When I was a child my mother always read The Ugly Duckling to me and explained how I should never judge a book by its cover. I never really understood what she was talking about - until fourth grade, when something happened that changed my life. I didn't realize it then, but Mrs. Beaker's fourth-grade classroom was a baleful and vindictive place. No one would have known this better than Dexter Doodle. He was the …showed first 75 words of 1024 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1024 total…and I talked until the bell rang, and then walked into our classroom, friends. Dexter is one of my most trustworthy and loyal friends now, and I am not sure how I would survive without him. Not only is he always there for me when time gets rough, but he has taught me the lesson my mother tried to so long ago. "Never judge a book by its cover," because the true qualities lie beneath.