The Berenstain Bears and the Phenom in the Family Read online

  “Oh, it’s nothing,” she said. “I’m fine.”

  “Wait, I bet I know what it is,” said Brother. “You left your homework until after the meet, and now you’re afraid you’ll be too tired to do it. Don’t worry, I’ll help you.”

  “No thanks,” said Sister. “I’ll just get up early tomorrow and do it before school.”

  “Oh, sure,” said Brother. “Okay.” But he knew she was lying. Sister was a sound sleeper who had never gotten up early a day in her life. And she’d be extra worn out after the meet.

  Gee, thought Brother, I wonder what’s going on with her.

  It was the first and only sign of the disaster to come.

  Chapter 10

  Good News and Bad News

  The great hammer blow of fate fell the very next morning, right after Brother and Sister had left for school. The phone rang, and Papa answered it.

  “Good morning, Coach,” he said. “I wasn’t expecting to hear your voice again until this afternoon’s practice … What? What do you mean, no practice for me? … Yes … Yes … Oh, my goodness. I see, yes … good-bye …”

  “Don’t tell me you’ve gotten yourself banned from practice,” said Mama, hands on hips.

  Papa just stood by the phone, the receiver still in his hand. He had a look of utter horror on his face. “No,” he managed. “It’s worse than that.”

  “Worse?” said Mama, taking the receiver from Papa and replacing it. “What did Coach Grizzmeyer say?”

  “He said he had good news and bad news,” murmured Papa.

  “What’s the good news?” asked Mama.

  “Sister’s crawl time last night set a new league record.”

  “My goodness!” said Mama. “That’s wonderful! But what’s the bad news?”

  Papa swallowed hard. “She’s off the team.”

  “Off the team?” gasped Mama. “Why?”

  “Teacher Jane just sent in the grades for the term,” said Papa. “Sister’s are so bad that she’s not allowed to swim with the team until she pulls them up. We have to go meet with Teacher Jane during morning recess.”

  “Oh, dear,” said Mama. She looked down at her nightgown. “I’d better get dressed.” As she headed upstairs to the bedroom, she muttered, “I was afraid of something like this …”

  Chapter 11

  Parent-Teacher Conference

  What Teacher Jane showed Mama and Papa at their conference shocked them. On her desk, Teacher Jane spread out all of Sister’s math tests for the term. Sister had gotten A’s and B’s until the final exam, which counted triple. On the final, she’d missed more than half the questions, giving her an F. That meant she had dropped to a D+ for the term.

  “I don’t understand it,” said Papa, staring at Sister’s final exam. “That’s not like our daughter at all. She knows her multiplication tables backward and forward!”

  “Now have a look at these,” said Teacher Jane, spreading Sister’s spelling tests across the desk.

  “Hmm,” said Mama. “B, B, A, A … F. My goodness! That averages out to just a C-, because the final counts triple.”

  Teacher Jane nodded. She pointed to an answer on the final and an answer on one of the earlier tests. “See these?” she said. “On the final, Sister added an e to ‘potato.’ But earlier, she got it right. What might cause her to do something like that?”

  “Maybe she just forgot?” said Papa.

  Teacher Jane shook her head. “I really shouldn’t beat around the bush,” she said. “I’ve talked with Coach Grizzmeyer and—”

  “It’s the swimming team,” Mama interrupted. “I was afraid something like this might happen.”

  “All right, all right,” said Papa quickly. “I admit it. It’s my fault. I’ve been putting too much pressure on her.”

  Teacher Jane nodded. “I must say, it takes a big bear to admit a thing like that.”

  “Wrong,” said Papa. “It only takes a bear who has his daughter’s best interests at heart. And that’s why I’m going to drill her until she pulls her grades up and gets back on the team. To lessen the pressure, I’ll have her compete in just two events instead of four from now on. Why, she can still get a swimming scholarship on two events. And it’ll just mean two gold medals instead of four at the Bearlympics. I can live with that.”

  “But the question is, can Sister live with it?” said Mama.

