Cool Bananas (6 page)

H
e gave a lop-sided smile. ‘I don’t think she’ll karate me or anything. I mean, I’m scared I’d embarrass her. I get silly when I’m nervous. And I don’t know what to say.’

The smell of incense drifted on the night air.

‘You don’t seem nervous.’ Claudia licked ice-cream from her fingers.

‘Why do you think I talk all the time? If there’s a silence, I have to fill it. I didn’t visit your mum because I worried that she wouldn’t
want me. And that would be worse than not knowing.’

Claudia’s stomach fluttered right at that moment, but she ignored it. She was learning to do that more often. ‘Why don’t you come back home with me? I’ll look after you.’

‘I haven’t got anything to wear,’ said Grandpa.

‘You have
too
much to wear.’

Grandpa sniffed. ‘But your mother would want to take me everywhere with her because I’m too ugly to kiss goodbye.’

‘She won’t care if you’re ugly. You’re her dad. Anyway, you’re not ugly. Just different.’

‘I don’t know, Claudia. It’s been a long time…’

‘If you come back with me, I’ll…’ She took a deep breath, not quite believing she was about to say her next words. ‘I’ll let you teach me how to swim. Properly. Not like a carrot.’

‘Considering your stomach, that’s a generous offer. Head underwater?’

She nodded. ‘I’ll try. But you have to stay with
us
for two weeks.’

‘How do you know your mother will let me stay?’

‘She will if I ask her,’ said Claudia in a determined voice.

‘I believe you.’

‘One more thing. You have to stop taking your teeth out and licking them.’

‘You drive a hard bargain,’ said Grandpa.

‘That’s a yes, isn’t it?’

Grandpa nodded.

Claudia grinned. ‘Cool bananas. ‘

Christine Harris has written over 45 books for young readers. She wrote her first book when she was nine, sitting in a tree in her nan’s back garden. It was never published, but it gave her a taste for writing stories, plus a few splinters.

When she is not writing, Christine likes to read, bush walk, get her hands dirty in her garden, knit, watch movies, play loud music and mess up the entire kitchen with her cooking. She does not sing in the shower or wear high heels with shorts.

www.christineharris.com

Bettina Guthridge loves drawing ‘cool dudes’ like grandpa though she wishes he’d consult someone about his clothes… they’re disgusting! It made her feel quite nauseous colouring them in!

Often Bettina models her characters on people she meets, though she is not saying who grandpa looks like otherwise she might get sued! She loves illustrating books with wicked humour and lots of silliness as she feels we all need a big dose of laughter.

The ABC ‘Wave’ device is a trademark of the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation and is used
under licence by HarperCollins
Publishers
Australia.

First published in Australia in 2007
This edition published in 2011
by HarperCollins
Publishers
Australia Pty Limited

ABN 36 009 913 517
www.harpercollins.com.au

Copyright ©text Christine Harris 2007
Copyright ©illustrations Bettina Guthridge 2007

The right of Christine Harris to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the
Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000
.

This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the
Copyright Act 1968
, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

HarperCollins
Publishers

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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Christine Harris

Cool Bananas / Christine Harris.

ISBN: 978-0-7333-2110-8 (pbk.)

ISBN: 978-0-7304-9541-3 (ePub)

I. Guthridge, Bettina. II. Australian Broadcasting

Corporation. III. Title.

A823.3