Three Cheers for...Who?

Table of Contents

 

 

 

For Amanda and Ian, three cheers for both of you!—N.K.

 

 

For Beth—Hip! Hip! Hooray!—J&W

GROSSET & DUNLAP
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street,
New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700,
Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada
(a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Group Ireland, 25 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin 2,
Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124,
Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)
Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park,
New Delhi—110 017, India
Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632,
New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue,
Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

 

Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

 

 

The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author's rights is appreciated.

Text copyright © 2011 by Nancy Krulik. Illustrations copyright © 2011 by John & Wendy. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap, a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. S.A.

 

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010017222

 

eISBN : 978-1-101-48599-6

“I wonder if Mom got peanut butter crackers,” Emma Weber said as she, her brother Matthew, and her friend Katie Carew walked home after school on Wednesday afternoon.

“I love peanut butter crackers,” Matthew said. “They would definitely make me feel better. Recess was bad today. I struck out in kickball.”

Katie understood. Striking out in kickball was a big deal when you were in first grade.

“Peanut butter makes all your troubles disappear,” she told him.

Suddenly, the kids heard some loud yelling from Emma W.'s backyard.

“That's Lacey and her friend Rachel,” Emma W. explained. “They're practicing for a cheerleading competition.”

“They're
always
practicing,” Matthew said. “And they practice really loud.”

“You're so lucky to have a sister who is a high school cheerleader,” Katie told Emma W.

“Yes,” Emma W. agreed. “And Lacey is really good at it. It's just that ...”

“Lacey never
stops
cheering,” Matthew said, finishing his sister's sentence.

As the kids headed into the Webers' backyard, Lacey and her friend started a new cheer.

“You might be good at baseball or running 'round a track. But when it comes to basketball, you'd better jump back!”
the girls shouted. Then they leaped up in the air with their arms and legs spread apart. “Go Cherrydale!”

“Wow!” Katie exclaimed. “That was awesome.”

Lacey shook her head. “No, it wasn't,” she said. “We didn't land at the same time, and Rachel's right leg was crooked.”

“It was not,” Rachel told Lacey. “It was a perfect X jump.” Rachel looked over at Emma W., Katie, and Matthew. “Wasn't it?”

Katie had no idea what an X jump was. So she just said, “I thought it looked good.”

“Here it comes,” Matthew said quietly.

“
Good
isn't good enough,” Lacey said angrily. “This cheer has to be absolutely perfect. We're going to be in a statewide competition. We can't win if we're just
good
.”

Oops.
Katie frowned. Maybe
good
was the wrong word to use.

“I meant exciting,” Katie said. But Rachel and Lacey weren't listening to Katie anymore.

“Let's do it again,” Lacey told Rachel. She pulled her red and white pom-poms to her chest.

As Lacey and Rachel started the cheer again, Katie followed Emma W. and her little brother into the house.

“I am so sick of hearing cheers,” Matthew groaned as he threw his backpack onto the kitchen counter.

Katie understood. A few months ago, her mom had started taking tap-dancing classes, and she went nuts practicing.

“I wish Lacey would stop cheering forever!” Matthew exclaimed.

Uh-oh.
Matthew had just made a wish. That was
sooo
not good. Wishes could be trouble. No one knew that better than Katie.

It had all started back in third grade on one really,
really
rotten day. First, Katie had missed the football and lost the game for her team. Then she'd fallen in the mud and ruined her favorite pair of jeans. And then, just when she thought things couldn't get any worse, she'd let out a burp in front of the whole class. And not just any burp. A
huge
burp
. A real record breaker.

That night, Katie had wished she could be anyone but herself. There must have been a shooting star flying overhead when Katie made her wish, because the next day the magic wind came. The magic wind was a wild, powerful tornado that blew just around Katie. It was so strong that it could blow her right out of her own body and into someone else's.

The first time the magic wind came it turned her into Speedy, the class hamster. Katie had spent the whole morning stuck in a cage. She was really glad the magic wind returned to switch her back into her own body before her friends realized it was Katie on that hamster wheel, wearing nothing but hamster fur!

The magic wind came back again and again after that. It turned Katie into lots of people and animals. And every time Katie switcherooed, she really made a mess of things.

Like the time the magic wind switcherooed Katie into a hairdresser named Sparkle. Katie didn't know the first thing about cutting hair, so just turning into a hairdresser would have been bad enough. What made it worse was that Katie's best friend, Suzanne Lock, was the person getting her hair cut. Boy, did Katie make a mess out of Suzanne's head!

Sometimes Katie's switcheroos could be pretty gross. Once she turned into a reindeer with big, hairy lips. Another time she became her class snake, Slinky, just as he was shedding his skin.

The magic wind was the reason Katie didn't make wishes anymore. She knew what kinds of weird things could happen if they came true.

But Matthew didn't know that. And Katie wasn't going to tell him. He wouldn't believe her, anyway. So instead, Katie just said, “You don't really wish that, Matthew.”

“Katie's right,” Emma W. added. “Cheerleading makes Lacey happy. We want her to be happy.”

“I guess,” Matthew agreed. “But why can't she be quieter while she's being happy?”

Emma W. laughed. “Hey, let's see if Mom got peanut butter crackers,” she said.

“Mom!” Matthew called out. “Do we have any crackers?”

Mrs. Weber came running out from the laundry room. “Matthew, you know not to yell when the twins are taking a nap,” she scolded.

“Sorry,” Matthew apologized. “I'm very hungry.”

“School can do that to you,” Mrs. Weber said with a smile. “Hi, Katie,” she added. “I didn't even hear you kids come in.”

“You can't hear anything with Lacey cheering so loudly,” Matthew complained.

Mrs. Weber laughed and handed out peanut butter crackers to each of the kids.