WOOD RANCH 4TH GRADE
Island of the Blue Dolphins
CHAPTER 1
The story begins when Karana, gathering roots with her brother, Ramo, first sighted an Aleut ship heading toward the island where she lived with the rest of the Ghalas-at Indians. Soon the men and women of the island headed toward where the ship would land, toward Coral Cove. The men carried weapons. Soon, a small boat was lowered from the ship. Aleut men with black hair and bone ornaments in their noses rowed the boat. Directing them was a Russian with a yellow beard.. They soon heard that his name was Captain Orlov. Karana's father, Chief Chowig, also introduced himself. There was consternation among the islanders because their chief had told the foreigner his secret name. They knew that could weaken their chief. The captain and the chief discussed the plans of the new arrivals. They were there to hunt sea otters. The islanders had had bad experience in the past with sea otter hunters. At first the captain wanted two thirds for himself and his hunters, but finally he agreed to split half and half.
CHAPTER 2
Chief Chowig warned the villagers to not socialize with the Aleuts. The villagers did as their chief told them. But, they did watch the Aleuts from afar. And, all activity was reported back to the group. The Aleuts also observed the Ghalas-at. Ulape, Karana' sister, reported that there was a girl with the Aleuts. The girl dressed like the men and she kept her long hair under her cap. No one believed this. One day Ulape discovered that a school of large white bass had been stranded on a rocky ledge. There was enough for everyone to feast on for two days. The second day, two Aleuts came to the village wanting to share the abundance. Karana's father decided not to share with them. They were capable of doing their own fishing, Chief Chowig rationalized. The two left, planning to tell Captain Orlov. They were not happy.
CHAPTER 3
This chapter describes the hunt for sea otters. Karana thought of the otters as her friends and did not like the idea of trading their lives for things, even for beautiful or useful things. The chief told Karana that soon the hunters would be leaving. He had some of the young men staying near the ship on the pretense of building a canoe. There were others watching the ship and the hunters from a longer distance also. Karana's little brother, Ramo, saw the ship captain having his beard trimmed. Everyone waited and wondered when they would leave and whether there would be trouble.
CHAPTER 4
A description of the weather leads to the conclusion that a storm would soon strike. A storm with rain and wind did strike later that day. But first, a different kind of storm struck, a storm of human violence. The tribe learned that the ship was preparing to leave immediately. The people hurried to Coral Cove, as they had done on the day the ship arrived. Again the men had their weapons. The women hid and watched. Chief Chowig and Captain Orlov talked. The captain was not willing to give the tribe what the chief considered to be fair. The villagers were given one chest of necklaces. The chief thought that three more chests would be fair. The captain yelled orders. Were they orders to bring more chests? Observation told the chief that they were orders to board immediately, not to unload more chests. A fight ensued. When it was over some of the hunters were dead and many of the tribe were dead. Some men of the tribe were also injured. Among the dead was Karana's father. That night those who remained agreed with Karana that her father should not have told the captain his secret name. It had weakened him.
CHAPTER 5
That night was like a nightmare for the tribe. The day had begun with forty-two men. Now, there were fifteen. Seven of those were old. Some of the islanders wanted to go to Santa Catalina, an island to the east. But, they did not go there. One of the surviving old men, Kimki was the new leader. He assigned work to everyone. The women were assigned tasks formerly done by men. This caused friction between the men and the women. Because of the friction, Kimki issued a new order. From then on, men would do men's work and women would do women's work. There was already enough food so that this did not cause a problem. Karana and Ulape had trouble taking care of Ramo. Their mother had died several years earlier and now their father was gone, too. Similar problems were occurring in other households as well. Aside from these inter-personal burdens were the burdens that the survivors carried in their hearts. It was a sad winter with no laughter. In the spring, Kimki decided to go to a country to the east. He had been there when he was a boy. He promised to find a place for the tribe to live and to then return for them. After he left, there was much discussion about his trip among those remaining on the island.
Chapter 1: The Big Winner
Peter Hatcher won Dribble, his new
Chapter 1: The Big Winner
Peter Hatcher won Dribble, his new turtle, at Jimmy Fargo’s birthday party. Peter is nine years old and in the fourth grade. Peter shows Henry Bevelheimer the elevator operator in his apartment building. Farley Hatcher is Peter’s 2 and ½ year old brother whom everyone calls Fudge. His Father is an advertiser.
