Free Write On! by Nancy Krulik Page B

the beginning of third grade. Katie had lost the football game for her team, ruined her favorite pair of pants, and let out a big burp in front of the whole class. That night, Katie had wished she could be anyone but herself.
    There must have been a shooting star overhead when she made that wish, because the very next day the magic wind came.
    The magic wind was a wild tornado that blew just around Katie. It was so powerful that every time it came, it turned her into somebody else! Katie never knew when the wind would arrive. But when it did, her whole world turned upside down . . . switcheroo !
    The first time the magic wind came, it turned Katie into Speedy, her third-grade class’s pet hamster! Katie escaped from the hamster cage and wound up in the boys’ locker room! Good thing the magic wind turned Katie back into herself before the boys found out a girl had been in there!
    The magic wind came back again and again after that. It changed her into all different people—Lucille, the lunch lady; Mr. Kane, the school principal; and even Katie’s third-grade teacher, super-strict Mrs. Derkman.
    One time the magic wind turned Katie into her pal Emma Weber. That was awful. Katie lost Emma’s twin baby brothers! It was a good thing she found them before Emma’s mom returned from the market.
    But that wasn’t nearly as bad as the time the magic wind turned Katie into Suzanne right in the middle of her best friend’s big modeling show. Katie didn’t know how to walk in high heels or twirl around on the stage. Even worse, she’d put Suzanne’s pants on backward! It was a good thing Suzanne never figured out what had really happened that day.
    In fact, nobody but Katie knew about the magic wind. She figured no one would believe her even if she told them. Katie wouldn’t have believed it either, if it didn’t keep happening to her.
    “So, when can we start taking pictures of me?” Suzanne demanded, interrupting Katie’s thoughts.
    Katie frowned. She really didn’t want to do a fashion site. But Suzanne was never going to give in. She never did.
    Then, suddenly, Katie got a great idea. “I know a way we could both be happy. We could do a fashion site, where we also tell people not to wear fur. And maybe I could say something about what it’s like to be a vegetarian.”
    Suzanne considered that for a moment. “That’s not a bad idea,” she said as she picked up a paper and pencil. “Let’s write down all the things we could talk about and take pictures of.”
    “Aren’t we going to read Only Orangutans Hang from Trees ?” Katie reminded her.
    “Later,” Suzanne insisted. “I’m already making a list of the outfits I want to put together.”
    “But . . .”
    “Come on, Katie,” Suzanne urged. “It’s only Monday. We have lots of time until Nellie Farrow’s visit. Besides, the sooner we do this website, the sooner you can save some animals.”
    Katie pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil, too. Suzanne was right. It was a long time until Friday. They had plenty of time to read. She wanted to start saving animals now!

Chapter 3
    “Isn’t Nellie Farrow’s book funny, Katie?” Emma Weber asked as the girls entered class 4A on Tuesday morning. “I loved the part when they’re on the island and the boy jumps so high that he can see over the clouds.”
    “That wasn’t nearly as funny as when the gym teacher made all the kids climb the ropes,” Kevin Camilleri insisted. “It was hysterical when the girl couldn’t get down.”
    Emma frowned. “I felt kind of bad for her,” she said.
    “Yeah, but then the jumping boy leaps up and saves her,” Kevin reminded Emma. He turned to Katie. “What’s your favorite part so far?”
    Katie didn’t want to let her friends know that she hadn’t even started the book. “I like the cover,” she said finally. She didn’t mention that she hadn’t gotten past the cover yet.
    “The cover?” Kevin said. “It’s just an orangutan in a tree.”
    “I