BooksBarbecue
Back The Copycat
Chapters (68)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Epigraph
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Chapter One
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Chapter Two
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Chapter Three
  16. Ten
  17. Eleven
  18. Chapter Four
  19. Twelve
  20. Thirteen
  21. Fourteen
  22. Chapter Five
  23. Fifteen
  24. Sixteen
  25. Chapter Six
  26. Seventeen
  27. Eighteen
  28. Nineteen
  29. Chapter Seven
  30. Twenty
  31. Twenty-One
  32. Twenty-Two
  33. Chapter Eight
  34. Twenty-Three
  35. Twenty-Four
  36. Twenty-Five
  37. Chapter Nine
  38. Twenty-Six
  39. Twenty-Seven
  40. Chapter Ten
  41. Twenty-Eight
  42. Twenty-Nine
  43. Thirty
  44. Thirty-One
  45. Chapter Eleven
  46. Thirty-Two
  47. Thirty-Three
  48. Thirty-Four
  49. Thirty-Five
  50. Chapter Twelve
  51. Thirty-Six
  52. Thirty-Seven
  53. Thirty-Eight
  54. Chapter Thirteen
  55. Thirty-Nine
  56. Forty
  57. Forty-One
  58. Forty-Two
  59. Chapter Fourteen
  60. Forty-Three
  61. Forty-Four
  62. Forty-Five
  63. Forty-Six
  64. Forty-Seven
  65. Chapter Fifteen
  66. The Following Summer
  67. About the Author
  68. About the Publisher

Three things hit Ali. The first: of course it was Alfie Sloane; he could be her brother, they looked so much alike. The second: he was the same boy she’d seen on the way to and from school. How had she missed the resemblance? The third: she was not ready to meet him. As he scanned the room for an empty seat, she dropped her head, relieved when he sat beside Cassie.

“Six team members!” Ms. Ryder crowed. “That’s two more than last year!”

“Um, thanks to me,” Murray reminded her. Ms. Ryder saluted Murray, who saluted back.

“Before we learn the basics of debate, let’s introduce ourselves. Don’t tell me your life story, just why you’re here. I’ll start. You know I’m Ms. Ryder, but you don’t know that when I was a high school senior, I represented New Brunswick at the senior national debate championships. We came fifth. It was exciting; if we’d won, we’d have gone to the Worlds.”

“Nice,” said Murray.

Ms. Ryder smiled. “I know, right? Now at this age, the most you can hope for is to participate in the middle school debate competition later this fall, but that will give you a small taste of what debate competitions are like.” She pointed to Carolyn. “You first.”

It was almost impossible to pay attention as Carolyn explained that she wanted to be a teacher someday and Ashok said he just loved to debate. Ali had a bit more interest in Cassie and Murray—Cassie said she’d read that debates were like mental gymnastics, and Murray talked about how he needed to learn to debate because he wanted to run the country when he grew up—but they were like the coming attractions when all you wanted to see was the movie.

“You’re next, Alfie,” said Ms. Ryder.

Ali couldn’t see Alfie’s face unless she leaned forward, and no way was she doing that. She kept her eyes fixed on the Smart Board, where a diagram explained the parts of a sentence.

“Alfie Sloane. I’ve lived in England my whole life. My mom brought me to Saint John so I could get to know the place where my dad grew up. The preparatory school I attended in London had a debate team, and I quite liked it. Murray talked me into joining.”

The English accent and his use of the word “quite” made Alfie sound extra smart to Ali. But what surprised her the most was how confident he was. If he was nervous speaking in front of everybody, he didn’t show it. They might look alike, but they were not alike at all.

Ms. Ryder smiled. “Thanks, Alfie. I can’t wait to hear more about what debate is like in Great Britain. Last but not least, Ali.”