The Brilliant World of Tom Gates by Liz Pichon Chapter Sampler

TOMGATES1_74724_HI_US.
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This is a work of fction. Names, characters, places,
and incidents are either products of the authors
imagination or, if real, are used fctitiously.
Copyright 2011 by Liz Pichon
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced,
transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system
in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or
mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording,
without prior written permission from the publisher.
First U.S. edition 2014
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 2013952846
ISBN 978-0-7636-7472-4
14 15 16 17 18 19 BVG 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in Berryville, VA, U.S.A.
This book was typeset in Pichon.
The illustrations were done in mixed media.
Candlewick Press
99 Dover Street
Somerville, Massachusetts 02144
visit us at www.candlewick.com
TOM
GATES
T
hi s b
o
o
k

i s

w
orth at
IF not
M
ore!
Dedi cated to
LOADS of
l ovely peopl e
Zak El l a Li ly
Thanks to Sarah S.
And to my dad, who real ly
di d wear some
Ser i ou s ly
embarrassi ng outfi ts.
Mark
1
2
A
n
o
t
h
e
r

t
w
o mi nutes to

s
c
h
o
o
l
ven though I only l i ve four mi nutes away
from my school , I m often l ate.
Thi s i s usual ly because me and Derek
( my best mate and next- door nei ghbor) "chat
a bi t ( OK, a LOT) on the way. Someti mes
i ts because we get di stracted by del i ci ous
frui t chews and caramel wafers
at the shop. Occasi onal ly, i ts because
I ve had l oads of other very i mportant thi ngs
to do.
M
Y
school
( Oakfi el d)
M
Y
house
To
2
4 C
h
e
a
p

S
t
r
e
e
t
C
a
s
t
l
e

R
o
a
d
S
T
O
P
!
P
e
rcy

S
t
re
e
t
T
w
o

m
i
n
u
t
e
s SHOP
O
a
k
fi e
l d
3
or i nstance, thi s i s what I di d thi s morni ng
( my fi rst day back at school ) .
Woke up l i stened to musi c
Pl ayed my gui tar
Rol l ed out of bed ( sl owly)
Looked for socks
Looked for cl othes
Pl ayed some more gui tar
Real i zed I hadn t done my summer readi ng
homework
thought of
good excuse for l ack of homework ( phew! ) .
Annoyed my si ster, Del i a. Whi ch I admi t di d
take up a very LARGE chunk of the morni ng
( ti me wel l spent, though) .
Hi d Del i as sungl asses.
Took my comi c i nto the bathroom to read
( whi l e Del i a wai ted outsi de Ha! Ha! ) . When
Mom shouts . . .
PANICKED
4
Run past Del i a ( whos sti l l
wai ti ng outsi de the bathroom and qui te cross
now) . Ignore her
si sterly l ove.
Save preci ous ti me by:
Not brushi ng hai r
Not brushi ng teeth ( for very l ong)
Not ki ssi ng Mom good- bye
( Too ol d for al l that ki nd of thi ng. )
Eat the l ast pi ece of toast, then grab my
packed l unch and my bi ke. Shout
to anyone who can hear me.
Then bi ke to school i n about two mi nutes fl at.
"
T
oM! You're LATE
F
Or SChoOL!"
CREEP!
BYE!
5
W
hi ch i s a
N
ew TOM GATES WORLD
RECORD. . . . And thi s i s the REALLY good bi t . . .
has just arri ved too!
I am so pl eased to see her after the
hol i days. I smi l e i n what I thi nk i s a ni ce,
fri endly cheery way.
Amy i s not i mpressed. She l ooks at me l i ke I m
wei rd ( but I m not) .
( Thi s i s a bad start to my day. )
Then i t gets worse. . . .
M
e

s
m
i
l
i
n
g
HI, Amy!
6
Mr.
Ful l erman (my fi fth year teacher)
makes the whol e cl ass stand outsi de our room.
He says,
"Welcome BACK, Class

5F.

