Write On! (6 page)

Read Write On! Online

Authors: Nancy Krulik

BOOK: Write On!
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“She’s even funnier than
me
,” Kadeem added. “And that’s hard to do.”
Suddenly, Katie didn’t feel like a grown-up author. She felt like a fourth-grader who was being laughed at by all her friends. She wanted to get away from everyone.
But how?
As Katie scrambled to her feet, she heard something jingling in her dress pocket. She reached in and pulled out a set of car keys.
Excellent!
For the first time all morning, Katie knew exactly what to say to the kids. “Excuse me, boys and girls. I’ve got to run out to my car and get some of my notes. I’ll be back soon.”
Katie ran out of the auditorium as fast as Nellie Farrow’s feet would carry her.
Chapter 9
As soon as she was out of the school building, Katie whipped Nellie’s eyeglasses from her face. It was good to see things clearly again. She took a deep breath. She was so glad to be out of that auditorium. This had been the most embarrassing morning of her entire life.
Make that the most embarrassing morning of
Nellie Farrow’s
life!
Katie felt really bad. The kids didn’t know that it had been Katie up there. They thought it was Nellie Farrow who couldn’t answer their questions or read a chapter of her own book. They were all laughing at Nellie. They thought she was really weird.
But Katie didn’t have much time to think about Nellie’s problem. At that very moment, a breeze began to blow . . . just around Katie.
The magic wind was back!
The wind picked up speed, whirling and swirling around Katie. Before long it was a full-blown tornado.
“Aaahhhhh!” Katie cried out. The magic wind was blowing so hard, it actually lifted Katie off the ground!
And then it stopped. Just like that.
Katie fell to the ground with a thud. “Ow,” she moaned, rubbing her sore bottom.
“Are you okay?” Katie heard a woman ask her.
Katie opened her eyes slowly and looked up at Nellie Farrow. Nellie was standing right beside her in the school parking lot.
“Um, yeah, I think so,” Katie said as she struggled to stand up.
“Good,” Nellie said. Then she frowned. “I wish I could say
I
was okay. I’m very confused. How did I get out here?”
“Um, you said you were going to your car to get a copy of your notes,” Katie told her.
Nellie thought for a minute. “Did I? I’m not sure. It’s all kind of blurry. I remember talking to your principal on the stage, and then . . . well . . .”
Katie frowned. She didn’t really want Nellie to remember everything about what a mess the presentation had been.
“Everyone’s waiting for you,” she reminded Nellie. She spotted a fresh copy of Nellie’s book sitting on the front seat of the car. “You’d better bring that with you. Your other copy is kind of messed up.”
Nellie shook her head. “This is the strangest school visit I’ve ever made,” she told Katie. “It’s almost as though I were someone else up on that stage.”
Katie sighed. Nellie didn’t know the half of it.
“I’m not sure what I can say to your friends now,” Nellie continued. “I can’t just go up there. I’m at a loss for words!” Tears began to form in Nellie’s eyes.
Katie felt awful. Here she was, talking to her most favorite author in the whole world, and what did Katie do? She made her cry!
Katie had to do something, and fast. But what?
Nellie took a tissue out of her pocket and blew her nose. “I think I just better go,” she said with a sniffle.
“Wait! I have an idea!” Katie shouted. “Maybe you could teach us how to be authors.”
“What do you mean?” Nellie asked.
“Well, we’ve all written stories, but none of them are as good as your books. Maybe if you gave us a few writing tips, we could write a book, too,” Katie suggested.
“Do you think your friends would like to do that?” Nellie asked Katie. “I’ve never given a writing class to fourth-graders before.”
“Oh, I’m sure they’ll like it. Fourth-graders
love
to write,” Katie assured Nellie.
Nellie and Katie walked back to the auditorium together. At first the kids started laughing again when they walked in.
Mr. Kane wasn’t laughing, though. He just looked angry. After all, Nellie did run out on the assembly. Katie gulped. Mr. Kane could get pretty mean when he was angry.
Luckily, everyone seemed to forget about Nellie’s mistakes once she told the fourth-graders about Katie’s idea. They couldn’t wait to get started on their book.
The first thing they had to decide was what their story should be about.
“You said you write about things that happen to you,” Kevin told Nellie.
“I did?” Nellie asked. “Oh, yes. I guess I did.”
“But our lives are boring,” Kevin told her.
“When I write, I begin with people or places I know very well. Then I change them around and liven them up a bit,” Nellie explained.
“Let’s write about our class snake, Slinky,” Emma W. suggested. “He’s nice and really pretty.”
“Ooh, a snake. What a good main character,” Nellie agreed.
“That’s not fair,” Jeremy piped up. “Our class has a pet, too. Fluffy, the guinea pig.”
“Well, why not write a book about Slinky
and
Fluffy?” Nellie suggested. “They could be friends.”
“No way,” Andy Epstein argued. “Snakes
eat
rodents. And guinea pigs are just big rodents.”
“True,” Nellie agreed. “But this is fiction. That means we can make up anything we want. It would be kind of funny to have a snake and guinea pig be best buddies.”
“Yeah,” George shouted out. “We could call the book
Funny Buddies
.”
Katie smiled. Her friends were really excited about their new project. Nellie Farrow’s visit hadn’t turned out to be a disaster at all. It had turned out to be great!
Chapter 10
That afternoon, Katie, Suzanne, and Emma W. were all standing outside the school building, clutching books that had been signed by Nellie Farrow.
Katie loved what Nellie had written in her book.
 
