Table of Contents
For Maya and Rachel, Katie’s fans
from the start!—NK
For the girls on Spring Street—J&W
Text copyright © 2003 by Nancy Krulik. Illustrations copyright © 2003
by John & Wendy. All rights reserved. Published by Grosset & Dunlap,
a division of Penguin Young Readers Group, 345 Hudson Street,
New York, NY, 10014. GROSSET & DUNLAP is a trademark of
Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Published simultaneously in Canada.
S.A.
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.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.
eISBN : 978-1-101-09864-6
A B C D E F G H I J
Chater 1
“Watch out, Suzanne!” Katie Carew warned her best friend Suzanne Lock as the girls walked through the Cherrydale Mall. “You’re about to bump into the jewelry stand!” The girls were allowed to walk around the mall alone, as long as they stayed close to the bookstore where Katie’s mother worked. It was one of the best parts of having a mom who worked at the mall.
Suzanne moved to her left. “Thanks, Katie,” she answered. “That was a close one.”
“I don’t know about this walking-backward thing,” Katie said. “It’s pretty dangerous. You could get hurt.”
“Well, I can’t stop now,” Suzanne told her. “I’ve already been walking backward for forty-five minutes.”
“How much longer until you break the record?”
Suzanne looked at her watch. “Only seventy-two hours and twenty-three minutes.”
Just then, Jeremy Fox, Katie’s other best friend, ran up to the girls. “Hurry up, Katie,” he said. “We’ve got to get to Louie’s Pizza Shop. He’s about to make another pizza!”
Katie’s face lit up. She loved watching Louie throw the dough in the air. He made a real show of it, twirling around and singing Italian songs. “Suzanne, can you run backward?” Katie asked.
“I can try,” Suzanne replied.
Jeremy rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you give it up?” he asked Suzanne. “You’ll never break the record.”
“How do you know?” Suzanne demanded.
“Well, you didn’t break the seesawing record, or the holding-your-breath record, or the hopping-on-one-foot record, did you?” he asked. “You’ve been trying to break a record all week!”
Suzanne frowned. “This is different!” she insisted. “Isn’t it, Katie?”
Katie didn’t answer. She hated it when her two best friends put her in the middle of one of their arguments. Besides, she didn’t really know what to say. Suzanne had been trying all week to get into the book of world records. So far, she hadn’t even come close.
Still, Katie knew Suzanne wasn’t going to give up—at least not until she became interested in something else.
“Come on,” Jeremy urged again. “I want to get a good seat, right near the pizza oven. Louie’s is going to be mobbed. You know what it’s like there on Saturdays.”
Katie looked at Suzanne.
“You go ahead,” Suzanne told Katie.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Just save me a seat.”
Katie smiled. “Thanks, Suzanne, you’re the best!” she shouted as she ran off with Jeremy.
Katie and Jeremy didn’t get very far before they heard a loud crash. The kids turned around and saw Suzanne sitting on the floor, covered in a mountain of women’s hats.
“Suzanne banged into the Hat Rack!” Jeremy began to laugh.
But Katie didn’t think it was funny. Neither did the manager of the Hat Rack clothing stall.
“Watch where you’re going!” the manager shouted at Suzanne.
“I’m sorry,” Suzanne said, blushing. “I was trying to break a record.”
“Well, you almost broke my stall,” the manager scolded. “Now get out of here, before I call security.”
Suzanne jumped to her feet and ran . . . frontward.
“So much for the book of world records,” Jeremy said to her.
“Don’t you worry.” Suzanne shook her head. “I’ll find another record to break.”
Chapter 2
Louie’s Pizza Shop was very crowded by the time Katie, Jeremy, and Suzanne arrived. Lots of people liked to watch Louie make his pizzas.
Katie loved everything about Louie’s Pizza Shop. She loved the jukebox in the corner. She loved the Italian ice and spumoni counter. She loved the smell of warm pizza coming out of the oven. But most of all she loved Louie. He looked just like a pizza chef should, with his big white shirt, long apron, and dark, twirly moustache.
“Hey, Katie Kazoo, over here!” somebody called out.
There was only one person in the world who called her Katie Kazoo—her friend George Brennan. Katie quickly spotted George and his best pal, Kevin Camilleri. The boys were sitting at a big table with Kevin’s older brother, Ian.
“Where have you been?” George asked as Katie, Suzanne, and Jeremy sat down. “You were supposed to be here ten minutes ago.”
“Shhh. Louie’s just about to do a double twist,” Ian interrupted excitedly.
Katie turned to look at Louie. The pizza chef tossed the big circle of dough in the air. Then he spun around twice, reached his hands out, and caught the pizza just before it hit the counter.
“All right!” Jeremy cheered.
“Louie, you rock!” Ian shouted.
“That pie’s going to be pepperoni,” George told the others. “And I’m getting a slice!”
Katie was a vegetarian. She’d been hoping that Louie’s next pie would be a spinach pizza. Oh well. She could wait. Katie couldn’t go home from the mall until her mother got off work.
Louie ladled the sauce onto the pizza. His arm moved swiftly, leaving red sauce all over the dough. Next, he tossed some cheese into the air. The white mozzarella bits fell like snow from the sky. Then Louie took a few steps back and started flinging pepperoni slices at the pizza.
The pepperoni looked like little Frisbees as they flew through the air and landed on top of the cheese. Then, as he sang loudly, he added a pinch of his secret herbs. Finally, he slid the finished pizza into the oven.
The crowd cheered.
Louie took a bow and picked up another ball of dough. “Now for a Louie’s veggie special!” he announced, smiling at Katie.
Just then, Becky Stern came running into Louie’s Pizza Shop.
