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    Special Edward
    Special Edward
    Special Edward
    Ebook74 pages1 hour

    Special Edward

    By Eric Walters

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    Edward is a classic slacker. He's got better ways to spend his time than toiling over homework, and as long as he gets passing grades he's happy. When his fifty percent average is threatened he has to find a way to pull up his grades without applying himself. Edward discovers that special education students get more time to complete tests, and he thinks he's found the perfect scam. Little does he know that manipulating everyone around him will take more work than he ever imagined.

    Also available in French.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOrca Book Publishers
    Release dateApr 1, 2009
    ISBN9781554697199
    Special Edward
    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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    • 4/5
      Okay, this was a little bit too let's-teach-the-reader-a-lesson for my taste, but I can totally see something like this happening in real life, and Edward was a charming little rascal. It's also quite age-appropriate for middle schoolers, which I think is the demographic Orca Currents books are supposed to target.

      1 person found this helpful

    Book preview

    Special Edward - Eric Walters

    12  11  10  09  •  4  3  2  1

    chapter one

    Nervously I peeked into the class through the door’s little window. Everybody had their heads down, writing a math test. If I had remembered we had a test, I would have worked harder to be on time. Actually, if I’d remembered there was a test, I would have studied. Okay, studied might be the wrong word, an exaggeration, but I would have at least done some review...probably... maybe. Okay, who was I trying to fool? There was at least a fifty-fifty chance I would have blown off the studying even if I knew the test was coming.

    I looked at my watch. The period had started twelve minutes ago. I was officially late, at least officially late for math. Some teachers would let ten or fifteen minutes slide. Mr. Mathews did not believe in letting anything slide. Typical.

    Math teachers are always more sticky about being punctual than other teachers. Maybe because they work with numbers, they like to show off that they could tell time.

    I could tell time, I just didn’t feel any need to be controlled by it. I always thought that I owned the watch; the watch didn’t own me.

    My drama teacher, Ms. Collins, was much, much cooler about time. You could roll into her class halfway through and as long as you gave her what she called a good lie, she didn’t worry about it. I loved coming up with stories. Sometimes I was late on purpose so I could tell a story. It was pretty amazing that you could be late and get applause from your teacher.

    I didn’t expect Mr. Mathews to cheer, and the longer I stood here, the later I was getting.

    I pushed open the door and slipped in. Almost everybody looked up at me. Quiet wasn’t quiet enough in a room where you could hear a pin drop.

    Edward, Mr. Mathews said sternly, you’re late.

    Are you sure, sir? I was thinking that maybe all of you were just early.

    A couple of people laughed. Mr. Mathews wasn’t one of them.

    Do you have a late slip? he asked.

    Sorry, no, I didn’t think I was that late.

    You are and you need one.

    Can I get one after? I asked. By the time I get down to the office and back, I’ll have even less time to do the test. I think I really need all the time I can get.

    That logic is hard to argue with.

    So I can go later?

    He held out a test.

    I took the test and shuffled over to the empty desk in the back corner—my usual spot beside my friend Cody. He glanced up and gave me a little nod as I settled into my seat.

    I started to look at the test. The first page was all algebra—the show-your-work sort that I hated. Wasn’t it hard enough to get the right answer without having to show how you did it? It eliminated the element of luck, and I depended heavily on that element.

    I flipped to the second page. It was all multiple-choice questions. I loved multiple-choice. Usually one or two of the answers were obviously wrong. That meant that there was often a fifty-percent chance of success, and fifty percent was the mark I aimed for.

    I turned to the third page. Word problems. That was just plain mean. This was math not English. If it was English, at least I’d have a chance to bluff my way through it. In math there was no bluff, no bull, just right and wrong—and wrong was most often the winning side.

    Well, there was no point in complaining. I had to get started. I dug into my bag and rummaged around for a pencil. I searched the different compartments. No pencil. No pen. Not even a crayon. I looked around the room.

    Sitting on the other side of Cody was Simon. He had a pencil that he was using to write the test. There were two others on the corner of his desk, along with a ruler and a perfect never-been-used eraser. I guess Simon never made a mistake, and he didn’t need to use his eraser. Simon was smart but not annoying about it. He was okay.

    I stuck up my hand. Mr. Mathews, I don’t seem to have a pencil.

    He let out a big sigh. Why am I not surprised, Edward?

    Mr. Mathews was one of the only people in the world to call me Edward, him and one of my great-aunts. And my mother when she was mad at me—Edward Philip Wilson, she’d say. That was a guarantee I was in trouble. Whenever she called me that, I just started apologizing. It was faster and easier. Everybody else in the

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