RNL01AIN5X_INA2_cover_ 05/21/2001 7:51 PM Page 1

Having a
Great Time (Really!)

AT

by Joanna Korba
illustrated by George Urlich
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Copyright © by Harcourt, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
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Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 0-15-323372-9

Ordering Options
ISBN 0-15-325526-9 (Grade 5 Advanced-Level Collection)
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Having a
Great Time (Really!)
AT

We bring out the best in you.

by Joanna Korba
illustrated by George Urlich

Orlando Boston Dallas Chicago San Diego

Visit The Learning Site!
www.harcourtschool.com
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0A
IN5X _INA_2
NL01A

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The camp-bus doors opened with a swoosh, and a

stream of excited campers spilled out. Today was the
first day of summer session at Camp Resolve, whose
resolution was, “We bring out the best in you.”
I was the last one off the bus. I wasn’t excited.
My name is Sasha. It wasn’t my idea to come to
this camp. It was my dad’s idea. He’d gone here as a
child. Dad gave the camp credit for helping him real-
ize that he wanted to be a chef. (I’m guessing the camp
food didn’t quite meet his high standards.) As he would
say over and over to my stepmother, “Sasha needs
someone to bring out the best in her. She won’t do it
for herself!”
Like Camp Resolve, my dad figures that everybody
has something that is “best,” some special talent or
ability. Well, I’d like to point out that some people
don’t—and I’m one of them.
As I stared at the wooden sign, I thought about
Camp Resolve’s resolution to bring out the best in its
campers. What would the camp do when it found out I
had no best in me? At that moment, I made my own
resolution: No matter what happened at camp, I was
going to maintain my image. After all, I had friends
back home who looked up to me. I was going to keep
cool. I was going to win over the campers.
Camp Resolve wasn’t going to ruin my reputation!

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!
hontay
Hey, C great t
ime
v in g a
I’m ha I show
ed
p . Today
at c a m ddle a
n e h o w to pa
everyo canoe?
)
o e . ( C an you
can
Later,
Sasha

My first full day at camp was less than spectacular. In

fact, it was a disaster. Franny, the canoe counselor, asked
for a volunteer to demonstrate how to paddle a canoe. No
one raised a hand.
The girl beside me frowned. “Do you know how?” she
asked me.
“Sure,” I said, grinning. “It’s easy.” What was I going to
say? How could I admit that I’d never even seen a canoe
before?
“This girl knows how,” the frowner called out to the
counselor. She pointed to me.
Franny beamed at me encouragingly. “Step right up,”
she said. “Show us how to paddle a canoe.” She handed me
the paddle.

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I stepped confidently into the canoe. I had no idea it

would be so wobbly. The stupid thing tipped over and
dumped me into the lake. I sputtered to the surface and
tried to make the best of it.
“I wanted to show how easy it is to tip over,” I
announced.
Everyone applauded. The counselor helped me get back
into the canoe. I tried to paddle. I kept splashing myself.
Meanwhile, the canoe just wandered around in circles.
Then I lost the paddle.
“And this is how not to paddle!” I exclaimed, throwing
up my empty hands. Everyone laughed, even Franny, who
had to swim out and pull me back to shore. Amazing! They
all believed my act!

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Hello, Joe!
great time
I’m having a
ay we built
at camp. Tod
eryone
campfires. Ev
was
thought mine
f course!)
fantastic. (O
Later,
Sasha

Three days later came Disaster #2. Sally, the campfire

counselor, was trying to teach us how to make a campfire.
“This will really come in handy back home,” I said
sarcastically to the girl next to me.
“It really will, won’t it?” she said, smiling.
I moved away from her as Sally cheerfully explained the
difference between tinder and kindling. (It had something
to do with size, I think. I’m not sure. I wasn’t really listen-
ing.) The next thing I knew, Sally had finished. “Now it’s
your turn,” she said to us. “Gather tinder and kindling, like
I told you, and build a frame.”

