Kendra Spanjer

When Aldo Zelnick's painter grandmother gives him a sketchbook to use during summer vacation, he starts to fill it in with pictures and text, even though he thinks that being artsy is uncool at first, in a book featuring vocabulary starting with A.

Twelve-year-old Aldo Zelnick receives a sketchbook from his grandma and fills it with drawings that recount his adventures with his friends, including their efforts to find a diamond ring with a thousand dollar reward.

Aldo envisions himself as Albert Einstein and plans to dress as the scientist for Halloween until he realizes that his performance in Spanish class may be jeopardizing his best friendship with his bilingual pal, Jack.

Aldo's birthday is on February 14th, and this year he is determined to have a party with no reminders of the Valentine's Day holiday.

"Just how humdrum is 10-year-old Aldo Zelnick's life right now? So humdrum that he sets out to measure which January day will be the most boring. So humdrum that Jack and Bee succeed in getting him to try some weird hobbies. So humdrum that his recurring Hawaii dream has become way more enticing than real life. So humdrum that even unathletic Aldo agrees to downhill ski with his superjock brother, Timothy -- and finds that hotdogging it on the slopes...

Aldo and his friend, Jack, find a fossil in the neighborhood ditch.