“Rip, swing left! I mean, right! Nikki — duck!”

The P-rex didn’t know whom to chase. It spun
around, nearly swiping Nikki with its heavy tail.

WHIFF! Rip took a swing and missed.

“Guys!” Alexander yelled. “Just
come — oof!”

The P-rex snatched
up Alexander.

“Salamander?!” called Rip.
“GAHHH!” Alexander cried out as the P-rex
squeezed him in its claws.
The monster lifted him up
to its open mouth. The
P-rex’s breath smelled
like the inside of
a trick-or-treat
bag: mint and
peanut butter and
sour grape and
chocolate.
Rip yanked off
his blindfold. He
ran over to the P-rex
and began punching
its pinkie toe.
PLOFF!

Alexander kicked the monster in the snout.
Colorful bits of paper flaked off its nose.
The P-rex looked back at him, frowning.
Alexander shouted down to Rip. “This big
loud monster really is just made of paper! We
can shred it! Go get Nikki!”
Rip found Nikki. She was still blindfolded,
attacking a trash can. He led her
back to the P-rex. The monster
leaned down, about to grab Rip.
“Hit it, Nikki! NOW!”
Alexander shouted.
Nikki gritted her fangs
and swung her rake handle
hard.
WHACK! The end of her
stick connected with the
P-rex’s belly. Then Alexander
went flying through the air.

Alexander rolled to the ground. He was shaken
but not hurt. A billion bits of paper rained down
from the sky.

Nikki tore off her blindfold. “Where’s the

P-rex?” she asked. “I can’t see through all this
paper!”

“This paper is the P-rex!” said Alexander.

“You busted it!”

13
chapter
Ker-
Plooie!

“Salamander,” said Rip, “let’s invite a P-rex to
your birthday party next Leap Year! We can —”

Suddenly, Rip froze.

“Wait! Where’s all the candy?” he asked.

“The notebook said we’d have a sweet surprise!”

The falling confetti was starting to thin out.

“Uh, Rip,” said Nikki. “I found the candy.”

“Oh, good!” said Rip, standing up. “Where?”

A monstrous skeleton — made entirely of
candy — was standing where the P-rex had been.

It had sharp candy cane claws, glowing fireball
eyes, and jagged peanut-brittle teeth.

“The P-rex’s skeleton!?!” yelled Alexander.

Rip’s eyes doubled in size. “It looks like a . . .

candy-saurus!”

The candy-saurus whipped its licorice tail at

Nikki. At the end of the tail was a jawbreaker the
size of a boulder. Nikki leaped away, just as the
jawbreaker crushed the upside-down school bus.

“Run! Its tail is stuck in the bus!” said Rip.

Alexander, Rip, and Nikki darted across
the parking lot. The pavement was blanketed
with shredded paper and chunks of candy.
They crouched down behind a bike rack.
“Yikes,” said Alexander. “This is the biggest
monster we’ve ever —”
SPLONK!
He was interrupted by the sound of a falling
school bus.

Alexander peeked over the bike rack. The
school bus had been smashed into the ground.

But the monster was nowhere to be seen.

“Where did it go?” asked Rip.

“The monster took one look at you and ran!”

said Nikki.

“I’m sure that enormous candy-saurus wants
to smash bigger things than us,” said Alexander.

“Things like —”

KARRRROOOOOMM!!!

The ground shook hard enough to rattle

Alexander’s bones.

14
chapter
Playtime!

“The candy-saurus must be behind
the building!” yelled Nikki.

KARRRROOOOOMM!!!

The crack in Stermont Elementary grew a
little larger.

“Come on!” said Alexander. “We can’t let
this monster flatten our school!” They rushed
around to the back of the building.

The candy-saurus was near the playground.

It bared its teeth as it pounded the school with
its jawbreaker tail.

“Look at those claws! And that smashy tail!”

said Nikki.

“It is scary looking,” said Rip. “But it’s kind
of slow.”

Alexander turned to his friends. “We can
bring this thing down. Follow my lead!”

He sprinted across the playground and raced
up the slide.

“Hey, fossil face!” he shouted. “Quit smashing
our school!”

GRAAAAARRRRR!!!

The candy-saurus stomped toward the slide.

It lunged at Alexander.

SNAP!

Alexander dodged its bite. He zipped down
the slide, kicking the monster in
the knee.

CRONK! A hunk of hard candy flew off its
kneecap.

The monster took a step back.

Rip pumped his fist. “Take that, toffee brain!”

he yelled.
Then Rip jumped down onto the seesaw. The
opposite end flew up and —
POW! — socked the
monster in the jaw.
The candy-saurus’s fireball eyes rolled in
their sockets. But the monster picked Rip up
and pinned him against the tetherball pole.

It smacked the tetherball
with its tail.
WHAP! The ball
twirled on its cord, binding
Rip in place.
“Leave him alone!” yelled
Nikki. She sailed high on the
swing set, kicking the candy-saurus right in its
peanut-brittle teeth.
The monster turned to Nikki, took a deep
breath, and —
BLAAAPPP!! — shot a stream of
purple taffy from its nose.

Nikki tried to run, but the goo hardened
around her legs, fixing her to the four square
court.

Alexander looked to Nikki, then to Rip. Both
of his friends were trapped.

The candy-saurus leaped onto the merry-
go-round. It slowly spun around, keeping its
glowing red eyes locked on Alexander.

Careful, Salamander!”
cried Rip, tied to the
tetherball pole.
“Keep away from its tail!”
shouted Nikki, glued to the
blacktop.
“Okay!” said
Alexander. He
zigzagged through
the playground. The
candy-saurus snapped
at his heels, smashing
through the playground
equipment.

