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Put the ring on.

Mr. Todd slipped the ring onto his index finger. “Liquid crystals change color as our bodies change temperature. See? Red is for hot.”

It worked! Red! The ring was r-e-d, red. Red for Romantic. Red for In Love. Red for sure and absolute positive.

“It is hot in here, isn’t it?” said Mr. Todd.

“Red hot,” said Judy. “Hot enough to melt Antarctica.”

“I’m afraid Antarctica is here to stay,” said Mr. Todd. He handed her the ring. “Does that answer your Very Important Question?”

“Yes, yes, yes!” said Judy. “Thanks, Mr. Todd!” Judy dashed out the door. Madame M was back in business. And she was going to predict a future better than ever. Judy kissed her mood ring!

As soon as she reached the bus, she slipped it onto her finger. The ring turned amber. Amber meant Nervous, Tense. She knew what she was nervous about: her Judy Moody best-ever prediction. Before she could tell anybody, she had to figure out who Mr. Todd was in love with. That was not going to be easy.

On Saturday morning, Judy went back to the library. She looked for Lynn, the friendly librarian with the fork-and-pie earrings.

Today, Lynn had skateboard earrings.

“You changed your earrings!” said Judy.

“I do that sometimes,” said Lynn, and she laughed. “What can I help you with?”

“Where are the books that tell you if a person is in love?”

“Well, you know,” Lynn said, “that kind of thing is hard to find in a book. Usually a person just sort of knows. Inside.”

“Just so you know, it’s not for me,” Judy said, turning three shades of red. “I’m trying to figure out if someone else is in love.”

“Ah. I see.”

“You have a million gazillion books. There must be something in here with lovey-dovey stuff. Everybody likes love.”

“Let me think a minute,” said Lynn. “We do have Valentine’s Day books. And love stories.”

“No magic charms? Secret spells?”

“Let’s try the 100’s,” Lynn said. She led Judy right to the love section and pulled a purple book with silver writing off the shelf. The silver writing said, Find Your True Love. Judy opened it up and flipped through the pages. Chapter Five was titled, “All You Need Is a Bowl of Molasses!”

“Molasses! That’s easy! I’ll take it!” said Judy. “Thanks!”

Judy read the book while she waited in line to check out. She read it as she walked home. She read it walking into her house.

In ancient times, staring into a bowl of molasses might reveal the identity of a true love.

Judy went straight to the kitchen and poured a jar of thick, sticky molasses into a bowl. She added some magic words. “Eeny meany chili beany. Who does Mr. Todd love?” She stared and stared into the molasses.

What she saw looked a little like . . . a chicken.

No way! Mr. Todd was not in love with a chicken.

Instead of molasses, people in Egypt looked into pools of ink.

Judy got a bottle of rubber-stamp ink from the desk in the hall. When she poured it into a bowl, all she saw was a big fat mess. And an ink splat on her shirt that looked like Antarctica. Nobody was in love with Antarctica.

Place a dish on a table and drop twenty-one safety pins into it.

She skipped that one. She did not have twenty-one pins, safe or unsafe.

Place a piece of wedding cake under your pillow and dream of the person you’ll marry.

Wedding cake! Where on earth was she supposed to find wedding cake?

You will need a clock and a hairbrush.

Hairbrush! Judy had never met a hairbrush she liked. What did a hairbrush have to do with true love anyway? This love stuff sure was complicated!

Cut out twenty-six squares of paper, one for each letter of the alphabet. Place the letters of the alphabet face down in a bowl of water. The letters that turn face up will spell a loved one’s name.

Bowl of water. Letters. She circled it. She could trick Mr. Todd into that!

Press an apple seed to the forehead and recite the letters of the alphabet. When the seed falls off, that’s the letter of the true love’s name.

Apple seed. She could do that, too! She drew stars around that one.

Light a candle. If the wax drips to the left side, a woman is in love. Right side, a