Title - A Simple Gift Author: Patterson, Nancy Ruth Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux Print Synopsis Authors Purpose Genre Ten-year-old Carrie O'Connor wants to be an actress. After starring as a singing tooth in her class play at a New York City school, she convinces her parents to let her audition for a summer theater production in the mountains of North Carolina. Entertain Realistic Fiction RDQ (Reading Difficulty Quotient) Accelerated Reader Lexile Find at 1532 4.4 830 Amazon RDQ based on a maximum of 3000 words Levels are suggested levels based on RDQ, not official levels Sentences Total Words Different Words Max Word/Sent 54 Total # of Words 2891 # of Different Words 852 Ave Word/.Sent 9 Hi Freq occurs 2101 72.7% # of Hi freq words 383 45% % of Long Sentences 10.7 Low Freq occurs 123 4.3% # of Low freq words 96 11.3% Subjective Criteria Illustrations: No support Dialog: Multiple speakers Dialog: Broken dialogue Dialog: Unlabeled Speaker Vocabulary: Some difficult words Language: Many descriptive words Sentences: Multiple phrases Text structure: Story/Poem Inferences: Several Implications Complexity: Several ideas - closely related Concepts: Concrete/Simple Social Chapters Mature concepts: With common experiences or clear fantasy Features Character traits Clear cause/effect Simple Plot Topics Remembering Self Esteem Plays *Entertainment & Fun *Family & Friends Performing Relationships Low Frequency Words absolutely accidentally accustomed anniversary announced approval asheville asthma auditioning auditions bio boon brownsville brownsville's cautiously clueless concentrating cratered curtain curtains diesel disappointment dissolved drooping effect enthusiasm flossed garlic graduated holcomb homecoming ignored imagined introduced knocking lawyer lightly lobby lugging lyrics máché madame madigan madigan's material mccarrity medical missouri molar molars motioned national particular pasketti paused pedestal performances pigtailed playfully poem porcelain precisely prodded produce producing pure recent rehearse reputation resemble respond rhymes rhyming ruffled rusted sauce sautéing showstopper shrugging shuffle squirm suffocated suitcases syllables taxis temple's terrific theater timidly unforgettable whirring whooshed wince worth writer writer's