Karen's School Surprise

  The author gratefully acknowledges

  Stephanie Calmenson

  for her help

  with this book.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1 Saturday Morning at the Big House

  2 Big and Little

  3 The Coolest Announcement

  4 Grumpy

  5 The Quiz

  6 Look Who’s Happy Now

  7 Heading for the Moon

  8 Nature Quiz

  9 Stoneybrook Stunt Gym

  10 Computer Pals

  11 Shaving Cream

  12 Please Go to Your Rooms

  13 Studio Nine

  14 The Challenge

  15 Blast Off!

  16 Showing Off

  17 Welcome to School Stars!

  18 And the Winner Is …

  19 An Excellent Prize

  20 Going On-line

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Copyright

  Saturday Morning at the Big House

  Ring, ring! It was Saturday morning at the big house. Kristy, my big sister, answered the phone. (It was for her.)

  Ding-dong! Elizabeth, my stepmother, answered the doorbell. (It was the mailman, with a package.)

  Whirr, whirr! Daddy was running the leaf blower in the backyard. (There were autumn leaves everywhere.)

  The big house is always exciting. And noisy. I love it!

  My name is Karen Brewer. I am seven years old. I have blonde hair, blue eyes, and a bunch of freckles. I also have a lot of brothers and sisters.

  “Karen, do you want to make Play-Doh monsters with me?” asked Andrew.

  Andrew is my little brother. He is four going on five.

  “Karen read Emmie story,” said Emily.

  Emily is my little sister. She is two and a half.

  Then Nannie came out of the kitchen. Nannie is my stepgrandmother.

  “Karen, did you say you wanted to bake cookies with me today? I’m ready whenever you are,” she said.

  I am a very popular person.

  “Sorry, everyone. I already have plans with Hannie,” I explained.

  Hannie Papadakis is one of my two best friends. She lives across the street and one house over from the big house.

  “See you later!” called David Michael. He whizzed past us and headed for the door.

  David Michael is seven, like me. He was on his way to meet Linny, Hannie’s older brother.

  “I will see you over there,” I said. I ran upstairs to get my sweater, then headed out the door.

  Honk, honk!

  Sam and Charlie, my older brothers, waved. They were pulling up in Charlie’s old car, the junk bucket. I waved back, then looked both ways and crossed the street. David Michael was heading back in my direction.

  “What’s going on?” I asked.

  “Hannie and Linny forgot they were going to visit their grandparents this morning,” replied David Michael.

  Hannie came running toward me.

  “I am really sorry, Karen,” she said. “I will call you when I get home, okay?”

  “No problem,” I replied.

  David Michael and I walked back to the house together. Andrew and Emily were settled in the den watching School Stars on TV. School Stars is a really cool show. Classes of school kids get to go on TV to answer questions and do goofy things. I have seen kids run through Jell-O. Now some kids were having a relay race while they wore hats with raw eggs on top.

  “Ew! Ew! The egg is dripping down his nose!” said Andrew.

  Emily was giggling.

  “For two points, where in Florida is the space flight launching center?” asked Mr. Stevens, the show’s host.

  “Cape Canaveral!” I shouted.

  “Orlando!” said David Michael.

  One of the contestants answered Cape Canaveral.

  “That is correct!” said Mr. Stevens.

  “Yeah! I got it right!” I cried, jumping up and down.

  “Now for three points, how many esses are in Mississippi?”

  I spelled it out to myself.

  “Four!” I shouted. I even beat the contestants.

  “Three?” said David Michael.

  “The correct answer is four. M-I-S-S-I-S-S-I-P-P-I,” spelled Mr. Stevens.

  By the end of the show I had gotten only three answers wrong. David Michael had gotten only three answers right. Oh, well. Not everyone can be as good at School Stars as me!

  Big and Little

  I bet you already think I have a big family, but you have not even met everyone yet! You see, I have two families — a big family and a little family. And I have two houses — a big house and a little house. This is how it happened.