Stomp, Chomp,
And roll
15
chapter

Alexander wriggled into the jungle gym. The
candy-saurus reached in with its sharp claws.

“Oh, no! Salamander’s trapped!” said Nikki.

“I can’t watch this!” said Rip. “Where’s my
blindfold when I need it?!”

Alexander looked around from inside the
metal dome. Everything on the playground was
wrecked. Except for Antville.
Candy-cane claws grabbed at Alexander
through the bars. Then the monster stuck out
its red gummy tongue.
He has a red gummy tongue . . . thought

Alexander. Just like the gummies I brought for
lunch! Alexander looked at Mr. Plunkett’s giant
ant farm. Ants love the sweet stuff. . . .

“I’ve got an idea!” he called to Rip and Nikki.

“Watch out!” cried Nikki.

GRARRRRR!
The candy-saurus raised its foot above the
jungle gym.
Alexander scrambled out from between the
bars just as — CLANK!— the monster flattened
the jungle gym.
Alexander sprinted between the candy-
saurus’s legs. He skidded to a halt near Antville.

“Run, Salamander!” shouted Nikki.

Alexander planted his feet.

“What are you doing?!” yelled Rip. “Keep
moving!”

Alexander looked into the monster’s fiery
red eyes. “Take your best shot, monster.”

GRAH-HA-HAAAR!

The candy-saurus’s roar sounded like a laugh.

Then it swung its wrecking-ball tail at Alexander.

WHOOSH!

Alexander ducked. He could feel the rush of
wind as the jawbreaker shot over his head.

WHACK! The monster’s heavy tail slammed
into Antville. The giant ant farm exploded. The
playground was covered with sand and wood.

And, of course, ants.

A gazillion ants
streamed out of
Mr. Plunkett’s broken
ant farm.
“GRAAAR?”
The candy-saurus
picked up one foot. Then
the other. Soon it was doing a
little dance.
Within seconds, the candy
monster was up to its gumdrops in ants.
The candy-saurus roared one last time
before it was completely covered
with hungry ants.
feeling

Antsy
16
chapter

Alexander untied Rip from the tetherball
pole.
Thousands of ants chomped away at the
taffy that was holding Nikki down. She ran over
to Alexander and Rip.

“Guys, look!” Alexander said.

The candy-saurus was
gone. The ants had eaten
the entire monster, from
snout to tail. All that was
left was a single sourball.
“I wonder why the ants didn’t eat that,” said
Nikki.
Rip picked it up, brushed it off,
and — GLOMP! — popped the sourball
into his mouth.
Alexander and Nikki stared at him.
“What?” said Rip. “Candy is candy!”
Alexander and Nikki looked at Rip again.
He swallowed. “What?!” he said. “So it came
from a monster! No big deal.”

“I guess we’ll find out,” said Alexander. He
took the notebook from his backpack and —
“YOU THREE!” shouted a voice.
Ms. Vanderpants came storming across the
playground.
“Explain yourselves!” she said.
“Uh, we didn’t do this,” Alexander said. “At
least, not all of it!”
Ms. Vanderpants frowned. “I know you
didn’t do this,” she said. “But you shouldn’t be
on school grounds on a Saturday. We’re dealing
with a major” — she glanced at the crack in the
building — “pest problem.”

“Um, sorry, Ms. Vanderpants,”
said Alexander. He turned
to his friends. “We
were just leaving.”
They got out of
there.
“Pest problem?!” said Nikki. “What was that
about? And besides — she should be thanking
us! We saved the school!”
“Totally!” said Rip. “The S.S.M.P. bashed the
mighty P-rex and licked the candy-saurus!”

“Yeah!” said Alexander. “It was pretty sweet!”

He grabbed his pencil and made a new entry.

CANDY - SAURUS

HABITAT

A giant dino-skeleton made of candy.

Inside a P-rex!

Candy-sauruses dance
when covered in ants.
BOOGIE!
DIET
BEHAVIOR
WARNING!
It doesn’t eat much,
but candy flies out
of its mouth when it
roars.
Smashy-smashy!
Either end is trouble.
Taffy-blasting
nose
Jawbreaker
tail

has no tail, no wings, no fangs, no
claws, and only one head. As a kid,
he believed that monsters might
really exist. Today, he’s sure of it.
Prunes! Squishy, slimy,
wrinkly prunes. YUM!
Keep your eyes peeled for
more danger in The Notebook of Doom #6:
Troy Cummings lives in Indiana,
a state that’s shaped like a
monster.
Few people believe that Troy Cummings is
real. The only proof we have is that he supposedly
wrote and illustrated The Eensy-Weensy Spider
Freaks Out!, and Giddy-up, Daddy!
TROY
CUMMINGS
BEHAVIOR
DIET
HABITAT
EVIDENCE
This creature likes losing
to his kids at board games.
WARNING
Pop Bumpy mummy
of
the

QUESTIONS & ACTIVITIES!

scholastic.com/branches

Reread page 45. Alexander’s dad says, “I bet your ant
farm was a big smash!” Explain how this sentence has a
double meaning to Alexander.

How does Alexander know that the latest monster is
not a trample hamster or a skyscraper-scraper? List
these monsters’ characteristics that are similar to and
different from the characteristics of the P-rex.

What was the sweet surprise Rip expected to find
after defeating the P-rex? Did he find what he thought
he’d find?

What was the S.S.M.P.’s plan to fool the P-rex? Did it work?

Why or why not?

If you had to encounter a monster, which monster would
you choose to run into? A trample hamster, a skyscraper-
scraper, a P-rex, or a candy-saurus? Use the information
from the book to explain your answer.

scholastic.com/branches
www.scholastic.com/readinglevel