Text Leveling System

Brigid Beware

RDQ:	781	Max Word/Sent	16	Total Words	1811		Diff Words	507
Lex	700	Ave Word/.Sent	5	Hi Freq occurs	1169	64.5%	Hi freq	231	45.6%
AR	3.3	Long Sentences	0	Low Freq occurs	62	3.4%	Low freq	40	7.9%

Cinderella Shoes 
Brigid Thrush sat on her front steps. 
She looked at her friends' feet. Jill was wearing them. So was Lita. So was Wendy. They were all wearing Glass Slippers the Cinderella shoes. Just like the ones on TV. Glass Slippers were the big new thing at Brigid's school. Everyone had a pair. Everyone but Brigid. Glass Slippers weren't really made of glass. They were made of plastic. clear plastic that you could see through. Jill had gotten a pair a week ago. Brigid saw them and didn't like them. She thought they were clunky looking. But then Lita had gotten a pair. And then Wendy. They wore the shoes with brightly colored socks. Or socks with crazy patterns. You can see our socks through the plastic! They'd say to one another. Glass Slippers are so great looking! They're so cool. Brigid wasn't sure how it happened. But overnight every other kind of shoe turned dopey looking. Overnight Brigid agreed with her friends. Glass Slippers were great looking. They were cool. Now Brigid wanted a pair too. "When are you getting your Glass Slippers Brigid?" asked Jill. "Soon" said Brigid. She pretended to look for burrs on Badboy. Badboy was her dog. He lay on the porch beside her. Brigid couldn't tell her friends the truth. Every time she asked for a pair of Glass Slippers her parents said no. They said Glass Slippers were a fad. They said plastic shoes were bad for your feet. They said Brigid already had shoes. She'd have to make do. "You're brave to keep wearing those plain old shoes" said Lita. Wendy nodded. "I'd be too embarrassed." Brigid looked at her old shoes. She wasn't brave. She was embarrassed. She'd give anything to wear Glass Slippers. She'd give anything to wear Cinderella shoes like her friends. She thought If I were Cinderella I'd have a fairy godmother... Badboy sprang to his feet. He ran down the porch steps. He stood on the front walk and barked at the house. "What's wrong with him?" said Wendy. "It's a cat!" Lita pointed. "Up on the roof." Badboy hated cats. Even the word cat drove him crazy. He kept barking. They all ran to look. The cat was a giant. Silver. It crouched next to Brigid's bedroom window. "It's as big as an air conditioner" said Jill. Brigid stared. She knew that cat. But she couldn't remember from where. That cat had a strange owner. But Brigid couldn't remember who it was. It was as if someone had locked that part of her brain. The cat gave Brigid a long look. It leaped from the roof to a tree. Then it ran down the trunk and away. Badboy stopped barking. He growled once and lay down. Brigid stared after the cat. She tried to remember - "Brigid you still haven't told us" said Wendy. "When will you get your Glass Slippers?" Brigid blinked. All her friends were looking at her. "My parents - they're getting me Glass Slippers tonight" she lied. "Great!" said Lita. "You'll be one of us again!" said Wendy. Jill said "See you tomorrow!" The three of them went home. The answer is no! "I heard that." Brigid's big brother Gus came out the screen door. He flopped into the porch hammock. "Mom and Dad aren't bringing home any Glass Slippers. Why did you tell your friends they were?" "I had to" said Brigid. "Everybody has Glass slippers. I have to get a pair too." Gus spun the dial on his Walkman. It was clipped to his belt. He nodded toward the front walk. "Here comes Mom. Good luck asking her." Their mother pushed open the front gate. She carried her briefcase in one hand. She led Brigid's little sister Patience by the other. Her pager hung from her belt. "Mom" said Brigid. "Can I get a pair of Glass Slippers?" Her mother shook her head. "We've already been through this. Glass Slippers are a silly fad." Brigid said "But everyone else - " The pager on her mother's belt started to beep. "The answer is no" said her mother. She opened the screen door and went inside. "And that's final!" said Patience. Patience was five. She was cute. She was spoiled. She could imitate her mother perfectly. "I told you" said Gus. "But I have to have them!" said Brigid. Gus shrugged. "Maybe Dad will say yes." A few minutes later their father pushed open the front gate. "Waid!" Patience ran to the gate. She checked the security pass that hung from her father's belt. "Pass" she said. She did the same thing every day. "That is so corny" said Gus. "Dad" said Brigid. "Can I get Glass Slippers?" "What does your mother say?" he asked. "The answer is no!" said Patience. "And that's final." Brigid gazed up at her father. "Please Dad?" "Glass slippers are a fad" he said. "They're badly made. And unhealthy. The plastic doesn't let your feet breathe." "If you lose a glass slipper do you have to marry a prince?" said Gus. "If you wear Glass Slippers past midnight do they turn into pumpkins?" Brigid scowled. "Very funny. Ha-ha-ha." Her father patted her shoulder. "A week ago you thought Glass Slippers were ugly." Brigid didn't say anything. "Why follow a silly fad?" said her father. "Why not start a fad of your own?" "Me?" said Brigid. "How?" "Wear something unusual to school" said her father. "Something you like." Brigid thought. A long skirt was something she liked. The kind her mother wore when she got dressed up. Red. Swirly. A tank top was something she liked. The kind high school girls wore. Sleeveless. Lacy. She'd like to wear a gadget on her belt. A serious gadget. Like Gus's Walkman. Her