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RNL01AIN5X_INA2_interiors_F 5/15/01 5:53 PM Page 7

I had no idea what she was talking about, but I wan-

dered off to find things that would burn. I grabbed a piece
of rotting wood with mushrooms on it, patches of fuzzy
moss, strips of bark, and some interestingly shaped leaves. I
staggered back to the campsite ahead of everyone else. I
dumped my load and arranged it in a pile.
Suddenly Sally was behind me. “For heaven’s sake,
what’s that?” she hissed. “It certainly isn’t a campfire. Were
you listening to me at all?” she asked sternly.
At that moment, the other campers returned. They
thought my “campfire art” was fantastic. They figured I did
it as a joke!

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How’re
you, Lo
I’m ha u?
ving a
camp. great t
Today ime at
Trail T w e had th
est. Gu e
picked ess wh
to be t o w as
(I’m so he lead
modes e r ?
Later, t!)
Sasha

Two weeks later came Disaster #3—the Trail Test. The

idea was for each group (made up of six girls who bunked
together) to use a map and compass to find the way to
Tamarack Hill. It was three miles from our camp.
Counselors would be hiding in the woods to keep an eye
on us, but they weren’t allowed to help.
For some reason, my group made me the leader. Missy,
the hiking counselor, handed me the compass.
“You remember how to use this, don’t you?” she asked.
“Of course,” I answered. (When had we learned about
compasses? I must not have been paying attention that
day.)

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“Here’s the map. Do you want to review it with me?”

“No, no,” I said airily. “I think I can read a simple
map.”
“Well, then, good luck!” Missy called as she melted into
the woods.
The group crowded hopefully around me, waiting to be
told which way to go. I crouched down and spread out the
map in front of me. This is what I saw:

fallen pine Mount

tree Tamarack

fern
forest old
cabin
chestnut
tree

brook

N
rocks
W E
1/2 mile

I nodded as if I knew exactly what to do. Then I picked

up the compass and fiddled with it. I held it up and looked
around. “This way.” I pointed straight ahead and folded up
the map. We set out.

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As you can probably guess, I had no idea where we

were heading. I knew exactly what the hidden counselors
were saying to themselves.
“She’s going to get them completely lost,” one was
saying.
“You’re right,” another answered. “She has no idea
where she’s going.”
Actually, I doubt they’d say anything that mean. The
counselors were pretty nice. The girls in my group were
nice, too. Not only did they like me, but they all thought
I knew what I was doing. I kept hoping that maybe the
Trail Test was something I could do well.
“Get behind me, everybody,” I said. “I’ll lead the
way.” I walked with a silent tread, hoping not to scare any
wild animals lurking nearby.

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From time to time I’d stop and consult the map. I’d try
looking at it from different angles. I was hoping that at
some point I’d figure out where we were and where we
were heading.
“Are we almost there, Sasha?” asked a girl named
Claire.
“Oh, sure,” I said. “It’s just—WHAT WAS THAT?”
Everyone froze and looked wildly around. I stared
straight ahead. I was sure there was a vicious grizzly bear
behind the tree ahead of us. Compose yourself, I thought.
You’re the leader.
Missy stepped out from behind the tree, shaking her
head. “You guys are hopelessly lost. I’ll have to lead you
back.”

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You’d think that my group would have been mad at

me for getting us lost. Wrong! They were happy to take
the blame.
“We should have helped you,” Claire said. “Sorry,
Sasha.”
Everyone ended up apologizing to me—when it was
my fault. Amazing! The fact is, I was really getting to
like the girls in my group. There were six of us who
bunked together in three bunk beds at Camphouse #8.
Five of us were really talented people.
Claire was an incredible storyteller. Every night, she
would relate the latest installment of “The Rings of
Saturn,” her sci-fi epic. Vonda could sing beautifully.
The camp director always asked her to sing “Taps” when
the flag came down at the end of the day. By the time
she was finished, the counselors were sometimes in tears.
Nita was the best archer in camp. We loved to watch
her shoot. Her arrow would almost always end up smack
in the middle of the bull’s-eye.
Ali was a fantastic dancer. She taught the rest of us
some great moves, but no one was nearly as good as she
was. Jody was one of the funniest people I’ve ever met.
She wanted to be a stand-up comedian when she got
older. She definitely had the skill to do it. Sometimes,
Jody made us all laugh so hard that we couldn’t breathe.
Then there was me. I was the only one in the bunch
without any talent.

