Justine McKeen, Queen of Green

JUSTINE M
C
KEEN

QUEEN of GREEN

Sigmund Brouwer
illustrated by
Dave Whamond

ORCA BOOK PUBLISHERS

To Barbara Kidd,
the Green Queen at Arthur Public School.
And a big thank you to two of the greenest families I know:
Ivan, Selena, Sydney and Adam Hucal;
and Morris, Lesia, Myra, Adrian and Kalynna Hucal

Text copyright © 2011 Sigmund Brouwer
Illustrations copyright © 2011 Dave Whamond

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.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Brouwer, Sigmund, 1959-

Justine McKeen, queen of green [electronic resource] /

Sigmund Brouwer ; illustrated by Dave Whamond.

(Orca echoes)

Electronic monograph in PDF format.

Issued also in print format.

ISBN
978-1-55469-928-5

I. Whamond, Dave II. Title. III. Series: Orca echoes (Online)

PS
8553.
R
68467
J
88 2011
A
       
JC
813'.54       
C
2011-903477-8

First published in the United States, 2011
Library of Congress Control Number
: 2011929400

Summary
: Justine and her friends are all about being green and helping the planet,
one environmental project at time.

Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada through the Canada Book Fund and the Canada Council for the Arts, and the Province of British Columbia through the BC Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit.

Orca Book Publishers is dedicated to preserving the environment and has printed this book
on paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council
®.

Cover artwork and interior illustrations by Dave Whamond
Author photo by Reba Baskett

www.orcabook.com
Printed and bound in Canada.

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Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter One

Justine McKeen sat at a table in the school lunchroom with her two new friends, Safdar and Michael. It was noisy and busy, as usual. The older kids were leaving to make room for the kids in Justine's class.

“Did you see that?” Justine said. “The guy in the blue hoodie just threw an empty can in the garbage.”

“The guy in the blue hoodie is the meanest guy in the school,” Safdar said. “He is older and bigger than us too. He can do whatever he wants.”

“Yeah,” Michael said. “His name is Jimmy Blatzo. Never, ever call him Fatso Blatzo.”

“That empty can should have gone in the recycling,” Justine said.

She set her backpack on the table. She ran toward two older students who were clearing their lunch trays off into the garbage. They stared at Justine as she reached into the garbage can.

Safdar looked at Michael. “If she's that hungry, maybe we should give her some of our lunch.”

Michael poked the food on his tray with his fork. “She's a fast learner. Only a couple of days at this school, and already she knows garbage tastes better than cafeteria food.”

“Ha, ha,” said Safdar.

“Who was joking?” Michael said.

Justine was holding a juice can and some papers. She stepped toward the recycling bins. She threw the juice in one and the papers in another.

She joined Safdar and Michael. “I'll be right back. I need to wash my hands. You know, there was a lot of stuff in the garbage that would be great for a compost. What do you think, guys?”

“That we're in trouble,” Michael said.

“For wanting to recycle?” she asked.

“No,” Michael said, “because here comes the guy in the blue hoodie. Jimmy Blatzo. Please, please don't call him Fatso Blatzo.”

Chapter Two

“What's your name?” Jimmy Blatzo asked Justine. He towered over her and looked angry.

“Justine McKeen,” she said. She stuck out a hand and waited for him to shake it. Her hand had mustard on it. “Nice to meet you, Jimmy Blatzo.”

He pushed her hand away. “I heard you dug in the garbage for my empty juice can. You made me look bad. Is that what you wanted? Because I don't like being made to look bad.”

“You look like my cousin Joe,” Justine said. “He lives in Detroit. Detroit is an amazing city. Cars. Lots of cars. Now they are building electric cars there. Isn't that great? It will really help the environment. I would like a blue one someday. Like the color of your hoodie. That's a nice hoodie. What's the picture on the front of your hoodie? Is it—?”

“Are you listening to me?” Jimmy Blatzo said. He crossed his arms and took a step forward. “You made me look bad.”

“The picture on your hoodie looks like the wings of a bird,” she said. “If you moved your arms, I could see it better. And maybe stand back a little. I hope it's a bird. Birds are cool. We have birds in our backyard. Cardinals. Blue jays. Even—”

Jimmy Blatzo's face turned very red. “Enough!” His head looked like a tomato that was about to burst.

“Maybe we should go,” Safdar said. He stood and handed Justine her backpack. Michael stood too. Safdar and Michael took a couple of steps back.

“Maybe you shouldn't!” Jimmy Blatzo said. He grabbed Justine's backpack and dumped the contents out on the table. He grabbed her lunch bag and dumped it out on the table too. He grabbed her juice box, drank it and set it down. “Recycle this!”