I ve got a
BIG
surprise for you ALL."
( Whi ch i s not good news. )
OH, NO Hes rearranged ALL the
desks! I m now si tti ng ri ght at the front of
the cl ass. Worse sti l l , Marcus Moany Mel drew
i s next to me.
Thi s i s a DISASTER. How am I goi ng to draw
my pi ctures and read my comi cs? Si tti ng at the
back of the cl ass, I coul d avoi d the teachers
gl ares. But I am SO cl ose to Mr.
Ful l erman now I can see up hi s nose.
Before
M
r. Fullerman
in the distance.
M
e at
the BACK.
Solomon
Stewart
NOW
Amy
Front of the cl ass
BEADY eYes
G
L
a
r
ing
Me Marcus
Tom Gates,
I CAN SEE
YOU!
G
r
o
a
n
8
And i f thats not bad enough, Marcus
Mel drew IS the most annoyi ng boy i n the
WHOLE school . He i s SO nosy and thi nks he
knows everythi ng.
Marcus Mel drew i s al ready annoyi ng me. . . .
He i s l ooki ng over my shoul der whi l e
I m wri ti ng thi s.
He i s sti l l l ooki ng. . . .
Sti l l l ooki ng. . . .
Yes, MARCUS, I m wri ti ng about
YOU
9
MARCUS MeLdrew
has a face l i ke a mouse.
Marcus Mel drew has a face l i ke a
Moose!
Moosey Marcus . . .
( Hes stopped l ooki ng now. )
10
Bu T on the other si de of me, the good
news i s I am now si tti ng next to
, who i s very smart and
ni ce ( even though she di dn t seem thri l l ed to
see me thi s morni ng) .
Bri LLIANT At l east I can have
a sneaky l ook over her shoul der for a
few ri ght answers.
I thi nk she i s l ooki ng at me now.
i s very ni ce.

(
T
h
i
s

c
h
e
e
r
s

m
e
up. )
Shes not l ooki ng.
Shes i gnori ng me. . . . I thi nk.
So I mi ght as wel l stop wri ti ng ni ce thi ngs
now and draw a doodl e i nstead.
M
a
r
c
u
s
g
e
t
s

s
q
u
i
s
h
ed
by
a

(
T
h
i
s

c
h
e
e
r
s

m
e
up. )
12
Then
Mr. F
ul l erman says,
As you can see, I ve changed a few
thi ngs around.
( Don t I know i t! )
Then he begi ns to take attendance.
(Usual ly I woul d take thi s opportuni ty to draw
a few cool pi ctures, or take out my comi c for
a qui ck read. But I m
SO
cl ose to Mr.
Ful l erman and hi s beady eyes that I
have to wai t unti l he fi ni shes and wal ks to the
back of the cl ass before I can get doodl i ng i n
my book. )

O
K, hes gone now. I m thi nki ng of
names to cal l my band that Derek and I are
i n. We re not very good
YET,
but i f I can
thi nk of a real ly good name, that wi l l make us
seem extra cool .
How about ALIEN TWINS? FOOT FIGHTERS?
I know . . . DOGZOMBIES.
Si mpl e
Mi nds
M
a
rcus
H
A
! HA!
14
Mr.
Ful l erman i nterrupts my drawi ng ( I ve
turned the page over fast so he can t see
i t) and hands out the fi rst pi ece of work we
have to do thi s term. ( Groan. )
15
My summer wasn t a great success,
but i t does have a very happy endi ng. . . .
V
a
c
a
t
io
n
S
t
o
r
y
W
r
it
in
g
W
e
lc
o
m
e
b
a
c
k
, C
la
s
s
5
F
.
T
o
d
a
y
I w
o
u
ld
lik
e
y
o
u
to
w
rite
a
s
to
ry
a
b
o
u
t w
h
a
t y
o
u
d
id
o
n
y
o
u
r s
u
m
m
e
r h
o
lid
a
y
s
.
* D
id
y
o
u
g
o
a
w
a
y
?