  A long time ago, when I was still in preschool, I lived in one big house with Mommy, Daddy, and Andrew. Then Mommy and Daddy started fighting a lot. They explained to Andrew and me that they loved us very much, but they did not want to live with each other anymore. That was when they got a divorce.

  Mommy moved with Andrew and me to a little house not too far away from the big house in Stoneybrook, Connecticut. Daddy stayed at the big house. (It is the house he grew up in.)

  Then Mommy and Daddy each got married again. Mommy married a man named Seth. Now he is my stepfather. Daddy married Elizabeth. Now she is my stepmother. And Andrew and I live at both houses — a month at the big house, a month at the little house. Back and forth.

  So these are the people who live at the little house: Mommy, Seth, Andrew, and me. We also have pets. They are Midgie, who is Seth’s dog; Rocky, who is Seth’s cat; Emily Junior, who is my pet rat (I named her after my little sister); and Bob, who is Andrew’s hermit crab.

  You already met everyone at the big house, but in case you forgot who they are I will tell you. They are Daddy and Elizabeth and Elizabeth’s four children from her first marriage: David Michael; Kristy, who is thirteen and the best stepsister ever; and Sam and Charlie, who are so old they are in high school.

  I have one other sister, Emily Michelle. Daddy and Elizabeth adopted her from a faraway country called Vietnam.

  I also have a wonderful stepgrandmother. Nannie is Elizabeth’s mother. She came to live with us to help take care of Emily. Now she helps take care of everyone and we do not know what we would do without her.

  The pets who live at the big house are Shannon, David Michael’s big Bernese mountain dog puppy; Boo-Boo, Daddy’s cranky old cat; Crystal Light the Second, my goldfish; and Goldfishie, Andrew’s you-know-what. Emily Junior and Bob live at the big house whenever Andrew and I are there.

  Guess what. I gave Andrew and me special names. I call us Andrew Two-Two and Karen Two-Two. (I got that name from a book my teacher read to our class. It was called Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang.)

  I gave us those names because we have two of so many things. We have two mommies and two daddies, two cats and two dogs, two families and two houses. We each have two sets of clothes and toys and books — one set at each house. I have two bicycles. Andrew has two tricycles. I have two stuffed cats. Goosie lives at the little house and Moosie lives at the big house. And I have my two best friends. Hannie lives across the street from the big house and Nancy Dawes lives next door to the little house. We are in the same second-grade class at Stoneybrook Academy and we like to do everything together. That is why we call ourselves the Three Musketeers.

  Sometimes being a two-two is confusing. But mostly it is fine. I like it. I am very lucky to have two families who love me.

  The Coolest Announcement

  It was Monday morning. Our teacher, Ms. Colman, had not come in yet. Hannie and Nancy and I were at the back of our classroom talking. I used to sit at the back of the room with t
hem. Then I got my glasses and Ms. Colman moved me up front. She said I could see better from there. And you know what? She was right.

  My friends and I were pretending we were hosting an awards ceremony. We took turns announcing the new arrivals.

  “And here comes Pamela Harding with her good friends Jannie Gilbert and Leslie Morris!” I said. “They are wearing matching denim skirts today.”

  Pamela is my best enemy. Jannie and Leslie are her two best friends.

  “Here come Ricky Torres and his buddy Bobby Gianneli,” said Hannie. “Ricky, as your viewers may know, is Karen’s pretend husband.”

  This is true. Ricky and I got married on the playground one day.

  “And now let’s hear it for the Barkan twins, Terri and Tammy!” said Nancy.

  The kids started pouring in. Addie Sidney rolled into class in her wheelchair. Natalie Springer stopped to pull up her droopy socks and almost tripped Audrey Green who was right behind her. Hank Reubens and Omar Harris were tossing a softball back and forth on the way in. Sara Ford dropped her notebook and Chris Lamar picked it up for her.