“Where have you been?” Suzanne asked her. “Louie already made a pepperoni pie.”
“I’m sorry I’m late,” Becky apologized in her soft Southern accent. “My mother wanted to stop and get a slice of pizza.” She grabbed a chair and sat down next to Jeremy.
“Why didn’t she get the pizza here?” Katie asked her.
“Yeah,” Jeremy agreed. “Louie makes the greatest pizza in the whole world.”
Becky smiled at him. “I believe you, Jeremy. After all, you do have the best taste!”
Jeremy blushed.
“But my mother had a coupon for a free slice at Olives and Oregano,” Becky continued.
“Olives and Oregano is on the other side of town,” Katie said, raising her eyebrows. “Why did you go all the way over there?”
Becky shook her head. “There’s a new Olives and Oregano right here in the Cherrydale Mall. It’s next to the Flower Power flower shop. Today is the Grand Opening. They’re giving out all sorts of free food.”
“Did you say free food?” a woman at the next booth asked Becky.
Becky nodded. “Free pizza and soda. I just had some.”
The woman stood up. She grabbed her little girl by the hand. “Come on, Alexandra,” she said. “Let’s try the new restaurant.”
Then a terrible thing happened.
Something that had never happened before.
Louie dropped the pizza dough.
“Sorry, folks,” Louie said, as he scooped up the dirty dough from the floor, changed his rubber cooking gloves, and picked up a new ball of dough. “Let’s try that again.”
Louie tossed the new ball of pizza dough in the air. He spun around in a circle as it flew through the air, and sang an Italian song. But he wasn’t smiling the way he usually did when he was making pizza.
Louie was obviously upset. And Katie was pretty sure it didn’t have anything to do with the fallen pizza dough.
Chapter 3
“Boy, does Becky have a crush on you!” Suzanne teased as she, Jeremy, and Katie climbed into the backseat of Mrs. Carew’s car later that afternoon.
“She does not!” Jeremy protested.
“Does too,” Suzanne answered back. She batted her eyes and imitated Becky’s accent. “Oooh, Jeremy. You have the best taste!”
Jeremy blushed. He pushed his glasses up on his nose. “I wish Becky had never moved here!” he exclaimed suddenly.
Katie gulped. “Jeremy, don’t make wishes like that,” she warned.
Katie knew all about making wishes.
Sometimes they came true—and that could lead to big problems.
It had all started one really bad day at school. Katie had lost the football game for her team, ruined her favorite jeans, and burped in front of the whole class.
That night, Katie had wished that she could be anyone but herself. There must have been a shooting star flying overhead or something when she made that wish, because, the very next day, the magic wind came.
The magic wind was a wild storm that seemed to blow only around Katie. It was really powerful. So powerful, in fact, that the magic wind was able to turn Katie into somebody else.
The first time the magic wind came, it changed Katie into Speedy, the class hamster. Another time it turned her into her own dog, Pepper.
But the magic wind didn’t turn Katie only into animals. Sometimes it turned her into grown-ups, like Lucille the school-lunch lady, and Mr. Kane, the principal of her school, Cherrydale Elementary School.
The magic wind had also turned Katie into other kids, like Becky or Jeremy. Being somebody else could be really tough. When she was Jeremy, Katie didn’t even know whether to use the girls’ room or the boys’ room!
“Don’t worry, Jeremy,” Suzanne said, interrupting Katie’s thoughts. “Becky will get over you . . . as soon as she gets some brains.”
“Okay, why don’t you three talk about something else?” Mrs. Carew suggested quickly. “And don’t forget to buckle up,” she added as she prepared to pull out of the parking lot.
Chapter 4
The next afternoon, Katie arrived at the mall with her mother at exactly 12:00. “Hurry up, Mom!” she cried out. “It’s lunchtime. I want to make sure I get a seat at Louie’s.”
Katie’s mom laughed. “You certainly like pizza,” she said.
“It’s not just the pizza. It’s fun at Louie’s. Everyone from school is there—except Mrs. Derkman of course. And that makes it even more fun.”
Mrs. Derkman was Katie’s very strict third-grade teacher. She was also Katie’s next-door neighbor. Ever since a few months ago, when Mrs. Derkman had moved into the house beside Katie’s, it seemed like Katie saw her everywhere—in school, on the street, even at barbecues in Katie’s own yard. But she never saw Mrs. Derkman at Louie’s. Mrs. Derkman was not a big pizza eater.
“All right, Katie,” Mrs. Carew said, as her daughter pulled her toward Louie’s. “I’m going as fast as I can.”
But when Katie and her mother arrived at Louie’s Pizza Shop, there were plenty of seats left. In fact, there were only three people in the restaurant—a father and his two sons.
“Slow day, Louie?” Mrs. Carew asked as she sat down at a table near the pizza oven.
Louie pounded hard on a pile of dough. “It’s only slow here,” he answered sadly. “It’s mobbed at Olives and Oregano.”
Mrs. Carew nodded understandingly. “It’s a new restaurant. People will get tired of it.”
Louie shook his head. “I don’t think so. Olives and Oregano is part of a big chain of restaurants. They have lots of money to spend on advertising.” Louie reached under the counter and pulled out a newspaper. “Look at this.”
Katie and her mother looked at the newspaper. There was a full-page ad:
“They have clowns and a magician performing all day,” Louie told Katie and her mom.
“Big deal,” Katie said. “Nobody puts on a better show than you, Louie. Or has better pizza.”
Louie smiled at her. “Thanks, Katie,” he told her. “I wish there were more kids like you.”
“Don’t worry, Louie,” Mrs. Carew said. “Things will pick up. It’s still early.”