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What puzzled me was that my bunkmates all seemed

to like me. They even looked up to me! I couldn’t figure
out why. I kept remembering how my father thought
that camp would help me discover my special talent or
ability. Well, as far as I was concerned, Camp Resolve
was not living up to its resolution. Still, I wondered: Was
that the camp’s fault, or was it mine?
The time had come to start planning for Summer
Finale. This was the big show that all the campers and
counselors worked on. It would be performed for family
members on the last day of camp. Each cabin of bunk-
mates was supposed to work together on a skit. Not
everyone had to perform, but we all had to have impor-
tant roles that somehow drew on our talents.
It didn’t take long for the girls in my cabin to figure
out how to use our talents: Claire would write a skit that
allowed Vonda to sing, Ali to dance, Jody to tell jokes,
and Nita to use her bow and arrow. That left me.
“Look,” I said. “I don’t have any special talents, so I’ll
just do what’s left. I’ll come up with scenery, costumes,
and makeup.”
“That’s a lot for one person to do,” Jody pointed out.
“Why don’t you be in charge, and we’ll all help out—
unlike the Trail Test!”
I agreed. Secretly, I hoped I wasn’t heading for
Disaster #4.

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Claire’s skit idea was to put on a Planetary Talent Show.

She would be the emcee. Claire would also write an “outer
space” song that Vonda from Venus would sing. Asteroid
Ali would perform a dance that involved dodging meteor
showers. Neptune Nita would shoot arrows at the eight
moons of her “home planet.” Jody of Jupiter would tell
silly space jokes. (“Knock, knock.” “Who’s there?”
“Satellite.” “Satellite who?” “Satellite I see in the
window?”)

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I started making sketches of each performer in futuristic

make-up and costumes—stuff that was easy to do but
looked effective. After that, I dreamed up some “outer
space” backgrounds and props.
I also listed all the things that needed to be done and
figured out how everyone in the group could help. I was on
a roll.
The last couple of weeks of camp were a whirl of
activity. I never really had time to figure out
what was happening to me. When
my parents arrived on the day
of the show, though, they
immediately noticed that
I’d changed.
“Camp life seems to
agree with you, Sasha,”
my dad said.
“You look so happy
and so…so…,” my step-
mother struggled for the
word, “…enthusiastic!”
She smiled so sweetly
that I had to hug her. I
hugged Dad, too.
They looked startled
but pleased.

15
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Lou,
a y , J oe, and
hon t at
Dear C a g r e at time d
I’m ha
ving rate
l l y ! I exagge
rea d at
camp— no goo ng.
before
. I ’m
i r e s , or hiki
f
, camp t Summ
er
canoes h i t a
as a
But I w ally!
re
Finale—
Later,
Sasha

The audience loved our skit. After everyone in our

group took a bow, Claire announced, “Now I’d like to
introduce the artistic leader of our group. She created the
costumes, scenery, and makeup. She organized everything.
She’s the one we all look up to. Take a bow, Sasha!”
As I stood there triumphant, it hit me. I’d found talent
inside myself after all. I had imagination and the ability to
lead people. Before, of course, I just pretended I was in
control. Now I realized what it felt like to lead others when
I knew what I was doing.
It turns out that my dad was right about Camp Resolve.
It did bring out the best in me!

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Think and Respond

1 How do Sasha’s postcards to her friends back
home add to the story?
2 Who is the main character? How do others react
to this character? Trace how this character devel-
ops over the course of the story.
3 How is the theme of this story related to Camp
Resolve’s “resolution”?
4 As the story ends, Sasha declares, “It turns out
my dad was right.” How do you think Camp
Resolve brought out the best in Sasha?
5 How would you compare this story to another
story you’ve read about life at camp? Consider
various story elements such as theme, style, and
tone.
6 How did you feel about Sasha’s behavior as you
were reading the story? Did your feelings change
during the course of the story? Explain.

Report on Meteor Showers “Asteroid

Ali” had to dodge meteor showers in her
dance. What do you know about real-life
meteor showers? When, where, and why do they
happen? Collect facts from reliable sources, and
report what you’ve learned.
School-Home Connection Write your own
“space” jokes, and tell them to your relatives.
Then ask each family member to make up one space
joke. Compile the jokes into a book titled “Silly Outer
Space Jokes.”