by Nancy Krulik
Katie looked sadly at the floor. It was all her fault.
When Katie got home Saturday afternoon, she went right to the computer and tried to work on her report about President Truman. But she just couldn’t stay focused on her work. There was too much else to think about.
Like the election speech she would have to give on Monday. Katie had no idea what she could promise the kids in school that would make them want to vote for her. She had a feeling that no matter what she promised to do, someone in the grade would want something else. Sooner or later, her friends would be mad at her—at least some of them.
That was pretty much what was happening to Mayor Fogelhymer. Thanks to Katie’s big announcement about the playground, he could lose the election—and his job.
Katie sighed heavily and looked back at the computer. There was so much information about President Truman. He had a very long life. She didn’t know what to work on first.
George and Kadeem were so lucky. Because they had compromised, each of them only had to do half of President Kennedy’s life.
Katie’s eyes burst wide open. A big smile formed on her face.
“That’s it!” she exclaimed.
Quickly, Katie opened the desk drawer and pulled out a clean sheet of paper and some colored pencils.
Once again, Katie Kazoo had gotten a great idea!
Chapter 14
As soon as her drawing was finished, Katie rode her bike over to City Hall. She hurried inside and ran down the long hall to the mayor’s office.
A crowd of reporters and photographers was outside the mayor’s office. They were making the mayor’s assistant crazy.
“What’s going on?” Katie asked one photographer.
“We’re waiting for the mayor to come out and talk to us,” the photographer told her. “He’s in big trouble with the voters because of that playground. It’s a major news story!”
Katie frowned. She sure hoped she could fix things for Mayor Fogelhymer.
Just at that moment, the mayor opened his office door. The reporters shoved microphones in his face. The photographers began snapping pictures.
“Mr. Mayor, do you have any comment?” one reporter asked.
“How do you explain your decision to build a playground?” another reporter shouted.
Mayor Fogelhymer’s eyes darted from one person to another. Katie thought he might be looking for a friendly face. So she began waving her arms back and forth. “Yoo-hoo!” she shouted. “Mayor Fogelhymer!”
The mayor looked at her. He smiled with relief. “Hi, Katie!” he exclaimed.
Katie was proud. The mayor of Cherrydale actually remembered her name.
“I have to talk to you about something,” Katie told him. “It’s really important.”
Mayor Fogelhymer nodded. “Of course, Katie,” he said in a really loud voice. “I will meet with you. My office is always open to the people of Cherrydale.”
Mayor Fogelhymer wrapped his arm around Katie’s shoulders and smiled for the cameras. He was acting like he was her best friend.
At least until they got into his office. Once the news reporters were no longer there, Mayor Fogelhymer was less friendly.
“What is it?” he asked Katie. “I’m kind of busy today.”
“It’s about the playground,” Katie began.
“Oh, that,” the mayor interrupted. “I don’t want to hear another word about it. That empty lot has caused me enough trouble as it is.”
“But I have an idea,” Katie insisted. “A great one. It will make so many people happy. All different kinds of people. You could get more votes with this plan.” She held up her drawing. “See? It’s a compromise.”
“Votes?” the mayor repeated. He sounded interested.
Katie nodded. “Oh, yes. With my plan, you’ll make the gardeners, the animal lovers, the drivers, and the kids happy.”
The mayor sighed. “What have I got to lose?” he muttered as he sat down behind his desk. “Show me what you have.”
Chapter 15
Katie smiled brightly as she read the headline in the newspaper on Sunday morning.
“I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before,” the mayor said in the newspaper article. “Luckily, I had a very smart adviser.”
Of course, the mayor didn’t mention that his adviser had been a ten-year-old girl!
There was a photograph of Katie’s carefully drawn map next to the article in the newspaper. It showed the empty lot with a space for a new playground, a place for a dog run, and a fenced rose garden bordering the lot. Parking spaces for cars were put all around the outside of the park.
“I tried to address the needs of all the citizens of Cherrydale,” the mayor said in the article. “That has always been my goal as mayor.”
Katie tried to keep that in mind when she went upstairs to write her speech. Tomorrow she would have to tell all the kids in the fourth grade why they should vote for her. That wasn’t going to be easy.
Katie wondered if Suzanne was having trouble with her speech. Probably not. Suzanne never had any problem telling people how great she was. She did it all the time.
But Katie wasn’t like that. She didn’t like to brag.
Still, she was going to have to brag if she was going to have a chance to become the mayor of the fourth grade. So Katie decided to make a list of all the best things about herself.
Katie sat there for a minute and stared at the piece of paper in front of her. Those were all really good things. They just weren’t very mayor-ish.
Still, having a lot of friends was important. After all, your friends would probably vote for you in an election.
Unfortunately, Suzanne and Andy also had a lot of friends in the fourth grade. In fact, all three of them shared a lot of the same friends. Which meant Katie couldn’t really count on anyone’s vote in tomorrow’s election.
Except her own, of course!
Chapter 16
Katie was feeling a little better about her speech by the time she arrived at school on Monday morning. Emma W. had helped her with it. Katie was going to say how important it was for a mayor to be nice. After all, a mayor had to get along with everyone, not just her best friends.
