by Nancy Krulik
Table of Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Copyright Page
Lights Out!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
That’s a Wrap!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
The Santa Switch
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
For the real Brigandi family—N.K.
To M.G. Brinkman, King of Toys—J&W
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Lights Out!
Chapter 1
“Watch me, Katie,” Suzanne Lock told her best friend, Katie Carew. She stood in the center of her bedroom and kicked her right leg high in the air. Then she kicked up her left leg. “The dancers in the show all join arms and kick their legs like this. Right. Left. Right. Left!” Suzanne shouted.
“The Cherrydale Christmas Extravaganza sounds like a really cool show,” Katie said as she watched Suzanne dance around the room.
“Oh, it is,” Suzanne agreed. She flopped down on her bed and sighed. “At the end of the performance, white snowflakes fall from the ceiling of the arena. And then Santa rides onto the stage in his sleigh and waves to everyone.”
“Wow!” Katie said. “I would really love to see that.”
“I wish you could come with us this year,” Suzanne agreed. “But you can’t get a ticket now. The Christmas Extravaganza has been sold out for months.”
“You mean you’re going to see it again?” Katie asked, surprised.
Suzanne nodded. “My dad got tickets from someone at his office. This is the third year in a row we’re going to the show,” she boasted. “I never get tired of it.”
Katie could understand that. The Cherrydale Christmas Extravaganza sounded amazing with all those snowflakes, dancers dressed in red and white costumes, and Santa Claus, too.
“Come on, let’s do the dance together,” Suzanne said. She jumped up and pushed her night table against the wall so there could be more room for them to dance. “We can make our own Christmas Extravaganza.”
“Well, I could try,” Katie agreed. She linked her arm through Suzanne’s and began to kick her legs straight out.
Right, left. Right, left, she repeated over and over to herself as she tried to move her legs at the same time as Suzanne’s.
“Christmas is here, time to cheer,” Suzanne sang as they danced. “It’s a spectacular time of year!”
It was already getting dark by the time Katie began walking home from Suzanne’s house. That was the problem with winter. It got dark so early. Usually that made Katie kind of angry.
But not this week. Nothing could make Katie angry the week before Christmas!
As Katie turned the corner, she glanced in the open windows of the houses on her block. Most homes had Christmas trees set up in their living rooms. Many of the houses had pretty, colorful lights on the roofs and around their windows. A few had pine-green Christmas wreaths on their doors. They were all very beautiful.
But every year, the most spectacular house on the block belonged to Mr. Brigandi. His house was always covered with lots and lots of decorations.
Mr. Brigandi lived two doors down from Katie. Every year he went crazy decorating his house for Christmas. And this year was no exception.
Christmas was still a few days away, but he had already placed a giant Santa on his roof. The Santa moved up and down, so it looked like he was going down the chimney and coming back up. A big sleigh, pulled by electric reindeer, sat on the roof right beside Santa.
Mr. Brigandi had also hung red and green lights in all of his trees. He’d placed angels and shimmery, silver snowflakes on the branches, between the lights.
The house looked terrific. There was no doubt in Katie’s mind that Mr. Brigandi was going to win the block association’s best-decorated-house contest . . . again. Mr. Brigandi had won the contest for the past five years. Nobody else had even come close.
Until now.
As Katie reached the next house on the block—the one right between her house and Mr. Brigandi’s—she was met by an unbelievable surprise. That house was all lit up, too. It was covered in white lights. There was a jolly-looking plastic Santa on the porch, and candles in all the windows.
Best of all, in the middle of the front lawn, there was a small Ferris wheel—a working one that went around and around. Little dolls were perched in its seats. Each doll was dressed in a costume from a different country. The song “It’s a Small, Small World” played over and over as the Ferris wheel turned. It was pretty incredible.
But even more incredible was the fact that this unbelievable winter wonderland was at Mrs. Derkman’s house!
The same Mrs. Derkman who had been Katie’s strict, grumpy third-grade teacher.
The same Mrs. Derkman who read notes out loud just to embarrass her students and who gave homework ov
er vacations.
The same Mrs. Derkman who hardly ever smiled—unless she was singing to the plants in her garden.
It was really hard to believe that this beautiful house belonged to Mrs. Derkman. But it was true.
Katie grinned. Christmas really was the season for surprises!
Chapter 2
On Saturday afternoon, the kids in Katie’s cooking club gathered in the Carew family’s kitchen. They were all very excited. This wasn’t just any meeting of the cooking club. This week, the kids were baking holiday cookies!
