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  Copyright

  Copyright © 2002 by Catherine M. Christopher

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

  Hachette Book Group

  237 Park Avenue

  New York, NY 10017

  First eBook Edition: December 2009

  Matt ChristopherTM is a trademark of Catherine M. Christopher.

  Text by Robert Hirschfeld

  Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com

  ISBN: 978-0-316-09422-1

  Contents

  Copyright

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Matt Christopher

  The #1 Sports Series for Kids: MATT CHRISTOPHER®

  1

  Theo Gordimer slowly clomped up the steps to the front door of his house. His heavy backpack made his shoulders ache. His face was hot and sweaty. He shoved his blond hair out of his eyes and went inside. All he wanted to do was go to his room, dump the pack, and settle down with a video game.

  Not that that would cheer him up much, but it might make him feel a little less depressed.

  He heard his mother calling from the kitchen. “Theo? Is that you?”

  “Yeah, Mom,” he muttered as he started up the stairs to his room. By the time he reached the top step, he was puffing a little. Great, he thought. One flight of stairs and I’m wiped out. What a total wimp I am.

  Theo shrugged himself out of the backpack. It thumped onto the floor by his bed. He left it lying there and looked through his rack of video games. But nothing he saw drew his interest. Would anything brighten his mood?

  Video games didn’t seem to do the job. The school year was almost over and summer vacation was only three days away. Not even that fact raised his spirits. Theo sighed and sat on the edge of his bed. The springs gave out a loud squeak, as if they were complaining about his weight. Staring out the window, Theo thought about his day and when it had turned bad.

  It had happened in gym class, when Mr. Breen told the boys that they were going to run a lap around the school’s quarter-mile track. Now, even if Theo wasn’t on the heavy side — which, to face facts, he was — he would never have picked running as a fun thing to do. It made you out of breath and tired. TV, movies, and video games — they were what he thought of as fun. But today, like it or not, Theo had to run.

  He was sure he’d run more than a quarter mile in his thirteen years — just not all at once. He didn’t know if he could.

  “What if I can’t do it?” he whispered to his best friend, Paul Baskin, as they waited for their turn.

  Paul stared at Theo. “Come on! A quarter mile? You can run that far, can’t you?”

  Theo shook his head. “I don’t know. I never have.”

  “Well… just take it easy. I bet you make it. It’s no big deal.”

  Maybe it wasn’t a big deal for Paul, who was into sports. But for Theo, a quarter of a mile seemed like a huge deal. Still, maybe Paul was right. He might do it.

  He didn’t. Halfway around the big oval track, he was gasping and feeling awful. He slowed down from what hadn’t been a fast pace to begin with and started walking. Other kids passed him and a couple of them made nasty remarks as they went by.

  “Yo, blubber-boy! Want a lift?”

  “Move it, lardo!”

  Theo wished he could disappear. After walking for a little, he managed to speed up to a sort of trot and finally staggered to the end of the lap. Mr. Breen shook his head.

  “Gordimer, better lay off the doughnuts and ice cream. You need to shape up.”

  Theo sighed and closed his eyes. Mr. Breen was right, he guessed. He did need to shape up. But it seemed like such a huge job, and he didn’t know how. His mom and dad wished that he’d spend less time in front of a TV and more time throwing a ball or swimming or something. They didn’t get on his case about it much, but he knew how they felt. When he let himself think about it, he felt sad, even ashamed.

  But, bad as this was, it wasn’t the worst thing in Theo’s life. The worst thing was what was happening to his aunt Marj.

  Theo loved Aunt Marj, his mom’s younger sister. She was great to spend time with and could always make him laugh. Aunt Marj was a cheerful, funny, lively woman who never ran out of energy. Or she had been, until she’d gotten sick.

  Some months earlier, Marj had been told she had cancer. Since then, she’d been in and out of the hospital, getting radiation therapy and chemotherapy, which were supposed to make her better. They didn’t seem to be working, not as far as Theo could see. She’d become thin and pale and spent almost all of her time in bed. Theo had gone to see her but was only allowed to stay for a few minutes. Marj was barely able to talk.

