فصل نوزدهم

chapter-19

“Victory goes to the swift!” declared Mr. Lemoncello. “Or in this case, all four of you swiftees!” “I am very impressed,” said the holographic Michael Jordan.

The two teams had followed their separate clue paths to arrive at the same answer: When he played in the NBA, for good luck Michael Jordan always wore blue-and-white University of North Carolina shorts under his red-and-black Chicago Bulls shorts.

“Mr. Jordan went to college at UNC, which he led to the NCAA championship in 1982,” said Miguel.

“North Carolina’s colors are blue and white,” said Elliott. “Mr. Jordan thought the mesh marvels brought him luck, so he wore them like underpants when he turned pro!” “Thanks for sharing that,” said Jordan sort of sheepishly. “Any of you kids ever hear of TMI?” “Our clues led us to Casey’s Sports on Main Street,” added Katherine, checking her notebook. “A clerk there named Shana told us about the North Carolina shorts.” “Our riddles took us to Atomic Athletic,” explained Pranav. “We met a friendly clerk as well!” “Proving,” said Mr. Lemoncello, “that there is always more than one way to bake a cake, peel an orange, shine a penny, or find an answer about orange cakes with penny candy on top!” “And you can take that to the hoop!” said Michael Jordan as a basketball net appeared on the keystone of the arch leading into the rotunda. Jordan took two giant strides as an arena full of cheering fans and a play-by-play announcer’s excited voice roared out of the ceiling speakers.

“Uh-oh, catch him if you can. There goes Jordan! Flying through the air! He is airborne!” The basketball legend leapt, floated in midair, and, just before he was about to dunk it, tossed the holographic ball over his shoulder to Mr. Lemoncello, who took a jump shot and sent the make-believe ball flying back through the make-believe net.

A buzzer sounded.

“Oh, my goodness!” cried the announcer. “What a play. Luigi Lemoncello from downtown at the buzzer with an assist from Air Jordan!” Miguel, Pranav, Katherine, and Elliott clapped furiously as Michael Jordan smiled, waved, and disappeared—all while floating six feet off the ground.

“This Nonfictionator is amazing!” declared Miguel. “It’s the coolest thing you’ve ever invented, sir!” “So far, Miguel,” said Mr. Lemoncello with a sly twinkle in his eye. “So far!” That’s when Sierra and Jamal, the third team in the Michael Jordan leg of the quest, came strolling up the front steps of the library toting canvas book bags. Both were reading the same book as they stepped through the circular front door.

“It reminds me most of The Westing Game,” said Sierra.

“Really?” said Jamal. “I find it to be a cross between Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Gollywhopper Games, and The Puzzling World of Winston Breen.” “Still, it’s quite good,” said Sierra.

“Oh, yes,” said Jamal. “I couldn’t put it down. Neither could my younger brother.” They were so absorbed in their book talk they didn’t see the four other players and Mr. Lemoncello eagerly awaiting their arrival. They didn’t even bother to step on the big lemon.

Finally, Mr. Lemoncello broke their bookish trance.

“Sooooo,” he said, “did you two find a fascinating fact for us?” “No,” said Sierra. “Sorry.”

“Book Culture, the store on Main Street, was having a huge buy-one, get-one-free sale,” explained Jamal.

“We couldn’t resist,” said Sierra. She saw the four other data dashers grinning widely. “Are we late?” “Yes, Sierra,” said Mr. Lemoncello, “ ’Late’ would be the right word, according to Roget and his thesaurus.” “Oh, well,” said Jamal. “Now we can go hang out in the fiction section and ride the hover ladders. Sierra was telling me about this awesome poetry book by Kwame Alexander.” “It’s sort of about basketball,” said Sierra. “That’s what Michael Jordan played, right?” Mr. Lemoncello just smiled. “Enjoy your time in the library, Sierra and Jamal. Find a good book and get lost in it.” “Oh, we will,” said Sierra.

“Definitely,” said Jamal.

“We’ll see you two at the gala!” Mr. Lemoncello turned to the two winning teams. “As for the rest of you? Let’s hit the Book Nook Café and grab some lunch. We’ll start the second leg of our Fabulous Fact-Finding Frenzy tomorrow morning. Hmm. The second leg reminds me of my little brother Massimo. At Thanksgiving dinner, he always ate both drumsticks.” Mr. Lemoncello led the way back into the rotunda.

Over at the far wall, Sierra and Jamal floated up the three-story-tall fiction bookcase on a pair of hover ladders. The gliding platforms—with safety braces, handrails, and book baskets—used magnetic levitation technology to take library patrons up to the novel they were searching for (unless you used the browse button, of course—then you just flitted back and forth until something caught your eye).

Michael Jordan was browsing the fiction wall, too.

But he didn’t need a hover ladder to levitate. He could just leap up to snag a book as if it were a rebound coming off the backboard.

Of course, since he was a hologram, he couldn’t actually grab a real book.

But he sure looked awesome trying!