Black Lagoon Adventure Chapter Book #27: The Amusement Park from the Black Lagoon (Black Lagoon Adventures series)
Page 1
®
THE
AMUSEMENT PARK
FROM THE
BLACK LAGOON
Get more monster-sized laughs from
®
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#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
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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
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from the Black Lagoon
#26: The Big Game from the Black Lagoon
The Black Lagoon
by Mike Thaler
Illustrated by Jared Lee
SCHOLASTIC INC.
®
THE
AMUSEMENT PARK
FROM THE
BLACK LAGOON
For Mika Jean—a very special person!
M.T.
To Gary and Phyllis Nischwitz
—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 978-0-545-61848-9
Text copyright © 2014 by Mike Thaler
Illustrations copyright © 2014 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, April 2014
Contents
Chapter 1: I Am Not Amused . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
Chapter 2: Busted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Chapter 3: If the Truth Be Known . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Chapter 4: X Marks the Spot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Chapter 5: A Scream of a Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Chapter 6: Potty Luck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Chapter 7: Avoid the Void . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Chapter 8: The Boom of Doom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Chapter 9: If Lame, No Fame . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Chapter 10: The Fun House . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Chapter 11: The Hall of Tall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Chapter 12: Zero to Hero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Chapter 13: No Fear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
6
Chapter 1
I AM NOT AMUSED
“It’s time for our end-of-the-
semester field trip,” announces
Mrs. Green. “All right, class,
where would you like to go?”
Everyone’s hand goes up.
“Yes, Eric?” Mrs. Green calls
on him.
“Dizzyland,Dizzyland,Dizzyland.”
Mrs. Green writes “Dizzyland”
on the blackboard.
“Derek,” says Mrs. Green.
“Dizzyland,Dizzyland,Dizzyland.”
7
“Penny?” Mrs. Green calls on
her.
“I’d like to go to Dizzyland,
too.”She smiles.
Mrs. Green looks at me.
8
“Hubie?”
“What about the petting zoo?”
I ask.
“BOO, BOO, BOO !” yells the
class.
Eric raises his hand. “Hubie
can pick whatever he wants, no
matter how wimpy it is,” he says.
9
Mrs. Green writes “Petting
Zoo” on the blackboard. Needless
to say, the vote is 22 to 1.
10
Chapter 2
BUSTED
“What’s the matter with you?”
Eric asks me on the bus ride
home.
“The petting zoo has a new
aardvark,” I say.
11
“Are you out of your gourd?
Dizzyland has all new rides.
The Cyclone, the Hurricane, the
Tornado,” says Eric, jumping up
and down in his seat.
“Do you realize those are all
the names of natural disasters?”
I answer.
13
“You’re scared of it,” shouts
Eric. “Hubie’s afraid to go to
Dizzyland!”
Chapter 3
IF THE TRUTH BE
KNOWN
When I get home, I talk to Mom
about it. “Eric’s right, Mom. . . . I
am afraid to go. I fall off swings.
The slide is too high for me. I get
dizzy in elevators.”
16
17
“But, Hubie, all the rides are
very safe,” Mom says.
“Safe up until the time that I go
on them!”
18
“Hubie, that’s silly. That hardly
ever happens, and besides, you
could fall out of your own bed.”
“I do.”
19
Chapter 4
X MARKS THE SPOT
Why can’t I be brave?
Why can’t I be fearless?
I will be!
I’ll watch the Super X-Sports
on TV.
20
Wow! There are kids my
age doing triple flips on bikes,
motorcycles, and skateboards.
21
Going up looks easy—it’s
coming down that’s the problem.
22
I
decide I’d rather have my
head in the clouds ... but my feet
on the ground.
23
Chapter 5
A SCREAM OF A DREAM
That night I have a parkmare.
My class arrives at Dizzyland and
goes straight to Disaster World.
24
I’m in the front of the line to ride
the Cyclone, the Hurricane, and
the Tornado! I try to let the girls
go first, but everyone pushes me
on the rides.
I’m strapped in and going up,
up, up. There’s a skeleton sitting
next to me eating popcorn!
“This is a great ride. It’s my
second time,” says the skeleton.
Then it offers me some snacks.
Suddenly, the bottom drops
out and I’m falling, falling, falling
with a bunch of bones . . . falling
right out of bed.
My heart is pounding like a
drum. I am not looking forward
to tomorrow!
Chapter 6
POTTY LUCK
Everyone meets in the school
parking lot. All the kids are
excited except for me. I didn’t
even eat any breakfast so there
wouldn’t be a lot to throw up.
Eric slaps me on the back. “Big
day, big fella!”
On the bus, even the girls are
excited.
“I’m going on Rolling Thunder,”
says Penny.
“I’m going on Pancakes,” says
Doris.
“What’s Pancakes?” I ask.
“You get flattened just like a
pancake.” Doris smiles.
