Karen's New Holiday

by Ann M. Martin

  “Can there be trick-or-treating on this new holiday?” Andrew asked. “I love getting candy.”

  “And dressing up,” Melody added. “I love wearing costumes.”

  David Michael stopped tossing the soccer ball in the air. “I think we should get lots of presents, like at Christmas.”

  “Let’s have a parade and lots of food, like on Thanksgiving Day!” Maria said, jumping up and down.

  I was having a hard time writing all the ideas down.

  “Karen, what about fireworks, like on the Fourth of July?” Nancy said. “Wouldn’t that be great?”

  “Yeah, and maybe we could all wear a color, like everyone wears green on St. Patrick’s Day,” Timmy added.

  “It would be cool to stay up till midnight, like on New Year’s Eve,” Linny suggested.

  The meeting was going better than I expected!

  “But wait,” Bill said. “All these things are from other holidays.”

  “Yeah,” Hannie agreed. “Karen, what will our national holiday celebrate?”

  I was not sure. I looked at my two best friends. Just then Nancy’s face lit up with a huge smile.

  “I know,” Nancy said. “We could go to the library and see what has happened in August that we can celebrate.”

  “That is a great idea!” I said. “We will find out everything about August that we can.” I was very proud of my committee. “Let’s meet at the library tomorrow.”

  We were going to use our Kid Power!

  At the Library

  I took my yellow notebook to the library the next day. I knew that I would have to write down important information.

  Our group met outside the library. When everyone was there Kristy and two of her friends took us inside. We walked to the librarian’s desk. A woman with long brown hair looked up from her book. A nameplate on her desk said RACHEL BROWN, REFERENCE LIBRARIAN.

  “Hello,” Ms. Brown said. “May I help you find something?”

  “Yes, please,” I said in my most grown-up voice. “My name is Karen Brewer, and my friends and I need to find out all we can about August, and about things that happened in August.”

  “We are making a national holiday,” Andrew added. “But we need to find something to celebrate.”

  “I see,” said Ms. Brown with a big smile. “I have a book that might help you.”

  We followed Ms. Brown to a large round table. She took a fat black book off of the shelf. “This is an almanac,” she explained. “It lists all the holidays and festivals in every month of the year.”

  This was perfect. The almanac was a gigundoly cool book. Ms. Brown went back to her desk, and the committee got to work. I opened the book to August.

  “Wow, look at all these,” Nancy said.

  Lots of festivals and holidays were listed.

  We crowded around to read the book.

  “Hey, National Mustard Day!” Hannie said, giggling.

  “Blech,” Timmy said. “I hate mustard.”

  “Look,” Melody said as she reached across the book. “There is a National Clown Week!”

  The committee was getting lots of ideas. We forgot to use our library voices. Ms. Brown looked up from her book. Kristy told us to settle down. We lowered our voices.

  “It says here that the peridot is the birthstone and gladiolus is the flower,” David Michael read.

  That wasn’t anything to celebrate. Boo and bullfrogs.

  “There has to be something else!” I said.

  Ms. Brown tapped me on the shoulder. “Try to remember to whisper, Karen,” she said. Then she sat down at the table with us and turned to another section of the book. “Let me see if I can help you.” She turned some more pages and pointed to National Aviation Day. Ms. Brown explained that that was Orville Wright’s birthday.

  “Who is he?” Scott asked.

  “Orville Wright was the first person to fly in an airplane,” Ms. Brown told us.

  Scott smiled. He loves airplanes. “That is it! We can celebrate flying and dress up like pilots.”

  “And make cool airplanes,” Linny added.

  Oh, brother. That was not what I had in mind. “What else is there?” I asked Ms. Brown.

  “Well,” she said as she flipped through the pages. “August is National Hair-itage month. You can celebrate hair and hair products.”

  Nancy, Hannie, and I began giggling.

  “We could wear wigs,” David Michael said as he started to laugh. Then we all started laughing. Melody laughed so hard she snorted. Even Ms. Brown and Kristy started to laugh.

