ISBN-13:978-0-547-01949-9ISBN-10:0-547-01949-1

10318071031807

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

by Barbara A. Roenzillustrated by David Opie

Weighs InWeighs InA Hero

Weighs InA Hero

4.5.25

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

Online Leveled Books

Level: S

DRA: 40

Genre:Science Fiction

Strategy:Question

Skill:Author’s Purpose

Word Count: 1,488

Copyright © by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

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ISBN-13: 978-0-547-01949-9ISBN-10: 0-547-01949-1

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by Barbara A. Roenzillustrated by David Opie

Weighs InA Hero

How long has it been? Dexter wondered to him-self. I feel like I’ve been in here for centuries! The blood’s rushing to my brain. I’ve got to get out! Dexter pressed the OFF button on his vest, which allowed him to float to the ground, and automatically opened the door of the weightlessness training unit.

“Four minutes, Dex,” Ms. Luna said as he climbed out. “Better than last time!”

“Still not enough to pass,” Dex groaned. “When I’m in there, my nose gets stuffy, my head pounds, and I can’t tell up from down. I think I’m allergic to weight-lessness! Why not train me to repair robots instead?”

2

3

Ms. Luna smiled. She couldn’t dispute Dex’s very real complaints. Without gravity, the planet’s force that attracts and holds objects, blood does rush to the head. A person does, indeed, get a stuffy and achy head. However, it wasn’t this that made Dex flee the anti-gravity, or a-g, unit. Dex was scared!

Dex (and all of his classmates) had grown up on a space station on Mars. Life on Mars was terrific. Rain and snow never spoiled travel plans or soccer games. Weather wasn’t a factor in their lives because the entire colony was encased in a giant dome! Inside the dome, hundreds of mechanical units calculated just the right amounts of oxygen, moisture, and heat.

Schools, restaurants, theaters—the colony had it all. The population had mushroomed since it was first founded in 2147, and nearly a century later, Mars was Earth’s largest and most successful outpost.

4

In the beginning, the early space pioneers could grow only a limited number of crops in their small, covered greenhouses, such as potatoes, peas, wheat, and lettuce. Plants were essential food resources and key to maintaining the carbon dioxide and oxygen balance in the atmosphere. Plants also boosted homesick pioneers’ spirits, cheering them with color and the taste of foods they’d enjoyed on Earth.

With time and progress came juicy, red tomatoes that robots could harvest easily. People used every vegetable. No one dared to waste any because grow-ing space was so limited.

5

Now, however, a century of research had made it possible to plant and harvest crops in greenhouses located outside the protective dome. Aided by huge, bright lamps that enabled plants to grow, hundreds of different fruits, vegetables, and grains had been planted on Martian soil with great success.

Because the colony’s population (and, conse-quently, its food supply) had grown so rapidly, every member of the colony age thirteen and up was expected to help plant and harvest crops. To work in the airless space outside the dome, each colonist had to wear a space suit with an oxygen tank and a sturdy rope that was fastened to the ground. Without these ropes, weightless workers would float away into space.

Unfortunately, the marvels of Martian agriculture frightened Dex breathless!

6

Later that day, Dex’s mother visited Ms. Luna. Both women were concerned about the ten-year-old.

I tried to help him, Ms. Luna thought. She’d explained to Dex that an inspector had carefully checked the weightless training unit before training had begun. She’d even pointed out the unit’s superior construction to prove to Dex that he would be per-fectly safe. Unfortunately, Dex was still terrified.

“Mrs. Johnston, has Dex talked to you about the weightlessness training?” Ms. Luna asked.

“Oh, yes,” Mrs. Johnston said. “Dex came home the first day, asking if it was a colony requirement.”

7

“What did you say?” Ms. Luna asked. “Did you suspect he was having trouble?”

“Not at that time, although I think his six-year-old brother, Jace, suspected the truth.” Mrs. Johnston paused, a small smile on her face. “You see, Dex and Jace are opposites. Dex is, um, careful, you know? He wonders what the average person would do in any given situation. Jace, on the other hand, rushes into anything that looks good and thinks later.”

“I have a younger sister who sounds a lot like Jace, though I admit I’m probably not as cautious as Dex appears to be,” Ms. Luna chuckled.

“I think his granddad may be a little responsible for Dex’s careful ways,” Mrs. Johnston explained. “He’s a great storyteller, but sometimes he forgets that Dex doesn’t know when he’s exaggerating.”

8

Mrs. Johnston continued. “Several days later, I heard Dex and Jace arguing. I went to their bedroom door to listen and discovered they were quarreling about the a-g unit. Dex was saying he thought the col-ony’s farming requirement was dumb and wanted no part of the three-year preparation program. Of course, Jace said he’d jump at the chance to float around inside a room with no one to tell him to brush his teeth, go to bed, or stop bouncing off the walls.”