  “Wait!” I said into a make-believe microphone. “Here comes our special host, Ms. Colman!”

  The Three Musketeers started clapping when Ms. Colman walked in.

  “Thank you very much, girls,” she said, smiling. “Now if everyone will settle down we can get started.”

  Ms. Colman chose Hannie to take attendance. I wish she had chosen me. I like doing important jobs. But since Hannie is a Musketeer I did not mind too much.

  When she finished, Ms. Colman said seven of my favorite words. (I counted them once.) She said, “Class, I have an announcement to make.”

  “Yes!” I called out. That is because I could tell it was going to be a Surprising Announcement.

  Ms. Colman gave me her you-forgot-to-use-your-indoor-voice look. I know that look very well because I get excited and forget a lot.

  “Sorry,” I said.

  Ms. Colman smiled. (Did I tell you that Ms. Colman is a gigundoly wonderful teacher? Well, she is.)

  “How many of you know the TV show School Stars?” she asked.

  Everyone’s hand shot up.

  “I thought so,” said Ms. Colman. “Well, I found out yesterday that our class might be able to be on the show.”

  “Ye — !” I started to call out. But I covered my mouth instead.

  “Each class that would like to be on the show must take a quiz to qualify. The classes that score the highest will get to be on the show. And if we get to be on the show, we could win a weekend trip to Camp Outer Space. If you would like for us to take the quiz, please raise your hand.”

  Every hand in the room shot up. I was so excited I was bouncing up and down in my seat.

  “Well, I guess it is unanimous then,” said Ms. Colman. “I will contact the show and get the quiz for you to take as soon as possible.”

  I turned and gave Hannie and Nancy the thumbs-up sign. This was one of the coolest Surprising Announcements ever!

  Grumpy

  Nancy’s mother dropped her off at the big house after school. The Three Musketeers had decided to start practicing goofy stunts in case we got to be on the show.

  “I will be right back!” I called.

  We were in the big-house backyard. I ran into the kitchen and came out with three plastic bowls and three plastic cups.

  “Here’s what we are going to do,” I said. “We each have to take a bowl and put it on our heads like this.”

  I put a bowl on my head right-side up.

  “Then we put a cup into the bowl like this,” I said.

  I put a cup into the bowl upside down.

  “I know,” said Nancy. “We have to hop around that tree three times with the bowl and cup on our heads.”

  “And if we drop anything we have to start over,” said Hannie.

  “Get your bowls and cups ready,” I called. “One, two, three, go!”

  We hopped halfway around the tree with the bowls and cups on our heads. Then we started laughing so hard that everything came tumbling down.

  We tried again. We knew we could not start giggling on School Stars.

  It took about ten tries, but each of us finally made it around the tree without dropping anything.

  We tried a few more silly stunts after that. We made a leaf trail on the sidewalk and had to walk it like a tightrope. Then we took turns trying to recite the Pledge of Allegiance with a mouthful of crackers.

  Then it was time for Hannie and Nancy to go home.

  I ran into the house. I had already told Nannie and Emily and Daddy about the show. I was happy when David Michael walked in so I could tell him, too. I wanted everyone to know.

  Only David Michael was not so happy with my news. In fact, he was downright grumpy about it.

  “You always get to do everything,” he said. He went through the list of things I have done and he has not. I knew his list by heart.

  “And you are always winning things, and now you get to go on another cool class trip!” he shouted.

  I remembered the last time David Michael got mad at me like this. It was when my class got to go to the Museum of Natural History in New York to see the dinosaurs. He was in a very bad mood then. He was failing tests in school and he said he hated his teacher.

  “You do not have to shout at me,” I said. “It is not my fault.”

  David Michael stormed off to his room. A few minutes later, Elizabeth came home from work. I told her my news. I figured she would be happy for me and she was.

  “That is wonderful, Karen!” she said.