  A lady at the next table looked over at us and put her finger to her lips. “Shhh,” she scolded.

  We tried to stop laughing. It was hard. But Ms. Brown reminded us we had to be respectful of the other people in the library.

  “I hope you find some ideas for your holiday,” Ms. Brown said as she stood up from the table.

  “Thank you,” I replied.

  “And good luck with your committee.”

  I had a feeling we were going to need lots of luck, unless we wanted to celebrate mustard, airplanes, and hair.

  “Let’s vote tomorrow,” I told the committee. “Everyone should come with an idea, and we will take a vote.”

  Hmm. We had learned about lots of August events, but nothing seemed perfect. Maybe tomorrow we would think of the perfect thing to celebrate.

  A Letter to Washington

  “Karen, would you like some watermelon?” Elizabeth asked. She held out a plate of watermelon wedges. I was sitting outside at the picnic table in the big-house backyard, looking at my national holiday notebook. I was still trying to come up with a good idea for our holiday. Elizabeth sat down with me at the picnic table.

  “Thanks,” I said as I took one of the wedges. The watermelon was bright red and extra sweet. Yummy!

  “What are you working on?” Elizabeth asked, pointing to my notebook.

  “My friends and I are going to start a new national holiday for August,” I said. Then I told her about Kid Power!, Mr. Morgan and the window displays, the calendar on Daddy’s desk, and Ms. Brown and the almanac. Elizabeth listened carefully. I told her what a good leader I was for the group. I spit out a few seeds onto the plate and then looked up at Elizabeth. “How do celebrations become national holidays, anyway?” I asked. “I have not really thought about that yet.”

  “Hmmm.” Elizabeth sighed. “I am not sure. But you should start by writing a letter to our congresswoman. That would be the first step.”

  I turned to a fresh new page in my notebook. “Will you help me write it?” I asked.

  “Sure,” Elizabeth said. She told me that our congresswoman’s name is Jodi Kesser. So I started my letter, “Dear Congresswoman Kesser …” But I did not know what to write next.

  “Maybe you should first think about all the reasons there should be a national holiday in August,” Elizabeth said.

  On a separate piece of paper I made a list. This is what I wrote:

  Elizabeth helped me with some of my spelling (even though I am an excellent speller). I felt very proud about writing a letter to a congresswoman. I told her she could call me to talk more about my holiday idea. She might have questions. After Congresswoman Kesser read my letter, she would bring it to Washington, D.C., and to the Congress … maybe even the White House! (I just love Washington, D.C. When I was there with my big-house family we got to see all the famous places.)

  I signed the letter with my signature. It looked like this:

  Then I wrote:

  under my name. I wanted the congresswoman to know exactly who I was. When I finished my letter, Elizabeth read it over.

  “This looks great, Karen,” she said. “I will mail it for you tomorrow.”

  “Thanks,” I replied. I could not wait until our committee meeting the next day.

  Hooray for August

  I love Saturdays at the big house. We always have a huge lunch. Elizabeth calls it a smorgasbord. That means that almost everything
in the refrigerator is set out on the table in the kitchen. Everyone makes their own lunch.

  I was especially excited this Saturday. Soon my friends and I would vote on our holiday. We did not have much time left in August — only one more week!

  I walked into the kitchen. Sam and Charlie were making their famous sandwiches. They piled on stuff until the sandwiches were almost a mile high.

  I made one of my favorite lunches too. It was a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Kristy taught me how to make it.

  “I am going to Washington, D.C., again,” I exclaimed. Everyone was sitting at the table eating.

  “You are not!” David Michael exclaimed.

  “Karen,” Elizabeth said warningly.

  “Well, I might go,” I said. “When my national holiday happens.”

  “What are you talking about?” Sam asked. Only it sounded all muffled because he had just taken a bite of his mile-high sandwich.

  “My friends and I are going to make a national holiday for August,” I said.

  “There are no big holidays in August, and we think there should be one,” David Michael added.

