Karen's School Surprise

by Ann M. Martin

  Daddy used to go to work at an office, but now he works at home. He loves his computer. He says if it were not for his computer he could not work at home.

  “What about our other computer?” I asked.

  We have a second computer in our house. It is our family computer.

  “That one is not half as good as the one in my office, Karen,” said Daddy.

  “Oh, I see,” I replied.

  Hmm. Getting a brand-new computer in his classroom was one thing. Getting special treatment from Daddy was another.

  After dinner, Daddy took David Michael into his office. They did not come out for a long time. When they did, Daddy had his arm around David Michael.

  “You can use my computer whenever I am not using it,” said Daddy.

  “Thanks!” replied David Michael. You should have seen his face. He was beaming.

  “I will try to pick up some software that will help you with your schoolwork, too,” continued Daddy.

  David Michael and Daddy sure were having fun. I sat in the den kicking my feet against the bottom of the couch. There was a show on TV, but I had not heard a word of it. I was too busy listening to “The David Michael and Daddy Show.”

  The next thing I heard was David Michael asking if they could get CD-ROM for the computer.

  “Sure,” Daddy replied. “That’s a terrific idea. I’ve been wanting to get into CD-ROM myself for some time. We can learn about it together.”

  What about me? David Michael’s new computer at school was turning into a big deal. I did not like it one bit.

  Heading for the Moon

  After school on Thursday, Nancy and I went to Hannie’s house to practice some more silly stunts.

  When I got home, the door to Daddy’s office was closed.

  Knock, knock. I decided I wanted to tell Daddy about my day. I also wanted to see if David Michael was in there with him. Daddy opened the door.

  “Hi, honey, what’s up?” he said.

  Sure enough, David Michael was sitting at Daddy’s desk in front of his computer.

  “Nothing important,” I replied.

  “I am just helping David Michael with his homework assignment,” said Daddy. “We will be finished here in a couple of minutes.”

  I did not feel like telling Daddy about my stunts anymore. I went upstairs to tell Moosie about them instead. But he did not look very interested.

  David Michael worked at Daddy’s computer again after dinner. He was there the next night. And the next. And the next. It looked to me as though he were in Daddy’s office more than out of it.

  On Monday, David Michael came running into the house after school.

  “I passed my math test!” he shouted. “I even got a high grade!”

  “That is terrific!” said Nannie, hugging him.

  Then Daddy stepped out of his office.

  “I am very proud of you, David Michael,” he said. “Come, look. I have a new program I want you to try out.”

  David Michael was getting really good at working with the computer. He and Daddy talked about it all the time at dinner. I could hardly understand them anymore.

  I knew Daddy would teach me about the computer if I wanted to learn. But I did not have time now. I was too busy getting ready to appear with my class on School Stars. It was going to be so much fun.

  But what if we did not qualify? Then I would not know about computers and I would not get to be on School Stars, either.

  On Tuesday, I asked Ms. Colman as soon as she walked in, “Have you heard from School Stars yet?”

  “I am afraid not, Karen,” she replied. “I will let you know as soon as I do.”

  I asked her the same question on Wednesday and again on Thursday. The answer was the same.

  On Friday, Ms. Colman came in with a big smile on her face.

  “You heard from them! You heard!” I cried.

  As soon as everyone was seated, Ms. Colman told us the news.

  “I got a letter from the producers of School Stars yesterday afternoon. You have qualified for the drawing!” said Ms. Colman. “It will take place next week. Remember, if you get to be on the show, you could win a weekend at Camp Outer Space.”

  “Yea!” I shouted. “We qualified.” I hoped that we got to be on the show. Camp Outer Space sounded gigundoly fun. I wiggled with excitement. I started jumping up and down. I looked around. My whole class was jumping up and down, too.

  “Okay, kids. Settle down,” said Ms. Colman. But she was smiling.

  I stopped jumping and sat down in my seat. I did not call out anymore either.

