CHAPTER 1

Queen Ellie

It was just another day in the city of Winkopolis. Bees buzzed. Kids crawled. Daddies chuckled. Everyone was busy doing the same old ordinary things. Everyone, mind you, but the girl who lived at 8 Louise Lane.

That girl was Ellie Ultra. At Winkopolis Elementary School, she was busy writing down facts about bees quicker than a hummingbird in a rocket-powered racecar. It was extraordinary.

“Bees have two antennae, six legs, and two pairs of wings,” Ellie’s friend Hannah read off the computer. “Their wings beat two hundred times every second. That’s why bees go bzzz.”

As part of Friday’s science activity, their teacher, Miss Little, had brought the third graders to the library. They were doing a web quest to learn about the buzzy bugs.

“Got it!” Ellie exclaimed, writing everything on their worksheet. She wrote so quickly her pencil started to smoke, so she blew out the tip.

“Wow! You wrote that fast!” Hannah said with a smile. “Your pencil was on fire — literally!”

Ellie smiled too. Her superpowers came in handy at school. Hannah never minded when Ellie used them. She had even seen Ellie save their class from slobbery alien blobs. Hannah wasn’t a superhero, but she was a super friend.

As her pencil cooled off, Ellie scanned the paper. “The next quest question is: What do bees make?”

“Honey, of course,” Hannah answered. “The website says beeswax too.”

“Earwax?” Dex, one of their classmates, interrupted. He poked his nose between them. “Ewww!”

Ellie glared at Dex. She might have been the only superhero in third grade, but she still had an archenemy — Dex Diggs. Dex was a regular kid, but he was super annoying. Ellie was sure he was secretly an evil mastermind.

When they’d first met, Dex had made a rotten pineapple face. When Ellie had accidentally kicked a hole in the soccer net during gym class, Dex had called her “Super Blooper.” He never stopped being mean, even after Ellie had rescued him from becoming a space pet.

“Mind your own beeswax, Dex,” Hannah replied.

But Dex hovered around like a pesky mosquito until Miss Little shooed him back to his seat. Then she made her way to the front of the class.

“Girls and boys, you are doing a bee-utiful job of finding bee facts,” Miss Little said. “Before you continue, Ms. Bumble wants to talk to you about a different kind of bee — the Winkopolis Elementary School Spelling Bee!”

Ellie perked up. The spelling bee was less than two weeks away! Ellie couldn’t wait. After all, she was a superhero — she was sure she’d be a super speller too! And with her super skills, she’d definitely win first place. After all, she could spell trouble — T-R-O-U-B-L-E. And she could spell villain — D-E-X.

Ms. Bumble, the substitute librarian, came out from behind the checkout desk. She was filling in for the regular librarian, Mr. Soto, who’d had to go out of town suddenly.

Ellie watched as Ms. Bumble smoothed her sweater. It was black and yellow and fuzzy all over. The sweater should’ve made her look warm and cuddly. But something about her seemed as prickly as the Porcupine, one of Winkopolis’s super-villains.

As Ms. Bumble spoke, her dark eyes darted left and right. “Only the top three people from each classroom will compete in the spelling bee. You will try out on Monday, so study your list of wordzzz!”

With that, the substitute skittered away. The thin hairpins on top of her head twitched as she went.

“Wordzzz?” Ellie repeated. Maybe Ms. Bumble had something caught in her throat.

Hannah spun around. “Did you hear that? We only have two more days! Have you been studying the word list?”

“Sort of,” Ellie replied. She had looked at the list last Friday when Miss Little had handed it out. “What about you?”

“Yes!” Hannah squealed. “I really want to get into the spelling bee. Whoever wins practically rules the school.” She gazed off dreamily. “What if I was Spelling Bee Queen?”

“That would be great.” Ellie was trying to stay friendly. But who was Hannah kidding? Nobody could beat Queen Ellie, leader of L-E-T-T-E-R-S.

Ellie imagined herself on a throne made of ABCs. She’d eat alphabet soup and spell out commands.

Suddenly, Hannah let out a noisy sigh. Ellie’s daydream went P-O-O-F.

Hannah grabbed her hair and started braiding nervously. “I probably won’t win though,” she said. “I’m not a very good speller . . .”

“Attention, students!” Miss Little said before Ellie could reply. “I’d like to give you the answer to question eight on your worksheet. Let’s call it a free-bee.” She laughed to herself.

Everyone leaned forward, pencils at the ready.

“The question is: Which animal is a bee’s predator? Here’s a hint — the animal is our school mascot.”

It’s a badger! Ellie thought. She’d known that ever since School Spirit Day. Miss Little had brought in a badger puppet, which the class had named Fuzzball. In the auditorium, there was also a banner that read Winkopolis Elementary School — Home of the Badgers! hanging proudly across the stage.

“And the answer is . . .” Miss Little opened her teacher’s bag and pulled out a furry animal with a striped face. “A badger!”

The whole class gasped, then burst into laughs and hollers. Ellie giggled. Using her X-ray vision, she could see that it wasn’t a real badger. Miss Little was holding Fuzzball!

Just then, Ms. Bumble zipped around the bookshelf. One look at the badger puppet, and she stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes bugged. Her sweater puffed. Her hairpins stood on end.

Bzzz! The substitute flew out of sight, straight into Mr. Soto’s office.

Miss Little scratched her head. “I wonder why Ms. Bumble had to leave so quickly,” she said. Everybody just shrugged.

“She’s as busy as a bee!” Owen joked. He cracked himself up and snorted.

Again, the room exploded into laughter.

“All right, class,” Miss Little said, putting Fuzzball away. “Let’s settle down and get back to work.”

As everyone got quiet, Ellie’s brain buzzed. Why had Ms. Bumble been so spooked? Ellie shook her head. Who knew? Sometimes, grownups were cuckoo bananas.

Suddenly, Hannah lit up. “Hey, I have an idea!” she said. “Do you want to come over this weekend? We could study the spelling words together. What do you say, partner?”

Ellie thought about it for a minute. She always had a great time at Hannah’s. They had fun putting sparkles on their nails and snacking on fancy finger foods. But studying spelling words? That sounded B-O-R-I-N-G.

“I don’t know . . . I don’t really feel like studying,” Ellie replied.

Hannah frowned. “Oh, okay.” She turned back to the computer and started braiding her hair again.

On her imaginary throne, Ellie sank a little. She felt guilty about saying no. But why would she need to study? She was going to rule the contest.