* D
id
y
o
u
v
is
it y
o
u
r fa
m
ily
?

* W
h
a
t w
a
s
th
e
w
e
a
th
e
r lik
e
a
n
d
w
h
e
re
d
id

y
o
u
s
ta
y
?

R
e
m
e
m
b
e
r to
d
e
s
c
rib
e
e
v
e
ry
th
in
g
in
d
e
ta
il.
I a
m
re
a
lly
lo
o
k
in
g
fo
rw
a
rd
to
re
a
d
in
g

a
ll a
b
o
u
t y
o
u
r v
a
c
a
tio
n
s
!
M
r. F
u
lle
rm
a
n
Her e goes
16
Thi s year, Dad sai d, Lets go campi ng,
i ts cheap. Mom di dn t seem that keen, but
I d never been campi ng before, so I was
l ooki ng forward to i t.
Dad and I went to the campi ng shop to
buy a few essenti al i tems l i ke:

"
W
e won t need much,
he sai d.
But the campi ng shop had some cool stuff,
and Dad got carri ed away. He spent a
LOT
of money and made me promi se not to tel l Mom.
We coul d have stayed i n a ni ce hotel ; i t
woul d have been cheaper, Dad sai d.
Not the same as sl eepi ng under the
stars and waki ng up i n the fresh ai r! sai d
the man i n the shop as he took Dads
money.
D
a
d
1. Tent
2. Sleeping bags
3. Cooking stuff
4. Fishing rods
5. TV
6. Computer
LO
A
D
S
m
o
re
S
t
uff
EVEN
More
Stuff
M
ore
Stuff
S
T
uff
K
itchen

S
i n
k
F
A
M
I
L
Y

T
E
N
T
S
T
U
F
F
m
e
DAD
18
O
n top of everythi ng Dad bought, Mom
packed a whol e l ot more. The car was stuffed.
My si ster, Del i a, wasn t happy about comi ng
wi th us. Shes not al l owed to stay i n the
house on her own anymore, because she
had a

WILD
party the l ast ti me Mom
and Dad went away. ( I stayed next door wi th
Derek. Hi s parents got woken up and weren t
happy ei ther. )

W
e set off, and for a whi l e the tri p
was goi ng wel l . Then we took a wrong turn
and got l ost.
LOST
REALLY
LOST
Ha! Ha!
19
M
om bl amed Dad for not l i steni ng to her
properly. Dad bl amed Mom for not readi ng
the map the ri ght way. They both bl amed each
other.
It was only when the car got a fl at ti re
that they stopped argui ng. They phoned the
Car Rescue Servi ce, who eventual ly turned up.
It took to fi x the ti re, and
we di dn t make i t to the campsi te unti l i t
was dark. Del i a wasn t happy. ( Del i as never
happy. ) She sai d the pl ace l ooked
and pl us she coul dn t get a si gnal for her
phone. Ha! Ha! Ha! I thought i t l ooked OK.
So I hel ped Dad wi th the tent whi l e Mom
unpacked the car. ( Del i a di d nothi ng. )
G
r
r
r
r
20
T
he tent was tri cky to put up, but we di d
the best we coul d.
It was a bi t l ate to eat. Dad sai d, I l l cook
a bi g breakfast i n the morni ng. But my
stomach kept and
I coul dn t get to sl eep. Then I
remembered the secret stash of wafers
i n my bag. So I grabbed them and ate
them al l ! Crumbs got everywhere and i t was
very uncomfortabl e i n my sl eepi ng bag. Even
though we had a fami ly tent wi th separate
rooms, Del i a coul d hear me shi fti ng around and
fi dgeti ng. It was real ly annoyi ng her.
BRILLIANT!
So I di d i t some more. But
at the same ti me, I coul d al so hear
Mom and Dad . . .
wafers
21
and that
was keepi ng me awake too. The noi se was awful .
It seemed to be getti ng l ouder and LOUDER.
It was al most l i ke thunder, deep and rumbly.
Then I real i zed i t sounded l i ke thunder . . .
because i t was thunder. Whi ch was getti ng
cl oser. There was l i ghtni ng too, and
real ly heavy rai n that was ri ght
above our tent. The storm was
HUGE, and i t di dn t take l ong for
the tent to bl ow away.
Everyone had to run to the car for
cover. The storm l asted al l ni ght l ong and
everythi ng we had got wet and muddy.
Dad had pi tched the tent RIGHT NEXT TO
A STREAM! It fl ooded and al l our stuff got
soaked.
Nobody sl ept at al l . It was mi serabl e.
SNOring
A
G
H
!
H
E
L
P
!
22
Spot the
probl em . . .
CAMPSITE
This W
AY
O
u
r