  Instead I had an exciting daydream. I dreamed I was captain of a spaceship. I floated around the cabin giving orders.

  “Now hear this,” I said to my crew. “We are heading for the moon!”

  Nature Quiz

  The following Friday, Ms. Colman walked into class with an even bigger smile on her face than before.

  “Class, please be seated,” she said.

  I hurried to my seat. I zipped up my lips and clasped my hands in front of me.

  “I received another letter yesterday from the School Stars producers,” said Ms. Colman. “The drawing took place on Monday. You have been selected to appear on the show.”

  My classmates and I cheered.

  As soon as the class settled down again, Ms. Colman told us the details.

  “The show will be taped next week,” she said. “You will have a much better chance of winning if you are prepared. That means you will have to be ready for both the quiz and the stunts. This morning, we will work as usual. Then, in the afternoon, we will begin preparing for the quiz.”

  The morning went by quickly. At recess, all anyone could talk about was the show. When we returned to our classroom in the afternoon, Ms. Colman divided us into groups and handed out quiz cards. Each group had a different subject. We took turns quizzing each other.

  I was in a group with Ricky, Natalie, and Addie because we all sit up front together. (Ricky and Natalie are glasses wearers, like me. Addie sits up front because there is more room for her wheelchair there.)

  Our subject was nature and I got to ask the first question. I picked up a quiz card and read, “True or false: There is no such thing as a striped dog.”

  We all answered false. I turned over the card. Guess what. We were wrong. The answer is true. There is no such thing as a striped dog.

  It was Addie’s turn to ask the next question.

  “This is a two-part question. Here is the first part,” she said. “What do you call a group of geese on the ground?”

  “A gaggle!” I replied.

  The other kids in my group thought I was right, so Addie turned over the card.

  “Very good, Karen. A gaggle of geese is correct,” she said, trying to sound like Ms. Colman. “Here is the second part of the question. What do you call a group of geese in the air?”

  “A flying gaggle?” said Ricky.

  “A giggle?” said Natalie.

  “A jumbo jet with feathers?” I said.

  “Very funny,” said Addie. She turned over the card and read, “A group of geese in the air is called a skein.”

  I closed my eyes and tried to memorize the word skein just in case they asked me on TV.

  We learned a lot of interesting nature facts from our quiz. We learned that the farther apart footprints are, the faster a creature is running. We learned that African elephants are bigger than Indian elephants. And we learned that squirrels sometimes wrap themselves up in their bushy tails to keep warm.

  Nature is a gigundoly interesting subject.

  Stoneybrook Stunt Gym

  On Monday morning, we were lining up for gym class when Ms. Colman said, “You will not be playing basketball or dodgeball this morning. Your gym activities today are going to be a surprise.”

  We marched down the hall as fast as we could. Our gym teacher, Mrs. Mackey, greeted us wearing a red clown nose. She squeezed the nose and we all started laughing.

&
nbsp; “Welcome to the Stoneybrook Stunt Gym,” she said. “It is my job to prepare you for the School Stars stunts. Is everybody ready?”

  “Ready!” we replied.

  “Everyone please take off your socks and sneakers and pile them up near the wall over here,” said Mrs. Mackey. “Now, I would like you to make two lines facing each other. Karen, please stand over here. Ricky, you stand opposite Karen. Hannie stand next to Karen. Nancy stand next to Ricky.”

  When we were in two lines, Mrs. Mackey held up a balloon. “This stunt is called ‘Balloon Bash,’ ” she said. “The idea is to step on the balloon and bash it. Whoever breaks it is the winner.”

  She tossed the balloon down the aisle between us.

  Everyone stomped on it as it passed by, but it did not break. It just kept slipping by us.

  Stomp. Stomp-stomp! Stomp. Stomp-stomp!

  “Keep trying,” said Mrs. Mackey. She sent the balloon back down the aisle again.

  Stomp. Stomp-stomp!

