Chapter 1
“How many tomatoes are you going to eat?” Katie Carew asked her friend Kevin Camilleri as she plopped down into the seat across from him in the school cafeteria. Kevin had opened his lunch box. Inside were all sorts of tomatoes—tiny grape tomatoes; small, round cherry tomatoes; oval-shaped plum tomatoes; and a big plastic bag filled with sliced tomatoes. And for dessert, he had a bag of tomato-flavored chips.
Kevin picked up one of the oval-shaped tomatoes and bit into it like an apple. “I could probably eat about a million of these. I love tomatoes!”
All the kids at the table laughed. They knew that Kevin had been a tomato freak since kindergarten. Back then they had even nicknamed him Tomato Man.
“You’ve never met a tomato you didn’t like, right, Kevin?” Katie teased.
“That’s not true,” Kevin said. “I’d never eat a tomato from the school salad bar.”
The kids at the table agreed. The vegetables at the salad bar were pretty gross.
“Hey, how do you stop a rotten tomato from smelling?” George Brennan asked, dropping his tray down next to Katie. George loved jokes and riddles. He told them all the time.
“How?” Kevin asked him.
“Hold its nose!” George answered. He began laughing hysterically. He turned to Katie. “Good one, huh, Katie Kazoo?”
Katie giggled. She loved George’s jokes. She didn’t even mind when he called her Katie Kazoo. She thought the nickname sounded sort of cool! She’d even tried signing Katie Kazoo on her schoolwork—until her teacher, Mrs. Derkman, made her write her real name on her papers.
“Whoops,” Katie knocked her spoon off the table when she laughed. “Hold my place George,” she told him. “I’ll be right back.”
Katie got up from the table and walked over to the lunch counter. “May I have a spoon?” she asked the lunch lady.
“Didn’t you get one already?” the lunch lady answered in a very grouchy voice.
“I dropped it,” Katie explained.
“Tough toenails,” the lunch lady told her.
“One spoon per customer.”
“But how am I going to eat my pudding?”
The lunch lady rolled her eyes. “Use your hands. Or better yet, don’t eat it at all. I wouldn’t.”
The lunch lady hadn’t been very nice. But she was probably right. The pudding looked disgusting, and it smelled worse. Katie was better off not eating it.
Katie went back to the lunch table. She sat down and looked at her apple. If she ate around the rotten spot, it might be okay.
“Got room over here for me?” Suzanne Lock asked.
Katie scooted over to make room for her best friend. Suzanne put down her cafeteria tray and sat beside Katie.
“I thought you were sitting at the other table with Jeremy,” Katie said. She looked over at the long table in the corner, where Jeremy Fox sat with two boys from the other third grade class. Katie had known Jeremy and Suzanne practically since they were babies. Jeremy and Suzanne were pals, but they didn’t think of each other as best friends. Katie considered both of them her best friends, though.
“Jeremy’s looking at some dumb baseball book,” Suzanne explained. “It’s soooo boring!”
She placed her spoon into her bowl of
alphabet soup and fished around. A moment later, she lifted the spoon and smiled.
“Look! I spelled rat!”
Katie looked onto Suzanne’s spoon. Sure enough, the letters R, A, and T were sitting in a sea of light orange water.
Katie giggled.
Suzanne put the spoon in her mouth and made a funny face. “Even a rat wouldn’t eat this stuff,” she said. “It’s terrible—just water with food coloring! It has no flavor at all.”
Katie nodded. “I know what you mean. The food in this cafeteria is awful, and almost everything is made with some sort of meat. All I ever get to eat for lunch is a stale bagel and Jell-O.”
“Oh, come on, Katie. Sometimes they serve gloppy, overcooked macaroni and cheese and old carrot sticks,” Suzanne teased. “You can eat
“How many tomatoes are you going to eat?” Katie Carew asked her friend Kevin Camilleri as she plopped down into the seat across from him in the school cafeteria. Kevin had opened his lunch box. Inside were all sorts of tomatoes—tiny grape tomatoes; small, round cherry tomatoes; oval-shaped plum tomatoes; and a big plastic bag filled with sliced tomatoes. And for dessert, he had a bag of tomato-flavored chips.
Kevin picked up one of the oval-shaped tomatoes and bit into it like an apple. “I could probably eat about a million of these. I love tomatoes!”
All the kids at the table laughed. They knew that Kevin had been a tomato freak since kindergarten. Back then they had even nicknamed him Tomato Man.
“You’ve never met a tomato you didn’t like, right, Kevin?” Katie teased.
“That’s not true,” Kevin said. “I’d never eat a tomato from the school salad bar.”
The kids at the table agreed. The vegetables at the salad bar were pretty gross.
“Hey, how do you stop a rotten tomato from smelling?” George Brennan asked, dropping his tray down next to Katie. George loved jokes and riddles. He told them all the time.
“How?” Kevin asked him.
“Hold its nose!” George answered. He began laughing hysterically. He turned to Katie. “Good one, huh, Katie Kazoo?”
Katie giggled. She loved George’s jokes. She didn’t even mind when he called her Katie Kazoo. She thought the nickname sounded sort of cool! She’d even tried signing Katie Kazoo on her schoolwork—until her teacher, Mrs. Derkman, made her write her real name on her papers.
“Whoops,” Katie knocked her spoon off the table when she laughed. “Hold my place George,” she told him. “I’ll be right back.”
Katie got up from the table and walked over to the lunch counter. “May I have a spoon?” she asked the lunch lady.
“Didn’t you get one already?” the lunch lady answered in a very grouchy voice.
“I dropped it,” Katie explained.
“Tough toenails,” the lunch lady told her.
“One spoon per customer.”
“But how am I going to eat my pudding?”
The lunch lady rolled her eyes. “Use your hands. Or better yet, don’t eat it at all. I wouldn’t.”
The lunch lady hadn’t been very nice. But she was probably right. The pudding looked disgusting, and it smelled worse. Katie was better off not eating it.
Katie went back to the lunch table. She sat down and looked at her apple. If she ate around the rotten spot, it might be okay.
“Got room over here for me?” Suzanne Lock asked.
Katie scooted over to make room for her best friend. Suzanne put down her cafeteria tray and sat beside Katie.
“I thought you were sitting at the other table with Jeremy,” Katie said. She looked over at the long table in the corner, where Jeremy Fox sat with two boys from the other third grade class. Katie had known Jeremy and Suzanne practically since they were babies. Jeremy and Suzanne were pals, but they didn’t think of each other as best friends. Katie considered both of them her best friends, though.
“Jeremy’s looking at some dumb baseball book,” Suzanne explained. “It’s soooo boring!”
She placed her spoon into her bowl of
alphabet soup and fished around. A moment later, she lifted the spoon and smiled.
“Look! I spelled rat!”
Katie looked onto Suzanne’s spoon. Sure enough, the letters R, A, and T were sitting in a sea of light orange water.
Katie giggled.
Suzanne put the spoon in her mouth and made a funny face. “Even a rat wouldn’t eat this stuff,” she said. “It’s terrible—just water with food coloring! It has no flavor at all.”
Katie nodded. “I know what you mean. The food in this cafeteria is awful, and almost everything is made with some sort of meat. All I ever get to eat for lunch is a stale bagel and Jell-O.”
“Oh, come on, Katie. Sometimes they serve gloppy, overcooked macaroni and cheese and old carrot sticks,” Suzanne teased. “You can eat
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