“Oh, great,” I sigh.
31
The one ride no one will go on
is Galactic Disaster.
“I hear it’s the scariest ride in
the universe,” says Eric.
“You have to sign a waiver,”
says Freddy.
“What’s a waiver?” I ask.
“If anything happens to you,
your parents can’t sue the park.”
“Oh, great!” I say.
“We’re here!” shouts T-Rex,
slamming on the brakes.
All the other kids jump off
the bus. I slowly climb down the
stairs.
34
“What’s the matter, Hubie?”
asks Mrs. Green.
“I think I’m bus-sick,” I
mumble.
“So where are you going?” asks
Mrs. Green.
“To the bathroom,” I answer.
35
Chapter 7
AVOID THE void
I start to wander around the
amusement park looking for the
bathroom. Along the way, I see a
few carnival games. These don’t
look so bad, I think. I try to ring
the bell with a hammer. It only
reaches “wimp.”
I try shooting free throws. I
miss the backboard completely.
I try knocking over the milk
bottles and I come up empty.
Finally, I get in the line for
the bathroom. The line moves
slowly. Maybe it’ll take a long
time. Maybe I could spend all day
riding the toilet.
36
37
Suddenly, I am being strapped
into a capsule.
“What kind of bathroom is
this?” I yell.
I look up and see a giant
tower going up into the sky. On
top there’s a big blinking sign:
GALACTIC DISASTER.
Chapter 8
The BOOM OF DOOM
The ride slowly begins to rise
up, up, up. . . .
I look down, down, down. My
whole class is looking at me.
Their expressions are a mixture
of terror and admiration.
Then all the faces get smaller
and smaller until I can hardly see
them. What I can see is the entire
amusement park.
I can see the yellow school bus
way out in the parking lot. I can
see all the rides. I can even see
my house from here!
I feel like a bird. I feel like
Superman. I feel a lot better.
43
44
“This ride’s not so baaaad!”
Just then, the bottom drops out
and I rush toward Earth. It feels
like I’m racing the wind to the
ground.
45
Chapter 9
IF LAME, NO FAME
My whole life flashes before my
eyes. I’m sorry about all the time
I ever wasted and all the things
I never did. Then the ride starts
slowing down, down, down . . .
and stops.
“Wow!”
I open my eyes. The whole
class is applauding. Even Eric.
“What was it like?” Penny asks.
“Weren’t you scared?” Freddy
asks.
46
“Can I have your autograph?”
Mrs. Green asks.
Cool Hubie the daredevil just
smiles . . . and faints.
48
49
Chapter 10
The FUN HOUSE
In the afternoon, we all go into
the fun house. Everyone wants
me to lead since I am the hero of
the day.
51
We all hold hands as we start
down a dark tunnel. We hear
weird noises, but it’s only Eric
being silly. Suddenly, skeletons
with flashing red eyes jump
out of the walls and bats swoop
from the ceiling. I press on
like Christopher Columbus or
Admiral Byrd.
I lead the way through a big
rotating cylinder and squeeze
through a forest of turning plastic
rollers. Freddy gets stuck, but I
pull him through. We come to a
giant slide. Penny wants to turn
back, but we have reached THE
POINT OF NO RETURN, as the
sign on the wall tells us.
52
53
I yell “Geronimo!” and jump
down the slide.
All the kids follow and we wind
up in a big pile at the bottom. We
untangle ourselves as the floor
begins to move.
54
Chapter 11
the hall of tall
“Are we having fun yet?” asks
Freddy. Well, the fun doesn’t start
until we all land in THE HALL OF
MIRRORS.
Freddy goes on an instant diet,
and I look like a giant. Penny has
a pinhead, and Doris has spider
legs. She does a little dance for
us, and we all laugh.
55
Finally, I find the way out and
we land back in the sunshine.
“That was fun,” I say. “Let’s do
it again!”
56
We go through the fun house
ten times, until they finally tell us
the park is closing. Each time we
do it, it becomes less scary. I am
sad when we have to leave.
57
Chapter 12
ZERO TO HER
O
Later we go out for pizza.
Everyone has stories about the
rides they went on.
Doris loved Pancakes and rode
it ten times.
58
Derek did Dead Man’s Drop
once and told the story ten times.
Freddy ate a mountain of cotton
candy, seven hot dogs, and three
shakes.
59
But I’m the real star. I have to
keep telling the story. Every time
I do, the tower gets higher until I
can see the whole Earth.
“Wow!” everyone cheers.
What a day! What a ride! What
a hero!
61
Chapter 13
NO FEAR
From that day on, I wasn’t
afraid of any rides. I go on roller
coasters nonstop. I go down
the slide backward. I even got a
skateboard. But I always wear a
helmet, goggles, elbow pads, and
four knee pads.
62
63
I may be fearless, but I’m not
foolish.
64
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