Flora la Fresca & the Art of Friendship by Veronica Chambers

Author:Veronica Chambers [Chambers, Veronica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2023-07-18T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

To Soda or Not to Soda, That Is the Question.

The next week, Mrs. Romano announced that their class, 5B, would spend the next month learning the techniques of debate. Each week she would put forth a resolution and then two students would debate the topic. The school principal would judge the merit of the arguments and the effectiveness of the debater’s argument.

“The first topic will be soda vending machines in schools, an issue that has sparked a lot of interest around here in the last few weeks,” Mrs. Romano began. “Flora LeFevre will lead the affirmative team.”

Flora felt nervous and excited. She had been watching the presidential debates with her parents ever since she was a little kid. Her parents never missed an important debate. They watched from beginning to end, listening carefully to how the candidates discussed everything from education to climate change to foreign policy. Her parents especially disliked when candidates got snarky. They disliked when candidates were disrespectful to each other with lines like, “There you go again” or “Do you even know what you’re talking about?”

Mrs. Romano then said, “I’d like the newest member of our class, Zaidee Khal, to lead the opposing team.”

She went on to explain that the proceedings would begin with the affirmative team, who would have ten minutes to explain why the school should keep the soda machines.

Mrs. Romano went around the room and assigned the teams without any regard to what made sense. She put Harper on Zaidee’s team along with one of the Lucys, Palmer Gilroy.

Flora looked over at Aidan, who pointed to himself, then pointed at Flora, then threw his fists up as if they were about to jump into a boxing ring.

“Flora,” Mrs. Romano said, “what you and your team need to do is show us the strength of your argument.”

She walked around the classroom and then she began to sing, “You’ve got to accentuate the positive . . . and eliminate the negative.”

Flora had never heard that song before, but she was impressed. Mrs. Romano had a really good voice. She should go on one of those TV singing contests, and bring us along as her special in-studio cheering team, Flora thought.

Mrs. Romano continued. “The judge, our esteemed principal, Jen Sargent, will be looking for you to tell us why keeping the soda machines is a good thing for the school. In debate, the positive points are called advantages. Then she’ll be looking for you to tell us what we stand to lose by removing the machines, those are called ‘harms.’ ”

Flora raised her hand. “I know you’re a teacher and everything, but how do you know so much about debating?”

Mrs. Romano smiled and then she looked kind of shy. “Very insightful question, Flora. I may or may not have been state debate champ in high school two years in a row . . . Okay, I’m being coy. I totally was.”

The classroom buzzed. The soda machines were a big deal and most of the kids didn’t want to see them go.

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