  “I think so, too,” I said. “But when I told David Michael about it he got grumpy.”

  “I will talk to him and see what’s up,” said Elizabeth.

  She started to go upstairs to David Michael’s room. But he was already coming down.

  I did not want to be in the same room with my grumpy brother, so I went into the den.

  “Hi, David Michael,” said Elizabeth. “How was school?”

  “Here’s how,” replied David Michael.

  I peeked out and saw him hand his mother a piece of paper. “I failed my math test. You need to sign it so I can take it back to school tomorrow.”

  So that was it. David Michael was grumpy because he had failed another test. Hmm. If I were failing tests all the time, I would be grumpy, too.

  The Quiz

  Hannie, Nancy, and I practiced doing silly stunts and watched School Stars together whenever we could.

  Then on a Monday, exactly two weeks after Ms. Colman had made her Surprising Announcement, she came in waving a stack of papers. She had a big smile on her face.

  “I have the quizzes from School Stars!” she said.

  “Excellent!” I cried.

  Oops. I forgot to use my indoor voice again. But this time I was not the only one. My whole class forgot. We all shouted out loud.

  “I know this is exciting, everyone. But the sooner you settle down, the sooner I can tell you about the quiz,” said Ms. Colman.

  She explained that each class that participated would be judged on its performance as a whole. If our class scored high enough, we would be entered into a drawing that would take place soon.

  “And if your class entry is drawn, you will get to compete against another second-grade class on School Stars,” said Ms. Colman.

  To save time, Ms. Colman took attendance herself.

  After she put away the attendance book, she handed out the quiz booklets.

  “You are on your own now,” said Ms. Colman. “I am not allowed to help you. You may open your booklets and begin as soon as I tell you.”

  “Wait, please!” I said. “I need to sharpen my pencil.”

  I sharpened my pencil. A few other kids sharpened theirs, too. Then we sat down again.

  “Is everyone ready?” asked Ms. Colman.

  “Wait, please!” I said. “I need to clean my glasses.”

  I took off my glasses and wiped them w
ith my T-shirt. Then I put them back on.

  “Is everyone ready?” asked Ms. Colman, looking at me.

  “Ready,” I replied.

  “You may open your booklets,” Ms. Colman said.

  The quiz started out with spelling. This was a very good thing for me because I am an excellent speller. I even won a state spelling contest once.

  Each word was spelled three different ways. We were supposed to circle the correct spelling. Here are a few of the spelling words I circled: radiant, separate, lightly, completely. I checked the words carefully, then went on to the math section.

  There was some easy multiplication and division. The only problem I had trouble with was dividing thirty-six by four. To get the answer I drew thirty-six lines on the back of the booklet. Then I circled each group of four lines. When I counted the groups I got the answer. It was nine. (It is a good thing I am a fast speller. Drawing all those lines and counting the groups took a long time.)

  I answered some easy geography and science questions next. Then I turned the page. There were no more questions. In the middle of the page it said, “Thank you for completing the School Stars quiz.”

  “You are welcome,” I whispered. Then I closed my booklet.

  After the quiz, Ms. Colman asked how we thought we had done. The class was very excited. We thought we had done very well.

  “I am glad you feel good about the quiz,” said Ms. Colman. “Just be careful about getting your hopes up. Remember that many other classes are taking the quiz, too.”

  I was not worried. I was sure my classmates and I had done well.

  “School Stars, here we come!” I said to myself.

  Look Who’s Happy Now

  A few days later, David Michael burst into the house after school.

  “Hi, everyone!” he called. “Guess what! My class got a computer. It is a brand-new super-duper, do-everything computer! Now every class in my school has one.”

  David Michael was the happiest any of us had seen him in weeks.

  Hmm. I wished my school had a new computer in every class. We have three computers in one room called the Computer Lab. We have to take turns using them.

  “This is great news!” said Daddy. “Why don’t you come into my office after dinner? We can look at some things on the computer I use.”