9

“Their argument was getting more heated,” Mrs. Johnston went on, shaking her head. “I was about to step in when Dex stomped to the doorway and said, ‘Oh, yeah? Just ask Granddad if you want to be weightless! He told me a story about a guy who went to the fields to plant peas and floated upside-down so long that his rope disconnected from his suit and he sailed away into space. Granddad says you can see his face at night—on the moon!’”

Mrs. Johnston continued, “Of course, his Granddad had been teasing, but Dex didn’t know that. I tried to explain that to Dex, but he wouldn’t listen. He’d made up his mind. He would never take the chance of ending up on the moon.”

Ms. Luna sighed. Dex’s problem was fear. What was she going to do?

10

The following Thursday, everyone gathered at Mars Middle School for family night. The teachers and students had worked hard to arrange presentations.

In the cafeteria, seventh graders were demonstrat-ing Planetary Pizza, which was made with a super cheese called Mars Moos. In the gymnasium, sixth graders were performing gymnastics on space foam. (Some students bounced almost 40 feet into the air.) In the library, fifth graders (including Dex) were using the school’s space cams to take visitors on a virtual tour of Pluto.

Mrs. Johnston, Dex’s granddad, and Jace had arrived just as Dex’s class was about to begin their virtual tour. Soon, both adults’ eyes were glued to the screen, watching images of workers constructing homes beneath a dome on Pluto.

11

“I bet you wish we had a house like that, don’t you, Jace?” Mrs. Johnston asked, as she turned from the screen when the presentation ended. But Jace wasn’t there. She turned to her father in a panic. “Dad, where’s Jace?”

Granddad had been so distracted by the tour that he hadn’t seen where Jace had gone either.

Granddad set out in one direction, Mrs. Johnston in the other. Seeing the worried look on his mother’s face, Dex ran to her. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Your brother’s missing, Dex!” Mrs. Johnston cried, looking around. “Where could he be?”

12

Jace! Dex thought to himself. Where could he be? Then it hit him. Oh no! The a-g unit!

Dex raced out of the library and down the hallway to the science center. Hastily yanking the door handle, he stumbled into the large room. “Jace? Are you in here? Jace?” he called frantically. All Dex heard was perfect silence.

Racing to the a-g unit, Dex stopped abruptly to listen. There seemed to be a muffled sound coming from the unit. Peering intently through one of the unit’s small windows, Dex’s eyes widened in shock. There was Jace, wildly waving his arms as he drifted weightlessly across the small room. His face was frantic and tear-covered. Dex could barely hear his desperate cries for help.

Dex pounded on the window. “Hang on, Jace! I’m coming!” he yelled.

Trembling, Dex climbed into the suit he found in the supply closet. It was all up to him to help Jace. He approached the door. This would be the tricky part. He had to be quick because opening the unit would disturb the atmosphere. Jace could crash to the floor if too much air rushed in.

Dex gulped and opened the door just enough to insert himself through the opening. Jace dipped toward the floor but quickly rose again. When his eyes connected with Dex’s, the six-year-old’s eyes widened in surprised relief.

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With swim-like motions, the boys propelled toward each other. They took a moment to hug before Dex pressed the OFF buttons on both of their suits.

“You saved me!” Jace sobbed.“Well,” Dex admitted modestly, “I didn’t actually

save you. You’d have been okay. The unit would have shut off automatically after thirty minutes, anyway.”

“I was scared. Weren’t you?” Jace asked. “I guess not!” Dex announced, surprising even

himself. “I guess the training worked. There was no time to be scared. I can’t wait to tell Ms. Luna that I’m finally ready for my ten-minute test!”

15

RespondingTARGET SKILL Author’s Purpose What

was the author’s purpose in writing this book? What other text details support her purpose? Copy and complete the chart below.

Text detailStudents were demonstrating Planetary Pizza, made from a cheese called Mars Moos.

Text detail?

Text detail?

Write About It

Text to World Imagine that you had to write a paper on life in another country. Brainstorm topics that would be important to include. Organize the topics into correct outline form.

Purpose To entertain

TARGET VOCABULARY

16

averagecalculatedcenturiesdisputeinsert

inspectormechanicalprogresssuperiorwaste

TARGET SKILL   Author’s Purpose Use text details to figure out the author’s reasons for writing.

TARGET STRATEGY Question Ask questions before you read, as you read, and after you read.

GENRE Science Fiction is a fantasy story whose plot often depends on scientific ideas.

ISBN-13:978-0-547-01949-9ISBN-10:0-547-01949-1

10318071031807

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

by Barbara A. Roenzillustrated by David Opie

Weighs InWeighs InA Hero

Weighs InA Hero

4.5.25

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

Online Leveled Books

Level: S

DRA: 40

Genre:Science Fiction

Strategy:Question

Skill:Author’s Purpose

Word Count: 1,488