t
e
n
t

S
T
R
e
A
M
23
In the morni ng, Dad tri ed to get hi s money
back from the campsi te owner ( whi l e we sl ept
i n the car) .
He compl ai ned a l ot, but i t di dn t work.
Mom col l ected our soggy bel ongi ngs, whi ch
were al l rui ned ( i ncl udi ng the tent) . I coul d
hear her mutteri ng thi ngs l i ke Proper vacati on
next year and Greece under her breath.

D
el i a was cryi ng ( agai n) because her
mobi l e phone had gotten wet and wasnt worki ng.
That cheered me up. So I deci ded to try
and make the best of the hol i day and go
expl ori ng. There were l ots of i nteresti ng-
l ooki ng trees to cl i mb. I was nearly at the
TOP
of one when suddenly a branch
SNAPPED under my foot.
24
It was pretty
i mpressi ve, real ly. . . .
Del i a heard me as I hi t the ground.
She came over and just watched me as I rol l ed
around on the ground i n pai n, hol di ng my arm.
It fel t REALLY BAD but Del i a di dn t
l ook too concerned.
Eventual ly she got Mom.
I

h
a
d
n
t

r
e
a
l
i
z
e
d

h
o
w

h
i
g
h

u
p

I

w
a
s

u
n
t
i
l

I

f
e
l
l

d
o
w
n
.

.

.

.
Y
E
L
P
H
a!
H
a!
Freak!
25
T
hats al l I need, sai d Mom as she took me
to the fi rst- ai d tent. They gave me a
l ol l i pop and put my arm i n a bandage ( I
was very brave) .

I
t looked like our camping holiday was going
to be very short. More rai n was due, so Mom and
Dad deci ded that under the ci rcumstances
(no tent or dry cl othes) we shoul d go home.

I
wasn t that upset, and Del i a was
del i ghted. So we al l packed up and l eft the
campsi te.

O
n the way home we stopped off i n
a ni ce restaurant, where I managed to eat a
huge pi zza wi th my one good arm. My bad arm
was real ly hurti ng but I di dn t compl ai n
because i t was the fi rst ti me i n ages that
everyone l ooked happy.
Home
26
O
ur nei ghbors Mr. and Mrs. Fi ngl e and
Derek were surpri sed to see us back so
soon. My bad arm was
SO
pai nful now that
I went to my room to l ook at i t.
Worryi ngly, i t had turned purpl e
and up l i ke a
bal l oon.
I showed Mom and Dad. They l ooked shocked.
Del i a sai d, You l ook l i ke a FREAK
( whi ch
was ki nd of her) . Mom and Dad got back i n
the car and drove me to the hospi tal , l eavi ng
Del i a at home.
Lucki ly . . . my arms not seri ous. I had
just sprai ned i t, and the bandage was put on
too ti ght. So they redi d i t and put i t i n a
very cool sl i ng i nstead.
( I l l l i ve, apparently. )

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