Karen's Kite

  The author gratefully acknowledges

  Stephanie Calmenson

  for her help

  with this book.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dedication

  1 Flying

  2 Weekends

  3 Sassy

  4 Partners

  5 The Airport

  6 Kites

  7 Mrs. Moody

  8 Natalie’s Bad News

  9 Being Nice

  10 The Flying Fish

  11 Tears

  12 The Kite People

  13 Karen’s Kite

  14 Bubbles

  15 Meanie Karen

  16 The Sleepover

  17 The Kite Fight

  18 Sleeping at School

  19 The Winner

  20 The Wonderful Kite

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Copyright

  Flying

  “ ’Bye, Mommy! ’Bye, Andrew!” I called.

  I jumped out of Mommy’s car and raced into my second grade class at Stoneybrook Academy.

  I love school. I am in the same class as my two best friends, Nancy Dawes and Hannie Papadakis. We do almost everything together. That is why we call ourselves the Three Musketeers.

  My teacher’s name is Ms. Colman. She is gigundoly smart and nice. She always explains things so you can understand them. And she hardly ever raises her voice, even when I forget and raise mine. (I do that a lot.) Then she just says, “Indoor voice, please, Karen.”

  That is my name. Karen. My whole name is Karen Brewer. I am seven years old. I have blonde hair, blue eyes, and some freckles. I wear glasses, too. The blue pair is for reading and the pink pair is for all the other times I need glasses. (I do not need them when I am sleeping or in the bathtub.)

  Two other kids in my class wear glasses. They are Ricky Torres (he is my pretend husband), and Natalie Springer. We sit together in the front row. Ms. Colman says we can see better from there. (She wears glasses herself.)

  Ms. Colman was writing on the blackboard, so I went straight to my seat. On the way I waved to Hannie and Nancy. (They sit together at the back of the room because they do not wear glasses.)

  Ms. Colman was writing a Mystery Question. It was:

  This was a gigundoly good mystery.

  “While I am taking attendance, please think about the question on the blackboard,” said Ms. Colman.

  Ms. Colman called my name first.

  “Here!” I answered. Then I started thinking. I could tell the other kids were thinking too.

  Addie Sidney was tapping her pencil on the tray of her wheelchair. Pamela Harding was tapping her chin with her finger. (Pamela is my best enemy.) Jannie Gilbert and Leslie Morris, Pamela’s friends, were pointing at the blackboard and whispering. Terry and Tammy Barkan, the twins, were writing notes to each other. Bobby Gianelli tried to grab the twins’ note. (Bobby is a sometimes bully.)

  Hank Reubens raised his hand. Then he changed his mind and put it back down. Good. I wanted to get the answer first.

  “Wheep-wheep!” called Hootie. He is our class guinea pig. Maybe he had the answer. He is very smart — for a guinea pig.

  Just then, I saw a bird fly by the window. A picture of a bird was on the blackboard. Birds fly. So do airplanes. And bats. And kites. And …

  I waved my hand so hard it almost flew off my arm.

  “Yes, Karen?” said Ms. Colman.

  “I solved the mystery! They are all things that can fly!” I cried.

  “Good for you, Karen,” said Ms. Colman, smiling.

  I grinned. I had figured out the answer first. (Well, maybe Hootie knew the answer. But Ms. Colman called on me.)

  “Today we will begin learning about flight,” said Ms. Colman. “We are going to study living and mechanical things that can fly and how they do it. We will even go on a field trip to our local airport.”

  Yes! A class trip to the airport. I told you I love school!

  Weekends

  Mommy and Andrew were waiting for me after school.

  “Guess what! Guess what!” I cried. “Ms. Colman is taking our class on a trip to the airport!”

  “That’s exciting news,” said Mommy.

  “Will you get to fly in an airplane?” asked Andrew.

  “No. But we will probably go inside one,” I replied.

  Andrew is my little brother. He is four going on five. I will tell you something interesting about Andrew and me. We have two houses and two families. Here is how that happened.

