Snow Place Like Home Read online

The twins scooped up their nets and admired their first catch.

  Soon after, Jaxon and Ava caught robo-fish with intricate scale designs.

  “Hey! We caught maze mystery fish!” Ava gave her brother a high five.

  Meanwhile, Zack and Drake’s crystal aqua-lines had not moved at all. The boys sat quietly. Then, after a while, Drake’s line tugged.

  “Yippee wah-wah! I got one!” he cried.

  Drake pulled his crystal net out of the water and opened it. It was a giant robo-fish with wheels!

  “That’s a race-car fish!” said Jaxon.

  Drake grinned. He packed his robo-fish away and sat next to his friend.

  Zack sat back and hung his head. Everyone else around him was having much better luck. Kids cheered loudly every time they caught a fish. But Zack’s aqua-line remained still as time dragged on.

  “Gosh, whoever said fishing was fun?” asked Zack exhaustedly.

  “Hmm, maybe the fish fell asleep?” Drake replied. “WAKE UP, FISH!”

  Zack was ready to give up when he saw a large ripple form in the water. “I got something!”

  He quickly pressed his button and pulled up the crystal net. Zack yanked with all his might as a clump of sticky, white seaweed rose out of Invisible Lake! It was squishy and gross.

  “What kind of fish is this?” he asked.

  Ava and Jaxon only shrugged. Zack went to throw the gunk back into the water, but Jaxon stopped him. “Wait! You never know what might come in handy when building an ice fort.”

  Zack raised his eyebrow and gave his new friends a curious look. “Did you say ‘ice fort’?”

  Chapter 7

  Ice Fort Disaster

  Ava and Jaxon led the others to the Frozanthia Ice Flats. It was a wide-open field surrounded by tall, towering trees and beautiful hills. A group of floating drone-bots spelled out “Ice Fort Party” in the sky.

  “Here’s the surprise,” said Jaxon. “Frozanthia is having an ice fort contest!”

  “That is grape, but what does an ice fort have to do with robo-fish?” asked Drake.

  “The type of robo-fish you catch should match the type of ice fort you build,” explained Ava. “Jaxon and I caught maze fish, so we will build an ice maze.”

  “Yay! Our ice fort will have . . .”

  “. . . a rockin’ dance floor!” the twins cried.

  The kids scattered to start building, but Zack stayed put. “What kind of ice fort can I build with seaweed?” he asked.

  Drake smiled and put his arm around his friend. “A great one, if you work with me!”

  Zack smiled. Even with a hurt foot, Drake was always there to help. They took out his robo-fish and it instantly split into a snow-bot crew! The snow-bots began to smooth the ground for a racetrack so they could build an ice wall around it.

  Zack pulled out the seaweed and tossed it on the ground. “Looks like I won’t need this anymore.”

  As the bots shaped the snow, Zack pointed to where each block should be placed. The snow-bots worked quickly. Zack watched as they stacked blocks until they had made a wall. The ice fort was starting to take shape.

  Then an alarm blared. “SYSTEM ERROR! SYSTEM ERROR!”

  A snow-bot was stuck in Zack’s seaweed! He tried to help free it, but with every push, the bot dug deeper into the sticky gunk. Soon, another alarm echoed throughout the fort.

  “Oh no! Another snow-bot is stuck!” Zack cried.

  Drake quickly grabbed one of the bot’s arms. “We can pull them out.”

  Zack nodded as the boys pulled as hard as they could. Something came loose as they all tumbled backward. One of the robot’s arms flew over their heads and crashed through their ice wall.

  “Oh no! We have lost two snow-bots.” Drake frantically tried to repair the damage.

  Zack watched his friend try to fix things as he snuck away quietly. “This is all my fault. First I hurt Drake’s leg, and then I break his fort. He’ll be much better off without unlucky me on his team.”

  Chapter 8

  May the Best Fort Win!

  Zack walked over to Jaxon and Ava’s maze fort. The ice path went in every direction. It was the perfect place to get lost, so Zack stepped inside.