Sure enough, someone else walked into the restaurant. “Katie!” Suzanne shouted. “Here you are.” She held out a wooden paddle with a red rubber ball attached to it with a rubber band. She was hitting the ball with the paddle. “Thirty-eight. Thirty-nine. Forty,” she counted as she tapped the ball.
“I told you I’d meet you here,” Katie told her.
Suzanne nodded. “Forty-one. Forty-two. Forty-three.”
“What are you doing?” Katie asked her.
“I’m trying to break the world paddleball record. Fifty. Fifty-one.”
“When did you start that?” Katie asked her.
“A few minutes ago,” Suzanne replied, still counting. “They were giving out the paddles at Olives and Oregano.”
Bam! Louie pounded the dough so hard, the counter shook. The noise broke Suzanne’s concentration. She missed the ball.
“Drat,” she said. “Now I’ll have to start all over.”
Katie put her hand on the paddle. “Not now.”
“But I’m going to break the record,” Suzanne insisted.
“You can do that later,” Katie assured her. She knew Louie didn’t want to see an Olives and Oregano paddle bouncing up and down in his restaurant. “Let’s sit down and get a slice. Mandy and Miriam should be here any minute. They always have lunch at Louie’s on Sunday.”
“I don’t think they’re coming today,” Suzanne said. “I just saw them eating hoagies at Olives and Oregano.”
Louie didn’t say anything. But judging by the frown on his face, Katie could tell he’d heard everything Suzanne had just said.
Olives and Oregano was taking over the food business in the mall.
This was so not good.
Chapter 5
After they’d finished their pizza, Suzanne and Katie took a walk around the mall. They stopped in Bead It!, the bead store near the BookNook. They tried on blue eye shadow at the Beauty Barn, and checked out jewelry at the Golden Earring stall.
“Katie, are you ever going to get your ears pierced?” Suzanne asked. Suzanne had her ears pierced in first grade. Katie, on the other hand, was still wearing clip-on earrings.
“It doesn’t hurt,” Suzanne assured her. “At least not a lot.”
Katie shrugged. “Let’s go to the flower shop,” she suggested.
But it was almost impossible to get to the Flower Power flower shop. The area around the store was filled with crowds of people hanging around outside Olives and Oregano. Clowns were giving balloons to the kids who walked by, and pretty girls in Italian folk-dancing costumes were handing out free food coupons to adults.
“Hey, Katie Kazoo!” George cried out from a seat near the front of the restaurant. He was sitting at a table with Zoe Canter and Manny Gonzalez.
“What are you doing here?” Katie asked her classmates. “Why weren’t you at Louie’s? He’s been making pizzas all afternoon.”
Manny shrugged. “They’re giving out free soda here!”
“Come on, sit down,” Zoe said to Katie and Suzanne. “We’ve got room.”
Suzanne plopped down in a chair near Zoe. But Katie didn’t move. She didn’t want to eat at a restaurant that was giving Louie so much trouble.
“I don’t think so,” she said. “I’ve got to get back to my mom’s store.”
“Oh, you can stay for a little while,” Manny said. “We just ordered some fries. You can share.”
“Yeah,” George said. “We’re getting tons of food. My mom gave me money and told me to stay here until she gets back from returning things at the jeans store.”
“Come on, Katie, sit down,” Suzanne urged. “Your mom isn’t going home for at least an hour. And, besides, they have chocolate milk shakes on the menu.”
Katie loved chocolate milk shakes.
“Do you know how they get milk shakes?” George asked.
“How?” Katie asked him.
“From nervous cows!” George laughed at his own joke.
Katie laughed, too. “Okay, I’ll stay,” she said finally. “But only for a minute. And I’m not going to eat anything.”
Suzanne shrugged. “Okay, but I’m ordering a shake.”
Katie sat down and looked around the restaurant. On the wall, there were huge paintings of Italian olive groves. All of the waiters and waitresses were dressed in red, white, and green uniforms, which matched the colors on the big Italian flag that hung over the door. And, of course, there were plenty of olives and oregano on all the tables.
Katie sighed. Compared to Olives and Oregano, Louie’s Pizza Shop didn’t look like much. But Louie’s pizza was the best. Katie was sure of that.
“Aachoo!” Suddenly, George put his hand to his nose as he sneezed. As he pulled his hand away, there was a big, green glob in his fingers.
“Eeew!” Suzanne exclaimed.
Katie was pretty grossed out, too—until she realized that the green glob was actually an olive.
“Gotcha!” George laughed.
Katie began to relax. She loved being with her friends, especially on the weekends. She reached into the olive bowl and pulled out a thick, salty black olive. Yum.
But as she popped the olive in her mouth, Katie got a sick feeling in her stomach. At that very moment, Louie passed by the window of Olives and Oregano.
Louie didn’t wave or smile. He just kept on walking with a sad look on his face.
Katie was sure Louie had seen her and her friends sitting at the table. She knew his feelings must be really hurt.
“I’m a terrible friend,” she muttered sadly to herself.
Chapter 6
Katie didn’t go to the mall for a whole week after Louie spotted her in Olives and Oregano. She was too embarrassed. But when Saturday came around, her mother told her she had to go.
“I have to work all day, and your dad is out of town on a business trip,” Mrs. Carew explained. “I need you to spend the day at the mall. There’s nowhere else you can go today.”
Katie was not about to face Louie alone. She made sure that all of her friends would be there with her. At 12:00, Katie, Suzanne, George, Jeremy, Kevin, Becky, Miriam, Mandy, Zoe, and Manny all met outside Louie’s Pizza Shop.
