Horrible Harry and the Birthday Girl Read online

  Other Books by Suzy Kline

  Horrible Harry in Room 2B

  Horrible Harry and the Green Slime

  Horrible Harry and the Ant Invasion

  Horrible Harry’s Secret

  Horrible Harry and the Christmas Surprise

  Horrible Harry and the Kickball Wedding

  Horrible Harry and the Dungeon

  Horrible Harry and the Purple People

  Horrible Harry and the Drop of Doom

  Horrible Harry Moves Up to Third Grade

  Horrible Harry Goes to the Moon

  Horrible Harry at Halloween

  Horrible Harry Goes to Sea

  Horrible Harry and the Dragon War

  Horrible Harry and the Mud Gremlins

  Horrible Harry and the Holidaze

  Horrible Harry and the Locked Closet

  Horrible Harry and The Goog

  Horrible Harry Takes the Cake

  Horrible Harry and the Triple Revenge

  Horrible Harry Cracks the Code

  Horrible Harry Bugs the Three Bears

  Horrible Harry and the Dead Letters

  Horrible Harry on the Ropes

  Horrible Harry Goes Cuckoo

  Horrible Harry and the Secret Treasure

  Horrible Harry and the June Box

  Horrible Harry and the Scarlet Scissors

  Horrible Harry and the Stolen Cookie

  Horrible Harry and the Missing Diamond

  Horrible Harry and the Hallway Bully

  Horrible Harry and the Wedding Spies

  Horrible Harry and the Top-Secret Hideout

  VIKING

  Penguin Young Readers Group

  An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

  375 Hudson Street

  New York, New York 10014

  First published in the United States of America by Viking,

  an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2016

  Text copyright © 2016 by Suzy Kline

  Illustrations copyright © 2016 by Penguin Random House LLC

  Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader.

  eBook ISBN 978-0-698-18450-3

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Kline, Suzy. Title: Horrible Harry and the birthday girl / by Suzy Kline; illustrations by Amy Wummer. Description: New York : Viking, published by Penguin Group, 2016. | Series: Horrible Harry ; 34 | Summary: “It’s Mary’s birthday party. When things go horribly wrong will Harry be able to save the day?”—Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2015025667 | ISBN 978-0-451-47331-8 (hardback) Subjects: | CYAC: Birthdays—Fiction. | Parties—Fiction. | Schools—Fiction. | Behavior—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Holidays & Celebrations / Birthdays. | JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / Emotions & Feelings. | JUVENILE FICTION / Transportation / Railroads & Trains. Classification: LCC PZ7.K6797 Hfg 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23 LC record available at https://protect-us.mimecast.com/s/RKomBxSepMbdC4

  Version_1

  DEDICATED TO

  all the great readers at Crestline Elementary School in Mountain View, Alabama.

  Contents

  Other Books by Suzy Kline

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Acknowledgements

  Train Invitations

  Harry's Gross Spring Cleaning

  Hear a Choo Choo?

  The Platform Drama

  Harry's Bag of Gifts

  Party Disaster!

  Through the Cafe Car Window

  Where's Mary?

  The Birthday Girl

  Epilogue

  Special appreciation to . . .

  my dear editor, Leila Sales, and all her hard work; my helpful copy editor, Krista Ahlberg; Jennifer Smith, for having to deal with my five-hour delayed train; and my grandson Holden, who keeps his snow pants in his backpack longer than anyone I know.

  Train Invitations

  “Choo choooo!” Sidney ran into me like a train. “Doug!” he shouted. “Mary just invited me to her birthday party.”

  “All right, Sid!” I said, slapping him five. When I looked out at the playground of South School, I could see Mary handing invitations to Song Lee, Ida, ZuZu, and Dexter.

  Sid flashed his invitation in my face. It had a train on it and the number 9. “The party is this Saturday at noon. We’re taking a train to University Park for a picnic lunch, concert, and outdoor play! I think Mary remembered that I don’t get many invitations to parties, so she included me this time.”

  “Cool, Sid,” I said, searching around for my friend Harry. I finally spotted him where the old fence used to be. He was looking at the two new portable classrooms that were being installed in the empty lot. When he saw us, he waved us over.

  I waved back as we ran toward him.

  “I’m invited to Mary’s birthday party!” Sidney exclaimed. He was holding up his invitation like it was a trophy.

  “Way to go, Sid,” Harry said. Then he looked at me. “Mr. Beausoleil, our janitor, told me our class can start using the nature area next week!”

  Harry and I slapped each other ten. I knew that meant more to him than any birthday party.

  “Harry! Doug!” Mary called out as she skipped over to us. “Here are your invitations to my party!”

  “Neato, Mare!” Harry replied.

  “Thanks!” I said.

  “It’s going to be the best birthday ever! I have the whole itinerary planned.”

  “I can’t wait!” Sid said, then he asked, “What’s an itinerary?”

  “It’s a schedule of when things happen,” Mary explained.

  Harry and I rolled our eyes. Mary was the most organized person in our third-grade class. It was annoying sometimes.

