Three Cheers for...Who? Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Copyright Page

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  About the Author

  About the Illustrators

  For Amanda and Ian, three cheers for both of you!—N.K.

  For Beth—Hip! Hip! Hooray!—J&W

  GROSSET & DUNLAP

  Published by the Penguin Group

  Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,

  New York, New York 10014, USA

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  Text copyright © 2011 by Nancy Krulik. Illustrations copyright © 2011 by John & Wendy. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. S.A.

  Library of Congress Control Number: 2010017222

  eISBN : 978-1-101-48599-6

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  Chapter 1

  “I wonder if Mom got peanut butter crackers,” Emma Weber said as she, her brother Matthew, and her friend Katie Carew walked home after school on Wednesday afternoon.

  “I love peanut butter crackers,” Matthew said. “They would definitely make me feel better. Recess was bad today. I struck out in kickball.”

  Katie understood. Striking out in kickball was a big deal when you were in first grade.

  “Peanut butter makes all your troubles disappear,” she told him.

  Suddenly, the kids heard some loud yelling from Emma W.’s backyard.

  “Let’s get rough! Let’s get mean! Let’s roll over the other team!”

  “That’s Lacey and her friend Rachel,” Emma W. explained. “They’re practicing for a cheerleading competition.”

  “They’re always practicing,” Matthew said. “And they practice really loud.”

  “You’re so lucky to have a sister who is a high school cheerleader,” Katie told Emma W.

  “Yes,” Emma W. agreed. “And Lacey is really good at it. It’s just that ...”

  “Lacey never stops cheering,” Matthew said, finishing his sister’s sentence.

  As the kids headed into the Webers’ backyard, Lacey and her friend started a new cheer.

  “You might be good at baseball or running ’round a track. But when it comes to basketball, you’d better jump back!” the girls shouted. Then they leaped up in the air with their arms and legs spread apart. “Go Cherrydale!”

  “Wow!” Katie exclaimed. “That was awesome.”

  Lacey shook her head. “No, it wasn’t,” she said. “We didn’t land at the same time, and Rachel’s right leg was crooked.”

  “It was not,” Rachel told Lacey. “It was a perfect X jump.” Rachel looked over at Emma W., Katie, and Matthew. “Wasn’t it?”

  Katie had no idea what an X jump was. So she just said, “I thought it looked good.”

  “Here it comes,” Matthew said quietly.

  “Good isn’t good enough,” Lacey said angrily. “This cheer has to be absolutely perfect. We’re going to be in a statewide competition. We can’t win if we’re just good.”

  Oops. Katie frowned. Maybe good was the wrong word to use.

  “I meant exciting,” Katie said. But Rachel and Lacey weren’t listening to Katie anymore.

  “Let’s do it again,” Lacey told Rachel. She pulled her red and white pom-poms to her chest.

  As Lacey and Rachel started the cheer again, Katie followed Emma W. and her little brother into the house.

  “I am so sick of hearing cheers,” Matthew groaned as he threw his backpack onto the kitchen counter.

  Katie understood. A few months ago, her mom had started taking tap-dancing classes, and she went nuts practicing.

  “I wish Lacey would stop cheering forever!” Matthew exclaimed.

  Uh-oh. Matthew had just made a wish. That was sooo not good. Wishes could be trouble. No one knew that better than Katie.

  Chapter 2

  It had all started back in third grade on one really, really rotten day. First, Katie had missed the football and lost the game for her team. Then she’d fallen in the mud and ruined her favorite pair of jeans. And then, just when she thought things couldn’t get any worse, she’d let out a burp in front of the whole class. And not just any burp. A huge burp. A real record breaker.

  That night, Katie had wished she could be anyone but herself. There must have been a shooting star flying overhead when Katie made her wish, because the next day the magic wind came. The magic wind was a wild, powerful tornado that blew just around Katie. It was so strong that it could blow her right out of her own body and into someone else’s.

  The first time the magic wind came it turned her into Speedy, the class hamster. Katie had spent the whole morning stuck in a cage. She was really glad the magic wind returned to switch her back into her own body before her friends realized it was Katie on that hamster wheel, wearing nothing but hamster fur!

  The magic wind came back again and again after that. It turned Katie into lots of people and animals. And every time Katie switcherooed, she really made a mess of things.

  Like the time the magic wind switcherooed Katie into a hairdresser named Sparkle. Katie didn’t know the first thing about cutting hair, so just turning into a hairdresser would have been bad enough. What made it worse was that Katie’s best friend, Suzanne Lock, was the person getting her hair cut. Boy, did Katie make a mess out of Suzanne’s head!

  Sometimes Katie’s switcheroos could be pretty gross. Once she turned into a reindeer with big, hairy lips. Another time she became her class snake, Slinky, just as he was shedding his skin.

  The magic wind was the reason Katie didn’t make wishes anymore. She knew what kinds of weird things could happen if they came true.