“I told you there would be a playground in that empty lot,” Katie heard Suzanne boasting to Mandy in the schoolyard.
Oh, no! Was Suzanne still arguing about that?
“Yeah, well, there’s going to be lots more parking there, too,” Mandy said.
“Maybe,” Suzanne agreed. She smiled at all the kids standing around. “But I promised there would be a playground. And I got you all a playground.”
“You didn’t get it for us,” Jeremy insisted. “We were all at the protest.”
“Not all of us,” Suzanne told him. She pointed at Katie. “She wasn’t there.”
All the kids stared at Katie.
Katie didn’t know what to say. It wasn’t like she could tell them what had actually happened to her at City Hall.
So instead, she just said, “I was there, Suzanne. I just had to go to the bathroom.”
There. That was the truth. Sort of. After all, she had wound up in the bathroom.
“You must have had to go real bad,” Suzanne said in a mean voice. “Because you were gone a long time.”
Katie didn’t answer.
Suzanne smiled at the crowd of kids. “Vote for me,” she told them. “Whatever you want, I promise to get it for you.”
“That’s impossible, Suzanne,” Katie told her. “You can’t make everybody happy all of the time.”
“Of course I can,” she insisted.
“No, you can’t,” Katie said.
Suzanne rolled her eyes. “Oh, Katie, you don’t know a thing about being mayor.”
“Oh yeah?” Katie almost said. But she stopped herself. She couldn’t tell Suzanne that she had been mayor for at least an hour.
Luckily, Jeremy defended Katie. “Neither do you, Suzanne,” he pointed out.
Suzanne
rolled her eyes. “The mayor is the boss,” she told Jeremy. “And I know how to be the boss of things.”
Katie sighed. There was definitely no arguing with that.
A little while later, Katie joined the rest of the fourth grade in the auditorium. It was time for the candidates to give their speeches. Suzanne, Katie, and Andy all sat on the stage next to Mr. G. and Ms. Sweet.
“I’ll go first.” Suzanne jumped up and turned to the kids. “A leader shouldn’t be afraid to go first,” she boasted.
“Okay, Suzanne,” Ms. Sweet said. “You can go first. Andy, you’ll go second, and Katie, you’ll be last.”
“That’s fine,” Katie said.
“Okay,” Andy agreed.
Katie looked over at Suzanne and Andy. Andy was wearing a jacket and a tie. He looked very grown-up.
Suzanne had changed into a red skirt and a white shirt. The shirt had the words VOTE FOR SUZANNE embroidered on it in glittery thread. On her wrists, she was wearing red and white shimmery bracelets.
Then Katie looked down at her own black and white checked shirt and black pants. She wished she had worn something more special.
But wait! She had brought something special to school.
Unfortunately, it was in her book bag—which was back in class 4A.
“Mr. G.?” Katie asked her teacher. “I left my new campaign poster in the classroom. I want to have it when I give my speech. Can I go get it?”
“Sure, Katie Kazoo, you may run back to the room for your poster,” Mr. G. said. “But hurry. I’m sure you want to hear what Suzanne and Andy have to say.”
“I promise to be quick!” Katie agreed. She ran out of the auditorium at top speed.
Class 4A was completely quiet when Katie got there. The only one in the room was Slinky, the class snake. He didn’t make any noise at all.
Katie found her backpack and her poster. Suddenly, she felt a cool breeze blowing on the back of her neck.
She looked over to see if a window was open.
Nope. They were all shut tight.
But there was definitely a breeze in the room. And it was getting colder and stronger.
It was also blowing only on Katie.
“Oh, no!” she shouted out. “Go away, magic wind! I have a speech to make!”
But the magic wind did what it wanted when it wanted. And right now, it wanted to spin around Katie.
The wind was blowing hard and cold now. It was spinning wildly, like a tornado. Katie shut her eyes and tried not to cry as the magic wind kept whirring around and around.
And then it stopped. Just like that. One, two, switcheroo.
Good-bye, Katie Kazoo.
Hello…who?
Chapter 17
Katie could hear the sound of kids whispering and giggling. Slowly, she opened her eyes.
She was on the stage in the auditorium. A lot of kids were facing her. They weren’t just any kids, either. They were the Cherrydale Elementary School fourth-graders.
What a relief. That wind had been so strong, she wasn’t sure where she would wind up. But she was right where she belonged. Maybe this time, the magic wind hadn’t switcherooed her at all.
She looked down at her shoes. Uh-oh. Her black loafers were gone. Instead, she had on white shoes with little heels.
Her black pants were gone, too. Now she was wearing a red skirt and a white shirt.
A white shirt that said VOTE FOR SUZANNE in glittery thread!
Uh-oh!
No. This is impossible, Katie thought. The magic wind already switcherooed me into Suzanne—that time during the modeling show. It’s never turned me into the same person twice.
At least not until now.
Katie reached up and touched her head. Instead of her loose red curls, Katie felt Suzanne’s tight braids on either side of her face.
Katie gulped. She was Suzanne, all right.
This was sooooooo not good.
