Level: J DRA: 18 Genre: Realistic Fiction Strategy: Monitor/Clarify Skill: Compare and Contrast Word Count: 393 by James Brissette illustrated by Erica Pelton Villnave 1.6.26 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN Online Leveled Books ISBN-13:978-0-547-02730-2 ISBN-10:0-547-02730-3 1032764 H O UG H T O N M IF F L IN 1_027302_AL_LRSE_CVR_L26_SURPR.indd 1 5/17/10 6:49:34 PM by James Brissette illustrated by Erica Pelton Villnave 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 32887-6777. Printed in China ISBN-13: 978-0-547-02730-2 ISBN-10: 0-547-02730-3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0940 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 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. Ms. Green My teacher is the best. That’s the first thing you should know. Her name is Ms. Green. Oh, and my name is Tran. Hi. Maybe I should have said that first… 2 But Ms. Green isn’t here today. We have Mr. Perez instead. He’s nice, but he’s not Ms. Green. “Don’t worry, class,” said Mr. Perez. “Ms. Green just has the flu. She’ll be back soon.” “Ms. Green has the flu?” Tessa gasped. “When I had the flu, I couldn’t come to school for a week!” 3 “It’s hard to be sick,” said Ja