  But Matthew didn’t know that. And Katie wasn’t going to tell him. He wouldn’t believe her, anyway. So instead, Katie just said, “You don’t really wish that, Matthew.”

  “Katie’s right,” Emma W. added. “Cheerleading makes Lacey happy. We want her to be happy.”

  “I guess,” Matthew agreed. “But why can’t she be quieter while she’s being happy?”
>
  Emma W. laughed. “Hey, let’s see if Mom got peanut butter crackers,” she said.

  “Mom!” Matthew called out. “Do we have any crackers?”

  Mrs. Weber came running out from the laundry room. “Matthew, you know not to yell when the twins are taking a nap,” she scolded.

  “Sorry,” Matthew apologized. “I’m very hungry.”

  “School can do that to you,” Mrs. Weber said with a smile. “Hi, Katie,” she added. “I didn’t even hear you kids come in.”

  “You can’t hear anything with Lacey cheering so loudly,” Matthew complained.

  Mrs. Weber laughed and handed out peanut butter crackers to each of the kids.

  Just then, Katie heard some loud crying coming from upstairs.

  Emma W. frowned. “I guess Tyler and Timmy are done with their naps.”

  Mrs. Weber sighed. “I’d better go change them.”

  “Wah! Wah!” the twins cried.

  “I’m coming, boys,” Mrs. Weber shouted.

  “D-D-D-Defense, take that ball away!” Lacey and Rachel cheered from the backyard.

  Wow. It sure was noisy at Emma W.’s house. It was never like this at Katie’s house. Katie didn’t have brothers or sisters. It was just her, her parents, and her dog, Pepper. It was usually pretty quiet at the Carews’ house, and most of the time that was nice. In fact, it was pretty great being Katie Carew—when the magic wind let her stay that way.

  Chapter 3

  “Everybody on your feet! Cherrydale High can’t be beat. Dribble it. Pass it. We scored a basket! Go Cherrydale High!”

  Katie leaped up into the air and bent her right knee, sort of like the jump Rachel had done the day before. Emma W. spun around and shook her hands in the air, pretending she was waving pom-poms.

  “You guys are so cool,” Miriam Chan said.

  A bunch of girls were in the school yard, watching Katie and Emma W. before school began.

  “Good jump, Katie Kazoo,” Mandy Banks said, using the way-cool nickname Katie’s friend George had given her back in third grade.

  Katie nodded. “It’s hard doing that.”

  Zoe Canter jumped up in the air and gave it a try. Oomph. Instead of landing on her feet, she landed on her rear end. “I see what you mean.”

  “You almost had it,” Emma W. assured Zoe.

  Just then, Suzanne walked over to where the girls were all standing.

  “I’m so glad everyone is here,” Suzanne said. “Look! I have a new leopard-print backpack.” She turned around so everyone could see it.

  But the girls were all too busy talking about cheerleading to care about Suzanne’s backpack.

  “You remember that funny basketball cheer?” Katie asked.

  “Oh yeah,” Emma W. said. “Salt makes you thirsty and pepper makes you sneeze ...”

  “When it comes to shooting baskets, we drive you to your knees,” Katie said, finishing the cheer.

  “What’s so funny about that?” Suzanne said. “I think it’s dumb. What do salt and pepper have to do with basketball, anyway?”

  “It’s just a rhyme,” Katie told her. “And it’s got a good beat.”

  “Since when are you and Emma W. cheerleaders?” Suzanne said.

  “We’re not,” Katie said.

  “My sister is,” Emma W. explained. She leaped up and did a split in midair. Her back leg was bent but her front leg was straight.

  “That’s called a herkie,” Emma W. said.

  “It looked kind of jerky to me,” Suzanne said. “Now, my backpack, that’s really something to cheer about.”

  “Sure. Whatever,” Mandy said.

  “Do they ever do flips or cartwheels in their cheers?” Becky asked Emma W.

  “I think so,” Emma W. said. “They’re working on new routines because there’s a big statewide competition coming up.”

  “Teach us a cheer,” Zoe said.

  “The defense cheer is pretty easy,” Emma W. told the girls. “It’s mostly clapping and stamping your feet.”

  All the girls lined up behind Emma W. Well, almost all the girls. Suzanne never lined up behind anyone. She liked to be in front.

  “D-D-D-Defense! D-D-D-Defense!” Emma W. and Katie shouted out.

  “D-D-D-Defense!” the other girls cheered back.

  Suzanne stomped off angrily toward the school building.

  Uh-oh. Katie knew for sure that Suzanne would find some way to make sure everyone was paying attention to her again.

  And that meant a good D-D-D-Defense was exactly what Katie was going to need.

  Chapter 4

  “Can’t wait for the bell to ring. Makes my hips start to swing. School rules! Yay school!”