“Mmmm. These are delicious,” George Brennan said as he bit into a tree-shaped sugar cookie.
Suzanne made a face. “George, wait until you’re finished chewing before you talk,” she told him.
George opened his mouth wide, showing his half-chewed cookie.
“Ugh,” Miriam Chan groaned, turning away from George. “That’s so gross.”
“These cookies are really yummy,” Emma Weber said, trying to turn the attention away from George. “I can’t wait to bring them home. My brothers and sister will love them!”
“My mom says I’m not allowed to bring any cookies home,” Mandy Banks told her. “We have too many sweets in the house already.”
“I know what you mean,” Kevin Camilleri agreed. “My house is filled with candies and cookies. And of course, we have my Aunt Edna’s fruitcake. We get one of those every year.”
“I hate fruitcake,” Suzanne said with a frown.
“So do I,” Kevin agreed. “Everyone in my family does. We never eat Aunt Edna’s cake. We always bring it to the homeless shelter on Christmas Eve. Then we help out by serving dinner there.”
“I bet the people there don’t like your Aunt Edna’s fruitcake, either,” George teased.
“I think it’s nice that Kevin’s family takes food to the shelter,” Emma W. said.
“So do I,” Katie agreed. “In fact, I have a great idea!”
Jeremy Fox smiled. He loved Katie’s great ideas. “What do you want to do, Katie?” he asked.
“I think we should make a whole lot of cookies,” Katie said.
“We’re already doing that, Katie Kazoo,” George said, using the cool nickname he’d given Katie back in third grade.
“No, we have to make more. Lots more,” Katie explained. “Then we can wrap them up like presents and take them to the homeless shelter for its holiday party. I know the people there would love them as much as we do!”
“That is a great idea, Katie,” Jeremy agreed.
“Maybe we could help serve food at the holiday party, too,” Emma W. suggested.
“It’s really lots of fun,” Kevin told her.
“Ruff ! Ruff !” Katie’s dog, Pepper, barked. He leaped up and put his paws on the kitchen counter. Then he reached his mouth up and tried to eat a cookie.
“No way, Pepper,” Katie said with a laugh. She moved the plate of cookies out of his reach. “These are for the people at the shelter. I’ll get you one of your cookies.”
She reached into a cupboard and pulled out a dog treat. She tossed it high in the air. Pepper leaped up and caught the treat in his mouth.
“Good boy,” Katie said. She patted him on the head. Then she turned to her friends. “Okay, so it’s settled. We’ll all meet here on Christmas Eve to watch the Christmas house-decorating contest. After they pick a winner, we’ll go over to the shelter together.”
“I’ll have to ask my mom since it’s Christmas Eve,” George said. “We usually spend that night together as a family. But I’ll bet she’d let me go serve food at the shelter for a little while.”
“I know my parents will say it’s okay,” Emma W. said. “They’ll probably even come and help.”
“Why do we have to do this on Christmas Eve?” Suzanne demanded.
“Because that’s the night they choose a winner in the house-decorating contest. And it’s also the night the shelter has its big party,” Katie explained.
“But I can’t go on Christmas Eve,” Suzanne said. “I’m going to the Cherrydale Christmas Extravaganza that night.”
“That’s okay,” Jeremy told her. “There are plenty of us. We won’t even notice you’re missing.”
Suzanne stuck her tongue out at Jeremy. He stuck his tongue out at her.
Katie sighed. Jeremy and Suzanne were both her best friends. But they didn’t like each other very much. “Come on, you guys,” Katie said, trying to calm them down.
But Suzanne was too mad to calm down. “If you are going to give the cookies away without me, then I’m not going to help bake them,” she declared. She threw her mixing spoon down on the counter and stormed out of the kitchen. A few seconds later, the kids heard the front door of the house slam behind her.
“Suzanne just doesn’t have the holiday spirit,” Jeremy said with a shrug as he bit down on a star-shaped cookie.
After Katie’s friends left, she helped her mother clean up the kitchen.
“I’m going to take Pepper out for a walk, okay, Mom?” Katie asked when they were done.
“Sure, honey,” her mom replied.
Katie put on her coat, put Pepper on his leash, and walked outside.
Katie gasped. Clearly Mr. Brigandi had been really busy!
