The author gratefully acknowledges
Stephanie Calmenson
for her help
with this book.
Contents
Title Page
Dedication
1 It’s Snowing!
2 My Long Story
3 An Important Announcement
4 More Exciting News
5 The Election
6 Karen’s Idea
7 Mission Accomplished
8 Karen Brewer, Teacher
9 So Far, So Good
10 Coach Karen
11 And the Winner Is …
12 Karen to the Rescue
13 Oops
14 Princess Who?
15 The Real Story
16 The Real Princess
17 Seth’s News
18 First Night
19 A Winter Carnival Play
20 Here Comes the Parade
About the Author
Also Available
Copyright
It’s Snowing!
It was early Saturday morning. I did not have to get up to go to school. I could stay in my bed and be snoozy and cozy. I did not even have to open my eyes. But I decided to take a peek when I heard something softly scraping against my window. I opened one eye and looked outside. Then both eyes popped open.
“Yippee!” I cried. “It is snowing!”
I ran to the window for a better look. It must have been snowing all night long. A soft white blanket covered everything in sight.
I was not the only one who had discovered the snow. My brother Andrew appeared at my door.
“It is snowing!” he said. “Let’s go out and play!”
“Hurry and get dressed,” I replied. “I will meet you outside.”
Andrew is four going on five. That makes him my little brother, because I am already seven.
In case you are wondering, my name is Karen Brewer. I have blonde hair, blue eyes, and a bunch of freckles. I wear glasses. I have a blue pair for reading and a pink pair for the rest of the time. (I could see the snow without any glasses at all!)
In no time I was dressed and racing Andrew out the door.
The first thing we did was fall down on our backs in the snow and spread our arms and legs wide. We flapped them up and down. Then we stood up and saw two perfect angels on the ground.
“Now what?” asked Andrew.
“I know. Instead of making a snowman or a snowlady, let’s make a snowcat,” I said.
“Cool!” said Andrew.
“You are right. It will be a cool cat because it is made out of snow!” I said.
Andrew thought this was very funny. Even though he is little, he can be an excellent audience.
We were piling up snow for our snowcat’s body when I heard someone tap, tap, tapping at a window. I looked up. Mommy was waving down to us. She smiled and opened the window a crack.
“Good morning!” she called. “You two are up early.”
“We are making a snowcat!” I replied.
“A cool cat!” said Andrew.
“You will probably be hungry soon,” said Mommy. “I will go downstairs and get breakfast ready.”
I was glad. I was hungry already.
This morning there were just three of us at the little house. The three of us were Mommy, Andrew, and me. That is because Seth, my stepfather, was away for the weekend. Seth is a carpenter. He has been working on an important project in Chicago. He has been going there a lot on weekends.
Hold everything! I just told you I was at my little house. But I forgot to tell you I have a big house too. Do you want to know why? It is a long story. Are you ready? I will tell it to you now.
My Long Story
Ready? Set? Here comes my story!
It starts when I was very little. Back then I lived in a big house in Stoneybrook, Connecticut, with Mommy, Daddy, and Andrew. Then Mommy and Daddy started having troubles. They were fighting all the time. They tried hard to get along but just could not do it. Mommy and Daddy told Andrew and me that they loved each of us very much. But they did not want to be married anymore. So they got a divorce.
After the divorce, Mommy moved with Andrew and me to a little house not too far away. Then she met Seth. Mommy and Seth got married. That is how Seth became my stepfather. So now when Seth is not traveling to Chicago, there are four people at the little house. They are Mommy, Seth, Andrew, and me. There are some pets too. They are Rocky, Seth’s cat (he is a real cat, not a snowcat); Midgie, Seth’s dog; Emily Junior, my pet rat; and Bob, Andrew’s hermit crab.
Daddy stayed at the big house after the divorce. (It is the house he grew up in.) He met someone nice too. Her name is Elizabeth. She and Daddy got married. That is how Elizabeth became my stepmother.
Elizabeth was married before and has four children. They are my stepbrothers and stepsister. They are David Michael, who is seven like me; Sam and Charlie, who are so old they are in high school; and Kristy, who is thirteen and the best stepsister ever.
I have an adopted sister too. Her name is Emily Michelle. (I love her so much, I named my pet rat after her.) Emily is two and a half and came from a faraway country called Vietnam.
There is one more person who lives at the big house. That person is Nannie. She is Elizabeth’s mother, which makes her my stepgrandmother.
Now for the big-house pets. They are Boo-Boo, Daddy’s cranky old gray cat (he is not a cool cat!); Shannon, David Michael’s big Bernese mountain dog puppy; Crystal Light the Second, my goldfish; and Goldfishie, Andrew’s snowfish — I mean goldfish! Emily Junior and Bob live at the big house whenever Andrew and I are there.
Andrew and I switch houses almost every month. Now it is February and a little-house month. In March we will go back to the big house.
