No Biz Like Show Biz

by Nancy Krulik

  And maybe, if she was really lucky, the magic wind would come back soon to turn her into Katie again.

  Chapter 10

  No such luck!

  That was all Katie could think as the curtain went up on the dress rehearsal.

  There was no way the magic wind was going to come back now that everyone was onstage. The magic wind only came when Katie was all alone.

  “One, two, a one, two, three, four!” Mr. Starkey shouted as he started to play his piano.

  “Miriam, go,” Ms. Sweet said, gently pushing Katie out onto the stage. “It’s your entrance.”

  Katie gulped as she did her best to dance onto the stage, whirling and twirling the way she thought Miriam was supposed to do it.

  “Winter rocks,” Katie sang out. She paused for a minute, trying to remember the next words of Miriam’s song.

  “Don’t stop,” Mr. G. called to her. “Just keep going. If you can’t remember, make something up.”

  “Winter rocks, like, um . . . a fox in socks. Or snowballs in a box,” Katie sang in a shaky voice.

  “Snowballs in a box? What’s up with her?” she heard Kadeem say to George.

  “She’s not hitting any of the right notes, either,” Kevin added, loud enough for Katie to hear. Thank goodness the Winter Chorus began to sing with her. At least now no one could hear what a mess she was making of the words.

  But everyone could see that Katie didn’t know any of the dance moves. She kept banging into the scenery and the other actors.

  “Ow!” George shouted out. “Miriam, you just kicked me in the leg.”

  “Sorry,” Katie told him.

  “George, you have to stay in character,” Suzanne shouted at him, trying to sound like a real actress. “Snowmen don’t have legs.”

  “Well, this one does,” George told her angrily. “And Miriam just kicked my right one.”

  Mr. Guthrie sighed heavily. “Let’s move on, everyone. Miriam, keep singing.”

  But Katie didn’t want to sing. She wanted to cry. Or run away. Or something. Anything but sing and dance on that stage. She just stood there, frozen.

  “Remember,” Jeremy whispered to her. “Picture everybody in their underwear.”

  Katie tried; she really did. But even picturing her teacher in his boxers didn’t make her any less scared.

  Just then, Kadeem, all dressed up in his dark gray Wicked Wind Monster costume, whooshed onto the stage. He waved his arms around wildly. “Here I come, freezing everything in sight,” he howled. “That’s good news for you, Snowman.”

  “Brrr . . . Thanks for the help,” George answered.

  “Snowman, you’re one cold dude!” the chorus began singing to a rock beat. “But that Wicked Wind is really rude. The lakes are frozen and the mountains, too. So what are we supposed to do? Our tears will freeze if we start to cry. Oh, look, here come some of your pals falling down from the sky . . .”

  Just then Suzanne raced onto the stage in her snowy white tutu. Behind her she dragged a long line of kindergartners.

  Katie moved out of the way as Suzanne and the younger kids began to twirl around.

  “We’re snowflakes, and we—” Suzanne began.

  “Oomf,” Katie exclaimed as she banged the back of her head into one of the wooden pine trees that she had placed in the corner of the stage.

  Crash! The wooden tree fell to the floor so hard, the stage shook.

  “Miriam! Stop ruining my scene,” Suzanne shouted at her.

  “Who’s out of character now, Suzanne?” George said.

  Suzanne stuck her tongue out at George.

  One of the kindergartners began to cry.

  “What’s wrong, James?” Mr. G. asked.

  “I have to pee . . . real bad!” James shouted. He raced off the stage.

  “I don’t think he’s going to make it in time,” Kadeem said.

  “There’s gonna be some yellow snow.” George giggled.

  Mr. G. put his head in his hands. “That’s it. Let’s take a five-minute break, and then we’ll start this dress rehearsal all over again.”

  “I sure hope Miriam does better when we start over,” Katie overheard George say to Kevin.

  “I know,” Kevin agreed. “She was awful.”

  Katie frowned. Kevin was right, and she knew it. She also knew that she wasn’t going to sound any better in five minutes.

  Katie definitely did not want to go back up on that stage. She felt really bad for Miriam, but she just couldn’t do it.

  It looked like Suzanne’s dream was finally going to come true.

  Chapter 11

  “Okay, everybody, take your places on the stage,” Mr. G. shouted out five minutes later.

  Instantly, the kids ran to the stage. Katie opened her mouth wide to sing and . . .

  Nothing came out. Not a sound. “Miriam!” Mr. G. shouted as he climbed down from the catwalk. “What’s wrong?”

  Katie pointed to her throat. “I think I’ve lost my voice,” she said in a hoarse whisper.

  “Are you sure?” Mr. G. asked her.

  Katie nodded. “Can’t talk,” she whispered.

  “Somebody get her some tea with lemon and honey!” Mr. Starkey suggested.

  “I’ll get it.” Ms. Sweet hurried over to Katie. “You come with me, Miriam.”

  As Katie walked off the stage, she heard Mr. G. say, “Okay, Suzanne, you’ll have to take Miriam’s place for the dress rehearsal.”

