Fifth-grader Jack Rankin has a plan. He has found the perfect bubblegum, chewed 13 pieces and stuck that enormous wad under the desk. Ha! That'll teach him. You see, Jack's father is the janitor in the school, and he's going to have to clean that gum off. Well, you know the best laid plans of mice and men and fifth-graders sometimes go astray so you can guess who's going to have to work on that gum and some more. How embarrassing that everyone in the junior high knows his father is the janitor. One thing's for sure: Jack isn't going to grow up to be a janitor. As he serves his time on gum duty, however, Jack finds some clues that lead him to a new picture of his father. Ages 9-13 160 pages