  “Yeah, a holiday for kids to celebrate!” Andrew said.

  I smiled at my brothers. They were good committee members. “We need to find something to celebrate, though,” I said.

  Sam started laughing. “Maybe you could have a Watermelon Holiday and just eat watermelon all day.”

  Charlie put his sandwich down. “Or you could have a holiday to celebrate your awesome older brothers. How about that, Karen?” Charlie laughed and slapped Sam a high five.

  I did not think they were very funny. Sometimes brothers are not all that helpful.

  “All right,” Daddy said. “That is enough.” He turned to look at Andrew, David Michael, and me. “While some holidays are fun, others, like Veterans Day or Martin Luther King Junior Day, honor important people or events in history.”

  Daddy was right. I started thinking about the holidays that my family celebrated.

  “You and your friends need to think about what is special about August in order to celebrate,” Daddy said.

  Just then Nannie brought out her new chocolates. They were shaped like ice-cream cones. The ice cream part was colored sprinkles. They were very pretty. Everyone at the table got one.

  As I ate my chocolate ice-cream candy, I thought about what Daddy had said. I thought about the things I loved about August. I ran to get my notebook and wrote down a list of my favorite August activities. I wrote:

  I looked over my list. There was so much to celebrate about August. That was when I realized I wanted to celebrate the whole month — not just one day or event. Hooray for all of August!

  Too Many Planners

  I waited at the picnic table in the big-house backyard. It was almost time for the committee meeting vote. Nancy and Hannie were sitting next to me, and David Michael and Andrew were throwing a Frisbee. Then Timmy and Scott arrived, and finally Linny, Melody, Bill, and Maria. Everyone was there.

  “All right,” I said. “We need to vote on our holiday. Does anyone have any ideas?”

  Melody stood up. “I went on the Internet with my dad last night and do you know what? Hawaii was made a state in August!”

  “Cool,” Hannie said.

  “I think we should have a luau,” Melody’s brother, Bill, said.

  “We could wear flower leis and grass skirts!” Melody said.

  Scott said, “I found out more about Aviation Day. It is a really awesome day with lots of airplane demonstrations.”

  “It’s not like we can do airplane demonstrations, Scott,” I said. “We are just a bunch of kids.”

  “Karen,” Hannie said, nudging me. “That was not nice.”

  “Yeah, Karen,” Timmy said. “He was just giving his idea.”

  I tapped my pencil on the table. “Who else has an idea?”

  Maria raised her hand. I called on her.

  “My parents always call the end of summer the dog days of summer,” Maria said. “So why not celebrate the dogs in the neighborhood?”

  Hannie smiled. “That’s a great idea!” I was sure she was thinking about her poodle, Noodle. She loves dogs almost as much as Maria does.

  “I think we should have a parade with our dogs,” Maria told the committee. “Astrid and Noodle could lead the parade.” Maria smiled at Hannie.

  “Don’t forget Shannon!” David Michael said.

  “And Clyde!” Timmy added. Clyde is the Hsus’ golden retriever.

  “This is supposed to be a holiday, not a parade,” I said. “Besides, not everyone on the block has a dog.”

  “It is a fun idea, Karen,” Hannie said.

  “But dogs do not have anything to do with August,” I argued. “My idea is to have a holiday to celebrate August.”

  Nancy nodded. “Karen is right. But maybe we could have a dog parade on the holiday anyway.”

  I smiled at Nancy. Then I looked around the table. Everyone seemed to agree. I thought now would be a good time for a vote. “All in favor of our national holiday celebrating the month of August raise your hands!”

  Everyone except Maria, Hannie, Timmy, and Scott raised their hands. Seven people for the August celebration and four people against. “August celebration wins!” I cried.

  “What are we going to call the holiday?” Andrew asked.

  I grinned at my little brother. I had already thought of that. I was about to tell everyone my great idea when Maria jumped up.

  “What about Sunshine Day?” she asked.