  “What do you mean, dear?” asked Papa.

  “I mean two events instead of four is still two more than any cub Sister’s age has ever competed in,” said Mama.

  Papa snapped his fingers. “Piece o’ cake,” he said. “And with me drilling her in all her school subjects, her grades will be back up in no time. She’ll only miss one meet—two at the most.”

  Teacher Jane looked a little leery of Papa’s proposal, but he seemed so keen on it that she didn’t want to challenge him. “I’m not so sure this will work,” she said, “but I guess it’s worth a try.”

  “All right,” said Mama. “Let’s try it. But, dear, you have to remember to be patient with Sister.”

  “Patient?” said Papa. “I ask you: who’s more patient than Papa Q. Bear? Now, hurry up, dear. We’ve got to get home so I can make Sister’s flash cards!”

  And with that, Papa dashed out of the classroom without so much as a good-bye to Teacher Jane.

  Mama rose and gave Teacher Jane a look that said, “There he goes again. Don’t worry, I’ll handle it.” And she walked calmly after her husband.

  Chapter 12

  “P-o-t-a-t”

  When Sister got home from school that afternoon, Mama noticed that she seemed happier and more relaxed than she’d been in weeks. But as soon as Papa told her about his plan to get her back on the team, her face fell. “Oh, great,” she said. “I’m gonna go play jacks with Lizzy. Bye.”

  “Now, wait a minute, honey,” said Papa. “We need to get started on your math and spelling drills right away. Go on up to your room, and I’ll be up with the flash cards in a minute.”

  Sister heaved a sigh and trudged up the stairs. Papa grabbed his pile of flash cards.

  “What did I say about patience, dear?” said Mama.

  “Oh, right,” said Papa. He called up the stairs, “Relax for a while, champ! No rush! I’m going to read the paper first!”

  Papa picked up the Beartown Gazette and pretended to read it for a few seconds. Then he threw it down and bounded up the stairs two at a time, clutching his precious flash cards.

  Mama shook her head and went into the kitchen to put the kettle on for tea. Ten minutes later, as she was sitting at the kitchen table sipping her tea, Papa came stomping in. Mama looked up into his flustered face and said, “Well?”

  “It makes no sense!” Papa sputtered. “First she says five times seven is thirty-seven, and the next time she says it’s thirty-three! She even missed three times four! She’s hopeless!”

  “Calm down, dear,” said Mama. “You won’t make any progress with her by getting all upset.”

  Papa took a deep breath. “You’re right,” he said. “I’ll switch to spelling. We’ll do math later.” And back upstairs he went.

  Five minutes later, Papa was back in the kitchen, more flustered than the first time. “It’s no use!” he moaned. “She added an e to potato,’ so I showed her the correct spelling. When I came back to it, she left off the e. But she dropped the o, too! She’s probably the only cub who’s ever spelled ‘potato’ p-o-t-a-t!”

  Mama rose. “Sit down, dear,” she said. “I think I know what the problem is. I’ll go up and have a heart-to-heart with her.”

  Papa’s furrowed brow smoothed a little. He let out a huge sigh of relief. “You will?” he said. “Thank heavens!” He sprawled, exhausted, in a kitchen chair while Mama went upstairs.

  Sister was sitting on her bed with her legs folded under her. She looked up warily when Mama came into the room.

  “You gonna drill me, too?” she asked.

  “No,” said Mama. “I ju
st want to talk with you.”

  Sister sighed. “Okay,” she said.

  Mama had always been better than Papa at finding out what was bothering the cubs. In no time, Sister had admitted that she’d done poorly on her finals on purpose. Then she poured her heart out.

  “I hate the swimming team!” she said, tears welling up in her eyes. “Swim, swim, swim! Just because you can do something well doesn’t mean you should have to do it all the time! Besides, I’m getting waterlogged! I’m all wrinkled up like a prune! And I can’t get the smell of chlorine out of my fur! I want to go back to playing jacks and jumping rope and picking wild-flowers—stuff like that! Can’t you understand that, Mama?”

