"You guys," said Mallory warningly. "That is not very nice. Remember when the kids here used to call us the Spiders?" "The Spiders?" repeated Jessi, perplexed.

"Yeah, because there are eight of us," explained Vanessa, looking troubled. "Like the eight legs on a spider. We hated that name." "I've been called worse," said Jessi quietly. "You don't even want to know all the names people have called me - and just because of the color of my skin." "What names?" asked Margo.

"Never mind," replied Jessi, sounding tired. "Nothing as cute as Spider, believe me." The Pike kids stared at their hands, their shoes, the floor. None of them could look at Jessi.

"Name-calling isn't very nice at all," Claire finally said in a small voice.

"No. It isn't," agreed Mal. "It hurts people's feelings." " 'Silly-billy-goo-goo' doesn't hurt people's feelings, though," said Claire. "I'm not being mean when I say 'silly-billy-goo-goo.' " (Claire just loves to call people that name.) "No, you're just being a jerkhead - just being silly," Nicky corrected himself.

"How about going over to the Hobarts' to play with the boys?" suggested Mal. "I bet they'd like to know that not every kid around here is going to be mean to them. We could go as friendly neighbors." The younger Pike kids glanced at each other. Jessi and Mal could tell they felt guilty about having called the Hobarts the "Crocs." "Okay," said Byron. "Let's go." "I think you'll have fun. Maybe you'll learn something about Australia. It's not that different from the United States, you know. The kids speak English and they do lots of the same things you do," said Mal.

"Like what?" asked Nicky, as Jessi and Mal led the kids out of the house and Mal locked the door behind them.

"Like ride bicycles," replied Mal, "and go skateboarding and take ballet lessons and collect stickers and listen to music. They even dress the way we do. Jeans and stuff." "Oh!" said Vanessa, looking surprised.