There was a new sign in the window. It said:
GOING OUT OF BUSINESS
Katie couldn’t believe her eyes. It just wasn’t possible. Louie’s Pizza Shop had been in the Cherrydale Mall ever since Katie could remember. Suddenly, she forgot all about being embarrassed. She had to talk to Louie!
“Louie, you aren’t really going out of business, are you?” Katie asked as she raced into the pizza shop.
Louie nodded. “I am,” he told her.
“But why?” Katie asked.
“I’m losing all my customers to Olives and Oregano,” Louie explained. “They advertise on TV and in newspapers. I can’t afford to do that. And if I can’t advertise, I can’t get people to eat here instead of there.”
The kids all looked at each other. They felt bad about eating at Olives and Oregano.
“Don’t be sad,” Louie said. “It’s okay. I’m going to move to Florida. My sister has a place there, and she says retirement is really very nice.” Louie tried to smile, but Katie could tell he was sad about leaving.
POP!
Suddenly, a loud noise came from where Suzanne was standing. Her face was covered with a huge wad of pink bubble gum.
“Sorry,” Suzanne apologized. “I’m trying to break the biggest bubble-gum bubble record.” She struggled to pull globs of bubble gum from her chin, cheeks, and nose. “What are you all laughing at?” she demanded as her friends giggled.
“Too bad you can’t break a record, Louie,” Jeremy said, turning his attention away from Suzanne.
“What kind of record?” Louie asked.
“I don’t know,” Jeremy said, “the most customers in a pizza shop or something.”
“That would be nice,” Louie agreed.
Suddenly, a big grin came over Katie’s face. “Jeremy! You’re a genius!” she exclaimed.
“Of course he is,” Becky said, with a smile. “Everyone knows that.”
Jeremy blushed and moved away from Becky. “What are you talking about?” he asked Katie.“Louie, I know how you can get free advertising in newspapers and on TV,” Katie told him.
Louie looked at her curiously. “How?”
“All you have to do is get newspaper reporters to write articles about your restaurant,” Katie said.
“They wouldn’t want to do that.”
“They would if you were going to have a big pizza-eating contest,” Katie explained. “Who can eat the most pizza in Cherrydale. That would be big news.”
Louie looked at Katie. “You sure have big ideas for such a little girl.” He laughed, as he pulled out a pencil and paper. “Any thoughts on how we can let people know about the contest?”
“Well, I could put an article about it in the Class 3A Times,” Jeremy suggested. Jeremy was editor of the class newspaper.
“And my daddy could post a sign about it on the bulletin board at his office,” Becky added.
“I’ll bet my mom would put a sign in the window at the BookNook,” Katie volunteered.
“And we could hand out flyers for you here in the mall,” Suzanne suggested, as she chomped on a new wad of gum.
“I guess that takes care of everything,” Louie said.
“Then you’ll do it?” Katie asked hopefully.
Louie scribbled some numbers on his pad of paper. “Well, if I charge ten dollars a person to enter the contest, and five dollars a person to watch the contest, I might be able to afford it.”
“Great!” Katie said. “Then you won’t have to move to Florida.”
Louie sighed. “Well . . . ” he said slowly, “let’s just wait and see.”
Chapter 7
“Hey, Katie Kazoo! My mom said I could enter Louie’s pizza-eating contest!” George announced in the school yard early Monday morning.
Katie smiled. “I knew you’d be the first to sign up. No one likes to eat as much as you do, George.”
Just then, Kevin strolled onto the playground. “Guess what?” he asked the others. “I’m entering the pizza-eating contest. I can’t wait to sink my teeth into Louie’s yummy tomato sauce!” Kevin was wild about tomatoes.
George stared at Kevin. “What do you mean, you’re entering the contest? I’m entering the contest.”
“So?” Kevin said. “We can both enter . . . of course I will win.”
“Don’t be so sure, Kev,” Jeremy said. “You know what a big eater George is.”
“Oh, please,” Suzanne butted in, suddenly. “Kevin is already the tomato-eating champ of Cherrydale Elementary. He’ll definitely win.”
Suzanne would say anything just to disagree with Jeremy.
“I don’t think so,” Jeremy remarked.
And Jeremy would say anything just to disagree with Suzanne.
“Kevin, I know you’ll win,” Suzanne said firmly.
“Especially because I’m going to help you! I’m going to be your coach.”
Kevin gulped. “You are?” he asked nervously.
Suzanne nodded.
Jeremy put his arm around George’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, buddy. I’ll be your coach. Together, we’ll win the contest.”
“We?” George asked.
“Well, you,” Jeremy admitted. “But I’ll help you train.”
Katie watched as Jeremy and Suzanne stared angrily into each other’s eyes.
“May the best man win,” she said, trying to end the argument.
“Don’t worry, Katie, he will,” Jeremy said, pointing to George.
“You mean he will,” Suzanne said, pointing to Kevin.
Katie wished her best friends would get along. But she was glad that so many people were interested in Louie’s contest.
At lunchtime, Katie sat across from Jeremy and George. George’s lunch tray was piled high with two tuna sandwiches, two orders of Tater Tots, two pieces of chocolate cake, and two containers of juice.
“Wow! That’s a lot of food,” Katie said.
“George is in training,” Jeremy told Katie. “He’s got to practice eating a lot of food so he can stretch his stomach.”
Katie watched as George stuffed half a tuna sandwich into his mouth and chewed.
“Oooh, George,” Mandy Banks moaned. “Don’t chew with your mouth open. That’s gross.”
“He can eat any way he wants,” Jeremy told her, “as long as he eats a lot.”
George shoved six Tater Tots into his mouth. “Yeah,” he mumbled with his mouth full.