  Mama smiled. “Yes, I can,” she said. “And after I explain it to Papa, he will, too. I promise.”

  Sister’s face broke into a big grin. But suddenly, the grin faded. “But what about Brother?” she said. “Won’t he be disappointed in me?”

  “Brother will be as happy as a clam,” said Mama. “He’ll be the number one freestyler on the team now.”

  “Oh, yeah!” said Sister. And she bounced off the bed and gave Mama a great big hug.

  Chapter 13

  Making the Grade

  Papa’s jaw dropped when Mama told him that Sister had cheated on her final exams—not to succeed but to fail. “It’s unbelievable!” he said. “Sister has always been so proud of her good grades!”

  “Yes, she has,” said Mama. “And I’m sure it was very hard for her to fail on purpose. But it’s not unbelievable. It just shows how badly she wanted off the swimming team.”

  “Wanted off the swimming team?” said Papa. “She never said anything about that to me.”

  “Of course she didn’t,” said Mama. “She was afraid you’d blow your top. Or that you’d be crushed. After all, you already had her getting a swimming scholarship to college and winning gold medals at the Bearlympics. Can you imagine how much pressure she must have felt—not just to stay on the team, but to win every heat she swam? Under those conditions, being on the team couldn’t have been much fun.”

  Papa looked horror-stricken. “Oh, my gosh!” he said, clapping a hand to his forehead. “What a dummy I’ve been! I just thought she’d naturally want to be a champion swimmer because she’s so good at it.”

  “It’s like anything else, dear,” said Mama. “No matter how good at it you are, if it stops being fun, you won’t want to do it anymore.”

  Papa put his head in his hands.

  “She must be really mad at me,” he mumbled. “Maybe I should apologize …”

  “Oh, I don’t think it’s as complicated as all that,” said Mama. “If you don’t hold it against Sister that she failed her finals on purpose, I’ll bet she won’t hold it against you that you pushed her so hard. Just wait and see. Here she comes …”

  Sister’s footsteps could be heard on the stairs. She came into the kitchen and looked hopefully up at her parents.

  “Honey,” said Mama with a smile, “your papa and I have decided that there’s no reason for you to be on the swimming team if you don’t want to.”

  Sister’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Yippee!” she cried.

  “And,” added Papa, “there’s no need for any more drills. I’m sure you’ll bring your grades back up all by yourself.”

  Sister ran to Papa and jumped into his arms. She gave him a big bear hug, then dropped to the floor and dashed to the front door. “I’m gonna go play jacks with Lizzy!” she said. “See ya later!”

  From the kitchen window, Mama and Papa watched their daughter race down the sunny dirt road toward Lizzy’s house.

  “It’s good to see her happy again,” said Mama.

  “It sure is,” Papa agreed. “As for the swimming team, there’s always next year.” Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Mama looking suspiciously at him. “Or the next year …,” he added.

  “If?” Mama prompted him.

  “Oh, right,” said Papa. “If she wants to.”

  Mama smiled. “At least you’re learning, dear,” she said. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

  Papa grinned. “Well, you know what they say,” he said. “Better late than never.”

  “Yes, it seems I’ve heard that somewhere before,” said Mama. “I’m going to have another cup of tea. Would you like one?”

  “Sure would,” said Papa.

  And together Mama and Papa went to put the kettle on. Even though it really was only a one-bear job.

  Excerpt from The Berenstain Bears® and the Phenom in the Family

  Chapter 1

  The New Cub Reporters

  It was a bright fall day in Bear Country, the kind of day that’s made for after-school sports and games. When the bell rang at the end of the school day, most of the cubs had already made plans for the afternoon. Brother Bear, Cousin Fred, and Barry Bruin were ready for basketball on the school playground. Queenie McBear, Lizzy Bruin, and Sister Bear had a soccer game at Grizzly Park. Harry McGill and Too-Tall Grizzly could hardly wait to start their next chess match at the picnic table in Harry’s backyard.