  A long time ago, Mommy and Daddy were married. But when Andrew and I were very little, Mommy and Daddy started fighting a lot. They loved Andrew and me, but they were so unhappy with each other that they did not want to be married anymore. So they got divorced.

  After the divorce, Daddy stayed in our big house in Stoneybrook. (He grew up there.) Mommy moved with Andrew and me to a little house not too far away. That is where Andrew and I live most of the time.

  Then Mommy and Daddy each got married again to other people. Mommy married Seth Engle. Now he is my stepfather. He moved into the little house with his cat, Rocky, and his dog, Midgie. So we all live in the little house together. Oh, yes. My pet rat, Emily Junior, lives at the little house, too.

  Daddy married Elizabeth Thomas. Now she is my stepmother. She was married once before. She moved into the big house with her four children. They are Kristy, who is thirteen and the best stepsister ever, David Michael, who is seven, and Sam and Charlie, who are so old they’re in high school.

  Then Daddy and Elizabeth adopted Emily Michelle from a faraway country called Vietnam. She is two and a half. (I named my rat after her.) Nannie, who is Elizabeth’s mother, moved in to help take care of her.

  There are also pets at the big house: Shannon is a dog, Boo-Boo is a cat, and Crystal Light the Second and Goldfishie are elephants. (Just kidding. They are fish.)

  Andrew and I live at the big house every other weekend and on some vacations and holidays. To make going back and forth easier, we have two of lots of different things. I have two bicycles, one at each house. Andrew has two tricycles. We have two sets of clothes and toys. I have two stuffed cats, Goosie and Moosie. Goosie stays at the little house and Moosie stays at the big house. You already know that I have two best friends. Nancy lives next door to the little house and Hannie lives near the big house. I even have two pieces of Tickly, my special blanket.

  Because Andrew and I have two of so many different things, I gave us a special name. I call us two-two’s. (I thought of the name after Ms. Colman read our class a book called Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang.)

  Now, if only we had two airplanes. We could fly back and forth between our two houses whenever we wanted to. I think I’ll talk to Mommy and Daddy about that tonight. (Just kidding again!)

  Sassy

  On Wednesday morning, Ms. Colman made a Surprising Announcement. (Those are my favorite kind.)

  “Class, we are going to have two special guests this morning. As soon as they arrive, I will ask Hank to introduce them.”

  As soon as Ms. Colman had finished taking attendance, a tall man walked into our room carrying a covered cage.

  “This is my father,” said Hank. Then Hank uncovered the cage. “And this is Sassy. He’s my pet canary.”

  “Ooh, he’s pretty!” I cried.

  Sassy was bright yellow. He was sitting on his perch, turning his head from side to side.

  “Why don’t you come to the front of the room for a closer look,” said Mr. Reubens.

  Everyone gathered around the cage. Except for Natalie. She hung back. I think she was afraid. Natalie is afraid of a lot of things.

  I could tell Sassy was happy to see us. He started to sing. Then he stopped singing and pecke
d at his feathers.

  “What Sassy is doing now is called preening. That means he is cleaning his feathers,” said Ms. Colman. “All birds have feathers. They are the only animals that have them. And all birds have wings. Most birds, though not all of them, can fly.”

  “If someone will close the door to the classroom for us, we can let Sassy out of his cage,” said Mr. Reubens.

  “I’ll do it! I’ll do it!” I cried.

  While I was closing the door, Ms. Colman was checking the windows. We did not want Sassy to fly away.

  “We’re ready,” said Ms. Colman.

  Hank opened the cage and held his finger out next to Sassy. Sassy hopped onto Hank’s finger and stayed there while Hank carried him out.

  “Cool!” said Ricky. “Will he fly?”

  “Yes, I think he will,” said Mr. Reubens. “He is used to being around people. He is very comfortable with them.”

  In no time Sassy was flying around the room. The minute he took off, Natalie ducked and covered her head.

  “It’s okay,” I whispered to her. “He won’t hurt you.”

  “Watch Sassy’s wings closely,” said Ms. Colman.

  “He’s flapping them,” said Addie.