Now Katie was going to have to go up there and give a speech about why Suzanne should be elected mayor of the fourth grade.
For a second, Katie thought about telling everyone to vote for Katie instead of Suzanne. Or maybe making up a speech about how Katie would be a better mayor.
That would be pretty amazing—since the kids would think it was Suzanne doing the talking! Katie would probably get lots and lots of votes.
But that would be really unfair. And besides, Katie wanted to be elected because she was the best candidate. Being the best candidate meant being an honest and fair kid. It meant being nice.
An honest, fair, and nice kid wouldn’t pull a trick like that!
Katie sighed. She was going to have to give a speech like the one she thought Suzanne would give—if she were here right now. No matter how mad she was at Suzanne, Katie knew that was the right thing to do.
But she didn’t know Suzanne’s speech. She only knew her own.
Katie frowned. This was sooooooo not good.
Ms. Sweet walked over to the microphone.
“Boys and girls, let’s quiet down now,” she said.
There was a little more whispering and giggling, and then the auditorium became quiet.
“Great,” Ms. Sweet complimented the kids. “You all know what an important day this is. I want everyone to listen carefully to what your candidates have to say. That will help you decide who you want to vote for. Our first candidate is Suzanne Lock.”
Chapter 18
Ms. Sweet moved out of the way so Suzanne could speak into the microphone.
But nothing happened. Everyone just sat there.
“Suzanne?” Ms. Sweet asked. She looked right at Katie.
“Oh, right,” Katie said quickly. “Suzanne. That’s me.”
The kids all began to giggle. Katie could feel her cheeks burning as she walked up to the podium.
She stared out at the kids.
The kids stared back.
Katie knew she had to say something. So she said the most Suzanne thing she could think of.
“Hi,” she said. “I’m Suzanne Lock. I’m running for mayor of the fourth grade. You should vote for me because when I become famous—and I will be—our school will become famous, too, because of me.”
A few of the kids in the audience groaned. Katie didn’t blame them. That was a kind of silly thing to say. She had to come up with something better. Quickly, she tried to think of some of the things Suzanne had said during the campaign.
The stuff that wasn’t mean about her, anyway.
“I…um…I think I would be a good mayor because the mayor is the boss of the grade,” Katie said, trying to remember Suzanne’s exact words. “And I’m…um…really bossy.”
“You sure are!” George shouted back.
Katie blushed. No. That wasn’t what she’d meant to say. Not at all. “I mean, I’m good at taking charge of stuff,” she corrected herself. “And I dress really nicely. And I would look good at a ribbon cutting.”
A lot of kids began to laugh now.
“What are you talking about?” Kevin called up to her.
“You know, like when they open a new bridge,” Katie said. “The mayor cuts the ribbon.”
“Where would we put a bridge in school?” Kadeem asked.
The kids laughed harder.
Uh-oh. Katie gulped. Nothing was coming out right. And the more the kids laughed, the more confused Katie got.
What made it worse was the kids thought it was Suzanne who was all mixed up. And no matter how mad Katie was at Suzanne, she would never want to make her look like a fool in front of the whole fourth grade. Not on purpose, anyway. She had to do something to stop this.
What would Suzanne do? Katie thought.
She would probably smile and make it all seem like a big joke.
So that’s what Katie did. She opened her mouth and tried to give a huge Suzanne smile.
But Katie wasn’t Suzanne. And she didn’t know how to smile like Suzanne. Katie’s fake smile made her look like one of those happy face
symbols on the computer.
“Suzanne, are you okay?” Ms. Sweet asked. “You look kind of ill.”
Katie did feel sick. And embarrassed. She didn’t know what to do. She just wanted this to be over.
So she ran off the stage and hurried into the hall.
Luckily, there was no one in the hall. Katie plopped down on the cold, hard floor and curled her knees up to her chest. Then she started to cry.
Suddenly, Katie felt a cool breeze blowing on the back of her neck. She looked around. All of the windows were shut. And there was no air-conditioning blowing overhead. This was November, after all. It was too cold outside for air-conditioning.
Speaking of cold, that wind was getting really chilly now. And powerful, too. In fact, it was blowing really, really hard.
This was no ordinary wind. This was the magic wind!
The magic wind began to spin, whirring all around Katie like a giant tornado. It was so powerful, Katie was pretty sure it was going to blow her someplace far, far away. She clutched her knees and shut her eyes tight.
And then it stopped. Just like that.
Katie Kazoo was back.
So was Suzanne. And boy, was she confused.
Chapter 19
“Katie, what are you doing out here?” Suzanne asked. She looked around the hallway. “What am I doing out here?”
“Well…um…” Katie stammered. She wasn’t sure what to say.
“Never mind,” Suzanne said. “I have to get back in there. I have a speech to make.” She stopped for a minute. “Don’t I?” she asked.
Katie shook her head. “You already made your speech,” she said.
Suzanne looked curiously at Katie. “I made my speech?”
Katie nodded. “Yes.”
“Oh, man.” Suzanne slapped her forehead. “You mean I really said all that weird stuff about bridges and ribbon cutting?”
Katie nodded again.