  Theo had never faced such a terrible and sudden change, and it scared him. He couldn’t help wondering if she was going to die. He didn’t want to talk about Marj with his parents; his mother was upset enough.

  Theo felt helpless, wishing there was something he could do for Marj. But there wasn’t. Sure, he could visit her once in a while or phone her. But that was about it.

  There was a tap on the bedroom door. Mrs. Gordimer peeked in at him. “Sweetie, are you all right? You look kind of down.”

  So do you, Theo thought. But all he said was, “Yeah, I’m okay. Just a little tired.”

  “Paul is here. Can he come up?”

  “Sure.” Theo sat up and swung his legs off the bed as Mrs. Gordimer left the room. He didn’t feel like having company, but he didn’t want to worry his mother by saying so.

  Paul came in a minute later carrying his baseball glove. “Hey, Gee, let’s go to the park. A bunch of guys are going to play some ball.”

  Theo shook his head. “I don’t feel like it today. Another time, okay?”

  “You sure?” Paul asked, giving Theo a curious look. “It’s a good day for it.”

  “Yeah, well…” Theo stopped there. Paul looked at Theo, who looked away.

  Finally, Paul said, “What’s going on? Did that stuff in gym class today get to you?”

  “No… well, yeah. But it’s not just that.”

  “Well, what? Anything I can do?” Paul sat in Theo’s desk chair.

  Theo lay back on the bed. “There’s nothing anyone can do.”

  “Hey, at least give me a clue. I mean, I’m your friend, right?”

  “It’s my aunt Marj. She’s real sick.”

  “Yeah, I heard,” said Paul. “I met her, she’s a cool lady. How bad is it?”

  “Real bad. She’s been getting this treatment, but she looks terrible. And there’s nothing I can do to help. I feel really bad.”

  “Sure. I’d feel the same way,” agreed Paul. “But maybe she’ll get better.”

  “She sure doesn’t look like she’s getting better.” Theo felt tears blurring his eyes. “Last time I saw her, she looked awful.”

  Paul stood up suddenly. “You know what, Gee? I just remembered. There is something you could do for her. Well, sort of. If you want to give it a shot, that is.”

  Theo stared hopefully at his friend. “Yeah? What?”

  Paul said, “You know my dad is really into running, and he hears about all these races. He found out about a five-K race that’s open to all ages, and it’s supposed to raise money for can
cer research and help people learn about new medicines and stuff.”

  Theo blinked. “That sounds neat, but what does it have to do with me?”

  “You could run the race. It’s in three months. That would be a way to —”

  Theo’s loud laugh interrupted Paul. “Me?”

  “Sure,” Paul replied. “Why not?”

  Theo shook his head. “After my ‘run’ today? Get real! By the way, what’s ‘five K’?”

  “It means five kilometers. That’s a little over three miles, which —”

  “Three miles? I almost passed out trying to run a quarter of a mile! You’re kidding, right?”

  “No, I think you could do it,” said Paul. “I’m working out to be ready for football in the fall, and I run a lot. I really like it. I bet you would, too, if you gave it a try.”

  Theo rolled his eyes. “Sure, you like it. You’re an athlete. But me?”

  Paul sighed. “You may be more athletic than you think, but unless you try, you’ll never know. Anyway, it’s a no on softball, huh?”

  “Not today,” Theo said. “I’ve embarrassed myself enough for one afternoon. I’ll walk you down, and that’ll be enough of a workout for me.”

  When the boys reached the front door, Paul turned to Theo. “You should talk to my dad. He could tell you how to get started in running. It doesn’t have to be torture.”

  “Yeah, right,” Theo said.

  Paul looked a little irritated. “Can you just keep an open mind about it?”

  “About what?” asked Mrs. Gordimer, who had heard the last part of the conversation.

  Paul said, “I was telling Theo about this road race for cancer research and saying he should run in it.”

  Mrs. Gordimer smiled. “That sounds like a wonderful idea! Theo, you know how Marj has been trying to persuade you to get more involved in sports. She’d love it if you tried something like this.”

  “Mom,” Theo said, wishing Paul had kept his mouth shut, “it’s more than three miles. I couldn’t do that. I’m not a runner.”

  “You could be a runner,” Paul insisted.

  Mrs. Gordimer said, “I think Paul’s right, sweetie. You can at least think about it, can’t you?”

  Feeling trapped, Theo said, “Okay, sure, I’ll think about it.”

  “Great!” Paul said, ignoring Theo’s glare. “See you tomorrow.” He ran down the front steps.

  Theo’s mother ruffled his hair. “Will you think about it? I wish you would.”

  Theo nodded. “Sure, Mom. I really will. Okay?”

  Then he headed back to his room to find a video game, hoping that the subject of running would disappear and never be brought up again.

  2

  Theo did manage to avoid the subject of running — for two whole days. On the third day, the last day of the school year, Paul came up to him in the corridor.

  “My family’s having a cookout tonight to celebrate the beginning of summer vacation. Burgers, hot dogs, and ribs. Want to come?”

  “Sure!” said Theo, who could almost taste all those goodies right then.

  “Great!” Paul replied. “And my dad wants to talk to you about how to start a running program. We can do that before we eat.”

  Uh oh. Theo felt pretty sure that Paul had deliberately mentioned the food first, so that he would accept the invitation. Only after he’d accepted had Paul brought up running. Now Theo was caught.

  Theo’s face must have shown how he felt about running, because Paul laughed. “Listen, all I’m asking you to do is listen to him, all right? You won’t have to run if you decide not to. Just hear him out. That shouldn’t take much energy. And then there’ll be all those excellent goodies. It’s not like I trapped you into going to the dentist.”

  Theo finally agreed to listen to Mr. Baskin, if only to get Paul to stop talking about it. After all, Paul was right. Listening wouldn’t cost him anything, and Theo wouldn’t have to do anything he didn’t want to do.

  Later that afternoon, Theo told his parents that he was going to the Baskins’ cookout and added that Mr. Baskin was going to talk to him about running.

  His parents exchanged a look. Mr. Gordimer said, “Really? Sounds interesting. Are you thinking of doing some running, son?”

  His dad was trying to make it sound casual, as if it didn’t matter at all whether Theo started doing something athletic. But Theo knew how his parents felt.

  He shrugged. “Well, I guess I’ll see what Mr. Baskin says and then decide.”

  “That makes sense,” his dad agreed. “Anyway, the cookout sounds like fun.”

  When he got to the Baskins’ house, Theo knew from the delicious smells that the food was already on the grill. If he had to listen to talk about running to get some of that food, it was worth it.

  Theo went around to the backyard. Mr. Baskin, a tall, slender man, was standing over his gas grill, turning some burgers. He smiled and waved to Theo.

  “Hey, come on in! I understand you might be interested in running.”

  Even though Theo didn’t think that this was an accurate description of his attitude, he said, “I appreciate you talking to me about it.”

  Mr. Baskin nodded. “We’ll talk after we eat, if that’s all right. Everybody’s hungry.”

  The later the better, thought Theo. Paul came out the back door. “Yo, Gee! Ready to eat?”

  “Always,” Theo replied, grinning.

  The food was great. Theo managed to gobble a hamburger, a hot dog, a bunch of ribs, some fantastic potato salad, and a couple of glasses of soda.

  As Mrs. Baskin dished out ice cream, Mr. Baskin said, “Ready to talk, Theo?”

  “Sure,” answered Theo, hoping he sounded more eager than he felt.

  “Just a minute,” Paul’s dad said. “I want to get something.” He went inside as Mrs. Baskin handed Theo a bowl of ice cream.