  The balloon was almost in front of me.

  Stomp. Stomp-stomp … whoosh!

  I did it! I bashed the balloon! Water sprayed all over the place.

  “Good job, Karen!” said Mrs. Mackey.

  We bashed two more water balloons. Addie rolled over one with her wheelchair. Ricky broke the other with his foot.

  Then we practiced some more stunts. We had wheelbarrow races. Hannie held my ankles while I ran across the gym on my hands. We were the fastest in the class.

  We had a Ping-Pong ball and spoon race. You had to put a Ping-Pong ball in a spoon, then race to the other side of the gym. Pamela and Bobby tied in that race.

  Finally, Mrs. Mackey told us that gym class was over. Boo. The Stoneybrook Stunt Gym was so much fun, I wished it could have lasted all day long.

  Computer Pals

  When I got home from school, the door to Daddy’s office was closed. I figured David Michael was in there again.

  I was wrong. David Michael was in the kitchen with Nannie and Emily, having an afternoon snack. (Andrew was not there because he had a play date.)

  “Hi, everyone,” I said.

  “Come join us,” said Nannie. “David Michael was just telling us about his new computer pal at school.”

  David Michael looked very excited.

  “Everyone in my class was matched up with a computer pal,” he said. “It’s like a pen pal only you get to communicate on computers instead of the old-fashioned way. My computer pal is Mark. He lives in Oklahoma.”

  A computer pal sounded like fun. But I did not think David Michael had to act like such a big shot about it.

  “My pen pal, Maxie, and I write to each other. We send presents, too. And Maxie is right in New York City, so we can visit each other. You cannot send presents or visit over a computer, you know.”

  “So what?” said David Michael. “Talking on a computer is cool.”

  Nannie turned to me.

  “How was your day at school?” she asked.

  “It was okay,” I said.

  I did not feel like talking about stunt class just then. I was too busy thinking about David Michael’s computer pal.

  “May I be excused, please? I want to try talking to Mark on the computer,” said David Michael. “I have two numbers for him. I think one is for his computer at home.”

  “Go right ahead,” said Nannie. “I hope you are able to reach him.”

  “You cannot use Daddy’s computer,” I said. “His door is closed. That means he does not want to be disturbed.”

  “I will use our other computer,” said David Michael.

  He jumped up and headed for the den.

  “May I be excused, too?” I asked.

  “Of course,” replied Nannie. “But you have not eaten much of your snack. Would you like something else?”

  “No, thanks. I am just not very hungry,” I said.

  I followed David Michael into the den.

  “Can I use the computer first?” I asked. “I want to play a game of Solitaire before I do my homework.”

  “I am busy now, Karen,” said David Michael, pressing some keys on the keyboard. “I told you I want to reach my pen pal at home. If I can do it, we will be able to talk to each other at school during the day and at home, too.”

  “Can’t you call him later? You are hogging the computer,” I replied.

  The computer started making funny noises then. Then it sounded like a telephone dialing a number.

  The screen flashed a message that said, “You are now on-line. Please instruct.”

  David Michael hit a few more keys. The screen went blank. He typed in, “Hello, Mark. This is David Michael. Are you there?”

  Below his message a new message appeared. It said, “I am here! What’s happenin’, dude?”

  “I did it!” David Michael shouted. “I am having a conversation with Mark in Oklahoma!”

  “Big deal,” I said, even though I was impressed. “All I know is that you are hogging the computer.”

  I hung around and waited while David Michael and Mark chatted on-line. They told each other their ages, where they lived, and what sports they enjoyed. It looked like so much fun. I wished I could talk to Maxie on the computer. I didn’t know if she had one at home. Even if she did, I would not know how to reach her.

  I went upstairs to do my homework. I did not really want to play Solitaire anyway.

  Shaving Cream

  At school on Monday, Ms. Colman made another Surprising Announcement.

