Horrible Harry Goes to Sea

Table of Contents

 

 

As always, special thanks to my editor, Cathy Hennessy, for helping me create this book, to the third graders at Southwest School in Torrington, Connecticut, who went with me on the riverboat at Essex in the spring of 2000, and to Snyder-Goosen's Second Grade Sailors in Fair-port, New York. I love my honorary sailor's hat. It was great to be on board at Dudley Elementary for a week. Keep sailing through school!

PUFFIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers,
345 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England

 

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: Harmondsworth, Middlesex, England

 

First published in the United States of America by Viking,
a division of Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 2001
Published by Puffin Books,
a division of Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers, 2003

 

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Text copyright © Suzy Kline, 2001
Illustrations copyright © Frank Remkiewicz, 2001
All rights reserved

 

THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS HAS CATALOGED THE VIKING EDITION AS FOLLOWS:
Kline, Suzy.
Horrible Harry goes to sea / by Suzy Kline ; illustrated by Frank Remkiewicz.
p. cm.
Summary: The students in Miss Mackle's third-grade class enjoy a boat trip
on the Connecticut River after a class discussion of ancestors reveals
that Sidney and Ida both have connections to the sea.

eISBN : 978-1-101-12694-3

[1. River boats—Fiction. 2. School field trips—Fiction.
3. Connecticut River—Fiction.]
I. Remkiewicz, Frank, ill. II. Title.
PZ7.K6797 Hntf 2001 [Fic]—dc21 2001017988

 

 

 

 

M
y name is Doug. I'm in third grade. I write stories about things that happen in Room 3B. Usually, the stories are about Harry, who likes to do horrible things, or Song Lee, the nicest person in our class.

I never thought I'd write about Ida.

I mean, why would I?

She hardly says anything.

She plays with Song Lee and Mary.

She takes dance lessons after school.

She wears her hair in a ponytail that looks like a neat bush on top of her head.

Big deal.

Well, one morning in November, we found out something about Ida that none of us knew before. I couldn't believe it! No one could.

It all started on a Tuesday, when Ida walked into class carrying a black box. It was about the size of a loaf of bread.

“Ooooh,” Mary oohed. “A box with a lock. What's inside?”

“You'll see,” Ida replied as she walked over to her desk. The bush on her head bounced around like it was in a wind storm.

Mary followed her. “Does that little key you're wearing open the lock on your black box?”

“Yes,” Ida said, fooling with her gold necklace.
“This
key opens it up.”

Now four of us stared at the gold key.

“Open it!”
Sidney shouted.

“Yeah,” Harry agreed. “Maybe there's a snake inside.”

“Ida.” Mary quivered. “Is there something ...
horrible
in that box?”

Before Ida could reply, the bell rang.

“Please be seated,” Miss Mackle said.

After the Pledge of Allegiance, and lunch count, the teacher announced, “Boys and girls, it's time to share our homework.”

I opened my backpack. Just about everybody put something on their desk. Even Harry, but it was too small to see what it was.

“Boys and girls,” the teacher said, “For the past few days we have been talking about our
ancestors.
Who can explain what that word means?”

“It means our dead relatives,” Harry blurted out. Then he flashed his white teeth.

While Miss Mackle made a face, Mary reworded things. “Ancestors are people in our family who lived before us. They are our family roots ... our family tree.”

“Thank you, Mary,” the teacher replied. “You know class, when we learn about our ancestors, we learn more about ourselves. For homework, you were to talk to your parents about your ancestors, and bring something to class about one of them. Who would like to go first?”

Everyone's hand went up except Song Lee's and Ida's. I expected Song Lee not to raise her hand. She was shy about going up in front of the class. But I had no idea why Ida didn't raise hers. So I asked.

“I want to be last,” she whispered back. “Mine is really special.” I nodded as she squeezed her gold key.

“Me! Me! Me!” Sidney called out, waving his hand in the air as if he had just fallen in the middle of a frozen lake.

“Sidney,” Miss Mackle replied calmly.

Sid raced up to the front of the room and put a patch over his left eye. “My grandmother told me about our family tree. And three hundred years ago one of my ancestors was a pirate! His name was Rupert, and he had red hair just like me. He sailed off the coast of Cape Cod. Isn't that cool?”

Everyone raised their eyebrows. Even Harry. It was definitely cool.

Sidney continued. “My grandmother also told me the reason why he wore one gold earring. When a pirate dies and is washed ashore, whoever finds his dead body is supposed to dig him a grave and bury him. The gold earring pays for the guy's hard work.”

“Fascinating!” Miss Mackle exclaimed.

“Was Rupert's dead body washed ashore?” Harry asked.

“No,” Sidney groaned. “Grandma said when his ship docked one day, he met a woman named Rose, married her, and wasn't a pirate anymore. Bummer.”

“Bummer,” Harry agreed.

When it was Mary's turn, she unfolded a quilt. “My great-grandmother Gilda made this in Israel. Her family saved scraps of cloth and sewed them together to make blankets. Mom said they didn't waste anything.”

“It's so colorful!” Miss Mackle exclaimed.

I went up next. “My great-grandfather Benjamin was president of a bank in Indiana. He was real good with numbers. But Mom told me there was something called the Great Depression in 1930 and his bank closed. He was sad about that.”

Then I showed everyone my piggy bank. “Grandfather Ben gave this to my mom and she gave it to me. I save my pennies and nickels in it now.”