Just then, Suzanne and Kevin came to the table. As usual, Kevin’s tray was stacked high with tomatoes. He also had a tuna sandwich, Tater Tots, and a piece of chocolate cake.
“Okay, Kevin, here’s the deal,” Suzanne told him. “You have to eat fast so you can get the slices of pizza before anyone else. That means you’ve got to learn the two-handed munch out.”
“The what?” Kevin asked.
“The two-handed munch out,” Suzanne repeated. “You have to be able to shove food into your mouth with both hands at the same time.”
“Are you nuts?” Kevin asked her in disbelief.
Suzanne put her hands on her hips. “Look, do you want to win this contest or not?”
“I guess so,” Kevin said.
“Good,” Suzanne said, as she placed a tomato in his left hand, and half a tuna sandwich in his right. “Now go!”
Katie watched as Kevin and George shoved cafeteria food down their throats. They seemed fine at first, but after a while, both boys looked a little sick.
George was the first to stop. “I can’t eat another thing,” he told Jeremy.
Jeremy stared at George’s tray. There were just four Tater Tots left. “I guess you can stop,” he said finally. “Besides, we have to go outside. You need to run for a while.”
George moaned. “But I just ate.”
“Come on,” Jeremy said. “You have to be in shape if you’re going to be the pizza king.”
Suzanne wasn’t letting up on Kevin, either. “When you’re finished with those tomatoes, we’re going outside to work on sit-ups.”
“We?” Kevin asked.
“Well, you, actually,” Suzanne admitted. “I don’t want to get my dress dirty. But I’ll count while you crunch.”
Kevin just stared at Suzanne.
“Come on, the contest is this Saturday. You need to build strong stomach muscles to eat all that yummy tomato pizza,” Suzanne urged, with a smile.
“Don’t talk about food right now,” Kevin groaned, holding his stomach.
Chapter 8
After several days of stomach stretching, two-hand munching, jogging, sit-ups, and arguments between Suzanne and Jeremy, Saturday finally arrived.
Katie was up and ready to go to the mall before anyone in her family—including her dog, Pepper—was even awake. That rarely happened. Usually, it was the cocker spaniel who woke Katie—with a big wet lick to the face.
Katie wanted to get to the mall as early as possible. She’d promised Louie that she would help him set up for the contest.
“You’re awfully quiet this morning,” Katie’s mom said in the car on the way to the mall. “Worried about the contest?”
“I guess,” Katie admitted. “What if no one shows up?”
“That won’t happen,” Mrs. Carew assured her. “There are already a lot of people signed up.”
“What if that’s not enough? What if Louie still goes out of business?” Katie asked.
“There’s nothing you can do about that,” her mother said softly. “You’ve given it your best shot. You’re a very good friend to Louie.”
Katie wasn’t so sure about that. She kept remembering Louie’s sad face when he spotted her in Olives and Oregano.
“This just has to work,” she insisted.
“Good morning!” Louie greeted Katie with a huge grin as she walked into the pizza shop. He opened the oven door and used the big metal pizza turner to move the pies around. “I’ve gotten started already. There are four pies in the oven, and a lot more ready to go in later.” He pointed to a long line of pre-made, uncooked pizzas. “I’ve got to make sure the pizzas just keep on coming.”
“Mmmm. Smells great,” she told Louie. “What do you need me to do?”
“Well, I know the adults are going to want coffee. Can you make sure we have enough sugar and cinnamon out on the counter for anyone who needs it?”
Katie nodded and walked over to the counter. She found a big shaker of a sugar and cinnamon mixture alongside the oregano, hot pepper, and garlic.
“Got it, Louie,” she reported back.
“Good,” Louie said. “Now, please go into the storeroom and get out lots of paper plates.”
Katie did as she was told. As the storeroom door shut behind her, she looked up and down on the shelves, searching for a box of plates.
Suddenly, Katie felt a strange breeze blowing on the back of her neck. It started out gentle enough, but within seconds, the breeze turned into a strong wind.
A wind that was blowing only around Katie.
The magic wind was back!
As the wild tornado swirled faster and faster, Katie grabbed on to a huge, heavy carton of plastic silverware. She held on tight, hoping the heavy box would keep her from blowing away. She squeezed her eyes shut, and hoped that the magic wind would stop blowing soon.
Which is exactly what happened. The wind simply stopped.
Katie opened her eyes slowly and looked around. There were cartons and cans all around her. She was still in the storeroom.
Now she knew where she was. But she still didn’t know who she was. Katie looked down at her clothes. Her jeans had been replaced with baggy white pants. A long white apron covered her stomach.
She looked at her hands. They were large, hairy, and covered with flour. They smelled of garlic.
Katie touched her face. Her fingers brushed over something long and twirly beneath her nose.
Yuck! Katie had a moustache!
Who had Katie become? She picked up a huge, shiny, metal pizza tray and stared at her reflection.
Louie’s face stared back at her.
Oh no! The magic wind had turned Katie into Louie!
Katie started to panic. She couldn’t possibly be Louie! Not now. All those people out there were going to be expecting Louie’s yummy pizzas. Katie didn’t know anything about making pizzas. She’d never even cooked anything without her mom before!
The contest was going to be ruined. Louie was going to have to close the restaurant and move to Florida with his sister. And it would all be Katie’s fault.
“Oh, please come back,” Katie begged the magic wind. “I need Louie to be here. I want to be me again.”
But the magic wind did not return. Which left Katie with no choice. She was going to have to go out there and run Louie’s pizza-eating contest.
“This is going to be a disaster,” she groaned in her deep, man’s voice.