  A long narrow passageway led to an ice bench. Zack sat down, and it immediately collapsed!

  “Aw man,” Zack muttered.

  His wristband lit up. It was Pat. “Is everything okay, Zack?”

  “Yes, I’m fine,” said Zack. “It’s just that none of these winter games are playing out like I thought they would.”

  “Well then, why not change your game plan?” Pat suggested.

  Zack shook his head. “Thanks, but trust me. I’ll just make things worse.”

  Then there was a shuffling sound as Ava came around the corner. “Hey, Zack. What are you doing here?”

  “I needed to find some place out of the way,” he said. “I almost ruined our entire fort!”

  “Well, that makes two of us!” Ava sat down next to him and pointed to a map of their fort. “We’re rebuilding these pathways for the third time!”

  “Really?” Zack was surprised. “But your fort looks amazing!”

  “Thanks! Let me tell you, building this maze has been so a-maze-ingly difficult!” she replied. “In fact, even I was lost in here until I heard your voice!”

  “What? No way!” Zack cried.

  “Yeah, I’m lucky I stumbled into you,” Ava admitted. “You make a great teammate!”

  “Well, you too!” Zack said as they got up from the floor. A huge grin spread across his face. “Guess I’m not so unlucky after all!”

  “I’d say you’re good luck!” Ava gave him a pat on the back. “May the best fort win!”

  Zack nodded, and then he rushed out the door to get back to work.

  Chapter 9

  And the Winner Is . . .

  Back at Drake’s fort, total chaos had broken out. Snowballs were flying in all directions and gigantic holes and cracks covered the walls. The snow-bots were having a massive battle!

  Zack found Drake sitting behind one of the ice walls. He rushed over and crouched next to him. Zack peeked through a hole in the wall, then quickly ducked as a snowball zoomed by his head.

  “Wow, that was a close one!” Zack exclaimed. “What happened?”

  “Oh, there you are! The bots have gone haywire! What do we do, Zack?” Drake asked worriedly.

  Zack looked around and spotted a glob of gross, gunky seaweed. Right then, the perfect idea hit him like a snowball.

  “Hey, Pat! Can you power down our snow-bots?” Zack called out.

  “Sure thing!” Pat replied. All the bots immediately stopped in their tracks.

  “Smart thinking,” said Drake. “But who will fix the fort now?”

  “We will with this.” Zack leaned over and grabbed the seaweed. “We can patch the holes in the fort! That is, if you still want me on your team.”

  “Yippee wah-wah, of course!” Drake cried.

  • • •

  Zack and Drake were admiring their fort when the others stopped by to check on them.

  “Wow, this ice fort contest is snow joke,” Zack said. “I wish there was a way we could all win.”

  “That would be, as you say, grape!” agreed Jaxon.

  “Hmm. What if we do not have to compete against one another?” asked Drake as he studied all three forts. “We could connect our forts to make one giant fort.”

  “Then our fort would become the ultimate . . .”

  “. . . winter adventure!” cried the twins.

  Everyone got to work. Ava and Jaxon’s snow-bots built a slide to connect the boys’ fort to theirs. Then the twins built a walkway bridge to link their fort too.

  They all finished just as the judging was about to start.

  “Hey, we did it! Now let’s make sure it works!” said Ava. The kids rushed into Drake and Zack’s racing fort first.

  Zack grabbed an ice sled and leaned forward. After three quick lap
s around the track, he zoomed onto the connecting slide and entered the maze. All his friends came through one by one right after him.

  Once in Jaxon and Ava’s fort, they took the lead. After several dead ends, they found the twin’s walkway that led to a sparkling dance floor. Colorful disco lights swept across the room, and music blasted from ice speakers. All the kids bounced around happily, even Drake!

  “Yippee wah-wah!” Zack cried out. “We are so going to win!”

  Chapter 10

  Snow Place Like Home

  When the judges arrived, they were very surprised by the size of the kids’ fort. As they stepped inside, Zack waited nervously.

