Home of the Penguins

 

  “This is taking forever!” Martín grumbled to Emma.

  “Shhh,” his sister whispered back. She smiled at the secretary, but Martín knew Emma shared his sense of urgency. After all, they had big plans for the day.

  Plans they had been hatching for weeks!

  Plans which were unexpectedly delayed when Mami announced, out of nowhere, that she would be taking them to register for their new school. Today!

  “No!” Martín and Emma had cried. In unison.

  “Since when do you two agree on anything?” Mami had asked.

  Since Abuela gave us the magic book, Martín thought.

  Martín and Emma had a history of disagreeing. They had totally different tastes in clothes, food, and hobbies. They didn’t even look like siblings. Martín took after Mami. He was short and round with dark skin and brown curls. Emma looked more like their gringo father: tall and skinny, with almost his exact shade of blond hair.

  But their disagreements had been happening less and less often, ever since they’d moved from Mexico to the US. More precisely, since the book of legends had come into their life. And that morning Martín and Emma were 100 percent in agreement about their plans.

  Unfortunately, Mami also had plans, and she seemed to think her plans were more important. Which was why the twins were presently sitting next to Jeanette Brewster, the secretary at the main office, while Mami met with their new school principal.

  The school was Lincoln Elementary, home of the Penguins.

  “You have penguins here?” Martín asked Ms. Brewster. He loved animals, and even though cats were his favorite, penguins were a close second.

  She winked. “Not real penguins, of course. It’s our school mascot, the Penguins. We have T-shirts and everything.” Ms. Brewster showed them a pile of blue T-shirts. On the front was the school name and a group of penguins huddled on a chunk of floating ice.

  “What does a school mascot do?” Emma asked. Back home in Mexico there were no school mascots.

  “Well, they don’t really do anything,” said Ms. Brewster. “It’s just a symbol. They help us build team spirit, show school pride.”

  She showed them her own T-shirt: Lincoln Elementary Penguins.

   

  Now Martín was staring at a poster announcing a fall book fair. Little penguins sat around a table reading books. They were pretty cute.

  A flyer next to the penguins reading books was announcing a builder’s fair: Design and Build Your Own Creations. Prizes for the Most Creative Designs!

  That definitely got Martín’s attention. He loved building things from scratch. He would often just begin with something simple, like some clay or a piece of cardboard. Then he would start molding and cutting and gluing things together until the build took on the shape of something that made sense. Then Martín would finish it up. His creations always turned out pretty cool—even Emma agreed.

  For a moment Martín lost himself in his thoughts, imagining his next amazing creation and all the prizes he would receive. But then his daydream ended, and he realized he was still sitting in the office at his new elementary school.

  What was taking so long? He sighed and leaned his head back against the wall.

  “Don’t worry,” said Ms. Brewster. “They’ll be out shortly.”

  She said it nicely and smiled at him, so Martín knew she wasn’t upset. Still, he was a little embarrassed. After all, Dad was probably having the exact same conversations with all the new families that were starting at Greenwood Middle School, and it made Martín feel bad to think that kids might be complaining about having to meet with his parent.

  Dad was the middle school’s new principal. That was the reason they had recently moved to the US. Dad had grown up in a city near Chicago but had moved to Mexico after college. He always told people that he’d gone to practice his Spanish but then had fallen in love with the country, and Mami, of course. After that, he knew he could never leave.

  Apparently, however, he could leave, and that’s exactly what had happened when he’d gotten his “dream job.”

  Martín had no idea how being the principal of Greenwood Middle School could be anyone’s dream job. But here they were.

  Speaking of principals…

  The door opened and Principal Keys walked out with Mami.

  “Well, kids, you’re all set up.” She smiled at Martín and Emma. “Would you like a tour of the school?”

  Martín was already shaking his head, but Mami was the boss, and she said, “Yes, please. That would be wonderful.”

  It would not be wonderful, but Martín knew there was no point in resisting. He stood up to follow Principal Keys.