When Andrew and I switch houses, we do not have to take much with us. That is because we each have two of so many things. I even have special names for Andrew and me. I call us Andrew Two-Two and Karen Two-Two. (I got the idea from a book my teacher read us at school. It is called Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang.)
Aside from two houses and two families, here are some other things we have two of: We each have two sets of toys, clothes, and books. I have two bicycles (one at each house), and so does Andrew. (I taught him how to ride a two-wheeler.) I have two stuffed cats. Goosie lives at the little house. Moosie lives at the big house. And I have two best friends. Nancy Dawes lives next door to the little house. Hannie Papadakis lives across the street and one house over from the big house. Nancy, Hannie, and I like to be together so much that we call ourselves the Three Musketeers.
“Ka-ren! An-drew!”
Mommy was calling us. But we were not finished with our snowcat.
“We will be there in a minute,” I replied.
All we had left to do was give our snowcat a face. Andrew and I found some sticks and stones to make eyes, a nose, a mouth, and whiskers. We arranged them just right.
“Meow,” said Andrew.
“Brrr,” I said. “I am cold. And hungry.”
“Me too,” said Andrew.
“We are on our way, Mommy!” I called.
And we ran inside for our breakfast.
An Important Announcement
As I walked in the door, the phone rang. It was Seth. Andrew and I each said a quick hello. Then we sat down to eat our breakfast. (Mommy wanted us to eat while it was hot. We were having oatmeal, toast, and cocoa.)
“Later we could make a snowmouse,” said Andrew.
“Or snowkittens,” I said.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Mommy had turned away from us. She was whispering into the phone. She talked for a few more minutes, then hung up. She did not look happy.
“Is Seth okay?�
� I asked.
“Yes, he is fine,” Mommy replied.
I was not so sure from the way she said it. But I could tell she did not want to talk about anything. She turned on the radio.
“Good morning! Thank you for tuning in to WSTO radio!” said the announcer’s voice. “Here is your forecast for this bright white Saturday.”
The steady snow was supposed to taper off into flurries.
“And now for a special WSTO community-service announcement,” said the voice.
The minute I heard the words “special” and “announcement,” I sat up tall. I love special announcements. My teacher, Ms. Colman, makes them sometimes. It usually means something exciting is going to happen.
“For those of you who have not yet heard,” said the announcer, “Stoneybrook is planning to hold a weeklong winter carnival. It will raise money to buy new equipment for our volunteer fire department. To kick off the festivities, there will be a First Night ceremony. That is a first for Stoneybrook.”
“What is first? What is he saying?” asked Andrew.
“Shhh! We have to listen,” I said.
The announcer explained that people all over town would decorate their trees and homes with lights. At an exact time to be announced on the radio, everyone would turn their lights on. At the same time there would be a lighting ceremony in the town square. The announcer told us to stay tuned for more exciting news. It was time for a commercial break.
“Wow! The whole town will be lit up like Christmas again!” I said while the commercials were on.
There were three commercials in a row. Then the announcer returned.
“We now have a prerecorded message from our very own Mayor Keane,” he said.
I recognized the mayor’s voice right away.
“First Night will be an exciting event in our town’s history,” she said. “To share the honor of this event, I will pick one citizen at random to pull the switch that will light our town square.”
Omigosh! One person was going to light the town square! That would be a gigundoly great honor.
I closed my eyes and started wishing.
“Pick me, Mayor Keane,” I whispered to myself. “Please, pick me to light the town square.”
More Exciting News
Andrew did not understand exactly what was going on. I had to explain everything to him.
“We will go to the town square. The mayor will pick one special person to switch on the lights,” I explained. (I did not tell Andrew that that person might possibly be me.)
“At the same exact time,” I continued, “everyone at home will light up their trees and houses.”
“How can we light up our house and be at the town square at the same time?” asked Andrew.
Hmm. This was an excellent question. I looked to Mommy for the answer. I hoped she was not going to say that we had to stay home. I could not do that. I had to be at the town square so Mayor Keane could pick me.
“You are right, Andrew. We cannot be in two places at once,” said Mommy. “But there is something we can do. We can set a timer to turn on the lights while we are away.”
Whew! That was a relief.
“Do we have a timer?” I asked.
“No, but we can get one. We need new lights too,” said Mommy. “I have to pick up a few things downtown. Shall we go now?”
“Sure!” replied Andrew and I together.
We helped Mommy clean up the breakfast dishes. Then the three of us took a ride downtown to the hardware store. We can always find the things we need at Ted’s Tools.
As we were walking into the store, Natalie Springer and her mother were walking out. Natalie is one of my classmates.
“Hi, Natalie!” I said. “What are you doing here?”
“We were getting lights for First Night,” replied Natalie.
“That is what we are going to do now,” I said.
“Did you read about the Snow Prince and Snow Princess contest?” asked Natalie. “I bet you want to be Snow Princess, right?”
“Well, I might if I knew what it was.”
“The contest is part of the winter carnival. There is a flier about it inside the store. You can read all about it,” said Natalie.