  When the judges came out, their hair was wind-whipped from the racetrack, maze-adventure, and wild dance party.

  “That was very impressive,” said the head judge. “We have never seen teams work together in this way. Thank you.”

  The judges left and Zack and his friends hugged one another.

  “Even if we don’t win, I had a great time,” said Zack. “Thanks for showing us around, Jaxon and Ava. You are full of surprises.”

  Drake nodded. “Yes, and thank you for helping me out of your maze. I was so lost in there.”

  Ava and Jaxon looked at each other and smiled. “Um, we have one more surprise left.”

  Jaxon whispered into his wristband, “Pat, please send out a message to all the other builders on the Ice Flats: Who would like to join all the forts together?”

  Instantly a burst of holo-emoticons beamed into the air. Kragulon smiley faces, Olfo three-thumbs-up, and Slimesly sparkle fireworks hovered over the field. The crowd roared with excitement.

  “Looks like a yes?” asked Drake.

  “Correct,” answered his own Pat. “All the players would like to join you in creating the biggest ice fort in Frozanthia history.”

  “Well then, we better get started!” cheered Zack.

  Kids from all over the galaxy connected the forts. There was a long, winding slide that moved in and out of each ice wall. Even the snow-bots looked like they were enjoying the forts!

  But by far, everyone’s favorite space was the twins’ dance floor fort. Even Zack’s parents boogied to the music. It was epic.

  • • •

  Later that night, the friends met by the winter bonfire. A transparent dome covered the blue flames, and a soft warmth spread around all of them.

  “I can’t believe we’re heading back tomorrow,” said Zack. “I had such a great time here, thanks to you guys.”

  “We did too!” Jaxon agreed.

  Then Ava pulled out a marker. “There’s just one thing left to do. We need to sign Drake’s crystal boot!”

  “Oh, that would be awesome!” agreed Drake.

  Ava wrote her name in bold letters while Jaxon drew a race-car robo-fish. Even the twins signed Drake’s boot, drawing a disco-dancing snowflake.

  When it was Zack’s turn, he wrote a poem:

  Snowflakes are cold,

  Bonfire’s blue,

  Frozanthia’s great

  Because I’m here with you.

  “Thanks, Zack!” said Drake. “I hope we come back soon. I will use the easy track next time.”

  Everyone laughed.

  Then Zack said, “Jaxon and Ava, you should visit Nebulon sometime. I’d love to show you around our planet. We can play grape games, ride Nebulon bikes, and eat boingoberry jam!”

  As Zack and Drake named fun things to do on Nebulon, the friends sat together under the frozen night sky with shooting stars that looked like falling snow.

  About the Author and Illustrator

  RAY O’RYAN has loved space stories ever since he watched the very first episode of Star Trek. He loves to imagine what traveling across the galaxy might be like, and is a bit jealous of Galaxy Zack in this regard. Ray lives in the beautiful Catskill Mountains of upstate New York with his wife and two lovable, zany cats named Stitch and The Way.

  JASON KRAFT grew up with a passion for drawing. He has developed that passion into a humble career that has allowed him to work in all facets of the entertainment field all over the globe—from toy design to feature animation. He has now settled in Ottawa, Ontario, with his wife, Christina, and their daughter, Ivy.

  Visit us at simonandschuster.com/kids

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Ray-ORyan

  Authors.SimonandSchuster.com/Jason-Kraft

  Little Simon

  Simon & Schuster, New York

  GalaxyZackBooks.com

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  LITTLE SIMON

  An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division

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  First Little Simon hardcover edition October 2018

  Copyright © 2018 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  Also available in a Little Simon paperback edition.

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  Designed by Nick Sciacca

  Jacket design by Nicholas Sciacca

  Jacket illustrations copyright © 2018 by Simon & Schuster, Inc.

  This book has been cataloged with the Library of Congress.

  ISBN 978-1-5344-2905-5 (pbk)

  ISBN 978-1-5344-2906-2 (hc)

  ISBN 978-1-5344-2907-9 (eBook)