  “Mr. Berger’s class is not in the drawing for School Stars. But they have been taking quizzes and practicing stunts just for fun,” she said. “Mr. Berger and I arranged a mock School Stars show for our two classes this afternoon.”

  Mr. Berger teaches the second-grade class next door. Our classes met in the gym after lunch. Mrs. Mackey was getting ready for our stunts. Instead of her clown nose, she was wearing a shiny black top hat.

  “Good afternoon, contestants! I am your show host today,” she said in a fancy announcer’s voice. “Now, please take your seats. Ms. Colman’s class on the red line. Mr. Berger’s class on the blue.”

  We sat down on the colored lines taped to the gym floor.

  “And now I will call up our first contestants,” said Mrs. Mackey. “We will start with Karen Brewer from Ms. Colman’s class and Liddie Yuan from Mr. Berger’s class. Please stand behind the desk over there.”

  At one end of the gym was a desk. On top of the desk was a bell.

  “I will ask a question,” said Mrs. Mackey. “If you think you know the answer, ring the bell and wait for me to call on you. If you answer correctly, you score three points. If you miss, your opponent has a chance to answer the same question. If your opponent does not answer correctly, it will be time for a silly stunt.”

  I hoped we did not get all the answers right. A silly stunt would be fun.

  “Listen carefully to the first question,” said Mrs. Mackey. “For three points, please tell me which elephant is larger — the African or the Indian.”

  I was first to ring the bell.

  “Karen, your answer, please,” said Mrs. Mackey.

  “That is easy. The African elephant!” I replied.

  My classmates cheered.

  “Good for you! That gives Ms. Colman’s class three points,” said Mrs. Mackey. “Here is the second question, also for three points. Why do catfish have whiskers?”

  Ding, ding! I was the first to ring the bell again. But as soon as Mrs. Mackey said my name, I realized I did not know the answer.

  “Um, let me see. Is it because they forgot to shave?” I said.

  Everybody laughed.

  “I am afraid not,” said Mrs. Mackey. “Liddie, can you answer that question for us?”

  “Because they are part of the cat family?” said Liddie.

  “That is also incorrect,” said Mrs. Mackey.

  “Stunt! Stunt!” shouted our classmates.

  This is what Liddie and I had to do. We each ha
d to run through a maze drawn in colored chalk on the gym floor. Every time one of us stepped on a line, we would be squirted with shaving cream by the kids in our class.

  By the end I was covered with shaving cream. But I finished first and scored two points.

  The afternoon went by in a flash. By the end, our class was ahead six points. We had won our very first School Stars competition. This seemed to me like a good sign.

  Please Go to Your Rooms

  I burst into the big house after school.

  “My class won School Stars!” I cried.

  “You were on School Stars?” said Nannie. “And you did not tell us?”

  “It was not the real show. It was a pretend show we had in gym today with Mr. Berger’s class,” I replied.

  I told Nannie, Andrew, and Emily about the questions and stunts.

  Then David Michael burst into the house. He had big news, too.

  “Guess what! My class went on-line today with some very famous people!” he said.

  “You went on lions?” asked Andrew.

  “No, not on lions,” said David Michael. “We went on-line with our computers. That is when one computer talks to another computer.”

  “You mean the way you talked to Mark in Oklahoma?” I asked.

  “Yup,” replied David Michael. “You use a telephone line, but instead of connecting telephones, computers are connected.”

  “So, who did you talk to?” I asked. I wanted to find out if they really were famous people, or if David Michael was just bragging.

  “First we talked to Bob Lipsky, the sports writer for the Stoneybrook News,” David Michael replied.

  “Oh,” I said.

  I did not care about talking to a sports writer.

  “He is not the only person we talked to,” continued David Michael. “We talked to Janet Dobbins, the astronaut, too.”

  “You talked to Janet Dobbins?” I said.

  “Yes,” said David Michael, beaming. “She was very nice. She told us what it feels like to be in outer space.”