Pigs, Pies, and Plenty of Problems (Full House: Michelle) - Softcover

Chapter 1

"Thanks for the ride, Dad!" Michelle Tanner told her father, Danny. She gave him a quick hug and hopped out of the minivan. It was Wednesday. Michelle had missed the bus by a second. So, Danny had to drive her to school.

"Don't forget this." Danny handed her a shiny red apple. Last week the whole family went apple-picking. Michelle wanted to bring the best one to her fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Yoshida.

"Good luck, pumpkin!" Danny closed the door and pulled away.

Michelle heard the school bell ring. She saw Jamar Anderson and Jeff Farrington race toward the building.

Oh, no, she thought. I can't be late. Not today!

Today was the day Michelle's class got to pick new seats. Sometimes Mrs. Yoshida liked to change everyone's seats. She said it made things more interesting.

Michelle brushed her strawberry-blond bangs out of her eyes. She hung on to her pink and blue backpack and ran to Room 402. When she stepped inside, she couldn't believe her eyes. Her class looked like a farm!

A scarecrow stood next to the globe in the back of the room. Pumpkins and baskets filled with vegetables were placed on the shelves -- right next to an aquarium and a hamster cage. Photos of different animals covered the bulletin boards. Small stacks of hay lay beneath the blackboard.

A stuffed pig with a name tag that said buddy sat at the corner of Mrs. Yoshida's desk. Buddy looked as if he was reading a copy of Charlotte's Web.

Michelle laughed. She knew one of the main characters in the story was a pig named Wilbur.

The students' desks were set up in groups of four. Almost all the seats were already taken.

Michelle crossed the front of the room to Mrs. Yoshida's desk. She pulled a shiny apple out of her pocket and placed it on the corner. "Good morning," she told the teacher.

Mrs. Yoshida wore blue denim overalls and a red checked shirt. She had short black hair, shining dark brown eyes. "Why, thank you," she said. "I love apples."

Cassie waved to her from the back of the class. "Michelle! Over here! We saved you a seat!"

Cassie and Mandy sat side by side, with Lucas Hamilton in the third desk. Michelle hurried toward the empty seat. Just before she reached it, Jeff Farrington slid into the chair.

"Hey, that's my seat!" Michelle exclaimed.

"Really?" Jeff looked all around it. "I thought it belonged to the school."

Lucas laughed. "Good one, Jeff!"

"Come on, Jeff," Mandy pleaded. "We were saving that seat for Michelle."

"Tough luck," Jeff said. "I can't leave poor Lucas alone at a table full of girls."

Lucas gave him a high-five.

"Please, Jeff?" Michelle begged.

"Here's an empty seat." Mrs. Yoshida pointed toward a desk closer to the front.

"Okay, everyone," the teacher called out. "Let's get settled."

Michelle sighed and took the empty chair across from Erin Davis. She had a friendly face with lots of freckles.

Evan Burger sat next to Erin. Evan was pretty messy. His new desk already needed to be cleaned out!

The girl sitting next to Michelle was new to the class. She had shiny brown hair that hung past her waist. She had big blue eyes. Her cool clothes looked expensive.

"Hi, my name is Michelle Tanner. You're new, right?"

The girl glanced at Michelle. "I just changed schools, if that's what you mean. My name is Rachel Tilly."

Rachel was tall, slim, and athletic-looking. Michelle wondered if she was any good at sports.

"I used to go to a private school," Rachel went on. "It was much nicer than this one. I was captain of the basketball and soccer teams. I had lots of friends, and I made straight A's."

"So what happened?" Evan asked. "Did they kick you out?"

Erin clapped her hand over her mouth and giggled.

Rachel gave Evan a mean look. "My teacher told my dad that I was the best student she'd ever had -- that I was perfect. But my father thought I should know what it's like to go to public school. With ordinary people...like you." Evan scowled at her, then doodled something on his desk.

"Evan was only kidding," Michelle told Rachel. "What you said was kind of mean."

Rachel shrugged. "So what?" She pulled a notebook from her backpack.

Rachel seems perfect at everything, Michelle thought. Everything except being nice. She glanced over at Mandy and Cassie. She wished she was sitting with her best friends.

Mrs. Yoshida called out the roll.

Then José Sanchez raised his hand. "Mrs. Yoshida, how come there's farm stuff all over the room?"

"I'm glad you asked, José." Mrs. Yoshida grabbed a straw hat from her desk and plopped it on her head. "We're going to be talking about farms this week. As you all know, this weekend is the big harvest celebration. Raise your hand if you'll be going to the fair with your parents."

The whole class raised their hands and cheered.

Every year Fraser Street Elementary School hosted a big harvest festival. It was held in a town just outside San Francisco. People came from all over to see the animals, enter in contests, and eat great food.

"Okay," Mrs. Yoshida went on. "Raise your hand if you're entered in a festival contest.

Michelle stared at the apple on her teacher's desk and smiled. She was in the father-daughter apple-pie-baking contest. And Michelle knew she couldn't lose.

Mandy's hand shot up. "I'm going to be in the pig-calling contest," she announced proudly.

"You know how to call a pig?" a girl in the back asked.

Mandy shook her head. "Not really. I saw someone do it on TV once. It looks like fun!"

"Hey, Mandy," Jeff said. "Maybe you can practice on Mrs. Yoshida's pig, Buddy!"

"Would you like to try?" Mrs. Yoshida asked Mandy.

"Sure." Mandy walked to the front of the class. She took a deep breath. Then she leaned back and hollered, "Heeeeere, piggy, piggy, piggy. Soooo-weeeee!"

The kids in the class laughed and clapped.

"All right, Mandy!" Michelle cheered.

Next Mrs. Yoshida called on Cassie.

"I'm going to be in the bubble-gum-blowing contest," Cassie told the class.

"What's that got to do with a harvest festival?" Ronald Persley wanted to know.

Cassie shrugged. "Beats me. They have a watermelon-eating contest, too. But I didn't think I could eat much watermelon. Blowing bubbles is something I know I can do."

Mrs. Yoshida called on a girl near the back of the room. Her name was Karlee Johnson. "I'm not in a contest, but my uncle owns a farm a few hours away," Karlee told the class. He's going to show some of his animals at the fair, and I get to help."

"What kind of animals does your uncle raise?" Mrs. Yoshida asked.

"Cows mostly," Karlee replied. "But he also has goats, some chickens, a few horses, and some pigs. My favorite is a pig called Curly Sue. I named her myself."

Michelle raised her hand. "I'm entered in the father-daughter apple-pie-baking contest with my dad. It's a family tradition," she explained. "Both my sisters, D.J. and Stephanie, won a blue ribbon when they were my age. And I'm going to win one, too. My dad is an awesome cook!"

"How exciting," Mrs. Yoshida said. "Do you have a secret family recipe you're going to use?"

Michelle knew that they would be using Grandma Tanner's secret recipe. She smiled mysteriously and said, "My lips are sealed. But I picked the apples myself."

"Now, that's really baking from scratch," Mrs. Yoshida replied. "Well, Michelle. Good luck!"

"Thanks!" Michelle said. But she didn't really need luck. Nobody ever came close to beating the Tanners in a baking contest. Winning was going to be as easy as pie.

"What are you doing at the harvest festival, Rachel?" Mrs. Yoshida asked.

Whatever Rachel's doing, I bet she'll be perfect at it, Michelle thought. She'll probably win a blue ribbon, too.

Rachel stood up and grinned at the