by Mike Thaler
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
