Bee in Your Ear

Frieda Wishinsky

with illustrations by
Louise-Andrée Laliberté

Text copyright © 2004 Frieda Wishinsky

Interior illustrations copyright © 2004 Louise-Andrée Laliberté

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.

National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data

Wishinsky, Frieda

A bee in your ear / Frieda Wishinsky;

with illustrations by Louise-Andrée Laliberté. (Orca echoes)

ISBN 1-55143-324-9

I. Laliberté, Louise-Andrée II. Title. III. Series.

PS8595.I834B42 2004           jC813'.54               C2004-903778-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2004108717

Summary
: A spelling bee threatens Kate and Jake's friendship.

Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage's Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP), the Canada Council for the Arts, and the British Columbia Arts Council.

Design by Lynn O'Rourke

Orca Book Publishers                               Orca Book Publishers
1016 Balmoral Road                                        PO BOX 468  
Victoria, BC Canada                                      Custer, WA USA
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Printed and bound in Canada

on Old Growth Forest Free, 100% Recycled paper.

07  06  05  04  •  4  3  2  1

For my friend,

Lonnie Cacchione.

Kate had never won anything.

She'd never won the jelly bean contest.

She'd never won the running race on Sports Day.

She'd never even won at bingo.

So when her teacher, Mr. Bolin, announced a spelling contest in their spelling club, Kate was determined to win. Kate was good at spelling. It was her second-best subject, right after reading.

And spelling club was fun. It was one of the five clubs you could join at lunch.

“The contest will take place in one week,” said Mr. Bolin. “The winner will get a ribbon and a special prize.”

“What do you think the prize is?” asked Lila at recess.

“I hope it's not a book about a dog,” said Violet. “Mr. Bolin loves dogs. Remember that story he read us about a lost dog last week? Remember how he cried at the end? It was disgusting!”

“I liked that story,” said Kate.

“You would,” said Violet, and she rolled her eyes so high they almost touched her blond bangs.

“I hope it's a gift certificate,” said Lila.

“Yes,” said Violet. “I love gift certificates. Then you can buy anything you want.”

“I don't care what it is,” said Kate. “I just want to win.”

“You won't win. You don't get a hundred on every test like I do,” said Violet.

“Neither do you, Violet,” said Kate's best friend, Jake.

“Well, I usually do,” said Violet. “I was just sick once and couldn't remember two little words. Kate only got ninety-three and ninety-five on the last two tests.”

“How do you know?” asked Kate.

“I saw your paper.”

“Who said you could?” said Kate.

“If you don't want people to see your stupid spelling, you should cover your paper up. Anyway, I'm never embarrassed to show my paper. Come on, Lila. Let's start to review that spelling. Those two don't have a chance.”

Violet and Lila skipped off.

“It's not going to be easy to win,” Kate told Jake.

“We're good at spelling too,” said Jake. “We just need to practice.”

“I wish I wasn't up against you, Jake. I'd love to beat Lila and Violet, but not you.”

“Come on, Kate,” said Jake, patting Kate on the back. “It's just a contest.”

“But you want to win, Jake. I know you do. You like to win everything. Even coin tosses.”

It was true. Every time they had a coin toss and it didn't come out the way Jake guessed, he'd say, “Let's do it again. How about two out of three?” And if two out of three didn't work, he'd beg for three out of five.

“Well, Kate M'Mate, if I don't win, I want you to win. And if there's a second prize, I hope you get it.” Jake smiled his friendly crooked smile.

Kate smiled back. It was hard not to smile when Jake called her Kate M'Mate, like they were pirates.

But she still wished she didn't have to try to beat him at spelling. He wasn't going to like losing. But then again, neither was she.

Kate bounded into the kitchen. Her mom was slicing onions. Tears were rolling down her cheeks.

“O-n-i-o-n-s,” spelled Kate, handing her mom a tissue.

“Thanks,” said her mom.

“You're w-e-l-c-o-m-e,” spelled Kate.

“What's all the spelling for?” asked her mom, wiping her eyes.

“We're having a spelling contest in spelling club and I'm practicing,” said Kate.

“Anyone who can spell onions and welcome is already ten points ahead,” said her mom, sliding the onions into a sizzling pan.

“Those words are easy, but homonyms are not,” said Kate. “Homonyms give me a headache. Why are there so many words that sound alike but are spelled differently? And why do we have to have so many on our spelling list?”

“Homonyms are hard,” her mom agreed.

“They're impossible,” said Kate, plopping down on a kitchen chair. “The person who invented them should be sent to jail.”

“Imagine how hard it would be if you came from another country and were trying to learn English,” said her mom.

“English is hard to spell even if you are born here,” groaned Kate.

“How many kids are there in your spelling club?” asked her mom.

“Ten, and they're all great spellers, especially Violet and Jake. So I have to spell, spell, spell, spell till I know every word!” said Kate.

The next day, as Kate and Jake raced to the swings
at recess, Jake said, “Let's study spelling together after school.”

“Great,” said Kate. “Let's spell a lot of homonyms. They're the hardest for me.”

“Like h-i-g-h,” said Jake as he pumped his swing up.

“Yes,” said Kate, pumping up too. “Like h-i-g-h.”

“I hate the words with silent letters like k or p,” said Jake. “Who needs silent letters? It's like wearing a tie. My mother made me wear a tie to my cousin's wedding, but a tie is good for nothing, like silent letters.”

Kate laughed.

“Come at seven,” she said. “We'll have chocolate chip cookies. Chocolate always helps me remember spelling words.”

“Potato chips help me,” said Jake.

“We have a bag of those too,” said Kate.

“Good. I'll be there!” said Jake, hopping off his swing.

“Don't be late, Jake,” said Kate, hopping off too.

“Me, late? Never,” said Jake.

“You, late—always!” said Kate, laughing.

Jake was famous for being late. He always had a crazy excuse like he lost his socks or had itchy feet.

And, sure enough, that evening Jake was late again.

By 7:20, Kate was staring at her clock. She tried to picture her spelling words in her mind like Mr. Bolin suggested, but her eyes kept darting to the clock.

7:25.

No Jake.

7:30.

No Jake.

7:40.

No Jake.

Was he coming at all? He was always late but never this late. Kate picked up the phone to call him, but before she finished dialing, the doorbell rang.

“Sorry, Kate M' Mate,” said Jake, waving goodbye to his mom. “My mom made me dry all the dishes before we could leave.”

“Doesn't your mom put the dishes in the dishwasher?” asked Kate.

“Not her favorite blue soup bowls, and we had soup for supper.”

“That's four bowls, Jake. That shouldn't take you so long,” said Kate.

“I like to dry them just right,” said Jake. “Come on. Let's test each other on list one.”

Kate knew Jake was changing the subject, but it was getting late.

“Okay,” said Kate. “You test me first.”

Jake read the fifty words on the first list to Kate. There were three lists of fifty words each for the contest. That made 150 words in all.

“Slow down,” she begged when he reached the homonyms stair and stare. “I need to think. Which one means steps and which one means to look?”

But no matter how hard she tried to remember, she couldn't.

“Nuts,” she mumbled. “I have to guess.”

It was the wrong guess. Kate made many wrong guesses. She only got thirty-eight out of fifty words right.

It was Jake's turn.

Jake scored forty-three out of fifty.

“I'll never do well on the contest,” moaned Kate.

“Just study harder,” said Jake.

“I have been studying hard. I've been studying so hard I have spelling dreams. Last night I dreamed a genie trapped me in a giant spelling list, and I couldn't get out no matter how many magic words I said.”

“Well, winning isn't everything,” said Jake, patting Kate on the back.

“Don't tell me that!” said Kate. “And don't pat me on the back like I'm a dog! You think you're so smart, but you're not.”

“Hey. Calm down,” said Jake.

“Don't tell me to calm down,” shouted Kate. “Don't tell me anything. Ever!” And with that Kate stormed out of the room and up the stairs.