  “Be sure to keep the invitation in your pocket,” Mary ordered. “I don’t want other kids feeling left out. I only could invite seven people.” Then she glared at Sid. “So that means do not bring up the subject during morning conversation.”

  Sid looked disappointed. I think he wanted to keep waving that invitation around all day.

  “I’ll be watching you, Sidney LaFleur!” Mary said. “With my eagle eye!”

  Harry's Gross Spring Cleaning

  That morning, our teacher had written SPRING CLEANING on the whiteboard. It was still hard to get used to her new married name, Mrs. Flaubert, but most of our class remembered not to call her Miss Mackle. Except for one person.

  “Miss Mackle,” Sid blurted out.

  “Mrs. Flaubert!” Mary corrected.

  “Got it,” Sid replied. Then he motioned for the teacher to come over to his desk.

  “Yes, Sidney,” Mrs. Flaubert said. “What is it?”

  Sid lowered his voice, “I got an invi—”

  Mary immediately shot him down. “Sidney LaFleur!”

  Sid covered his mouth and quickly changed the subject. “Do we have to clean inside the desk too?”

  “Absolutely!” the teacher replied. “Spring has been here now for three weeks, so it’s time to do a thorough cleaning.”

  Mary gave Sid a thumbs-up.

  All of us reached ins
ide our desks and started pulling out the stuff inside.

  Harry’s desk was the worst. He made the mistake of tilting it forward to dump it out and accidently dropped the whole thing.

  Blam! The loud noise caused everyone to look over.

  “Harry!” Mary gasped. “That pile of stuff is horrible.”

  Sid pointed to something. “Is that a snake?”

  “Just a rotten banana,” Harry replied. “I forgot I left some old snacks in there.”

  There was also an apple with wrinkled skin that looked like it had been stepped on. There must have been forty pencil stubs, and a dozen purple library reminders all wadded up. Harry even had a small candy cane in there from Christmas. It was still wrapped in plastic. When he unwrapped it and took a bite, I cringed.

  “Tastes fresh,” Harry said.

  “Harry Spooger,” Mary said. “You need to get organized. You have to separate the good stuff from the garbage.”

  “Very little of this is garbage,” Harry objected. “You never know when it might come in handy!”

  “Really? A can of tomatoes?”

  “Oh!” Harry replied. “I was looking for that. I wanted to donate it to the soup kitchen last week.”

  “Well, it’s too late,” Mary said. “The school food drive is over.”

  Song Lee turned to Harry. “I knew you’d bring something,” she said with a smile.

  Harry flashed a toothy grin.

  Mary shook her head. “No wonder your library books are always overdue. When you’re organized, Harry, and plan ahead, things run smoothly.” Then she lowered her voice. “Like, this Saturday, I have my birthday planned right down to the last minute. It will be the best party ever! And you know what would be the perfect gift you could give me?”

  “Please tell me, Mare,” Harry said. “I can’t wait!”

  Song Lee giggled. She knew Harry was teasing Mary.

  “Come organized. Be on time, and don’t forget my present.”

  “Got it, Mare! I will be very prepared. And just wait till you see what I plan to give you.”

  Mary beamed.

  I couldn’t wait to see Harry’s gift either!

  Hear a Choo Choo?

  On Saturday, Harry’s grandmother drove us to the train station. When we got out of her red truck, Harry slung a big backpack over his shoulder.

  Mary’s mother, Mrs. Berg, was standing in front of the train station, waving to us. A gray-haired man stood next to her, holding a blanket and a cake box. Mary was dressed in yellow, chatting with Song Lee, Ida, and Sidney.

  As we walked up the ramp to the train tracks, I asked Harry about his bag. “How come you brought that big thing with you? We’re not going to school. It’s a party!”

  Harry stopped and adjusted his shoulder strap. “I came organized. That’s what Mary wanted. I have everything inside that we might need on the train or in the park for the concert and play.”

  “And your gift is inside?”

  “Yes! But there is more than one. I have all kinds of stuff in here for her! Grandma gave me ten dollars to spend at the dollar store. I just added one item from our bathroom. And a homemade card, of course.” Then Harry flashed his white teeth.

  I was beginning to get worried about Harry’s presents. One item from his bathroom?

  “Oookay . . .” I replied, switching my heavy gift bag to my other hand. “I wish mine didn’t weigh so much.”

  “Welcome, boys!” Mrs. Berg sang out. “So glad you’re here. This is Mary’s grandfather. We call him Papa.”

  “Hey, guys!” Papa said, holding up his right hand.

  Harry and I slapped it five, then joined ZuZu and Dexter at the top of the ramp. We were the last to arrive.

  “Ready to rock and roll?” Dexter asked. “I brought my guitar.”

  Papa looked over and gave us a V for Victory sign. “I should have brought my violin. We could have done a duet!” he commented. Then he pantomimed playing one.