Now there were even more decorations on his lawn than ever before. Katie looked up at the giant wooden nutcracker right at the edge of Mr. Brigandi’s walkway. It stood tall and straight, like it was guarding the house.
Beside the nutcracker stood a beautiful ballerina statue. It wore a pink tutu and had a silver crown on its head. Katie could hear the ballerina’s motor purring as the statue turned around and around on its wooden toe shoe.
Obviously Mr. Brigandi wasn’t giving up his first-place title without a fight!
Mr. and Mrs. Derkman seemed as determined as Mr. Brigandi to win the house-decorating contest. They’d added a giant Frosty the Snowman to their Christmas display. They had also sprinkled fake snow all over their lawn to make it look extra festive. And there were so many bright lights on their trees that it looked like the sun was shining all around their house.
“This is the most beautiful block in the whole world!” Katie shouted.
Chapter 3
On Sunday morning, Katie woke up early and got dressed. She wanted to go to the mall with her mother. Mrs. Carew was the manager of the Book Nook bookstore in the Cherrydale Mall.
Usually, Katie’s mother gave Katie money to spend when she went to the mall. But today, Katie was carrying her own money in her pocketbook. She’d been saving it up all year. She had $17.45! She was going to use the money to buy gifts for her parents and Pepper.
“Hello, Katie,” Mr. Krasner, the owner of the Pet Stop, greeted her. “I’ll bet you’re here to buy a present for Pepper,” Mr. Krasner said.
Katie nodded. “I want to be sure he has a gift to open on Christmas morning. It’s not fair for him to be left out.”
“I have just the thing for him,” Mr. Krasner told her. He held up a red and white candy-cane-shaped toy. “This is a great chew toy. It even smells like peppermint. And you know how dogs like mint!”
Katie sniffed at the toy. “Yum,” she said. “It’s perfect! Pepper will love it!”
Mr. Krasner walked over to the counter with Katie. He put the candy cane in a bag. Then he added a few dog treats to the bag, too. “The candy cane costs $2.25,” he told Katie. “The treats are on the house. They’re my present to Pepper.”
“Thank you,” Katie said as she handed him two one-dollar bills and a quarter. “And Pepper says, ‘thank you,’ too.”
Mr. Krasner laughed. “Tell him I said, ‘you’re welcome.’ ” He winked at Katie.
Katie smiled and took her bag.
“Wait a minute,” Mr. Krasner said as Katie walked away. “Aren’t you going to go to the back of the store and visit the guinea pigs and hamsters? Their cages are decorated with green and red chew sticks. I thought it would put them in the Christmas mood.”
“I�
��ll have to visit them another day,” Katie told Mr. Krasner. “I have a lot of shopping left to do.”
“Okay,” Mr. Krasner said. “Have a great holiday!”
“You too!” Katie said. “Bye!”
Katie smiled as she left the store and walked around the mall. She couldn’t wait for Christmas to come. But first, she had to finish her shopping!
Chapter 4
Katie wasn’t the only Cherrydale Elementary School fourth-grader shopping that afternoon. Katie soon spotted Suzanne and her mother standing outside a kids’ clothing store. They seemed to be arguing.
“But I don’t have that sweater in pink,” Katie heard Suzanne tell her mother.
“Your red one is just fine,” Mrs. Lock answered.
“Mom, you don’t understand,” Suzanne moaned. She turned slightly and noticed Katie standing there. “Tell her, Katie. Tell her how badly I need this pink sweater.” She pointed to a fuzzy, pink turtleneck sweater in the window of the shop.
“It’s the same as your red one,” Katie said.
Suzanne frowned. “Whose side are you on?” she demanded.
“I . . . well . . . I mean,” Katie stammered, not knowing what to say. She didn’t want to get in the middle of a fight between Suzanne and her mom.
“Suzanne, I’m tired,” Mrs. Lock said. “I’m going to get a cup of coffee and sit for a few minutes.
“Why don’t you and Katie go shopping for a little while? I’ll meet you later.”
“Fine.” Suzanne reached into her pocketbook and pulled out a sheet of notebook paper. Both sides were completely covered with words. “Here,” she said, handing the paper to her mom. “This is my Christmas wish list. Just in case.”
Mrs. Lock smiled weakly. “Thank you for your help, dear,” she said. “Now run along.”
“So what’s on your wish list?” Suzanne asked Katie as they wandered off together.
Katie shook her head. Wish list? No way! Katie didn’t make wishes anymore! She knew too much about what happened when wishes came true.