For Katie,
You have great ideas.
Your fellow writer,
Nellie Farrow
 
“That was so much fun!” Emma exclaimed. “I think
Funny Buddies
turned out really well.”
“Can we go visit your mom at work today, Katie?” Suzanne asked. “I want to buy some of Nellie Farrow’s other books.”
Katie was glad that her friends only seemed to remember the good parts about Nellie’s visit. And it was nice to see Suzanne so excited about reading.
Maybe this was a good time to tell Suzanne about her new idea for the website. “I was thinking it would be fun to do a book review site,” Katie said.
Suzanne thought for a minute. “That could be interesting.”
“Can I help, too?” Emma asked.
“Sure,” Katie said. “It’s good to get different opinions.”
“I know what book we should review first,” Suzanne announced.
“Let me guess, a
fashion
book,” Katie said.
Suzanne shook her head. “I think we should review
Only Orangutans Hang from Trees
.”
Finally Suzanne had an idea that they could agree on!
“And
then
we can review a fashion book,” Suzanne continued.
Katie laughed. She knew it. Suzanne was as easy to read as a book.
“Come on,” Katie urged her friends. “Let’s go to my house and get started on our website.”
“What should we call it?” Suzanne wondered.
Katie knew just the perfect title. “We’ll call it
Reading Rocks!
” she said.
No one could argue with that.
Go Bananas!
Orangutans aren’t the only ones who like bananas. Kids love them, too! This yummy banana recipe comes from Katie’s Wednesday afternoon cooking class. You can try making it at home.
S‘More Bananas
You will need:
5 bananas
5 tablespoons semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows
 
Here’s what you do:
1. Ask an adult to preheat your oven to 400ºF.
2. Then ask for help making one slice on each banana skin’s inside curve with a sharp knife. Make sure not to cut the banana itself.
3. Use your hands to loosen the skin a little bit, but leave the ends of the skin together.
4. Tuck one tablespoon of chips and some of the marshmallows between the banana and the skin.
5. Push the skin back together and wrap the banana in aluminum foil. Repeat this for each of the five bananas.
6. Ask an adult to place the bananas on a baking sheet in the oven. Bake them for 10 minutes.
7. Have an adult remove the bananas from the oven. Allow them to cool for a few minutes.
8. Then open the foil, grab a spoon, and dig in!

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