  But none of the cubs was in too much of a hurry not to stop first at the big bulletin board in the school lobby. On it was posted news they had been waiting for all week.

  Too-Tall pushed his way through the crowd of cubs that had gathered in front of the bulletin board. He ran his eyes over the lists posted there and turned to smile at Harry McGill. Harry was watching eagerly from his wheelchair at the edge of the crowd.

  “Did we make it?” called Harry through the noise of chattering cubs.

  “Of course we made it!” Too-Tall called back with a grin. “Who would have the nerve to keep the two best chess players in Bear Country School out of the Chess Club?”

  A few feet away from Too-Tall, Brother Bear was reading one of the lists. “Yes!” he cried. “Yes! Yes!” After yelling “Yes!” for the sixth time, he made his way back through the crowd to a group of friends waiting by the front door.

  “We all made it!” he announced. “All six of us are in Journalism Club!”

  “Yahoo!” shouted the cubs all together. There were high-fives all around.

  Brother, Queenie, Cousin Fred, Babs, and Barry had been trying for years to get into Journalism Club. It met during the final school period every Friday. Each year they had listed their three club choices on cards and handed them in to their teachers. But none of them had gotten his or her first choice until now.

  Ferdinand Factual, better known to some as Nerdy Ferdy, was especially lucky to have been chosen. That was because he didn’t spend every year at Bear Country School. This year he was staying with his uncle, Professor Actual Factual, while his scientist parents went on a “dig” in Great Grizzly Valley.

  There were all kinds of clubs to choose from at Bear Country School, including Chess Club, Computer Club, Soccer Club, Poetry Club, Music Club, and Carpentry Club, just to name a few. But the six cubs on the list for Journalism Club all wanted to write and publish a newspaper. Journalism Club was the perfect club for them, because its members wrote and published the weekly school newspaper, The Bear Country School Gazette.

  “I can hardly wait for our first meeting,” said Brother. “I don’t know about you guys, but I want to cover sports. How about you, Ferdy?”

  Ferdy Factual was so smart and so showoffy about it that Cousin Fred, who was pretty smart himself, said Ferdy gave nerds a bad name.

  “I know so much about so many things,” said Ferdy, “that I thought I might serve as the paper’s ‘roving expert.’ That way I could correct the errors the rest of you will surely make. How does that idea strike you?”

  Ferdy got five thumbs down for his idea.

  “In that case, I shall do science news,” he said. “Not the baby science taught here at Bear Country School, but advanced science: chaos theory, modern particle theory—that sort of thing.”

  Barry and Queenie groaned.

  “What about the rest o
f you?” asked Brother.

  “Investigative reporting for me,” said Cousin Fred. “You know, the story behind the story.”

  “I’d like to handle the arts section,” said Babs.

  Barry wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. “Maybe I could help you on sports,” he told Brother.

  Queenie hadn’t spoken. She wasn’t exactly a troublemaker, but she often seemed to be at the center of things when trouble happened.

  “How about you, Queenie?” asked Brother.

  “I’m going to shake up the tired old Gazette,” said Queenie. “I’m going to do a slam-bang no-holds-barred gossip column.”

  Just then Sister Bear pushed her way through the crowd and came over to the group.

  “Hey, Sis!” said Brother. “There were only six slots open in Journalism Club, and all six of us got in! You’re looking at this year’s cub reporters! Isn’t that great?”

  Sister just shrugged. The expression on her face was not a happy one.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Brother.

  “I didn’t get my first choice,” grumbled Sister.

  “Cheer up, Sister,” said Cousin Freddy. “You’re two grades below the rest of us. Only the older cubs get their first choices.”

  “I didn’t get my second choice, either,” said Sister.

  “What did you get?” asked Queenie.

  Sister wrinkled her nose as if she smelled something bad. “Poetry Club,” she said.

  “What are you griping about?” Babs scolded. “Poetry is great stuff. I’m planning to edit the arts page of The Bear Country School Gazette, and I plan to have a poem in every issue.”