father's security pass. Her mother's pager. "Well?" said her father. "Have you thought of anything?" Brigid frowned. Nobody wore long skirts to her school. Nobody wore tank tops or gadgets on their belts. If Brigid wore any of those things everyone would laugh. Brigid looks different! Dopey is how Brigid looks! Brigid said "I've thought of Glass Slippers. They're the only thing I want." "Sorry Brigid. The answer is no." Her father opened the screen door. He went inside. Patience went with him. "I have to have them!" said Brigid. "When I wear old shoes everyone points at me." "If you want Glass Slippers" said Gus "you'd better do what Cinderella did." "What's that?" said Brigid. Gus patted her shoulder. "Find a fairy godmother!" He grinned and went inside too. Brigid sighed. "A fairy godmother ..." Badboy stiffened. He sniffed the air as if an enemy were near. Brigid blinked. The giant silver cat crouched in a tree across the street. It stared at her. Badboy saw the cat. He barked. A fairy godmother! Brigid jumped. Now she knew where she'd seen that cat! Now she remembered that cat's owner. It was a girl. An unusual girl who had once helped Brigid... "Take a message" Brigid called to the cat. "I need help again!" The cat stared at her from across the street. Then it jumped from the tree and ran away. Night Visitor Late that night Brigid sat up in a bed. A noise had wakened her. It was a scratching noise outside her window. Badboy heard it too. He lifted his head and growled. "Shhhh!" Brigid slid out of bed. She went to the window and pushed back the curtain. "Ohhhh!" The giant silver cat crouched on the roof. It's tail curled around its body like fog. Its collar of silver bells flashed in the moonlight. Its whiskers twitched. Sparks seemed to fly from their tips. The cat stared at Brigid out of huge golden eyes. Brigid blinked. There was a silver streak and a tinkle of bells. The cat jumped from the roof to a tree. It vanished into the shadows. Brigid didn't waste a minute. That cat was a messenger. Brigid knew who had sent it. She crept downstairs. Badboy crept with her. They reached the terrace door. Badboy paced back and forth. Brigid carefully opened the door. Badboy bounded outside. He ran to a nearby tree. Brigid followed him. She peered up into the branches. A girl sat on the lowest branch. She was Brigid's age.She had brown skin. Spindly arms and legs. A french braid. She wore a necklace with silver bells on it. A necklace that looked like a cat's collar. "Maribel! Maribel Jump!" cried Brigid. Maribel was more than the cat's owner. She was more than a girl. She was the one who had helped Brigid once. Like a fairy godmother. Then she'd vanished.No one but Brigid knew about her. "I knew you'd come" said Brigid. "As soon as I saw your cat!" "What's this about shoes?" said Maribel.  "Slippers" said Brigid. "Glass Slippers." She explained the whole thing. "What happens if you lose one of those Glass Slippers?" asked Maribel. "Do you have to marry a prince? If you wear them past midnight do they turn into pumpkins?"She grinned at Badboy. Badboy stared up at her. He wagged his tail. "Those are old jokes" said Brigid. "Will you help me? Yes? or no?" Maribel leaned back against the tree trunk. "What if I got you the real thing? Slippers like Cinderella's. Made of real glass." Real glass slippers? thought Brigid. Like Cinderella's? None of her friends had that. "Well?" said Maribel. Brigid sighed. "I'd stand out in shoes like that. I'd be different. I want the plastic kind. The ordinary kind. The kind everyone else has." Maribel rolled her eyes. "Why not wear something unusual? Show some nerve!" Brigid thought of what her father had said. She thought of the long red skirt. The lacy tank top. The gadget to hang from her belt. "So what if people point at you?" said Maribel. "So what if they laugh?" Brigid stiffened. The last thing she wanted was people laughing at her. "I want Glass Slippers" said Brigid. "The plastic kind. The kind everyone else wears." Maribel shrugged. "If that's what you want." "I knew you'd help!" said Brigid. "Can I have them now? Can I wear them to school tomorrow?" Maribel glanced at the stars. She did it the way other people might glance at a clock. "You mean today" she said. "Do you have gym?" Brigid nodded. "Leave your clothes in your locker as usual" said Maribel. "After gym you'll find Glass slippers there." "Oh boy!" Brigid turned to go. "Wait" said Maribel. "What's your locker combination?" Brigid said "Left twenty-three. Right two. Left nine. But don't tell anyone else!" "Listen carefully" said Maribel. "Wear the Glass Slippers during school. But have them back in your locker by three P.M." "Or they'll turn into pumpkins?" said Brigid. Maribel shook her head. "You'll turn into a mouse." ]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: Little support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Dialog: Unlabeled Speaker

Vocabulary: More decoding/definition issues

Language: Many descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Story/Poem

Concepts: Concrete/Simple Social

Concept: Fanciful

Chapters

Features

Parody

Topic

Changes

Innovation

Clothes

Appearances

Magic

Copying/Mimicry

Self Esteem

Conforming

Friendship

School

Low Frequency Words

burrs	combination	crouched	curled	curtain
embarrassed	gadget	gadgets	gazed	glance
hammock	lacy	lied	lita	messenger
moonlight	necklace	ordinary	overnight	paced
pager	patience	peered	scowled	security
shrugged	sleeveless	spindly	sprang	stiffened
swirly	terrace	thrush	twitched	unhealthy
waid	wakened	walkman	wears	whiskers