Chapter 9
Katie walked slowly out of the storeroom. Louie’s Pizza Shop was still closed. But that hadn’t stopped folks from lining up outside the windows. Katie couldn’t believe it. There were tons of people there, not to mention television news’ crews and newspaper reporters wearing press badges on their shirts.
At any other time, Katie would have been thrilled to see so many people at Louie’s. But now she was worried.
Still, Katie couldn’t put the contest off any longer. She went over to unlock the door. She could only hope that the pizzas Louie had already made would be enough.
The crowd streamed in. Eight of the ten contestants took their places at the long table that Louie had arranged at the front of the restaurant. The runners—the people Louie had hired to serve the contestants their slices—stood behind the table.
It was almost time for the contest to begin. But there were still two empty seats at the contestants’ table.
Suddenly, Becky Stern came leaping and prancing into the pizza shop.
“Here comes George, he’s sure to win!” Becky cheered, shaking two black-and-red pom-poms. “Here comes George, he’ll make you grin!” She leaped up, did a back flip, and landed in a perfect split.
Jeremy strolled in behind her. “Presenting . . . the one, the only, George ‘the Joker’ Brennan!” he shouted.
Then George made his entrance. He was dressed in a pair of shiny red shorts and a black T-shirt with a big red smiley face in the middle. He had a black towel tucked into his shirt collar, like a cape. He looked like a superhero.
George smiled at the crowd. He pushed the smiley face on his shirt. A computer chip inside the shirt made a laughing sound.
Some of the photographers leaped in front of George and began snapping his picture. Other people cheered. George was definitely the center of attention.
But not for long. Just then, somebody blew a loud horn. Everyone turned toward the door. There stood Suzanne, holding a plastic horn. She smiled as the attention focused on her.
“Forget that Joker,” she told the crowd. “Here’s your true champion! Kevin ‘Tomato Man’ Camilleri!”
Kevin walked in. Unlike George, he seemed embarrassed by all the attention. Maybe that was because of the outfit Suzanne had forced him to wear. He had on red shorts, a red shirt, red knee-socks, and a red hat with a small green felt stem sticking up on the top. He looked like a walking tomato!
Cameras flashed in Kevin’s face. His face blushed redder than any tomato.
“Hey, Louie, aren’t you going to start the contest?” Ian Camilleri shouted out. “My brother looks awfully hungry.”
“So does George,” Becky assured Ian. She waved her pom-poms in the air. “Jeremy didn’t let him eat a thing for breakfast. Wasn’t that smart?” She smiled at Jeremy.
“Can we start the contest, Louie?” Jeremy asked, turning away from Becky.
Katie walked over to the oven, opened the door, and carefully slipped one of the giant pies onto a huge metal spatula, just the way she’d seen Louie do it.
The pizza was heavier than she’d expected. It was big, too. Katie had never held a whole pie before. Whoa! The pizza was sliding off the spatula. Katie shifted her weight and quickly slid it onto one of the big metal pizza trays on the counter.
“That was a close one, Louie,” one of the kids in the audience said, laughing.
Katie blushed.
“Boy, that oven must be extra hot today,” one of the adults said aloud. “Look how red Louie’s face is.”
“Come on, Louie, let’s get going!” Suzanne pleaded. “Kevin is so ready.”
“So’s George,” Jeremy added.
Working near the big hot pizza oven made Katie very nervous. She wasn’t supposed to use any oven without a grown-up. Her mother had made that rule very clear. But she had to break her mother’s rule—just this one time.
Katie used a pizza cutter to divide each of the four cooked pies into slices. The ten runners grabbed slices and raced them over to the contestants. As they ate, Katie slid four more of Louie’s pre-made pies into the oven.
The contest had begun!
Chapter 10
“Send another one this way, Louie,” Jake Lawrence, a teenager who was one of the contestants, called out. Jake had ten empty plates stacked beside him. That meant he’d eaten ten whole slices of pizza. So far, he’d eaten the most.
But Carolyn Evans, a tall thin blond woman, wasn’t far behind. She’d eaten nine slices. And Neal Flemming and Bryan Sander had each eaten seven.
“Another slice for my man Kevin, please,” Suzanne called out as she patted Tomato Man on the back, and counted the empty plates beside him. Wow! Kevin had eaten six slices.
“Suzanne, I don’t think I can eat any more,” Kevin groaned.
Suzanne looked at the next table, where George was scarfing down his seventh slice of pizza. “Yes, you can,” she said. “You don’t want Jeremy . . . I mean, George to beat us, do you?”
“Us?” Kevin asked. “Just how much pizza have you eaten?”
“You know what I mean,” Suzanne told him.
“All I know is that if I eat another bite, I’m going to explode.” He turned toward where Katie was standing. “Count me out, Louie,” he told her.
Katie nodded. She reached over and took away his plates.
The contest had been going on for a while now. Kevin was the fifth contestant to drop out. Jeremy smiled as Kevin waddled away from the table. “Another one down, George,” he happily told his client.
George didn’t answer. He just kept chewing. But he was slowing down. Finally, he looked up at Jeremy. “I’m sorry,” he said, his face turning green. “I think I’m going to be sick!” He jumped up and ran toward the bathroom.
“I’m not feeling too well, either,” Bryan Sander added, after taking just one bite of his eighth slice. “I’m done.”
“It’s down to three!” someone in the crowd shouted out.
Katie looked over toward the counter. There was only one of Louie’s pre-made pizzas left, and the three remaining contestants showed no signs of slowing down.
Someone’s going to have to make some more pizzas, Katie thought to herself. Then she realized that “someone” was her.
This can’t be too hard, Katie tried to convince herself, as she picked up a ball of dough. I’ve seen Louie do this a thousand times.
