Morgan on Ice Read online

  “Perfect,” says Mom. She jumps up too and zaps off the TV with the remote.

  I don’t even bother to say “Awwwwwwwww.”

  9

  Skate Exchange

  Aldeen and her Granny Flo pick us up on Saturday afternoon. Granny Flo is wearing her leather taxi driver jacket. She’s smoking one of her little cigars out the window as they wait for us to climb in.

  As we pull away, Granny Flo says, “Change of plans, boys. Hope you don’t mind. The radio station I won the tickets from let me swap them for the other prize. We’ve got tickets for Monster-Truck-A-Rama instead.”

  “Truck-A-Rama!” I blast up in my seat.

  “Yeah,” Granny Flo chuckles. “Should have known Aldy would want to go, but she’d been talking so much about princesses that I never thought about it. Then she came home yesterday yakking up a storm about it.”

  I look at Aldeen. “I thought you liked princesses too,” I say.

  “Not as much as monster trucks. Crunching is more fun than princessing. Everybody knows that.”

  I try to decide which hurts less: getting crunched by Monster Truck Aldeen or noogied by Aldeen the Princess. Right now it doesn’t matter. This feels good.

  We drive to the domed stadium. It’s huge. Our seats are way up near the roof. I look all over to see if I can spot Charlie and Will. I can’t. Some of the seats are so far away, the people in them are just little dots. “I shoulda brought my binoculars,” says Granny Flo.

  Maybe it’s because we’re so far away, but, Monster-Truck-A-Rama is, well, boring. It’s long, loud, and stinky. Even the hot dogs are yucky. From our seats the trucks look like toys, and a lot of the time there’s so much dust that you hardly see them. You can’t tell how good the crunches are. I wonder if Charlie and Will can see them.

  After a while the most interesting thing to watch is an ad on the Jumbo Screen. It’s for a new 3D movie called Elfquest. It’s coming soon and it looks really cool, even if there is a princess, because there are dragons too, and sword fights. The ad plays a bunch of times between ads for cars and boring stuff. When I see Aldeen watching it too, I say, “Cool, huh?”

  “Yeah,” she says, “but the dragon doesn’t look very scary.” She’s right. Aldeen looks scarier herself sometimes. I don’t say that though. Instead, Aldeen says, “Can we go soon?”

  “You want to go before it’s over?” Granny Flo raises her eyebrows. We nod.

  Dad says, “What would you two like to do instead?”

  Before I can say anything, Aldeen says, “Skate.”

  I look at her. What really surprises me is that I say, “Me too.”

  10

  Go with the Flo

  “Sounds good to me,” says Granny Flo. “Let’s go,” says Dad.

  On the way out, we see Charlie and Will and Charlie’s dad. “It was boring,” they say.

  “Want to come back to our place and skate?” I ask.

  “Sure!”

  So everybody comes over. It’s the most people ever on our rink. I cross my feet over a couple of times when I’m turning. Mom starts teaching me how to stop. I think I’m starting to get it. I don’t fall down as much, anyway.

  We even have a little hockey game. Granny Flo plays goal; she’s good too, especially with her glove. “Used to play in a league,” she says.

  “Really?” Aldeen snorks. Her nose is running again.

  “Sure. ‘Go with the Flo’ they used to say.”

  “Cool,” everyone says. A few minutes later, Aldeen crashes into me. This time she’s not a princess or a monster truck. “I’m a hockey player,” she says.

  I’m extra hungry by the time we go in for pizza. Mom reminds me to be polite and share. “And don’t forget to thank Aldeen’s granny for taking you,” she says.

  I’m so polite I don’t even take the last piece of pizza, even though it’s sitting there all by itself. I haven’t said thanks yet though. Dad gives me a nudge. I say, “Thank you for taking me,” to Aldeen and her Granny Flo.

  “No problem,” says Aldeen. “You can take me to Elfquest.”

  Then she takes the last piece of pizza.

  More novels in the First Novels series!

  Think Again, Robyn

  Hazel Hutchins

  Illustrated by Yvonne Cathcart

  Robyn stands up to a bully, makes a new friend and gets caught up in the excitement of the big game!

  Morgan and the Dune Racer

  Ted Staunton

  Illustrated by Bill Slavin

  It’s Morgan’s birthday and all he wants is Charlie’s remote-control toy no matter what it takes or who he hurts to get it.

  Lilly Traps the Bullies

  Brenda Bellingham

  Illustrated by Clarke MacDonald

  Lilly has to make a decision: choose between old friends and the gang of cool kids.

  About the Author and Illustrator

  TED STAUNTON lives in Port Hope, Ontario. He has written numerous children’s books, many of which have been selected as Canadian Children’s Book Centre Best Books for Kids and Teens.

  BILL SLAVIN has illustrated over forty books for children. He lives in Millbrook, Ontario.

  Text copyright © 2013 Ted Staunton

  Illustrations copyright © 2013 Bill Slavin

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

  Formac Publishing Company Limited acknowledges the support of the Cultural Affairs Section, Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for our publishing activities. We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts for our publishing program.

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Staunton, Ted, 1956-, author

  Morgan on ice / Ted Staunton ; illustrated by Bill Slavin.

  (First novels)

  Issued in print and electronic formats.

  ISBN 978-1-4595-0289-5 (bound).--ISBN 978-1-4595-0290-1 (pbk.).--

  ISBN 978-1-4595-0291-8 (epub)

  I. Slavin, Bill, illustrator II. Title. III. Series: First novels

  PS8587.T334M672 2013 jC813’.54 C2013-903163-4 C2013-903164-2

  This digital edition first published in 2013 as 978-1-4595-0291-8

  Originally published in 2013 as 978-1-4595-0290-1

  Summary: Morgan wants to see Truck-A-Rama with Charlie, but he has already promised to go to Princesses on Ice with Aldeen.

  Ages 6–9, Reading Level: grades 2.0-3.0

  Formac Publishing Company Limited

  5502 Atlantic Street

  Halifax, NS B3H 1G4

  www.formac.ca