Text Leveling System

Hawk, I'm Your Brother

RDQ:	1264	Max Word/Sent	38	Total Words	1529		Diff Words	430
Lex	790	Ave Word/.Sent	10	Hi Freq occurs	1050	68.7%	Hi freq	191	44.4%
AR	4.0	Long Sentences	9.8	Low Freq occurs	20	1.3%	Low freq	18	4.2%

up in wind lifting facing the sun. 
That's how he wants to fly. That's all he wants - the only wish he's ever had. No matter what happens he won't give it up. He won't trade it for easier wishes. There playing alone on the mountainside a dark skinny boy calling out to a hawk ...
That's Rudy Soto. People here say that the day he was born he looked at the sky and lifted his hands toward birds and seemed to smile at Santos Mountain. The first words he ever learned were the words for flying and for bird and for up there...up there. And later on they say that every day he asked his father "When do I learn to fly?" (He was too young then to know he'd never get his wish.) His father said "You run. You climb over rocks. You jump around like a crazy whirlwind.  Why do you need to fly?" "I just do. I need to fly." In those days he thought that somebody would give him the answer. He asked everybody... everybody. And they always said "People don't fly." "Never?" "Never." But Rudy Soto told them this: "Some people do. Maybe we just don't know those people. Maybe they live far away from here." And when he met new people he would look at them carefully. "Can you fly?" They'd only laugh and shake their heads. Finally he learned to stop asking. Still he thought that maybe flying is the secret old people keep to themselves. Maybe they go sailing quietly through the sky when children are asleep. Or maybe flying is for magic people. And he even thought that if no one else in the world could fly he'd be the one who would learn it. "Somebody ought to" he said. "Somebody. Me! Rudy Soto." There barefoot on the mountainside he'd almost fly. He'd dream he knew the power of great wings and sing up to the sun. In his mind he always seemed to be a hawk the way he flew. Of course a boy like that would know every nest this side of the mountain. He'd know the time in summer when the young hawks learn to fly. And he'd think a thousand times "Hawk I'm your brother. Why am I stuck down here?" You have to know all this to forgive the boy for what he did. And even then you may not think that he was right to steal the bird. It may seem cruel and selfish and mean - not worthy of one who says he's brother to all birds. But anyway that's what he did. He stole a hawk - a redtail hawk - out of its nest before the bird could fly. It was a nest that Rudy Soto must have seen all his life high on the ledge of a steep rough canyon wall. He thought that nest might be the best home in the world up there on Santos Mountain. And he even thought that there might be some special magic in a bird that came from Santos Mountain. Somehow he thought he'd share that magic and he'd fly. They say it used to be that way when we knew how to talk to birds and how to call a bird's wild spirit down into our own. He'd heard all those old stories and he'd seen hawks go flying over mountains and felt their power fill the sky. It seemed to him he'd fly - if a hawk became his brother. That's why he climbed the cliff at dawn singing ... to make magic stronger.  And that's why he left an offering of food... to show he was that brother. But the young hawk struggled and screamed called to the birds circling overhead called to its nest on Santos Mountain. "Listen bird. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of me." Climbing down he held that bird so close he felt its heartbeat and the bird felt his. "You'll be all right. You'll see." But even a hawk too young to fly knows he's meant to fly. He knows he isn't meant to have a string tied to his leg. He knows he isn't meant to live in a cage. And every day he screams. He pulls against the string. He beats his wings against the cage. "You'll be happy with me bird. You will." But the bird looks out with fierce free eyes and calls to its brothers in the canyon. Every day it is the same. They see those other birds learning to fly learning the touch and roll and lift of air learning to dip and dive. They turn when the wind turns. But down below with his feet touching sand Rudy Soto's hawk can only flap his wings and rise as high as a string will let him go .  Not high enough. Not far enough.Rudy Soto tells his hawk: "Someday we'll fly together." He wants to please that hawk. He's sure he will. He's sure it's going to be his brother. Each day when the melons are picked and the wood is chipped and the corn is hoed Rudy Soto gives a long soft call and he comes running. He always says:"I'm here now bird. What do you want to do?" He takes the bird out of the cage and ties the string around its foot and the bird sits on his shoulder as they walk the desert hills. They go down sandy washes and follow deer tracks into canyons. Sometimes they sit looking off to Santos Mountain. And sometimes they een go on the other side of Santos Mountain to a place where water trickles over flat smooth rocks. The bird plays in that cold water ... dips his wings into the stream and jumps and flaps and the boy says "See. You're happy here with me." But even when he says it he knows it isn't true because the bird is tugging at the string and you see sky reflected in his eyes and his eyes flash and his wings move with the wind. You can tell he wants to fly. You can tell that's all he wants the only dream he has. Rudy Soto knows what it is like to want to fly. He knows himself what it is like to have a dream. But even so he waits until the end of summer hoping that the bird will be content. Every day it is the same. The bird still tugs and pulls and yearns against the string. Rudy Soto knows that the hawk will not give up. What else can a boy like Rudy Soto do? He has to say: "I don't want to see you so unhappy bird." And he has to say: "One of us might as well fly!" What else can he do if he really loves that bird? He has to take him back to Santos Mountain to the place where he would like to fly. That's where they go - up to those high red rocks. There is a wind and clouds move across the sky and from far away you can smell rain. Now he unties the string that has held his hawk so long. The hawk is on his shoulder. "Fly now bird. Go on." The hawk turns. He moves his wings. "Bird you can fly." The hawk takes his time. There on the rocks he jumps and flaps rises and sinks. He has to learn the force of air and the pull of wind and the feel of freedom. Maybe he jumps a hundred times before he seems to catch the wind before he lifts himself into that summer sky. At last he soars. His wings shine in the sun and the way he flies is the way Rudy Soto always dreamed he'd fly. The bird looks down. Then he calls a long hawk cry the kind of cry he used to call to his brothers. Only this time he calls to Rudy Soto and the sound floats on the wind. Rudy Soto answers with the same hawk sound. Back and forth they call. Brother to brother they call all through the afternoon. High on the side of Santos Mountain Rudy Soto lifts his arms. His hair blows in the wind and in his mind he's flying too. It doesn't matter that his feet are on the ground. It seems to him he has the whole sky to fly in when he hears that call. He knows he'll keep it in his mind forever. Rudy Soto doesn't tell anybody. He doesn't say:"Lucky me. I know about flying. I know about the wind." He never says "There is a hawk that is my brother so I have a special power." But people here can tell such things. They notice that a hawk calls to him from Santos Mountain and they hear the way he answers. They see that Rudy Soto has a different look about him. His eyes flash like a young hawk's eyes and there is sky reflected in those eyes and it's the sky over the Santos Mountain. People here are not surprised. They're wise enough to understand such things.]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little support

Dialog: Two speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Dialog: Unlabeled Speaker

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Some Long/Complex

Text structure: Story/Poem

Inferences: Several Implications

Complexity: Several unrelated ideas

Concepts: Abstract/Complex Social

Mature concepts: With common experiences or clear fantasy

Features

Character traits

Integral Setting - Cultural/Regional

Theme

Topic

Wishes

Traditions

Dreams

Feelings/Emotions

Flight/Flying

Challenges

Environment

Actions

Imagination

*Feelings, Behaviors

Birds

Low Frequency Words

circling	content	cruel	een	freedom
heartbeat	hoping	ledge	melons	mountainside
ought	redtail	reflected	rough	soars
trickles	whirlwind	worthy	yearns