Katie floured the cooking board, and threw down a ball of dough. She pounded the dough just the way Louie did. Then she stretched out the dough, and tossed it gently in the air. Phew! She caught it.
Katie threw the dough up in the air again. “Wow, this is fun!” she exclaimed as she caught it once again.
Whee! Katie tossed the dough, higher this time, and twirled her body around in circles, just like Louie often did. But Katie wasn’t Louie. She had no practice in tossing pizzas. It wasn’t so easy to catch the dough as you twirled around.
Plop! The pizza dough landed right on top of Katie’s head!
Katie shivered as the thick, damp, raw dough stretched down slowly over her face. It felt all gooey and disgusting—like some sort of weird, edible Halloween mask.
Suddenly, people started applauding. They thought it was a show—like the clowns outside Olives and Oregano.
But Katie knew it wasn’t a show. It was a big mistake.
Katie pulled the thick, gooey pizza dough from her head, and threw it in the trash. Then she reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a ball of dough. She floured the counter, and pounded the ball flat. Then she tossed the dough, ever so slightly—she wasn’t taking any chances this time.
“Hey, Louie, how ’bout a song?” one of the audience members asked.
Katie gulped. Louie always sang Italian songs while he made pizzas. Katie didn’t know any.
“Yeah, come on, Louie!” Ian Camilleri called out.
Katie racked her brain, trying to remember the words to one of Louie’s songs. But his songs were always in Italian. The words never meant anything to her.
Finally, Katie sang the only song she knew that might work. She changed the words a little bit, just to make it seem more like something Louie might sing.
“On top of pizza, all covered with cheese,” she began. “I lost my poor meatball while somebody sneezed.”
The crowd started laughing.
“Boy, Louie’s in a funny mood today,” Katie heard one teenage boy comment.
“It rolled off the table,” Katie continued singing as she carefully ladled tomato sauce on the circle of dough. “And under a bush. And then my poor meatball was nothing but mush.” She sprinkled cheese on the pie.
Katie looked at the finished pizza. It was kind of lopsided, more like an oval than a circle. But there was plenty of sauce and cheese on it. It didn’t seem too bad. She opened the oven door.
“Hey, Louie, don’t forget your secret spices!” Ian Camilleri shouted out.
A wave of panic washed over Katie. The secret spices! She had no idea what they were. Louie didn’t tell anyone what spices he used to make his pizzas different from the rest. That’s why they were called secret.
But Katie had to do something. Everyone was staring at her. Frantically, she reached out and grabbed the first spice shaker she saw. She sprinkled a brown spice on top of the cheese and sauce, and slid the pizza in the oven.
“That’s it for me,” a teenager named Jake Lawrence announced as he got up from the table and handed Katie his plate. “I give in.”
The crowd applauded for Jake. Katie joined in. He’d eaten ten slices of pizza. That was a pretty good try.
Now there were only two contestants left—Neal Flemming and Carolyn Evans. Katie placed more pizza slices on their plates, and watched nervously as the two competitors chowed down. Those were the last slices Louie had made himself. The next pie was the one Katie had thrown together.
And judging from the strange, unfamiliar smell coming from the oven, that pie was not going to be as good as the real thing.
Chapter 11
Katie opened the oven door and slid the pizza onto a tray. It looked very strange. There was a brown coating on top of the cheese. It looked kind of like melted caramel. Katie hoped the last two contestants wouldn’t notice.
But they did. As soon as she placed the fresh slices in front of her, Carolyn sniffed at the air. “Trying something different this time, Louie?” she asked.
Katie just shrugged.
Neal took a bite. “Hey, this is different. It’s sweet . . . kind of sugary.”
Carolyn bit into her pizza. “I think I taste some cinnamon,” she noted.
Katie gulped. Oh no! The brown spice. It must have been the cinnamon and sugar mixture set out for the coffee!
Katie could feel a tear fall from her eye and settle into Louie’s moustache. Suddenly, she forgot that she was supposed to be a grown man. She felt very much like the eight-year-old girl she was inside. And so she did a very kid-like thing. She ran into the storeroom, slammed the door, and started to cry.
“Everything’s ruined!” she blubbered, as she sat down on one of the cardboard boxes in the storeroom.
Kaboom! The cardboard box collapsed beneath her.
Katie cried harder. Her rear end hurt. Her feet hurt. Her hands were covered with flour, and she was very, very tired.
And for what? When word got out about how bad that last pizza had been, Louie would be out of business. He would have to retire and move away.
Suddenly, without any warning, a fierce wind blasted through the storeroom. The breeze circled around Katie ferociously, like a tornado. Katie shut her eyes tight and grabbed on to a nearby cabinet to keep from being blown away.
The magic wind was back!
There was no way to predict when the wind would come . . . or when it would stop. So Katie wasn’t really surprised when the wind died down without any warning.
Slowly, she opened her eyes and looked around. She was still in the storeroom. She felt her face. No moustache. She looked at her hands. They were small, with chipped red nail polish and no flour in the fingernails.
She was Katie Carew again.
And Louie was himself, as well. “What happened?” he moaned. “How did I get in here?”
“Don’t you remember?” Katie asked nervously. There was no way she was going to be able to explain about the magic wind to Louie.
“Well, I sort of do,” he said. “I mean, I think I remember making a pizza for the contest and . . . ” He stopped midsentence and jumped up. “The contest! I’ve got to get out there!”
Quickly, Katie followed Louie out of the storeroom. Carolyn and Neal were still at the table, chowing down on the pizza Katie had made. Finally, Carolyn leaned back in her chair. “That’s it for me,” she said slowly. “That cinnamon pizza did me in, Louie.”
Louie looked confused.
Katie almost started crying again.
