Cheat

By Kristin Butcher

Laurel, caught up in the thrill of an investigation, is willing to risk her reputation to get the story, but her ultimate discovery changes everything.

Laurel discovers her passion for investigative journalism when she writes an article for her school paper about a person experiencing homelessness who's been living at the school. Eager to write more articles with impact, she launches an investigation of a cheating scam at her high school. Laurel's efforts cause her classmates to turn against her. Nobody is interested in seeing her article go to print, not even her own brother.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
• Release date: Oct 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9781554694655

Kristin Butcher

Kristin Butcher is the author of twenty books for children. She has been shortlisted for the Silver Birch Award, the CLA Children's Book of the Year, the Red Cedar Award, the IODE Violet Downey Book Award, and the Manitoba Young Reader's Choice Award, among others. Kristin lives in Campbell River, British Columbia.

Book preview

Chapter One

The homeless man claimed he had been sleeping in the school furnace room for over three months. ‘The weekends were the best,’ he said. ‘There weren’t no one in the school—not even janitors. I even took myself a shower in the boys’ change room a time or two. Slept like a top those nights.’

Tara popped a grape into her mouth and continued reading.

"The man had used a ground-level vent to get into the building. Every night after dark, he removed the covering, lowered himself into the school basement and then pulled the vent back into place behind him. His hiding spot was discovered by accident. The vent cover fell off last week, attracting a curious skunk that decided to take a stroll through the school. When students and teachers started screaming and running for cover, the skunk took off back the way it had come. It was the custodian following behind who discovered the homeless man’s makeshift bed behind the furnace. Police were called in, and the man was apprehended when he entered the building later that night. The skunk made a clean getaway."

Tara lowered the newspaper. Well, good for the skunk. I feel bad for the guy though. He wasn’t hurting anybody. He just wanted a place to sleep.

I waved my fingers at the newspaper. Keep reading.

"The school board hasn’t pressed charges. In fact, school trustee Norma Swanson took the story to a city council meeting. She urged members to look into the matter. ‘If there aren’t sufficient shelters and soup kitchens to address the needs of this community’s less fortunate, something needs to be done,’ she told councilors."

Let’s hope Ms. Swanson’s voice was heard. Tara put down the paper, ate another grape and looked at me wide-eyed. Good story, Laurel!

You seem surprised, I said. I wasn’t ready for The New York Times, but I was capable of stringing a few sentences together.

I am.

My mouth dropped open.

Well, not that you can write a good story, she backtracked. It’s just that this is way different from your usual stuff.

I sighed. I know. Compared to reports on school dances and who’s getting cosy with who, this story is definitely more meaningful.

Exactly, Tara agreed. It’s important. It’s news!

Right, I smiled. Thanks, Tara.

You’re welcome, but— She frowned. Where did you get it? I mean how’d you find out about it? I knew about the skunk, but not the homeless guy.

I clucked my tongue and tried to look shocked. Surely you don’t expect me to reveal my sources?

Uh, yeah, said Tara. I do.

I shrugged. It was a combination of luck and eavesdropping. The day after the skunk incident, Miss Benson sent me to the office to get paper clips. The secretary wasn’t there. While I was waiting for her to come back, I heard Mr. Wiens talking to some woman in his office. The door was wide-open, so the conversation was hard to miss.

What were they talking about?

The homeless man. Mr. Wiens was telling the woman how he felt bad about kicking the guy out, because he had nowhere else to go.

Who was the woman? Tara asked.

I’m getting there, I said. Just listen. The woman said she would raise the issue at the next city council meeting.

Tara chewed on her lip.

Ah…, she said. I bet she’s a trustee.

Right. I nodded. So anyway, after that I found out when the next city council meeting was, and I went. I had to sit for over an hour listening to half the city complain about streetlights and speed bumps before it was Ms. Swanson’s turn. Talk about boring.

Wow. You really did chase down this story. But how did you know about the guy showering in the boys’ change room? she asked. Laurel Quinn, you didn’t make that stuff up, did you?

This time I was shocked for real. Of course I didn’t! After school I just hung around for a couple of hours. I thought maybe the guy would come back.

And did he?

I nodded. "He didn’t try to get in, but he did come back. At first I wasn’t sure it was him. But how many scruffy-looking guys stand outside a school for ten minutes staring at a vent?

Reviews for Cheat

[alelliott · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cheat, by Kristin Butcher, is an Orca Currents novel, part of a Canadian publishing company that specializes in high-interest, low-level reading for teens. It centers on Laurel, a go-getter journalist for the school newspaper who, after landing one great story, wants to find her next one by investigating a massive cheating scandal that 90% of seniors are allegedly participating in. What she doesn’t know is that investigating the scam may reveal a lot of hidden sides of the people to whom she is close. Like her adored older brother, for instance.Butcher does a great job of writing about a topic that is interesting to many students, and even making investigative journalism something reluctant readers might be interested in. The language is low vocabulary without being condescending, and the print is slightly larger than normal, but nothing so much that a high schooler might be embarrassed to be seen reading it.Where she falters is in her character development and tying up her lose ends. Laurel never develops much personality, and the little she does have is rather unlikable. She goes after students she pretends to care about without stopping to think about how her articles might affect them. Like Inspector Javert, she fails to see the gray between the black and white of “well, cheating is wrong, so students who get caught deserve it.” This seems more like a plot point than character development, especially since she has a lengthy internal monologue at the end where she anvil-esquely realizes that exact point. (I’m not arguing that cheating is appropriate for students; I’m arguing that even books for reluctant readers deserve some subtlety.) Additionally, Laurel stumbles onto the story via an anonymous tip. The tipster plays a large part in the story, yet their identity is never revealed, in spite of the fact that there are a couple characters who might fit the bill and give the story a nice plot twist.One other, minor, quibble: the Canadian slang might confuse some students who are the target audience for this book in the US. For example, grades are called “marks,” which might not register for kids and thus prove confusing. Not a huge thing, but teachers might want to point it out for students.All in all, this book will hold kids attention, and then they’ll forget about it soon after finishing it. If you are looking to build your hi-lo collection, you could do worse than Cheat, but you could also do better. This novel is appropriate for reluctant readers ages 13 and up.

[lilibrarian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Laurel, reporter for the school paper, receives a tip about a cheating ring in the senior biology and math classes. Investigating, she discovers that people close to her are involved. Is being right more important than being kind?