  Mary interrupted our conversation. “We don’t have time for anything extra, guys. The itinerary is already set.” Then she pulled out a piece of paper from her matching yellow purse and checked it. “The train is due any minute now. We have to go wait for it on the platform.”

  I locked eyes with Dexter and then rolled them around a few times. Mary was being a real party pooper.

  When we gathered on the platform, I noticed a gray-haired lady waiting there with her two suitcases. Another older woman was holding a long-strapped duffel bag. A man in a suit with a briefcase was reading the newspaper. Six college students stood nearby. They were joking around, listening to their earphones, or reading books.

  “The shuttle to University Park is just a local train,” Mary announced. “It only has three cars. As soon as it gets to its destination, it turns around and goes back. Most people transfer at University Station if they want to go farther.”

  Mrs. Berg set her red cooler down. “We should hear the train coming any minute now!”

  Mary and the girls jumped up and down.

  “I love riding on the train!” Mary said. “Even though University Park is just two stops away, it’s a fun eighteen-minute ride through the woodlands.”

  “I can’t wait,” Song Lee replied. “I’ve never gone to a train party before.”

  “How did you come up with the idea of a train party?” ZuZu asked.

  “Papa used to be a conductor,” Mary answered. “He would take me along for rides when I was just a toddler. I’ve always loved the sounds and rhythm of a train!” Then she ran and gave her grandfather a big hug.

  Suddenly, a voice came from the out-door speaker. “Shuttle number ninety-three on Track A will be delayed for fifteen minutes. We are sorry for the inconvenience.”

  Harry took off his bag and dropped it on the platform.

  “Oh noooo!” Mary groaned.

  The Platform Drama

  Mrs. Berg sat down on her red cooler and looked at her watch.

  All the guests put their presents on the platform.

  “Train delays happen,” Papa said. “I know! But hey, now we have time for Dexter’s guitar.”

  Mary plopped down on Harry’s bag while everyone else gathered around to listen. Dexter started strumming an old Elvis tune, “All Shook Up.” Three of the college students started moving and keeping time to the beat. The two older ladies did the hand jive and swayed their hips.

  “Everybody, let’s rock!” Sid called out.

  Papa reached for Mrs. Berg’s hand, but she shook her head. When he went over to Mary, she said, “No thanks. I don’t feel like twirling.”

  “I do!” Ida exclaimed as she grabbed Sidney’s hand.

  Mary looked up at Harry. “What do you have in this bag, anyway? It’s nice and soft.”

  “Special stuff for you. I came organized,” Harry replied. “Like you asked.”

  “I came organized too,” Mary said, putting her list back into her purse. “What good is that now?”

  “The train is just fifteen minutes late,” I said.

  “Yes, but that means we’ll miss half the concert! And we’ll have to rush to finish lunch and cake and presents before the play on the green starts.”

  “The play isn’t until two o’clock,” her mother chimed in, trying to be hopeful.

  “Want to see what’s inside my backpack?” Harry asked, changing the subject.

  “No,” Mary said. “I’m too comfortable sitting on it.”

  “I’m having fun!” Sid said, spinning Ida around to the beat of the music.

  Song Lee sat down next to Mary on a corner of Harry’s bag. “I’m sorry you’re sad,” she said. “But the late train is not your fault.”

  Mary nodded.

  “It still is going to be the best party!” Song Lee added.

  “Everybody rock!”
Dexter sang out, strumming a different Elvis tune.

  Now Ida was dancing with ZuZu!

  When Mary jumped up and started twirling around with Song Lee, Harry and I clapped. “Go, Mare!” we called out.

  Then right in the middle of all that rock-and-rolling came another an-nouncement over the loudspeaker.

  Dexter stopped playing. Everyone froze.

  “Train number ninety-three on Track A will be arriving at 12:19 p.m.”

  Mary immediately let go of Song Lee’s hands. “That makes it a nineteen-minute delay!” she said, stomping her feet. “Not fifteen minutes.”

  “It’s just a few minutes longer than they said before,” Sid replied.

  “It’s four minutes longer!” Mary corrected. “‘A few’ is just two or three! Why does this have to happen to my party?”

  Mrs. Berg got up and put her arm around Mary. “We have plenty of time, dear. We can always eat lunch and cake while we’re watching the play. It would be like a dinner theater!”

  “Yes,” Papa agreed. “It will be even more fun that way.”

  Mary wasn’t buying it. She sank back down on Harry’s bag and covered her ears.

  I could tell the only music Mary wanted to hear right now was the sound of a train.

  Harry's Bag of Gifts

  Whooo! Whooo!

  Finally the train whistled as it rounded the corner and headed for Track A. The loudspeaker confirmed its arrival as it shhhhhhh-shhhhhhhed to a screeching stop.

  “All right!” Mary shouted, jumping to her feet. “Let’s go!”

  The conductor hopped down to the platform to help the elderly ladies on first. Harry and I grabbed our stuff and got at the end of the line.

  “What do you have in that bag, Harry?” ZuZu asked.

  “A bunch of birthday treats for Mary,” Harry answered.