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    A Different Game
    A Different Game
    A Different Game
    Ebook96 pages1 hour

    A Different Game

    By Sylvia Olsen

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    About this ebook

    In this sequel to Murphy and Mousetrap, Murphy and his three friends, Danny, Jeff and Albert, are making the transition from the tribal elementary school to the community middle school.

    They are all trying out for the middle school's soccer team, and they're pretty confident that The Formidable Four will all make the team. But once the tryouts begin, Albert, the tribal-school superstar, plays like a second-stringer. Murphy's new friend, Molly, is determined to help the boys find out what's wrong with Albert, but when they discover the truth, they realize that Albert is playing a whole different game.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOrca Book Publishers
    Release dateApr 1, 2010
    ISBN9781554694594
    A Different Game
    Author

    Sylvia Olsen

    Sylvia Olsen is an award-winning author of many books, including young adult novels, first readers, picture books, history and personal-essay. She also writes about knitting and designs knitting patterns. Sylvia teaches First Nations housing management at Vancouver Island University and works toward creating new housing opportunities on reserves in Canada. Sylvia lives in North Saanich, British Columbia on W̱SÁNEĆ territory.

    Read more from Sylvia Olsen

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      Book preview

      A Different Game - Sylvia Olsen

      A Different Game

      A Different Game

      SYLVIA OLSEN

      ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

      The building and totem poles pictured on the cover of A Different Game are artist’s renderings of Tseshaht structures and totems in Port Alberni, British Columbia.

      Text copyright © 2010 Sylvia Olsen

      All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher.

      Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

      Olsen, Sylvia, 1955-

      A different game / written by Sylvia Olsen.

      (Orca young readers)

      ISBN 978-1-55469-169-2

      I. Title. II. Series: Orca young readers

      PS8579.L728D53 2010 jC813’.6 C2009-906856-7

      First published in the United States, 2010

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2009940906

      Summary: In this sequel to Murphy and Mousetrap, Murphy and his three friends are nervous about trying out for the soccer team at their new school, but a diagnosis of leukemia proves more challenging than anything they encounter on the field.

      Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

      Typesetting by Bruce Collins

      Cover artwork by Ken Dewar

      Author photo by Rob Campbell Photography

      ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

      PO BOX 5626, STN. B

      VICTORIA, BC CANADA

      V8R 6S4

      ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

      PO BOX 468

      CUSTER, WA USA

      98240-0468

      www.orcabook.com

      Printed and bound in Canada.

      Printed on 100% PCW recycled paper.

      13 12 11 10 • 4 3 2 1

      Dedicated to Amory,

      who played a different game and won

      Contents

      Chapter One

      Chapter Two

      Chapter Three

      Chapter Four

      Chapter Five

      Chapter Six

      Chapter Seven

      Chapter Eight

      Chapter Nine

      Chapter Ten

      Chapter Eleven

      Chapter Twelve

      Chapter Thirteen

      Chapter Fourteen

      Chapter Fifteen

      Chapter Sixteen

      Acknowledgments

      Chapter One

      Murphy gets to the field late. The other boys are already there—all three of them. He joins their huddle near the bleachers, catching his breath.

      It’s about time, Albert says. He slaps Murphy on the back.

      Yeah, Murph, we’ve been waiting for you, Jeff says. He leans into the circle and frowns at Murphy. Jeff is serious about everything. But he’s not the only one who’s serious about soccer. Murphy hadn’t meant to be late. It’s just that Mom makes him do chores before he plays in the morning. We’ve got to practice hard, Jeff continues. We’re going to show Riverside Middle School that the best soccer players come from the Long Inlet Tribal School.

      Albert pounds his chest. They ain’t seen nothing yet, he says. All four of us are going to make the team.

      Murphy is excited about going to middle school. Especially about trying out for the soccer team. But deep inside he has a few niggling fears. He liked the Long Inlet Tribal School, even though he’d only been there for one year. He knew everyone at the school. Half of them were related to him. He liked the way Mom came to the school and helped make lunch for all the kids. They always had great stuff like tacos and spaghetti.

      At Riverside, Murphy will have to get up early and catch a bus—every morning. And Jeff, Albert and Danny are the only three guys he will know at the new school. There will be at least a couple of hundred kids who will be complete strangers. Mom says once he gets to middle school he’ll be making his own lunch in the morning, so he better get used to eating sandwiches. Murphy doesn’t like the sound of that at all.

      When it comes right down to it, the only thing Murphy likes about going to Riverside is the soccer team. And then again, that is the worst problem of all.

      The boys from the tribal school are at a big disadvantage, and Murphy knows it. First of all, they’re only in grade seven and most of the middle-school team are going to be in grade eight. Second of all, the other grade sevens trying out for the team will already have been in the school. The coach already knows them; he’ll surely pick a kid he knows over one from the tribal school.

      Uncle Rudy says we’re the best grade-seven players ever to go to Riverside, Jeff says.

      Let’s hear it for Uncle! Albert high-steps and slaps his knees. Murphy doesn’t think Rudy is Jeff’s uncle, but on the reserve everyone seems to be related to one another. It’s easier just to call any older man Uncle and any older woman Auntie; that way you don’t offend anyone. He made the Riverside team, and now he’s a soccer superstar. If he can do it, we can do it, says Albert.

      Just a couple of years ago, Uncle Rudy played for the Canadian World Cup soccer team, which makes him about the most famous guy ever to come from Long Inlet Reserve. A lot of people, including Murphy, put it down to the fact that he broke into the Riverview lineup in grade seven.

      But that doesn’t mean we’ve got it made, Danny says. It means we have to show our stuff. Especially if all four of us are going to make the starting lineup.

      Come on then. If we’re going to show our stuff, we better get our stuff together, Murphy says. Cut the talk. Let’s do something.

      The boys take their spots on the field—Albert at center, Danny at offense, Jeff at defense and Murphy in the goal. They play half a field until Levi and Haywire arrive. It’s not long before enough boys show up so they can play five a side.

      Most of the boys are only going into grade six, and a few of the others aren’t serious soccer players. It’s just the four of them—Albert, Danny, Jeff and Murphy—who will be attending Riverside and trying out for the team. That’s the reason there’s a soccer game every day throughout the summer—to get ready. Younger boys and even non-soccer players come out to help prepare the grade sevens for the September tryouts. It’s been a Long Inlet tradition ever since Uncle Rudy made the team.

      Sometimes one player from the reserve gets picked

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