Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library Read Online Free Page B

gizmos.”
    Oh, man
. Five hundred bucks’ worth of free games and gear? Kyle sank a little lower in his seat. The next time someone gave him an extra-credit essay assignment, he’d turn it in
early
!
    “And now, here to announce our winners, the man behind the new library, the master gamester himself—Mr. Luigi Lemoncello!”
    Dr. Zinchenko gestured to her left.
    The whole auditorium swung their heads.
    People were clapping and whistling and cheering.
    But nobody came onstage.
    The applause petered out.
    And then, on the opposite side of the stage, Kyle heard a very peculiar sound.
    It was a cross between a burp and the squeak from a squeeze toy.

Over on the side of the stage, a shoe that looked like a peeled-open banana appeared from behind a curtain.
    When it landed, the shoe burp-squeaked.
    As a second banana shoe burp-squeaked onto the floor, Kyle looked up and there he was—Mr. Lemoncello! He had loose and floppy limbs and was dressed in a three-piece black suit with a bright red tie. His black broad-brimmed hat was cocked at a crooked angle atop his curly white hair. Kyle was so close he could see a sly twinkle sparkling in Mr. Lemoncello’s coal-black eyes.
    Treading very carefully, Mr. Lemoncello walked toward the podium. The burp-squeaks in his shoes seemed to change pitch depending on how hard he landed on his heels. He added a couple of little jig steps, a quick hop and a stutter-step skip, and yes—his shoes were squeaking out a song.
    “Pop Goes the Weasel.”
    On the
Pop!
Mr. Lemoncello popped behind the podium.
    The crowd went wild.
    Mr. Lemoncello politely bowed and said, very softly, “Tank you. Tank you.
Grazie. Grazie
.”
    He bent forward so his mouth was maybe an inch away from the microphone.
    “
Buon giorno
, boise and-uh girls-a.” He spoke very timidly, very slowly. “Tees ees how my-uh momma and my-uh poppa teach-uh me to speak-eh de English.”
    He wiggled his ears. Straightened his back.
    “But then,” he said in a crisp, clear voice, “I went to the Alexandriaville Public Library, where a wonderful librarian named Mrs. Gail Tobin helped me learn how to speak like this: ‘If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch?’ I can also speak while upside down and underwater, but not today because I just had this suit dry-cleaned and do
not
want to get it wet.”
    Mr. Lemoncello bounced across the stage like a happy grasshopper.
    “Now then, children, if I may call you that—which I must because I have not yet memorized all of your names, even though I
am
working on it—what do you think is the most amazingly incredible thing you’ll find inside your wondrous new library, besides, of course, all the knowledge you need to do anything and everything you ever want or need to do?”
    No one said anything. They were too mesmerized by Mr. Lemoncello’s rat-a-tat words.
    “Would it be: A) robots silently whizzing their way through the library, restocking the shelves, B) the Electronic Learning Center, with three dozen plasma-screen TVs all connected to flight simulators and educational video games, or C) the Wonder Dome? Lined with ten giant video screens, it can make the whole building feel like a rocket ship blasting off into outer space!”
    “The game room!” someone shouted.
    “The robots!”
    “The video dome!”
    Mr. Lemoncello raced back to the podium and made a buzzing noise into the microphone.
    “Sorry. The correct answer is—and not just because of Winn-Dixie—D) all of the above!”
    The crowd went wild.
    Mr. Lemoncello whirled around to face his head librarian.
    “Dr. Zinchenko? Will you kindly help me pass out our first twelve library cards?”
    It was time to announce the essay contest winners.
    Dr. Zinchenko placed a stack of twelve shiny cards on the podium in front of Mr. Lemoncello.
    “Please,” he said, “as I call your name, come join me onstage. Miguel Fernandez.”
    “Yes!” Miguel jumped up out of his seat.
    “Akimi