“Hey, then I’m the winner!” Neal cheered. “I’m the pizza king of Cherrydale!”
The photographers’ cameras started flashing. A news reporter shoved a microphone into his face. Everyone was cheering.
Everyone but Katie, that is. She was busy staring at Louie. The pizza chef was holding the cinammon and sugar shaker in his hands.
He looked very confused.
Chapter 12
The next morning, Katie tried to stay in bed as late as she could. She didn’t want to wake up and face the bad news, so she pretended not to feel Pepper’s wet nose on her cheek when he tried to wake her up to play. She covered her ears with her pillow so she couldn’t hear her mother’s cheerful singing as she cooked breakfast. And she didn’t move a muscle when she heard the phone ring in the kitchen.
Katie wasn’t getting out of bed. No way. She didn’t want to see anyone. She didn’t want to talk to anyone.
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” Katie’s dad said, as he walked into her room and opened the blinds.
“It’s Sunday. I don’t have to wake up,” Katie moaned.
“You’ve already had two phone calls,” her father told her.
“I don’t want to talk to anybody.”
“They were from Louie,” Katie’s dad continued. “He wants you to come down to his store. He said he has something important to say to you.”
Katie frowned. Louie wanted to tell her that he was going out of business.
“I’ll see you downstairs at breakfast,” Katie’s dad said. “Mom will drive you to the mall when she goes to work.”
Katie wasn’t the only kid Louie had called that morning. By the time she and her mother arrived at Louie’s Pizza Shop, Suzanne, Jeremy, Becky, George, Kevin, and Ian were already there. They were all sitting at the counter. Suzanne, Jeremy, Becky, and Ian were eating pizza. George and Kevin were eating Italian ices.
“I need a break from pizza,” George told Louie.
“Katie, there you are!” Louie gave her a big smile.
He’s so brave, Katie thought sadly.
“I have something to tell all of you—especially you, Katie,” Louie announced.
Katie gulped. Louie was blaming her for everything. Well, why not? It was her fault, wasn’t it?
“Louie, I never meant for . . .” Katie began. But before she could finish her sentence, the phone rang.
Louie reached for the phone. “Louie’s Pizza Shop,” he said into the receiver. Then he listened to the caller. “No. Not at all. Just come whenever you want,” he told the person on the other end.
Louie hung up the phone and grinned. “That’s what I wanted to tell you about.”
“What?” Katie asked sadly. “Was that the movers coming to get everything?”
“The movers?” Louie asked. “Why would I need movers?”
“Aren’t you retiring?” Katie asked him.
“No way,” Louie assured her. “That contest was a brilliant idea, Katie. The phone’s been ringing all morning. People want deliveries; they want me to cater parties. That call was from a woman asking if she needed a reservation to get a table here!”
“But the cinnamon pizza?” Katie asked. “Wasn’t that awful?”
Louie shook his head. “I don’t know what made me do that,” he said. “But it was great. Did you know that Carolyn Evans is the food reviewer for the Cherrydale News? She wrote a whole article about my pizza. It’s in today’s paper!”
He handed Katie the newspaper. Sure enough, there was a picture of Carolyn eating Louie’s pizza.
“Read the last paragraph,” Louie said, handing the paper to Katie.
“The best part of the contest was the dessert pizza Louie served,” Katie read aloud from the article. “It was sweet and tangy. I’d never had anything like it before. It made losing the contest easier for me to bear. I recommend it to anyone who likes pizza and dessert.”
Katie looked up at Louie. “Wow!” she exclaimed.
“I’m adding a dessert pizza to the menu,” Louie told the kids. “I think I’ll call it the Katie Special.”
Wow! A pizza named for her. Katie smiled proudly.
“I’ve got one in the oven,” Louie said. “We can celebrate.”
“I’d love a slice!” George exclaimed.
“I thought you were taking a break from pizza,” Becky said.
“I did. I didn’t eat any all morning,” George responded, laughing.
Katie giggled.
As Louie opened the oven door, Katie prepared to feel the heat from the oven. Instead, she felt a cool breeze on the back of her neck.
Oh no! Was the magic wind back? Was it going to turn her into someone else? Right here in front of her friends?
“I’m so glad they finally turned the air-conditioning on in the mall,” Suzanne said. “It sure gets hot in here.”
Katie sighed with relief. It wasn’t the magic wind at all. She was going to be able to sit here and enjoy a Katie Special dessert pizza with her friends. She was Katie Carew and she was going to stay that way.
At least for now.
Pizza Recipe !
You will need:
3 English muffins
1 jar pizza sauce
1 teaspoon oregano
1 12-ounce package of shredded mozzarella
Toppings (sliced pepperoni, sliced mushrooms, chopped green pepper, meatballs)
2 cookie sheets
Here’s what you do: Split each English muffin in half lengthwise so that you have six round pizza doughs. Place the muffin halves on the cookie sheets. Use a spoon to cover each piece of bread with tomato sauce.
Sprinkle oregano over the sauce. Pile your favorite toppings on each piece. Top each pizza with two tablespoons of shredded mozzarella cheese. Ask an adult to preheat the oven to 325º F. Then have the adult place the cookie sheets in the oven. Bake your pizzas until the cheese is bubbly (about ten minutes). Ask the adult to remove the pizzas from the oven.
Enjoy!
Katie offers to help the owner of her favorite pizza shop run a pizza-eating contest. But when Katie turns into Louie the chef, how will the pizzas for the contest get made? Katie’s clueless! She’s never cooked anything without her mom before!
Illustrated by John & Wendy.
Katie, who has never cooked a thing alone, switches into Louie the chef at a pizza parlor sponsoring a pizza-eating contest.