Captain Awesome Saves the Winter Wonderland

by Stan Kirby

  Eugene the Snowman and Meredith the Icicle went into the final moves of their dance. Eugene raised his arms and the snowflakes gathered round with their decorations.

  And then an idea came to Eugene. He stepped forward from the group and looked directly at the audience. Time for the last line of the play. All the smartphones focused on Eugene, except for the one being held by Meredith’s mom. Meredith had given her a strict no-close-ups-on-anyone-but-me order, and Mrs. Mooney was not about to break it.

  “Thank you for coming,” Eugene began, “But no Sunnyview celebration would be complete without a word from a very special snowflake . . .”

  The auditorium was completely silent except for the ruffling of pages as Mrs. Randle stood in the wings desperately searching through the script to find the lines Eugene was saying.

  Eugene coughed. Nothing. Charlie coughed. Nothing. Eugene and Charlie coughed again together. Still nothing. Meredith rolled her eyes, half annoyed and half afraid the two boys would point at her and start shouting their usual “nonsense” about Ms. Pinky Stinky or Dinky Pinky or whatever it was they always called her.

  “Are you okay?” Jake whispered to Eugene.

  “Dude, I’m talking about you,” Eugene whispered back. “Go on . . . say the last line . . . ”

  Jake paused for a moment, unsure he was hearing Eugene correctly.

  He was.

  The only thing bigger than Jake’s eyes was his smile. He stepped forward into the spotlight. Every smartphone in the audience focused on Jake. Even Mrs. Mooney “accidentally” (as she would explain to her very grumpy daughter hours later when Meredith watched the video at home) zoomed in ever-so-slightly on Jake.

  “Snow glad you could all come,” he said. “Happy holidays!”

  Applause exploded from the audience as everyone stood to cheer Jake and all the performers . . . and no one cheered louder than the first row, filled with two red-headed parents and six red-headed brothers and sisters, who at that moment, were very much paying total attention to their son and brother.

  MI-TEE!

  “Sometimes, what you really need to do is help,” Charlie the Snowflake whispered to Eugene the Snowman.

  “That is snow true, Charlie,” Eugene answered. “Snow true . . .”

  IF YOU LIKE CAPTAIN AWESOME, YOU’LL LOVE

  Here’s a sneak peek!

  “You’ll love it on Nebulon, Captain,” Dad said. “Wait’ll you see the gadgets they have there. They’re way ahead of Earth!”

  “That sounds pretty cool,” Zack said. Then he grew quiet. Dad’s got his great new job at Nebulonics, Zack thought. Mom wants to start her own business. And the twins always have each other. They don’t have to worry about making new friends.

  Zack leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

  “Okay, class, time for our Zerbanese language lesson,” said someone with a strange, high-pitched voice.

  Zack’s eyes popped open. He was in a classroom on Nebulon. All his classmates looked like monsters. And slimy creatures with dripping tentacles sat all around him. The teacher looked like a giant two-headed snake.

  Zack dashed from the classroom and ran across the street. He hurried toward a huge sign that flashed the words: this galaxy’s best pizza.

  Zack loved pizza. “Ah, pizza,” he said. It was his favorite food. “At least they have something I know on this wacky, crazy planet!”

  Zack rushed into the pizza place and ordered a whole pie. “I’ll have today’s special pizza, please.”

  Soon a steaming pizza floated down from above.

  “YAAA!” yelled Zack. The pizza was covered with slithering worms and crawling insects. It was topped with extra-moldy cheese.

  Zack screamed and ran from the pizza place. He pulled out his video-chat hyperphone. Then he quickly entered Bert’s z-mail address.

  “Gotta talk to Bert,” Zack mumbled to himself. “Maybe he can help me.”

  The screen on the hyperphone blinked. Then a message popped up: “ERROR . . . CANNOT CONNECT TO EARTH.”

  “I’m trapped here! And I’ll never see or talk to my friends again!”

  When STAN KIRBY was six years old, he tied a beach towel around his neck and became Super Commander Beach Boy. He tried his best to protect sand castles from the waves, keep seagulls away from his french fries, and keep the beach clean. When Stan’s not creating the awesome adventures of Captain Awesome, he loves reading comic books, eating okra, and hang gliding (but not at the same time).

  GEORGE O’CONNOR’S cover—as a mild-mannered clerk in one of Gotham’s most beloved children’s bookstores—was completely blown when his first picture book, KAPOW!, exploded onto the scene. Forced to leave the bookselling world behind, he now spends even more time in his secret Brooklyn, New York, hideout—where he uses his amazing artistic powers to strike fear in the hearts of bad guys everywhere!

  Jacket design by Laura Roode

  Jacket illustrations copyright © 2012

  by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Little Simon

  Simon & Schuster • New York

  CaptainAwesomeBooks.com

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  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division • 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020 www.SimonandSchuster.com • Copyright © 2012 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. LITTLE SIMON is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and associated colophon is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or business@simonandschuster.com. The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Kirby, Stan. Captain Awesome saves the winter wonderland / by Stan Kirby; illustrated by George O’Connor. — 1st ed. p. cm. Summary: When second-grader Eugene McGillicudy is forced to be the star of the students’ winter play, he relies on his superpowered alter ego to help him. [etc.] [1. Superheroes—Fiction. 2. Schools—Fiction. 3. Theater—Fiction.] I. O’Connor, George, ill. II. Title. PZ7.K633529Cah 2012 [Fic]—dc23 2011028700

  ISBN 978-1-4424-4334-1 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-4424-4335-8 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-4424-4336-5 (eBook)