“Thanks!” I replied. “See you at school on Monday.”
I found the flier posted by the cash register. While Mommy and Andrew were getting the things we needed, I read about the contest. These are the things I would have to do to become Snow Princess:
1. Write a 200-word essay on ways to improve Stoneybrook. Twenty semifinalists will be picked.
2. Give a five-minute speech about the winter carnival. Ten finalists will be picked.
3. Write and read aloud a 500-word composition beginning, “As Snow Prince (or Princess), I promise …” Two winners will be picked. They will be Stoneybrook’s Snow Prince and Snow Princess!
I read the flier from start to finish. It said the winners would get to ride on a float in a parade.
Being Snow Princess sounded very cool. I am good at writing essays and compositions. And I am good at giving speeches. So I probably had a good chance of winning the contest if I entered it. But there was one big problem. I really wanted to light up the town square. If I were Snow Princess, I was sure the mayor would not pick me. After all, she could not let one person do everything. Even if that one person were me, Karen Brewer.
I decided to stand back and let someone else be Snow Princess. Meanwhile I would keep wishing for the mayor to pick me to turn on the switch that would light up the town square.
I was making my wish again when Mommy and Andrew came to the cash register with three boxes of lights and a timer.
“Are you going to enter the contest?” asked Mommy when she saw the flier.
“No, I do not think so,” I replied. “I have other plans.”
The Election
On Monday morning at school, Ms. Colman picked me to take attendance. That is one of my favorite jobs. She handed me the attendance book and a blue pencil. I started checking off the names of everyone present.
First I checked my own name. Then I checked off Nancy and Hannie. (They sit all the way at the back of the room. I used to sit with them. Then I got my glasses and Ms. Colman moved me up front where I could see better.)
I checked the two other glasses-wearers next. They sit up front with me. They are Natalie and Ricky Torres. (Ricky is my pretend husband. We were married on the playground at recess one day.)
I checked off my best enemy, Pamela Harding, and her friends Jannie Gilbert and Leslie Morris.
Addie Sidney was putting snowman stickers on her wheelchair tray. (I wondered if she had a snowcat sticker. Probably not.) I checked off her name.
I checked off Bobby Gianelli, Hank Reubens, and Omar Harris. I checked Terri and Tammy Barkan. (They are twins.)
There were a few more names to check before I handed the book back to Ms. Colman.
“I am glad to see everyone is here,” said Ms. Colman. “Now you will all have a chance to be in the election.”
“Election! What election?” I cried.
Ms. Colman gave me her please-use-your-indoor-voice look.
“Sorry,” I said. “What election are we having?”
“I have been asked to select a student to help in a kindergarten class once a week. I thought an election would be the fairest way to choose,” Ms. Colman replied.
Everyone in class started talking at once. Ms. Colman clapped twice to get our attention.
“We will hold the election later this morning. You may take time now to prepare a short campaign speech. After you have given your speeches, we will vote,” said Ms. Colman.
We all took out notebooks and pencils. I thought about being a kindergarten assistant. Being elected is always fun. But I did not really want this job. If I want to help a little kid, I can always help Andrew at home. Also, while I was visiting the kindergarten class, I might miss something important in Ms. Colman’s room. I hate missing important events. So I de
cided to write a short and honest speech.
When my turn came I stood in front of the room and smiled the way politicians do on TV.
“Greetings, classmates,” I said. “Helping kindergarten students is a very good thing to do. If I am elected, I promise to do a very good job. But I already have a little brother at home to help and would be happy to give the job to someone else. Thank you very much.”
I bowed and returned to my seat.
“Thank you, Karen,” said Ms. Colman.
She called on Natalie next. Natalie was bending down to pull up her socks. Natalie’s socks are always drooping. When she stood up, I could see she was very nervous. Natalie is shy and does not like to speak in front of the class.
Natalie began her speech. She kept stopping to clear her throat. She lost her place a couple of times. Finally she got to the end.
“I would really, really like to be the kindergarten assistant. I hope you will elect me,” she said.
She hurried back to her chair.
After everyone had had their turn to speak, we each wrote a name on a piece of paper. (I voted for Addie because I thought she gave the best speech.)
Then Jannie collected the votes and Ms. Colman counted them.
“The winner of the election is Omar Harris,” said Ms. Colman. “Congratulations, Omar.”
I heard someone let out a big sigh. It was Natalie.
Karen’s Idea
Natalie was quiet during the rest of the morning. At lunch she ate just two bites of her sandwich. When the rest of us ran out to the playground, Natalie stayed behind. I could hear her crying. (Natalie snorts when she cries.)
“I will meet you later,” I said to Hannie and Nancy. “I am going to talk to Natalie.”
I sat down next to her.
“What is wrong?” I asked. “You have been unhappy all morning. Are you sad about the election?”
Natalie nodded.
“I did not win the election either,” I said. “But I am not crying.”
“But you have won other elections. I have never won any,” Natalie replied. “No one likes me.”
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