  Katie walked into the school yard the next day just in time to see Suzanne leading a cheer. Behind her were Becky, Miriam, and Zoe. They were wearing white shirts with the number 4 and the letter B in red felt pinned to the front. They each held a pair of white, plastic pom-poms.

  “We’re the 4B pom-pom squad,” Suzanne informed Katie. “I’m the captain.”

  “Cool,” Katie said. “Can I join?”

  Suzanne rolled her eyes. “You obviously didn’t hear me, Katie. I said we’re the 4B pom-pom squad. You’re in 4A.”

  Katie looked at Suzanne. It was clear that Suzanne was still really mad at Katie for taking all the attention away from her backpack yesterday. Katie didn’t understand why Suzanne always made such a big deal out of little things.

  “Suzanne, sometimes you can be such a baby,” she said.

  “Can a baby do this?” Suzanne jumped up and bent her back leg, just the way Katie had done yesterday. Only, instead of landing on her feet, she tripped over her shoelace and slammed into a tree. “Ouch,” Suzanne groaned.

  “Are you okay?” Katie asked.

  “Of course,” Suzanne said. “I meant to do that.”

  Somehow Katie doubted that. But Suzanne wasn’t as hurt as Katie was. Starting a pom-pom squad that Katie couldn’t be on was so mean. And Suzanne had definitely meant to do that.

  “Get that Jell-O, grab some meat! 4B’s eaters are hard to beat!”

  Katie heard Suzanne and the rest of the 4B pom-pom squad cheering as soon as she walked into the cafeteria. They were cheering while the 4B boys piled food onto their trays.

  “A cheer for lunch?” Emma W. asked Katie.

  “Take a milk or maybe juice! When it comes to lunch, 4B can’t lose.” Suzanne waved her pom-poms in the air as she cheered wildly.

  “Why is she doing this?” Emma W. asked.

  “Why does Suzanne do anything?” Mandy asked.

  “I don’t know,” Katie admitted. “But I can’t wait until she stops.”

  All day, no matter where Katie went, the 4B pom-pom squad was cheering about something.

  On her way to the bathroom, Katie heard a cheer coming from the 4B classroom:

  “Manny, Manny, he’s our man. If he can’t divide, no one can!”

  And then, when 4A played 4B in volleyball, the girls in 4B kept shouting:

  “Bump it. Set it. Spike it! That’s the way we like it! Go class 4B!”

  Some of the 4B pom-pom girls even cheered during band practice.

  “Jeremy’s got the beat, gonna bring us to our feet,” Becky shouted. “Other instruments are just plain dumb. Come on, Jeremy, bang that drum!”

  Kevin Camilleri laughed. “Yeah, Jeremy,” he said in a high, girly voice. “Bang that drum.” He batted his eyelashes up and down.

  “Kevin, cut it out,” Jeremy said.

  Katie felt bad for Jeremy. Everyone knew Becky had a huge crush on him.

  Katie was really glad when Mr. Starkey said, “Becky, no instrument in a band is dumb. They’re all equally important.”

  “Well, some are more equal than others,” Becky said.

  “That doesn’t even make sense,” Kevin told Becky. “Equal means all the same.”

  “Exactly,” Mr. Starkey said. “And as far as I’m concerned, every musician in this ban
d is a star. So let’s make some music!”

  Katie was very happy to pick up her clarinet and start playing the opening to the band’s new song, “Doo Wah Diddy Diddy.” The music would definitely drown out any cheering.

  At least for now.

  “Hurry up, Katie,” Jeremy urged as Katie left school at the end of the day. “I don’t want Suzanne and the rest of the pom-pom squad to follow me home.”

  “Suzanne’s making you nuts, too?” Katie asked as she and Jeremy turned the corner and headed down the block.

  “It’s awful,” Jeremy said. “They were actually cheering for Sam McDonough when he went into the bathroom.”

  Katie made a face. She didn’t even want to think about what that one sounded like.

  “Doesn’t Suzanne ever cheer for any of the girls?” Katie asked Jeremy.

  He shook his head. “She can’t,” he said.

  “Why not?” Katie asked him.

  “Because all of the girls in our class are on the 4B pom-pom squad,” Jeremy explained. “That just leaves us guys to cheer for.”

  Unfortunately, Katie sort of felt like all the problems in class 4B were her fault. After all, she was the one who had been cheering in the school yard yesterday. But Katie and Emma W. had just been having fun. They weren’t trying to drive people crazy or anything.

  Driving people crazy was more of a Suzanne thing. And she did it better than anyone.

  Chapter 5

  The next day at school was no better. As class 4A walked down the hall to the library, class 4B was heading toward the art room. Suzanne started to wave her pom-poms the minute she spotted Katie and Emma W.

  “Grab that brush. Add some paint. If it’s not 4B art, then art it ain’t!” the 4B pom-pom squad cheered.