The Underdogs Serve It Up


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, New York
 
 
 
 First published as The Underdogs Hit a Grand Slam in Australia by Hardie Grant Children’s Publishing in 2022
 Published in the United States of America by Razorbill, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2023
 Text copyright © 2022 by Kate and Jol Temple
 Illustrations copyright © 2022 by Shiloh Gordon
 Activities text copyright © 2023 by Penguin Random House LLC
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 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
 Names: Temple, Kate, author. | Temple, Jol, author. | Gordon, Shiloh, illustrator. | Title: The underdogs serve it up / Kate and Jol Temple ; art by Shiloh Gordon. | Description: New York: Razorbill, 2022. | Series: The Underdogs | "First published in Australia by Hardie Grant Children's Publishing in 2022." | Audience: Ages 6–9 years. | Summary: In their latest case, the Underdogs must fetch the identity of a tennis ball thief. Identifiers: LCCN 2022032699 (print) | LCCN 2022032700 (ebook) | ISBN 9780593527009 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9780593527016 (epub) | Subjects: CYAC: Dogs—Fiction. | Cats—Fiction. | Tennis—Fiction. | Mystery and detective stories. | Humorous stories. | LCGFT: Detective and mystery fiction. | Humorous fiction. | Animal fiction. | Classification: LCC PZ7.T246 Uo 2022 (print) | LCC PZ7.T246 (ebook) | DDC [Fic]—dc23 | LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022032699 | LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022032700
 Ebook ISBN 9780593527016
 Cover art © 2022 by Shiloh Gordon
 Series design by Sarah Mitchell
 Design adapted for ebook by Andrew Wheatley
 The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
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 To Arlo, Clancy, and their faithful hound Wicket, the best ball dog around! –KT & JT
 For Charlie, Annie, and Frankie –SG
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Here we are again, mystery lovers. In the office of Dogtown’s second-best (or first-worst) detectives— the Underdogs!
 It’s a day like any other . . . well, not quite. There’s a funny smell about. A very funny smell.
 That dog sniffing the air, that’s Barkley. He’s been an Underdog detective for quite a while, so he’s used to sniffing out trouble, and right now, something sure smells strange.
 
 
 
 That’s Fang. She’s not a dog, she’s a cat—and the only cat in the Underdog Detective Agency.
 “Mrs. McTavish has closed her soup factory for the week, so there’s no soup stench,” said Fang.
 
 
 
 Mrs. McTavish is the downstairs neighbor. There are two things you need to know about her; she’s a terrier and she makes soup—very STINKY soup. What flavor was she cooking last week? Oh, that’s right . . . asparagus and boiled egg. Yuck!
 
 
 
 “Why would she close her factory?” asked Fang suspiciously. Fang is always suspicious. That’s what makes her a great Underdog.
 
 
 
 That’s Carl, the Chihuahua Underdog who looks like he’s doing some important detective paperwork . . . NOT!
 “Mrs. McTavish plays tennis?” asked Fang.
 “No. She has a food truck!” replied Carl.
 
 
 
 Fang shook her head. “I don’t know why everyone’s so excited about the Grand Slam. It’s just a bunch of dogs chasing balls around.”
 “Exactly!” said Carl and Barkley.
 “That’s why everyone loves tennis!” added Barkley. “And the Grand Slam is the biggest tennis tournament in Dogtown.”
 
 
 
 It’s true. Every dog in Dogtown loves tennis. And no one loves it more than Carl. The crowds! The tennis stars! The tennis balls! Carl had been counting down the days until the Grand Slam started and now it was finally here. He even put pictures up of all the stars.
 “I’d sure love to go to the Grand Slam,” said Carl. “This is going to be the best one yet! How cool would it be to see Barry Barker play!”
 “If he wins, he’ll break the Dogtown record set by the great Bjorn Dawg!” added Barkley.
 
 
 
 “Who’s Bjorn Dawg?” asked Fang.
 “He’s only the greatest tennis dog of all time!” said Carl. “He’s retired from tennis and is a sports commentator now. ”
 All this tennis talk was getting too exciting for Carl, who had started playing air tennis with a flyswatter.
 
 
 
 Barkley looked doubtful. “I wish we could. Maybe next year, Carl. Right now our bank account isn’t looking too healthy . . . and those Grand Slam tickets sure are expensive!”
 
 
 
 Carl pulled his best puppy-dog eyes.
 “Haven’t you got some REAL work to do?” Barkley said.
 
 
 
 “I’ve got REAL work to do!” said Dr. Spots.
 That’s Dr. Spots. She’s the brains of this operation. More brains than spots, or maybe it’s the other way around? What outrageous inventions has she been working on today? A doggy raincoat that doubles as a life vest? A bionic stick launcher? A rubber-chicken toy that squeaks in fourteen different languages?
 
 
 
 Spots looked up. “I’m working on my automatic ball-fetching machine. It will revolutionize trips to the dog park . . . if I can just get it working!”
 
 
 
 Yep. Good old Spots, tinkering away on another machine that doesn’t work.
 Barkley shook his head. The sad truth was there was no REAL work to do. It had been way too long since their last REAL case