Chapter 2: Mr. and Mrs. Juicy-O
Peter’s father did advertising for a drink called Juicy-O (oranges, grapefruits, pineapples, pears and bananas) Mr. and Mrs. Yarby (creator of Juicy-O) were coming into NY from Chicago to meet with Peter’s father and instead of staying in a hotel he suggests they stay at their own apartment. Mother isn’t too thrilled. The Yarby’s thought the boys were rude and ill-mannered. Dinner was a disaster (Fudge scared Mrs. Yarby with Dribble and a gorilla mask) and the Yarby’s were packed and ready to go home by morning. Fudge had placed stamps all over their suitcase and it took their mother a half an hour to clean it off. There was no more deal with Juicy-O.
Chapter 3: The Family Dog
Fudge stopped eating one night and the only way his mother could get him to eat was if Peter stood on his head and then his mother could shove some food into his mouth. She became worried and began taking him to doctors but they all told her the same thing, he will eat when he is hungry which is exactly what Peter had told her before the doctors. He was under the kitchen table one night pretending to be a dog when his mother had an idea to give him his food down there. This went on for a week and Peter thought of how nice it would be if he could really trade his brother for a dog. Peter seems to feel extremely neglected by his parents and envious of the attention they give to his younger brother. One day his father took fudge into the bathroom and dumped his cereal onto his head “If you don’t eat it you’ll wear it!” Peter was thrilled with his punishment and Fudge began eating regularly again a day after this incident.
Chapter 4: My Brother the Bird
Peter lives close to Central Park. His friend had been mugged three times and his father once so his mother had warned him not to wonder alone. Him and Jimmy went together to play on the rocks and realized that Sheila was sitting on “Their” rocks. Peter’s mom went by chasing after Fudge who was on his bike racing after birds. She had to run home for ten minutes and left the three of them in charge. They went over to the playground and the two boys were being chased by Sheila. Peter realized Fudge had climbed to the top of the jungle gym and was calling out that he was a bird and going to fly. He feel to the ground and started to bleed. They realized that his two front teeth had been knocked out from the fall. His mother came and they went home and she cleaned him up. Peter’s mother blamed him for the accident and they fought. Peter did not feel loved or even liked in his house. The next morning his mother came in and apologized for blaming Peter, it was nobody’s fault, just an accident.
Chapter 5: The Birthday Bash
The dentist told them that Fudge’s teeth would not grow in until he was six or seven. Peter could not help but call him fang. Fudge was turning three and his mother wanted to throw him a little birthday party. She invited over his three friends, Sam, Ralph, and Jennie. Same was afraid of everything, Ralph was on the heavy side and ate a lot, and Jennie was a biter. Peter’s father couldn’t make it so his grandma came over to help. From 1-2:30 four three year olds were running around the house. Jennie bit Peter’s grandma and peed on the floor, Ralph passed out in Fudge’s room, and Sam screamed at everything. Peter had warned his mother that three was too young to have a party. When his father came home from work he asked how it was and Peter again said three was too young for a party and his mother could not agree more.
turtle, at Jimmy Fargo’s birthday party. Peter is nine years old and in the fourth grade. Peter shows Henry Bevelheimer the elevator operator in his apartment building. Farley Hatcher is Peter’s 2 and ½ year old brother whom everyone calls Fudge. His Father is an advertiser.
Chapter 2: Mr. and Mrs. Juicy-O
Peter’s father did advertising for a drink called Juicy-O (oranges, grapefruits, pineapples, pears and bananas) Mr. and Mrs. Yarby (creator of Juicy-O) were coming into NY from Chicago to meet with Peter’s father and instead of staying in a hotel he suggests they stay at their own apartment. Mother isn’t too thrilled. The Yarby’s thought the boys were rude and ill-mannered. Dinner was a disaster (Fudge scared Mrs. Yarby with Dribble and a gorilla mask) and the Yarby’s were packed and ready to go home by morning. Fudge had placed stamps all over their suitcase and it took their mother a half an hour to clean it off. There was no more deal with Juicy-O.
Chapter 3: The Family Dog
Fudge stopped eating one night and the only way his mother could get him to eat was if Peter stood on his head and then his mother could shove some food into his mouth. She became worried and began taking him to doctors but they all told her the same thing, he will eat when he is hungry which is exactly what Peter had told her before the doctors. He was under the kitchen table one night pretending to be a dog when his mother had an idea to give him his food down there. This went on for a week and Peter thought of how nice it would be if he could really trade his brother for a dog. Peter seems to feel extremely neglected by his parents and envious of the attention they give to his younger brother. One day his father took fudge into the bathroom and dumped his cereal onto his head “If you don’t eat it you’ll wear it!” Peter was thrilled with his punishment and Fudge began eating regularly again a day after this incident.
Chapter 4: My Brother the Bird
Peter lives close to Central Park. His friend had been mugged three times and his father once so his mother had warned him not to wonder alone. Him and Jimmy went together to play on the rocks and realized that Sheila was sitting on “Their” rocks. Peter’s mom went by chasing after Fudge who was on his bike racing after birds. She had to run home for ten minutes and left the three of them in charge. They went over to the playground and the two boys were being chased by Sheila. Peter realized Fudge had climbed to the top of the jungle gym and was calling out that he was a bird and going to fly. He feel to the ground and started to bleed. They realized that his two front teeth had been knocked out from the fall. His mother came and they went home and she cleaned him up. Peter’s mother blamed him for the accident and they fought. Peter did not feel loved or even liked in his house. The next morning his mother came in and apologized for blaming Peter, it was nobody’s fault, just an accident.
Chapter 5: The Birthday Bash
The dentist told them that Fudge’s teeth would not grow in until he was six or seven. Peter could not help but call him fang. Fudge was turning three and his mother wanted to throw him a little birthday party. She invited over his three friends, Sam, Ralph, and Jennie. Same was afraid of everything, Ralph was on the heavy side and ate a lot, and Jennie was a biter. Peter’s father couldn’t make it so his grandma came over to help. From 1-2:30 four three year olds were running around the house. Jennie bit Peter’s grandma and peed on the floor, Ralph passed out in Fudge’s room, and Sam screamed at everything. Peter had warned his mother that three was too young to have a party. When his father came home from work he asked how it was and Peter again said three was too young for a party and his mother could not agree more.
Chapter 6: Fang Hits Town
Peter’s mother decided that the boys and her would spend the Saturday out and about. They first had a dentist appointment for Fudge. Peter had to help Dr. Brown (also an old family friend) get Fudge to open his mouth. Next they went to Bloomingdales and got new shoes. Fudge wanted ones like Peter so they had to trick him and Peter had to pretend to get saddle shoes instead of loafers. Then they went out to lunch where Fudge was acting up and smearing his food on the walls. He dumped his peas on his head and said “Eat is or wear it” Peter laughed and nearly choked. His mom asked him on the way back home in the taxi if the day was really that bad. Peter did not answer.
Chapter 7: The Flying Train Committee
In Peter’s fourth grade class they were all assigned to committees and assigned a project on a particular part of the city. Peter, Jimmy, and Sheila were partnered together and were assigned to make a poster board and a booklet and an oral report on NYC transportation. Sheila agreed to do the booklet and ten pages if Jimmy and Peter both did 5 and the poster board. The met every Tuesday and Thursday at Peter’s and eventually were making progress. He did not understand why NYC didn’t just use a monorail. Peter stored everything under his bed and discovered one day that Fudge had destroyed his poster board him and Jimmy worked hard on. He was very upset and his mother actually spanked Fudge. Peter wanted a lock on his door. His mother refused but bought him a new poster board. It looked better than the first one. Peter came home one day to Fudge in his room cutting his hair over Dribble’s bowl and markers all over his face. Peter’s father installed a latch on his door. The project turned out great. Th
Chapter 8: The TV Star
Peter’s mother’s sister had her first baby and she was flying out to Baltimore to help her for the weekend. Peter did not have school that day so his father took him and Fudge to his office. He had the secretary watch over them and give them a tour. A commercial for a toddle-bike was being filmed and many kids with their mothers were lined up to try-out. Mr. Vincent saw Fudge and wanted him for the commercial. He wouldn’t move on the bike until Peter finally got him too.
Chapter 9: Just Another Rainy Day
It was raining and Peter’s father decided to take him and Fudge to the movies. They saw a G movie about bears. Fudge was throwing popcorn at people and talking a lot. Once the movie started he was intrigued. Soon Peter realized that Fudge was gone. Peter’s dad found an usher and they stopped the movie. Peter found Fudge in the front he said he wanted to touch the bears. That night for dinner Peter’s father tried to make a mushroom omelet but it was awful even though Fudge loved it. They picked up their mom at the airport and Peter’s dad suggested that they should keep the things they did that weekend a secret. Peter’s mother did not know about the commercial until she saw it.
Chapter 10: Dribble!
May tenth Peter came home from school and noticed Dribble was not in his bowl. He and his mother searched the house. Fudge confessed to swallowing him. She took him to the hospital and it took a couple of days but it finally came out. Upon returning from the hospital Peter’s parents agreed that Peter was a good sport about the whole situation. They gave him a dog.