Party Poopers (Rotten School, No. 9)

Bernie Bridges has it all figured out. April-May June—the hottest girl in the fourth grade—will ask him to the annual girl-invite-boy school dance. They'll dance the night away, and April-May June will totally fall for him.

There's only one problem: Reality. April-May June doesn't WANT to go with Bernie. She wouldn't go with Bernie even if he was the last guy on earth.

Then Jennifer Ecch—the Nightmare Girl—swoops in and asks Bernie to the dance. Yuck! How can he shake the unshakable Ecch?

Bernie has a plan. He'll convince Jennifer that he is lower than toe fungus and not worthy enough to go to the dance with her. But love is blind. Jennifer loves Bernie—no matter what.

So Bernie has no choice. The time has come to hold a long-distance snot-blowing contest right in front of Jennifer. That should be gross enough to get Jennifer out of his life—shouldn't it?

R.L. Stine has more than 350 million English language books in print, plus international editions in 32 languages, making him one of the most popular children’s authors in history. Besides Goosebumps, R.L. Stine has written other series, including Fear Street, Rotten School, Mostly Ghostly, The Nightmare Room, and Dangerous Girls. R.L. Stine lives in New York with his wife, Jane, and his Cavalier King Charles spaniel, Minnie. Visit him online at rlstine.com.

Trip Park grew up in Ithaca, New York, and went to college at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was first drawn to advertising. He then moved to Chicago, later New York, where he joined advertising agencies and worked on kids’ favorites including Cap’n Crunch, Gatorade, Kellogg’s, and Ronald McDonald. His children’s commercials have won numerous awards. But advertising also brought something equally as rewarding. There he got to work with some of his favorite illustrators. Watching these artists create their pieces inspired Trip Park to try his hand at illustrating himself.

Trip Park has illustrated a number of children's books including Gopher Up Your Sleeve, written by Tony Johnston, Trout, Trout, Trout! (A Fish Chant) and Ant, Ant, Ant! (An Insect Chant), both written by April Pulley Sayre. He has also developed characters and helped animate commercials for Nickelodeon, The California State Fair, Lego, and many others. When Rotten School came along, the opportunity to translate to the drawing board R.L. Stine’s cast of kids was a wonderful chance to combine his love for children’s illustration with this group of rotten students. His work can be seen at www.tripparkproductions.com.

Trip lives in Charlotte, NC with his wife, Laura and four children.