Fabulous Five 018 - Teen Taxi Read online

  Katie pointed to a letter in the Dear Bob column. "The officials wouldn't let her, that's who. They said she could get hurt, and Bob agrees with them."

  "Well, she could," agreed Beth.

  "That's not the point," Katie protested. "Anyone who plays can get hurt. If she's good enough, they ought to let her do it. Girls play on baseball teams. I'm going to write Dear Bob and tell him what I think of him. I don't know why they let a man write this column anyway. Mostly girls read the magazine."

  Christie joined in. "But football's different. It's a contact sport."

  "Maybe it is, but Geena McNatt could play on a football team and do real well, if she wanted to," said Katie.

  "I have to agree with you about that," said Jana, giggling. "The only reason they might not let Geena play on Wacko's team is she could hurt someone else."

  "What's the big difference?" asked Melanie. "There are lots of other things she can do. Girl things."

  "Don't you see?" Katie complained. "She doesn't want to do those other things. That's the big difference. That's the trouble with everybody. They say girls can do some things, but they can't do others. I don't want anyone telling me what I can or can't do."

  "Well, that wouldn't happen at Wacko," said Christie. "Girls can do anything they want there."

  "Hey, if you want to try out for the football team next fall, go ahead," said Beth. "I'll bet they'd let you, but I wouldn't want Geena McNatt's brother Max leaving his footprints all over me."

  Katie flipped the magazine closed. "That's the trouble with everyone. They don't realize how much bias there is, even at our school. I bet Elizabeth Cady Stanton wouldn't let them get away with not letting her daughter play football."

  Jana looked puzzled. "Who's Elizabeth Cady Stanton?" she asked.

  "See!" Katie retorted. "Do any of the rest of you know who she is?" The others shook their heads.

  Katie rolled her eyes. "She was only the person who started the whole women's movement, that's all. If it wasn't for her, women probably still wouldn't be able to vote."

  "Look," said Beth. "When you run into something that you can't do because you're a girl, let me know. I'll help you protest. But I'm not going to get bent all out of shape over a letter to Bob."

  Frustrated, Katie looked at her friends. They all seemed so unconcerned. Couldn't they recognize bias against females when they saw it?

  Katie gets her chance to defend women's rights a lot sooner than she expects. Only her efforts backfire, and she finds herself in trouble with a lot of people, including Tony Calcaterra, the other girls in Wakeman Junior High, and the school principal. But Katie also gets unexpected help from someone from a long time ago in The Fabulous Five #19: The Boys-Only Club.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Betsy Haynes, the daughter of a former newswoman, began scribbling poetry and short stories as soon as she learned to write. A serious writing career, however, had to wait until after her marriage and the arrival of her two children. But that early practice must have paid off, for within three months Mrs. Haynes had sold her first story. In addition to a number of magazine short stories and the Taffy Sinclair series, Mrs. Haynes is also the author of The Great Mom Swap and its sequel, The Great Boyfriend Trap. She lives in Colleyville, Texas, with her husband, who is also an author.

  Table of Contents

  TITLE PAGE

  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

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR