Level: DRA: Genre: Strategy: Skill: Word Count: Online Leveled Books HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

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1 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

2 by Jane Bingley illustrated by Stacey Schuett Copyright by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers, Attn: Permissions, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida Printed in China ISBN-13: ISBN-10: If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers retains title to the materials and they may not be resold. Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited. Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into electronic format.

3 2 It was Tuesday again, the day my cousin Manny always visited after school. Manny was telling one of his ridiculous stories, as usual. Dad and I drove the boat to the lake, hitched to Dad s sports car. We parked the car in a vacant lot near the ranger station. Then I got the boat in the water, and we rowed out into the lake. We must have sat in that rickety old boat for days, Manny said. Maybe even weeks. We had nothing to eat but lily pads. When I got thirsty, I drank muddy lake water. It snowed so much I nearly drowned. I interrupted him. It snowed? Didn t you say this fishing trip happened in July? Manny ignored me. My arms were aching from holding my fishing pole. I hadn t slept for days. But I wasn t going to give up until I caught a fish.

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5 4 I rolled my eyes. This story was heading in a familiar direction. I mean, honestly. Who wants to catch a fish so badly that he ll eat lily pads? Manny never told the truth about anything. Suddenly, Manny said, something tugged hard on my line. I jumped to my feet. The boat got all bouncy and jerky, and I almost fell out. I knew what was going on. I had hooked the Great Fearsome Tuna of Minnesota!

6 I snorted my orange juice all over the carpet. The Great Fearsome Tuna of Minnesota? I gasped. I d lived in Minnesota all my life, and I d never heard of the Great Fearsome Tuna. The Great Fearsome Tuna was trying to escape, Manny continued, apparently unconcerned about me choking to death. It pulled our boat through the water as fast as a speedboat! My vision was blurry and my arms were on fire, but I hung on. Suddenly, the Great Fearsome Tuna blasted out of the water and soared overhead! 5

7 I hid my smile behind my hand. I didn t want Manny to know I was curious to hear what the tuna looked like. It was as long as a school bus, Manny went on, and as wide as He seemed stuck for a minute, unable to decide how wide the fish had been. Another school bus? I suggested, trying to be helpful. A house! he exclaimed. It was as wide as a house! It had sad eyes that stared at me, full of fury! How could its eyes have been full of fury if they were sad? I asked. Manny ignored me and kept talking.

8 The Great Fearsome Tuna flew through the sky and crashed into the water! Manny said. Our boat flipped over! Dad and I managed to turn the boat right-side-up, but the fish got away. When I climbed back in, there was a round of applause. A round of applause?! I said. Oh, come on, Manny, that s too much. Who was there to give you a round of applause? And why would they applaud if you d let the tuna get away? 7

9 Manny shot me a look that clearly said he thought this was the silliest question he d ever heard. There were people in boats all around us. And of course they gave me a round of applause. Do you know how few people even survive a tug-of-war with the Great Fearsome Tuna of Minnesota? A tug-of-war? With the Great Fearsome Tuna of Minnesota? I exclaimed. There s no such thing! You made the whole thing up.

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11 10 Manny looked upset. That s a rude thing to say. I said, Well, I think it s rude that you can t tell the truth. This is when my mother, who d been sitting nearby listening to the whole thing, finally decided to speak up. I don t think Manny is lying exactly, she said. I think he just likes to tell tall tales. What are tall tales? Manny asked. He was asking the right person. Mom is a librarian, and she knows about these kinds of things. A tall tale is a made-up story with a lot of exaggeration, Mom said. Like the Paul Bunyan stories. Paul who? Manny asked.

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13 12 Paul Bunyan, Mom said. He was an enormous lumberjack, so huge that the buttons on his shirt were as big as wagon wheels. In one of the tall tales about him, he fights gigantic mosquitoes. In another, he cooks pancakes on a camp stove as big as a football field. But Paul Bunyan stories aren t true, I said. Neither are Manny s stories.

14 Manny scratched his head. Okay, he said. I admit it. I turn my stories into tall tales. But what s more fun: A story about the Great Fearsome Tuna of Minnesota, or a story about how Dad and I went fishing and didn t catch anything? Manny had a point. 13

15 14 Okay, I said. I ll admit you re right. But will you admit that your stories are tall tales? Manny shrugged. I already admitted it. Want to hear another one? I smiled. Did I ever!

16 Responding TARGET SKILL Cause and Effect Think about why Manny s cousin rolls her eyes. Copy the chart below. Fill in the cause. Then write two more causes and effects from the story. Cause??? Effect Manny s cousin rolled her eyes.?? Write About It Text to Self What do you think of people who tell tall tales? Write an opinion essay about this. Be sure to state your opinion clearly and to include reasons. 15

17 TARGET VOCABULARY applause blasted blurry familiar jerky rickety rude vacant TARGET SKILL Cause and Effect Tell how one event makes another happen and why. TARGET STRATEGY Monitor/Clarify As you read, find a way to clear up what doesn t make sense to you. GENRE Realistic fiction is a story with events that could happen in real life. 16

18 Level: M DRA: 28 Genre: Realistic Fiction Strategy: Monitor/Clarify Skill: Cause and Effect Word Count: HOUGHTON MIFFLIN Online Leveled Books ISBN-13: ISBN-10: