to meet countless ordinary people who do extraordinary things…

to meet countless ordinary people who do extraordinary things… In life we have the opportunity firefighters who protect the lives of others, teachers who inspire the lives of others, yoga instructors who bring peace to the lives of others. Sallie lived in a small town with her mom and her dog, Whiff. Her mom was the proud owner of the only bakery in town called Just for U Cupcakes where the motto was “We may not be able to find an ‘I’ in team, but we can find ‘U’ in a cupcake” where she prided her self in making the bakery experience a personal one. Turn the page to begin this tale of how Sallie Jackson and Whiff use what their nose knows to crack the case of the missing polygons.

“Sallie Christine Jackson, you get your nose in here!” exclaimed Sallie’s mother. “Um…yes, mama?” I replied feeling nervous that I may have forgotten to take Whiff for a walk again. Yikes! “Come on in here and tell your mama these cupcakes smell down right delicious!” her mother yelled. Her mom had a tendency to talk louder and louder the more nervous she got.

Tod ay was a big day for the city of Westman and a bigger day for Just For U Bakery. Mama baked several signature cupcakes for large events in town but today was by far the largest. On this day the small town of Westman would be host to travelling mathematician extraordinaire, Lewis T. Porter, who was fine friends with the mayor and had agreed to come share some of his fancy pants research he had been conducting on polygons with the people of Westman. Everyone was in an uproar. The old drug store clerk said that Porter fellow was the biggest thing to come through Westman since the Oscar Meyer Weiner truck came through over ten years back. I don’t know what the Oscar Meyer Weiner truck is but I hear they have hotdogs and I would sure take some hot dogs over math logs- any day.

Well, its neither here nor there- he’s coming and we’re preparing. Mama made these amazing cupcakes all shaped like one of them polygons that Porter guy’s always writing about. They sure were a sight to see. Everyone in the shop said she really out did herself and they were right. She really had.

It was a little past noon when I heard a scream from the kitchen followed by the clamor of baking sheets hit the floor. I knew this wasn’t a false alarm or a call for smell affirmation. Something must be wrong. I immediately jumped up from the very impressive tower I had been constructing out of coffee creamer and sugar packets and ran to scene of the scream.

There in the kitchen I found mama, hair frazzled and wearing only one black high heel, pans and oven mitts were everywhere and every cabinet door stood opened wide. The place was a mess and come to think of it so was my mother. “What happened in here?” I asked. “Someone. Stole. My. POLYGONS!” screamed my mother at the top of her lungs.

Sometime during the usual brunch rush one of the cooks must have accidently switched the cupcake plates and grabbed the last three polygon cupcakes instead of the three strawberry frosted cupcakes that were now sitting on the counter next to the tray of polygon cupcakes. This was a pretty ironic sight seeing as how the definition of a polygon is a closed figure with straight edges and here were three very round cupcakes and no polygon cupcakes to be found anywhere.

There were few things I knew for sure. I knew that those cupcakes were no longer in the store and had in fact been sold. I knew that this was a job for a nose detective. I knew that this was a job for me. There were plenty of things, however, that I had no idea about Howwas I going to find these unknowing polygon thieves? Was I goingtoarrive in time to save the cupcakes before they were eaten? WouldIretrieve these missing sweets in time for the big Reception for Mr. Fancy Pants Porter? Whiff and I were off in a flash.

Before I left mama told me that the three missing cupcakes were in the shape of a triangle, a hexagon, and a rectangle. We set off first for the triangle. Not only had Mama shaped these cupcakes as polygons but she had also made it so that they all had some taste connection to an everyday situation these shapes appear.

My nose was in search of a triangle cupcake that smelled like her famous slice of apple pie. Whiff and I sniffed high and low and was just about to give up when there it was! BAM! Sugary apple cinnamon filled the air. But where was it coming from?! Just then Whiff took off in the direction of Ms. Jane the prized town lawyer and friend to my mother. He barked and barked at her briefcase as she was heading up the steps to the courthouse and I knew we had found our very first missing cupcake! I explained the whole very long, very detailed account of the missing polygons and she was very understanding.

Now with a recovered cupcake in our carrier and a victory under our belt, Whiff and I set off for our second cupcake which was in the shape of a hexagon. Mother told me this cupcake was honey nut flavored because the honeycombs of bees are crafted in the shape of a hexagon. So it was honey we were after and honey we were determined to find. We had walked a few blocks past the courthouse and were coming up to a crosswalk when the Walk signal cautioned us to cross. Just as we were in the middle of the crosswalk, Mr. Glover the bus driver for the elementary school came to a stop to let us walk past when he opened the door to yell a friendly greeting to me when it happened- my nose filled with the warm aroma only honey can produce. Eureka! We had quite literally walked right into our second missing cupcake. I yelled for him to pull over and explained to him the whole very long, very detailed account of the missing polygons and he was very understanding.

Now with a second recovered cupcake in our carrier and a victory under our belt, Whiff and I set off for our third and last cupcake which was in the shape of a rectangle. Now this one, I knew, would be my favorite to find. Mama told me the rectangle cupcake was smore flavored because the graham crackers of smores are rectangles in our everyday life. Smores…chocolate, cinnamon, marshmallowy goodness! Yes, indeed, I can search for that. In all the time I had spent drooling on myself in anticipation for finding this cupcake I had completely overlooked the fact that Whiff was growing very tired and very hot- not a very productive state for a nose detective assistant to be in so I decided that the best thing for us to do would be to take a break in a very quiet, very cold place. No better place to take a break from heat than the library.

As we are taking our usual stroll around the Children’s section I was just about to round a corner when the subtle smell of marshmallow filled my nose. At first I thought I must be daydreaming again and continued to walk when I smelled again only this time much stronger, much sweeter, much much more chocolatey and it was coming straight from the desk of the librarian, Mr. Stinson. I whispered to him the whole very long, very detailed account of the missing polygons and he was very understanding.

So here we were, me, my trusty nose, and my even trustier Whiff with three of the missing polygon cupcakes for Mr. Fancy Pants Porter- life was good. I returned them back to my mother who was still pacing the kitchen thinking happy thoughts. She was ecstatic that I had found them and so was I. The Porter Polygon talk went well and the people of Westman raved about my mother’s polygon cupcakes. Yet another good deed done in the life of a nose detective.

I still wish we could have had hotdogs though.

In the story, Sallie Jackson introduces us to the mathematical concept of polygons during her quest to find her mom’s missing cupcakes. Where in your surroundings do you see certain polygons? What are some factors of shapes that define them as polygons or non-polygons? Think long and hard and explain your findings to a parent/guardian or a friend. In order to be a detective like Sallie you must know your stuff! Keep your eye out for sneaky polygons– they are hiding everywhere!

to meet countless ordinary people who do extraordinary things…