Black Lagoon Adventures #26: The Big Game from the Black Lagoon (Black Lagoon Adventures series) Read online

  BIG GAME

  BLACK LAGOON

  ®

  FROM THE

  THE

  BY

  MIKE THALER •

  ILLUSTRATED BY

  JARED LEE

  #26

  www.scholastic.com/readinglevel

  ®

  THE

  BIG GAME

  FROM THE

  BLACK LAGOON

  Get more monster-sized laughs from

  ®

  #1: The Class Trip from the Black Lagoon

  #2: The Talent Show from the Black Lagoon

  #3: The Class Election from the Black Lagoon

  #4: The Science Fair from the Black Lagoon

  #5: The Halloween Party from the Black Lagoon

  #6: The Field Day from the Black Lagoon

  #7: The School Carnival from the Black Lagoon

  #8: Valentine’s Day from the Black Lagoon

  #9: The Christmas Party from the Black Lagoon

  #10: The Little League Team from the Black Lagoon

  #11: The Snow Day from the Black Lagoon

  #12: April Fools’ Day from the Black Lagoon

  #13: Back-to-School Fright from the Black Lagoon

  #14: The New Year’s Eve Sleepover from the Black Lagoon

  #15: The Spring Dance from the Black Lagoon

  #16: The Thanksgiving Day from the Black Lagoon

  #17: The Summer Vacation from the Black Lagoon

  #18: The Author Visit from the Black Lagoon

  #19: St. Patrick’s Day from the Black Lagoon

  #20: The School Play from the Black Lagoon

  #21: The 100

  th

  Day of School from the Black Lagoon

  #22: The Class Picture Day from the Black Lagoon

  #23: Earth Day from the Black Lagoon

  #24: The Summer Camp from the Black Lagoon

  #25: Friday the 13

  th

  from the Black Lagoon

  The Black Lagoon

  by Mike Thaler

  Illustrated by Jared Lee

  SCHOLASTIC INC.

  ®

  THE

  BIG GAME

  FROM THE

  BLACK LAGOON

  To Alex and Betty Wagner:

  Happy 70

  th

  Anniversary!—M.T.

  To Junior, Skidmark, and Captain Jack—J.L.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright

  Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted,

  downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into

  any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means,

  whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without

  the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding

  permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department,

  557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-61847-2

  Text copyright © 2013 by Mike Thaler

  Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Jared D. Lee Studio, Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.

  SCHOLASTIC and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks

  of Scholastic Inc. BLACK LAGOON is a registered trademark of Mike Thaler and

  Jared D. Lee Studio, Inc. All rights reserved.

  First printing, November 2013

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1: The Challenge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

  Chapter 2: By Any Other Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

  Chapter 3: Muddle in the Huddle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

  Chapter 4: Never Give Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

  Chapter 5: The Dream Team . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

  Chapter 6: Practice Makes Perfect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

  Chapter 7: How You Play the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

  Chapter 8: The Thunder Dogs! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

  Chapter 9: Going Down the Tube . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

  Chapter 10: Game Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

  Chapter 11: Zero to Hero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

  Chapter 12: Celebration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

  6

  CHAPTER 1

  THE CHALLENGE

  Next week is Thanksgiving.

  It’s almost time for all the football

  bowl games.

  7

  There are lots of them:

  The Orange Bowl.

  The Fiesta Bowl.

  The Pizza Bowl.

  The Rose Bowl, and more.

  8

  The fourth-grade team has

  challenged us, the third-grade

  team, to a football game. They’re

  bigger, stronger, and meaner

  than us.

  9

  It’ll be “The Toilet Bowl.” Eric

  says they’re not smarter, they’re

  just bullies. Maybe we should call

  the game “The Bully Bowl.”

  10

  Mrs. Green says we should call

  it “The Turkey Bowl.”

  Eric says we should call it that

  because they’re such big turkeys.

  11

  12

  Mrs. Green is our coach. This

  should be good!

  CHAPTER 2

  BY ANY OTHER NAME

  After school, we have our first

  team meeting. The whole class is

  there, even the girls. They want

  to play. Mrs. Green says they can.

  13

  Mrs. Green says we need a

  team name. The boys suggest

  the Lions, the Tigers, and the Pit

  Bulls. The girls suggest the

  Puppies, the Kittens, and the

  Teddy Bears.

  I don’t see how this is going to

  work out at all. Mrs. Green says

  we should compromise, so we

  finally decide on the Cool Cats.

  14

  15

  CHAPTER 3

  MUDDLE IN THE HUDDLE

  Next, we need to choose our

  positions. There’s quarterback,

  halfback, tailback, and fullback.

  Eric says we should be left back.

  Next, there’s the ends.

  There’s the tight end (that’s

  definitely Randy), and the wide

  end (that’s Freddy).

  Penny and Doris want to be on

  the line. They think it’s a chorus

  line so they can dance. I’d like to

  be safety so I won’t get hurt.

  18

  Next Mrs. Green says we need

  plays. Penny suggests Romeo

  and Juliet.

  This is going to be horrible.

  The fourth grade is going to

  flatten us. We’ll be bowled over.

  19

  CHAPTER 4

  NEVER GIVE UP

  When I get home, I tell Mom

  about the game. She tells me to sit

  down and she gives me a glass of

  milk and a chocolate-chip cookie.

  “Hubie, have you ever heard of

  David a
nd Goliath?”

  20

  “No, Mom. Who did they play

  for?”

  “They lived a long time ago.

  David was a small shepherd boy

  and Goliath was a fifteen-foot

  bully.”

  21

  “He would have been a good

  linebacker. He could have played

  for the Giants.”

  “He was a giant and David had

  to fight him.”

  22

  “Like us and the fourth grade?”

  “Like you and the fourth grade.”

  “Was he scared, Mom?” I ask.

  “Sure he was scared. But it

  didn’t stop him from standing up

  to the giant.”

  “What happened, Mom?”

  23

  “Well, David stood up, stayed

  up, and won.”

  “Maybe we can win, too, Mom.”

  “You won’t know until you try,

  Hubie.”

  24

  25

  CHAPTER 5

  THE DREAM TEAM

  That night I had a dream. I was

  playing in the Super Bowl. We

  were playing the Giants, and they

  were real giants. I was playing

  every position. I was the whole

  team and we were losing.

  26

  There was a minute left in the

  game and the score was 128 to 0.

  Mrs. Green was the coach and

  Mom was the cheerleader. I had

  the ball on my own five-yard line.

  “Don’t give up, Hubie!” cheered

  my mom.

  I hiked the ball to myself and

  followed my blocker, which was

  also me. I ran through a giant’s

  legs. Then I spun and shot

  down the sideline. Everyone was

  cheering—no one could catch

  me. They were big, but they were

  slow. I shot into the end zone.

  Touchdown!

  The score was 128 to 6 and the

  game ended.

  30

  I was voted MVP and believe it

  or not, my team won. Hey, it’s my

  dream, and when you dream—

  anything’s possible.

  31

  CHAPTER 6

  PRACTICE MAKES

  PERFECT

  The next day in art class, we

  tie-dyed our team T-shirts. They

  were rainbow-colored and said

  “Cool Cats” on the front. We were

  cool cats.

  32

  After school, we had our first

  practice. It didn’t go so good.

  Doris, who was center, rolled

  the ball back to Eric, who was

  quarterback. He picked it up and

  threw it to Randy, who dropped

  it.

  33

  Freddy fell on the ball, which

  bounced out to Derek, who

  kicked it to me. I caught it and

  got turned around and ran the

  34

  wrong way. It was a touchdown—

  but for the other team. Oh, well.

  Nobody’s perfect.

  35

  CHAPTER 7

  HOW YOU PLAY

  THE GAME

  The next day in the library, I

  checked out all the books about

  football. There were some about

  great players who overcame

  obstacles. They just wouldn’t

  give up. I don’t know if they’ll

  ever write a book about me—I’m

  almost ready to give up now.

  36

  Why doesn’t the fourth grade

  play the fifth grade instead? Then

  we could play the second grade.

  We’d be bigger, stronger, and . . .

  bullies. Wait a minute, that’s

  38

  not right. I guess it’s just as it

  should be. I don’t want to be a

  bully, I’d rather be a hero. Maybe

  our team name should be the

  Underdogs.

  39

  CHAPTER 8

  THE THUNDER DOGS!

  Tomorrow after school is

  game day. The cafeteria table has

  become our training table. Today,

  Freddy had four desserts and

  our wide end is becoming wider.

  The fourth graders sit at the next

  table and talk trash for the whole

  period.

  40

  “Hey, wimps, eat now because

  tomorrow you’ll be lunch.”

  “I hope your disaster insurance

  is paid up.”

  “I’m bringing a calculator to

  add up our score.”

  And just as we’re leaving, they

  sneer, “Good-bye, chickens, see

  you tomorrow.”

  42

  I turn to them, look them in the

  eyes, and say, “Don’t count your

  chickens until they hatch.”

  Outside of the cafeteria my

  knees are shaking.

  “What did that mean, anyway?”

  asks Eric.

  “Beats me,” I answer.

  43

  44

  CHAPTER 9

  GOING DOWN THE

  TUBE

  It’s my last night to prepare and

  there’s a game on TV. Actually,

  there’s a game on TV almost every

  night of the week. Everyone loves

  football. Mrs. Beamster says it’s

  just like the Romans. They all

  went to the Coliseum to watch

  the lions play on Sunday.

  I watch the game and pretend

  I’m the running back—I cut right,

  I cut left, I spin, I’m dizzy, I run the

  wrong way—for a touchdown—

  too bad it’s for the other team.

  Hey, if I keep running the

  wrong way, I could set an NFL

  record—most touchdowns for

  the other team. I’d give running

  back a whole new meaning.

  CHAPTER 10

  GAME DAY

  Well, the big day has arrived.

  GAME DAY! The whole school

  has come to watch. The bleachers

  are full. All the girls in the fourth

  48

  49

  grade are cheerleaders. Our girls

  are playing. We all put on our

  team T-shirts and run onto the

  field.

  The fourth grade has T-shirts,

  too. They’re black and say

  “Giants.” They don’t have to rub

  it in.

  Our rainbow uniforms are

  prettier.

  We kick off and they run it

  back for a touchdown. Hey, that

  was fast.

  They kick off to us and we go

  three and out. In other words, we

  go nowhere.

  They get the ball back and

  score another touchdown. This is

  getting boring. At halftime, we’re

  losing 70 to 0.

  Mrs. Green gives a great

  halftime pep talk. She says our

  T-shirts are nicer and we only

  have another half to go. Well, the

  second half goes pretty much like

  the first. There’s one minute left

  and the score is 140 to 0.

  It’s time for a last-minute rally.

  CHAPTER 11

  ZERO TO HERO

  They kick off and I catch it on

  my own five-yard line.

  Hey, I’ve been here before—

  just like
my dream. I tuck the ball

  under my arm and start upfield. I

  cut right, I cut left. . . .

  56

  I duck, I spin, I hurdle, I twirl,

  I’m unstoppable . . . I SCORE!

  Touchdown, third grade!

  57

  I look around. I hope I’m in the

  right end zone. I am! My team

  runs up and gives me high fives

  and hugs. Even the girls—ech!

  We all cheer as the points go up

  on the scoreboard. 140–6. Hey,

  it’s a start! Wait till next year.

  58

  Even the fourth graders come

  over and congratulate me on my

  run. My team votes me MVP and

  they give me the game ball. I’m

  already beginning to feel bigger

  and stronger.

  59

  60

  CHAPTER 12

  CELEBRATION

  Mrs. Green takes us all to Pizza