  “No problem!” Suzanne’s grin went from ear to ear.

  Katie was silent as she followed Ms. Sweet to the cafeteria. Of course, she hadn’t really lost her voice. She’d just pretended so she could get off the stage. “Thanks,” she said in a hoarse whisper as she took a cup of tea from the teacher.

  “Shh . . . don’t try to talk,” Ms. Sweet warned. “Let’s go back to the auditorium now. You can watch from the audience while you sip that tea.”

  As she sat down in the auditorium, Katie could hear Suzanne singing away. She was kind of off-key and out of tune, but at least she was getting the words right.

  “Snowballs rock! We’re on a roll. He can freeze the planet, but not our souls,” she sang. “So don’t be frightened. Don’t take the Wicked Wind Monster’s jive. The Snow Fairy’s here, and we will survive!” Suzanne sang out as she danced around the stage, waving Miriam’s fairy wand and smiling happily.

  Suzanne was sure having a good time. And the dress rehearsal was definitely going smoothly—even if it would have been much better with the real Miriam onstage.

  But that wasn’t going to happen. At least not until the magic wind came to turn Katie back into herself.

  “Bye, Miriam. I bet you’ll feel better tomorrow,” Mandy Banks said as she left the girls’ dressing room after the rehearsal.

  Katie waved, but didn’t say anything. After all, she was supposed to have laryngitis.

  “Keep drinking that tea!” Ms. Sweet said as she placed the last costume on a hanger and walked toward the door. “We’re really going to need you tomorrow.”

  “Don’t forget you still have me,” Suzanne said, zipping up her white winter parka.

  “Oh, of course, Suzanne,” Ms. Sweet assured her. “But we’re all hoping Miriam will be well enough to go on tomorrow. She’s worked so hard.”

  Suzanne frowned.

  As Suzanne and Ms. Sweet left the dressing room, Katie sat there alone for a minute, staring at the mirror. Miriam’s face stared back at her.

  Just then Katie felt a cool breeze blowing on the back of her neck. She turned around to see if someone had come back into the dressing room.

  But the door was shut tight.

  The draft on Katie’s neck grew colder then, and her hair started blowing.

  But the costumes that were hanging up weren’t moving with the wind at all. Neither were the scripts that were scattered around the room.

  In fact, the wind only seemed to be blowing right on Katie. Which could only mean one thing . . .

  Th
e magic wind was back!

  The wild tornado started blowing harder and harder now, whipping around and around, faster and faster until . . .

  It stopped.

  Just like that. The magic wind was gone and Katie Carew was back!

  The real Miriam Chan was back, too. And boy, was she confused.

  Chapter 12

  “Katie?” Miriam asked slowly. She looked around. “How did I get here?”

  “You . . . uh . . . you came in here after the rehearsal,” Katie replied.

  “After the rehearsal?” Miriam repeated. “You mean it’s over?”

  Katie nodded.

  “But I . . . I don’t remember . . .” Miriam began. Then she stopped. “Well, I sort of do. Kind of. I was up onstage, and then I was in the audience and . . . oh, I don’t know. It’s all sort of fuzzy.”

  “You got laryngitis,” Katie told her. “But you sound better now.”

  “I guess,” Miriam said.

  “You’re fine,” Katie assured her. “And you’re going to be amazing tomorrow.”

  “I sure hope so,” Miriam told her. “I really wish that I had gotten a chance to do the dress rehearsal, because—”

  Just then Suzanne burst into the dressing room. “Miriam! You’re talking!” she exclaimed. She did not look happy about it.

  “I thought you left,” Katie said to Suzanne.

  “I forgot my script.” Suzanne turned toward Miriam. “How did you get your voice back so quickly?”

  “Um . . . that tea was really powerful,” Katie suggested.

  Suzanne didn’t seem very convinced. “You sure got your voice back pretty fast. The last time I had laryngitis I could hardly talk for three days!” Her eyes grew small and angry.

  “I should get going,” Miriam said. “I want to practice a few things tonight.” She raced out of the room, away from Suzanne’s angry glare.

  “It’s not fair!” Suzanne declared as Miriam left. “Why did she have to get her voice back?”

  “That’s not nice, Suzanne,” Katie said.

  “Yeah, well, it’s not nice to tease a person and make her think she’s going to have the lead in the play and then take it away,” Suzanne shot back.

  Katie thought about that. She could understand why Suzanne was upset.

  And it was kind of Katie’s fault. After all, she was the one who faked having laryngitis so she didn’t have to go back onstage. If she hadn’t done that, Suzanne wouldn’t have gotten her hopes up.

  Suzanne really wanted to be a star. She loved attention. Unfortunately, Katie couldn’t help her with that.

  Or could she?

  Suddenly Katie got another one of her great ideas.

  “Suzanne, I think there’s a way that you can be a star tomorrow night, too,” she said.

  “Yeah, right,” Suzanne harrumphed.

  “No, really. I have a plan,” Katie told her.

  She grabbed Suzanne by the arm. “Come on. We need to talk to Mr. G. right now!”

  Chapter 13

  “One, two, a one, two, three, four!”

  As soon as Mr. Starkey began to play the piano, the curtain went up, and Miriam danced across the stage singing her song. The audience applauded wildly.

  “The scenery looks awesome!” Suzanne whispered to Katie and Mr. G.

  Katie looked across the catwalk at Suzanne. “Thanks. Are you almost ready?”

  Suzanne looked down at the stage. George and Kadeem were talking to each other. “I think so. I guess I’d better get ready to go on.”

  Katie nodded. “Break a leg,” she said.

  Suzanne nodded nervously as she got ready to go onstage. “Thanks.”

  Just then the snowflake music began to play. Suzanne grabbed her sleigh bells and began to shake them. And then . . .

  She pushed herself right off the catwalk!

  But Suzanne didn’t fall hard onto the wood floor below. Instead, she drifted slowly to the ground—just like a real snowflake!

  And it was all thanks to Katie!

  Strong ropes were attached to Suzanne’s costume. Katie and Mr. G. worked together to gently lower her onto the stage—the same way Katie had learned to work the sun she’d made.

  As Suzanne whirled and twirled in the air, the audience members jumped to their feet and cheered wildly.

  Suzanne took a special bow as she landed. She smiled up at Katie.

  Katie looked down and gave Suzanne a big thumbs-up. Suzanne wasn’t the star of the play, but the audience was certainly going to remember her performance.

  “Well, you certainly surprised me,” Mr. Starkey told Suzanne backstage after the play had ended.

  “Me too,” Jeremy agreed. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw you jump from that catwalk. I thought you were crazy.”

  “Were you scared?” Emma W. asked her.

  Suzanne shook her head. “Not at all,” she assured her, obviously enjoying all of the attention her surprise was getting.

  “Where did you get the idea to do that?” Kevin wondered.

  “I decided my entrance needed to be more spectacular. So I asked Katie and Mr. G. to help me with it,” Suzanne explained.

  Katie sighed. That wasn’t exactly the way it had happened.

  Just then Miriam walked backstage. She was carrying a big bouquet of roses. Surprisingly, Suzanne was the first to congratulate her.

  “You were awesome, Miriam,” Suzanne told her. “I’m so glad your voice came back.”

  “Th-thanks,” Miriam stammered. She was shocked to get a compliment from Suzanne. “You were great, too.”

  “I know,” Suzanne replied proudly.

  “You really were amazing,” Katie told Miriam. “Everyone is talking about what a great voice you have.”

  “Well, I never could have done it without you,” Miriam told Katie. “After all, you were one of the people who convinced me to try out.”

  Katie gulped. She hadn’t wanted Suzanne to know about that. But now that the secret was out, Katie braced herself for a big burst of Suzanne fury.

  Surprisingly, Suzanne didn’t seem mad. “I guess Katie helped both of us,” she told Miriam sweetly.

  “She sure did,” Miriam agreed.

  Suzanne turned to Katie. “So who do you think got the most applause?” she asked her. “Miriam or me?”

  Katie rolled her eyes. Suzanne never changed.

  Still, it was sort of wonderful knowing that her best friend would always be the same.

  With the magic wind around, that was something Katie couldn’t say about herself. Katie changed all the time. One . . . two . . . switcheroo!

  Chapter 14

  Fingerprint Doodles

  Katie’s new favorite drawing projects are her fingerprint doodles. They are as unique as Katie is. After all, no two people have the same fingerprints. Which means no one will ever be able to make a fingerprint doodle that is exactly like yours!

  Here’s what you need:

  Paper, an ink pad with washable ink, colored markers

  Here’s what you do: 1. Press your fingertip on an ink pad.

  2. Roll your ink on a piece of paper to create a fingerprint.

  3. Clean the ink off of your finger with soap and water.

  4. Use a marker to create a picture from the fingerprint.

  Here are two fun fingerprint doodle ideas from Katie:• Add long brown dog ears, a dog nose, some brown and white curls, and a short, stubby tail to your fingerprint. Now you’ve got a Pepper picture!

  • Draw black triangle-shaped ears, whiskers, and a long tail. Meow. Wow! That’s Jeremy’s black cat, Lucky.

  About the Author

  NANCY KRULIK is the author of more than 150 books for children and young adults, including three New York Times bestsellers. She lives in New York City with her husband, composer Daniel Burwasser, their children, Amanda and Ian, and Pepper, a chocolate and white spaniel mix. When she’s not busy writing the Katie Kazoo, Switcheroo series, Nancy loves swimming, reading, and going to the mo
vies.

  About the Illustrators

  JOHN & WENDY’S art has been featured in other books for children, in magazines, on stationery, and on toys. When they are not drawing Katie and her friends, they like to paint, take photographs, travel, and play music in their rock-n-roll band. They live and work in Brooklyn, NY.