  “It might rain,” David Michael said. “Then that would not be a great name.”

  “How about August Day?” Hannie said.

  I could tell the group did not like that idea either.

  “Let’s call the holiday Augustania!” I blurted out.

  Everyone gave a cheer. I knew that I had thought of the perfect name. I looked at Maria and Hannie. They did not look happy, but they agreed to the idea. Even Timmy and Scott said they would still be on the committee.

  We decided that Augustania would be held the next Saturday. That meant we had a lot of work to do.

  Elizabeth interrupted our meeting to tell us dinner was ready. Everyone went home. (Nancy ate at Hannie’s house.)

  “After dinner tonight, everyone meet here,” I said. Augustania was really going to happen!

  How to Celebrate

  After dinner I heard jingling music coming down the street. Mr. Tastee! Andrew, David Michael, and I ran outside. Timmy and Scott were already eating their spaceship pops. And Maria, Melody, and Bill were looking at the sign, deciding what to buy. Nancy and Hannie were almost finished eating their ice creams. As soon as we got in line, Linny came riding down the block on his bike. Our whole committee was there!

  Once everyone had bought their ice cream (I got another Chocolate Stars cone), we sat around the picnic table in the big-house backyard.

  “I asked my parents if we could all swim in our pool for Augustania,” Melody said. “They said that as long as a grown-up was there, it would be all right.”

  I said I would ask one of my parents if they would help.

  “Let’s make sure to have lots of candy on Augustania!” Andrew said.

  “Yeah,” Linny agreed as he licked his chocolate cone. “And ice cream.”

  David Michael slurped the last of the red ice off his pop. “We should have a place for make-your-own sundaes!”

  “Yesss!” everyone shouted.

  I wrote down all of the suggestions in my yellow notebook.

  “What about presents? Didn’t we talk about them before?” Nancy asked.

  Everyone agreed that there should be presents on Augustania. I made a note that we should tell our parents about that.

  “We can make gifts to give our parents,” Nancy said.

  “That is a great idea!” I told Nancy. Then I looked around at the group. “Let’s make some smaller committees, like the kids in Farmington did.”

  Eve
ryone seemed to like that idea. Since I am a very good leader, I made a list of things we needed to do. Maria, Linny, Nancy, Hannie, and I wanted to make decorations. Timmy, Bill, and David Michael decided to make plans for the make-your-own sundaes. Andrew, Scott, and Melody said they wanted to work on putting together the Hawaiian luau.

  “What about costumes?” Melody asked. “I think we should wear Hawaiian shirts. You know, for Hawaii and the luau.”

  “What about cool pilot sunglasses?” Scott suggested.

  “Why don’t we just work on our assignments,” I said.

  “Karen, just because Augustania was your idea, doesn’t mean we have to do everything you say. You should listen to other people’s ideas,” Hannie said.

  Well, boo and bullfrogs. I was listening.

  I looked at my committee. There was so much to do. It was hard to make a decision.

  I stood up. “Any costume is good on Augustania,” I declared. Everyone cheered. “And you should each make one flier of your own for the neighborhood,” I said. “Then everyone will know about Augustania.”

  Everyone cheered again. I was good at leading a committee. Kid Power! would think so too when they came to interview me.

  Spreading the Word

  “I wish I could eat that ice-cream cone,” I said. I was not standing in front of Mr. Tastee’s truck. I was sitting on Hannie’s bedroom floor, making fliers for Augustania.

  Nancy held up her sign. She had drawn three ice-cream cones and a giant sun on it. The sign said: COME CELEBRATE AUGUSTANIA!

  “That looks great,” I told Nancy. I looked over at Hannie’s sign. She was finishing up a picture of a slice of watermelon. Hmmm, I was getting hungry.

  My paper was blank. I did not know what to draw. Should I draw a swimming pool? Or maybe a pail and shovel? I looked out the window. It was a beautiful sunny day. I could see Daddy’s garden. Tons of tall sunflowers were facing up toward the sun. “That is it!” I yelled.