  “But now he is just holding them still,” said Nancy.

  “That’s right,” said Ms. Colman. “Sassy flaps, then he glides.”

  Sassy flew back and forth across the room. Then he landed on Mr. Reubens’ shoulder. The visit was over. We thanked Mr. Reubens for coming.

  After he left, Ms. Colman showed us a film about living things that fly. We saw birds, insects, and bats.

  “Bats are the only mammals that can fly,” said Ms. Colman.

  I wished I could fly. I decided to close my eyes and make believe. Now what should I be? Should I be a bat? No. I would have to eat insects for lunch. Should I be Sassy? No. I would have to live at Hank’s house. What about a butterfly? Yes! I would be Karen, the Most Beautiful Butterfly.

  But do butterflies wear glasses? Well, why not?

  Partners

  Over the next few days, our class learned a lot about airplanes.

  Ms. Colman told us that airplane wings work a lot like birds’ wings. And we learned that the engine gives an airplane its power.

  We made our own glider planes, too. (Gliders do not have engines.) We made some out of paper, and some out of wood.

  “Now it is time to see some real airplanes,” said Ms. Colman. “Remember that tomorrow is our trip to the airport. Karen, I still do not have your permission slip. Please remember to bring it tomorrow. You can’t go without it.”

  “I’ll remember,” I said.

  The next morning, I walked into class waving my permission slip in the air. “I have my lunch money, too,” I announced.

  “I am glad you remembered, Karen,” said Ms. Colman.

  Three other grown-ups, aside from Ms. Colman, were going on the trip with us. There was Addie’s mother, Bobby’s grandmother, and Pamela’s father. (Pamela was acting extra stuck-up because her father was coming on our trip.)

  “It is time to choose partners,” said Ms. Colman. “You and your partner will stick together the entire day.”

  “The entire day? The Three Musketeers always stick together!” I said.

  Hannie, Nancy, and I held hands and walked to the front of the room in a line.

  “I’m sorry, girls,” said Ms. Colman. “I said partners, not teams.”

  Bullfrogs. But then Addie wheeled herself across the room to us.

  “Do you want to be my partner, Nancy?” she asked.

  “Great,” said Nancy. “Karen and Hannie can be partners and we can all stick together.”

  The class was quickly pairing off. We were almost ready to go.

  “Don’t you have a partner, Natalie?” asked Ms. Colman. Natalie was standing by herself in a corner.

  “There’s nobody left,” said Natalie in a teeny-tiny voice. (Natalie has a lisp. Sometimes she whispers so no one will hear it.)

  “I’m puzzled,” said Ms. Colman. “There are eighteen students in our class. That is an even number. Everyone should have a partner.”

  Ms. Colman looked around the room. In the back, Pamela, Jannie, and Leslie were holding hands.

  “I would like one of you to be Natalie’s partner, please,” said Ms. Colman.

  Do you know what they did? They each took a step backward. I felt so, so bad for Natalie.

  Ms. Colman said the girls were taking time away from our trip, and that one of them had to be partners with Natalie. So they drew straws. Leslie picked the short straw. (I was glad Pamela did not pick it. That would have been too bad for Natalie.)

  Finally we got on the bus. Addie and Nancy had to sit in the back because of Addie’s wheelchair. There were no seats left next to them. But Hannie and I had fun anyway. We pretended we were Lovely Ladies.

  “Goodness, I hope we won’t be late getting to the airport,” said Hannie.

  “Oh, no,” I replied. “We would miss our flight to Paris. Our friends there would never forgive us.”

  All of a sudden we heard Leslie ask in a really loud voice, “Does anyone have a Baggie? I think Natalie is going to be bus sick.”

  Natalie’s face looked kind of green. I grabbed a bag from my pack and passed it over. I hoped Natalie would not really get sick.

  Poor, poor Natalie.

  The Airport

  Luckily, Natalie made it through the half hour ride without getting sick. She started to look better as soon as we pulled into the airport parking lot.

  “Hey, everyone! There’s a plane taking off,” said Bobby.

