A Room for Ryel

When Ryel and his dad move into a three-bedroom house with Lonnie and her two sons, Darcy and Harry, Ryel finds himself having to share a room for the first time. Although the boys are friends at school, living together and sharing a room provides a whole new set of challenges.

Ryel is used to just his father and finds his school performance suffering due to the lack of sleep he’s getting at home. Luckily, the annual sockey tournament at school is coming up and Ryel concocts a plan to get the spare room all to himself. The three boys make a deal: whoever ranks the highest in the tournament will move into the empty room.

As they prepare for the competition, Ryel develops a closer relationship with Lonnie and ‘Bossy Bella’ at school. When the day of the sockey competition is finally upon them, Ryel loses his socks at a lunch break to a dog and luckily gets permission to use the first-ever pair of socks worn by a sockey-winning player. He gets them out to play in the last match and although he loses in the end, he finds himself surrounded by all the new friends he’s made. Maybe sharing a room with Darcy isn’t so bad.

A Room for Ryel by Emma Cameron explores the themes of friendship, family, and the challenges of adapting to change, wrapped in the thrill of a school tournament.