  Theo dug right in. “Thanks, Mrs. B.”

  A minute later, Mr. Baskin returned, carrying a large leather-bound photo album. “Before we talk, I wanted you to have a look at some old pictures. Paul gave me the idea that you had some doubts about getting into running.”

  Theo wasn’t sure what to say. “Well…,” he began.

  Paul’s dad held up a hand. “I imagine you may have been thinking, ‘Oh, sure, it’s fine for Paul and his father to run. They’re natural athletes, they’re thin. But me… I don’t think so.’”

  Theo was a little startled, because that was pretty much exactly what was on his mind. He smiled and said, “Uh, yeah, I guess.”

  Mr. Baskin sat down next to Theo, opened the album, and began leafing through it. “Sure. That’s why I want you to look at some old family snapshots.” He found what he was looking for and handed it to Theo.

  “These are pictures of me when I was your age.”

  Theo stared at the old photos. No doubt about it, they were of Mr. Baskin as a boy.

  And, as a boy, Mr. Baskin had been fat! It looked like he’d weighed even more than Theo did now. His face had been round, and he’d had a double chin.

  “Wow,” Theo whispered, looking up at Mr. Baskin.

  Paul’s dad grinned. “Yeah, wow. That was me when I was thirteen. Surprised?”

  “Yeah! I mean, I just figured that you were always, you know…”

  “That I’d always been skinny,” Mr. Baskin finished for him. “Well, I wasn’t. Far from it, as you can see. I was heavy until I turned fourteen, when I got into running.”

  Theo was still trying to absorb the notion of a pudgy Mr. Baskin. “How come? What made you decide to change?”

  Mr. Baskin smiled. “Not what — it was more a matter of who. A girl named Charlene Kramer, with big, blue eyes and dimples made me change. I was crazy about her.

  “I figured, no way a cute girl like Charlene would pay attention to me unless I did something about how I looked. Maybe I was wrong to think that, but I did. Then and there, I made up my mind to do something about it.”

  “So you started runni
ng,” said Theo.

  “That’s right,” Mr. Baskin said. He looked at the photos of himself and shook his head. “Funny thing is, even after I lost weight, Charlene never did pay attention to me. But I’ve been running ever since. If I ever see Charlene again, I’ll thank her. She changed my life for the better, and she never even knew it.”

  “And you really found you liked running?” Theo asked.

  “Yes! It took me maybe three weeks. One day I discovered that I was enjoying myself. And I still do.”

  He closed the album. “Let me make my pitch about what you can get out of running. Number one, I think you’ll like it, like I did.”

  “And like I’m doing now,” added Paul.

  “Number two, if you do this regularly, you’ll lose weight — like I did. It’s simple. Think of the food you eat as fuel. If you take in more fuel than you burn in activity, you have to store what you don’t use. Your body stores it as fat. If you burn up more fuel than you take in, your body burns up fat to make up the difference.

  “And, number three, you may become more interested in other sports and do better in them. You’ll also feel better about yourself, which is probably the best thing of all.”

  Theo felt a sudden surge of hope. “Mr. Baskin, this five-K race is in about three months. You think I could be ready for that?”

  Mr. Baskin studied Theo for a moment. “Could you run a five-K race in three months? I think you could enter and probably finish it. That isn’t to say that you’d win. But you could be running that distance in three months, yes.”

  Theo felt excited by the thought. He could imagine how Aunt Marj would react if she knew he was going to do this for her. If there was a chance he could really do it…

  “I’d like to try,” he said suddenly. “I mean, that’d be great, if I could run that race.”

  “I’ll be happy to help get you started,” Mr. Baskin said. “Whether you stick with it is up to you. You have to make a serious commitment to running. Are you willing to do that?”

  Theo was surprised to find himself saying, “I think so. When can I start?”

  “Tomorrow is Saturday,” said Paul’s father. “I can meet you in the park tomorrow morning, if that works for you.”