  We piled out of the bus just in time to see it. It looked like a great big bird flying into the sky.

  I liked this airport. It was not as big and crowded and noisy as the one I had been to before. (In case you did not know it, I flew on a plane once all by myself. I flew all the way to Nebraska to visit my granny and grandad.)

  Inside the airport, a man was waiting to greet us.

  “Welcome, everyone. I am Mr. King, the airport supervisor. First I will take you on a grand tour of one of our planes. Then we will visit the control tower.”

  Mr. King led us through the airport. Hannie and I held hands. So did Addie and Nancy.

  Behind us Pamela, Jannie, and Leslie were holding hands, too. But no one was holding Natalie’s hand. She was trailing along at the end of the line by herself.

  I decided to keep an eye on her. Once I thought we lost her. But she had only bent down to pull up her socks. (Natalie’s socks are always droopy.)

  An empty plane was waiting for us in a corner of the runway. It was white with red and blue stripes.

  We studied the wings, the wheels, the tail, and the engines. Then we climbed up a stairway and went into the cockpit.

  “Boy, look at all those knobs and buttons,” I cried.

  “These are the flight instruments. You use them to keep your plane on course,” said Mr. King. He pointed out some of the instruments to us.

  Then he said, “And these are the engine instruments. They let you know if your engine is working properly.”

  We each had a chance to be the pilot or copilot. We were not allowed to touch any buttons. But we could make believe. Hannie said I could be the pilot.

  “Karen’s Number One Jet coming in for a landing!” I announced. I made believe I was turning the control wheel.

  “May Day! May Day!” called Hannie. “You just steered us into the airport cafeteria.”

  It was Leslie and Natalie’s turn next. I could tell Leslie did not want Natalie to be her copilot.

  “She will probably get airsick even thought we are not moving,” Leslie whispered to Pamela and Jannie.

  I think Natalie heard her. She looked as if she might cry.

  After everyone had taken a turn, we went to the control tower. We watched two planes take off and two planes land.

  “Touchdown!” called Ricky when the planes’ wheels hit the ground.
br />   At noon it was time for lunch at the airport cafeteria. I thought it would be nice if the Three Musketeers and Addie could sit near Natalie. But Natalie took a long time deciding what to eat. By the time she was finished, no seats were left at our table.

  I looked out of the cafeteria windows at the runway. I waved to a man who was boarding a plane.

  Before we left, Mr. King introduced us to Ms. Lewis, a real live pilot. She gave each of us a pair of wings. When I got mine, I saluted. I was an official pilot.

  Kites

  “We have learned about the flight of birds, bats, insects, and airplanes,” said Ms. Colman on Friday. “Who can name something that flies without wings and without an engine?”

  Everyone was stumped. Even me. Boy was I surprised when Natalie raised her hand. She only raised it a little bit. But Ms. Colman saw her.

  “A Frisbee? Maybe?” said Natalie.

  “The answer is a Frisbee for sure. That’s very good, Natalie,” said Ms. Colman.

  “I have a Frisbee that glows in the dark,” I added. (I forgot to raise my hand.)

  Ms. Colman called on Terry next.

  “How about a ball? It flies if you throw it,” said Terry.

  “You’re right,” said Ms. Colman. “Any other ideas? Yes, Audrey?”

  “My cousin does not have wings or an engine. But he flew behind a boat once,” said Audrey. “They attached him to a kite.”

  “Your cousin went parasailing, Audrey. The kite was called a parafoil. It can lift things as heavy as people,” explained Ms. Colman. “I am glad you told us about your cousin. Today we are going to begin learning about kites and how they fly.”

  Oh, goody. I love kites. My favorites are the ones with bright colors and happy faces on them.

  Ms. Colman told us lots of interesting things about kites. She told us that they were named after a very graceful bird called a kite. Every kite we fly has to have a line attached to it. There are hundreds of different kinds of kites. How they fly depends on how they are made.

  While we were talking about kites, we heard a knock at the door. Mr. Mackey, our art teacher, poked his head in.