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    Three on Three
    Three on Three
    Three on Three
    Ebook94 pages41 minutes

    Three on Three

    By Eric Walters

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    About this ebook

    Nick and Kia get excited when their school gym teacher announces a "three-on-three" basketball tournament. The two most dedicated players in grade three, they know they'll be tough to beat. But when Nick finds out they'll be up against teams in grade four and five, he is ready to throw in the towel before they start. How can shrimps like them ever hope to beat the older kids? Easy, get the best player in the school to be your third player. Marcus is bigger, tougher and in grade five.
       But it's not as easy to convince Marcus to join their team. The older boy is often uneasy around them, but worse, Kia and Nick find themselves making enemies of some of the kids in the upper grade. Nick realizes it's going to take more than skill at basketball to win this tournament and make friends with Marcus without becoming targets for the older kids off the court.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOrca Book Publishers
    Release dateJan 1, 1999
    ISBN9781554697496
    Three on Three
    Author

    Eric Walters

    Eric Walters is a Member of the Order of Canada and the author of over 125 books that have collectively won more than 100 awards including the Governor General’s Literary Award for The King of Jam Sandwiches. A former teacher, Eric began writing as a way to get his fifth-grade students interested in reading and writing. Eric is a tireless presenter, speaking to over 100,000 students per year in schools across the country. He lives in Guelph, Ontario.

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    • 5/5
      Third graders, Nick and Kia are eager to sign up for the school's Three-on-Three basketball tournament. However, they have to play against the older grades. The grade 5 students have to even out the competition by being separated and placed on teams with younger kids. Nick and Kia are fortunate to have Marcus on their team, the best player in the school and they win the tournament but not without some trouble from other grade 5 players.
    • 5/5
      Third graders, Nick and Kia are eager to sign up for the school's Three-on-Three basketball tournament. However, they have to play against the older grades. The grade 5 students have to even out the competition by being separated and placed on teams with younger kids. Nick and Kia are fortunate to have Marcus on their team, the best player in the school and they win the tournament but not without some trouble from other grade 5 players.

    Book preview

    Three on Three - Eric Walters

    Chapter 1

    It’s in the Cards

    Come on everybody, let’s get in and start working, Mrs. Orr said, before ducking into the room.

    Kids began hanging up their coats and backpacks and shuffling into the classroom.

    Nick, have a look at this, Kia said as she pulled something out of the pocket of her jacket.

    Wow! It’s a Julius ‘The Jewel’ Johnson basketball card! Where did you get it?

    I spent all my birthday money on cards last night, Kia grinned.

    All your money?

    Every cent I had.

    And your mother said you could? I couldn’t believe it.

    There was a pause. Well, she didn’t say yes, Kia admitted, but she didn’t say no either.

    I gave her a confused look. So what you’re saying is … ?

    "She doesn’t exactly know I bought them. And she never will, unless she counts my cards and finds out I have two hundred and eighty-one instead of one hundred and ninety-two," she explained, pulling out a hand full of cards from her other pocket.

    But if she does find out, she’ll kill you.

    No she won’t. She said I couldn’t just waste my money. I had to save it for some-thing special.

    Yeah … your point?

    Can you think of anything more special than basketball cards?

    I thought for a second. The only person I knew who liked b-ball more than Kia was me. You’re right, nothing is more special than basketball cards … especially a Julius ‘The Jewel’ Johnson card.

    "Are you two waiting for a special invitation to come into class?’ Mrs. Orr asked in an annoyed voice.

    Um … no …, I stammered, realizing that aside from our teacher, Kia and I were the only two people left in the hall.

    Hurry up! she said and then she popped back into the class.

    I took another look at the Julius Johnson card. It showed him driving for the basket, suspended in mid-flight. He was the greatest player around — my hero — the guy I always pretended to be when I was playing basketball. I tried to cross-over dribble the ball the way he did. I made sure I got his number on my basketball jersey. I left the back of my shirt un-tucked the way ‘The Jewel’ did. I even wanted to have my hair done exactly the same way he wore his — and I would have, if my mother didn’t think it was wrong for a ten-year-old to have his hair dyed green and blue.

    Reluctantly I handed the card back to Kia. We hurried into the class just as the national anthem came crackling out of the P.A. I snapped to attention, my hands at my sides, my head held high, and sang out all the words.

    Without even looking over, I knew Kia was standing the same way, and could hear her singing just as loud. Mrs. Orr often commented on how much respect we showed. She once even sent in a little slip of paper to the office and our names were read during the announcements as ‘Clark Boulevard Public School All-Stars’ for the way we stood so still and sang so strong.

    What Mrs. Orr didn’t know was that, when the national anthem played, we pretended we were standing center court in front of seventeen thousand people, waiting for the game to start. After all, it was important for superstars like us to set a good example for our loyal fans. That was our shared fantasy. Me to be in the NBA, and Kia to be in the WNBA — the Women’s National Basketball Association. Kia was just about the best athlete in all of Grade Three. She was taller than all the boys, as strong as most of them, and could out-play them at just about any sport you could name.

    The anthem ended and Kia and I gave each other a slight nod of the head. We went and joined the rest of the class sitting on the carpet. Kia sat at one side, with the rest of the girls, and I sat on the other, with the boys.

    Sometimes it wasn’t easy for either of us to be friends. Kids were always making some joke or comment about us ‘liking’ each other. Of course we liked each other … but not that way. When we were in kindergarten, it was okay for girls and boys to hang out together, but with each passing year it was getting harder. So to make things a little bit easier, we agreed not to talk to each other while we were in class. After announcements, Mrs. Orr asked, Whose turn is it to lead the opening exercises?

    It’s mine, Tim said, rising to his feet. He shuffled through the bodies on the carpet until he got to the blackboard. He picked up the pointer and put the tip on our class motto.

    "Positive people in Room Two

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