Text Leveling System

Nancy Drew Case of the Sneaky Snowman

RDQ:	927	Max Word/Sent	28	Total Words	3002		Diff Words	807
Lex	730	Ave Word/.Sent	6	Hi Freq occurs	2009	66.9%	Hi freq	347	43%
AR	3.5	Long Sentences	0.4	Low Freq occurs	168	5.6%	Low freq	93	11.5%

Chapter ONE
Puzzle in the Park
"And now for the finishing touch!" eight-year old
Nancy Drew said. She held out her hand.
"Carrot please, George!"
Nancy's best friend George Fayne dug into
the pocket of her bulky blue parka. She pulled
out something green and fuzzy. Then she stuck
it into the face of the snowman with a crunch!
Bess Marvin was Nancy's other best friend.
She stared at the fuzzy green thing with wide
eyes.
"You were supposed to bring a carrot for the
snowman's nose," Bess said.
"That's broccoli," Nancy said.
"My mom needed carrots for her catering]]
job," George explained. "Broccoli was the only
veggie we had left."
Nancy smiled. It was Tuesday morning and
the best winter break ever! That's because it had
snowed for two days straight. By the time Nancy,
Bess, and George got to the park it looked like a
giant marshmallow sundae-perfect for building
their first snowman of the year!]]
"Wait! Wait! We're not finished yet,'' Bess
said. The pom-pom on her red hat bounced as
she jumped up and down. "We forgot to name
our snowman!"
"How about Sherlock?" Nancy asked.
"Sherlock?" George said, wrinkling her nose.
"After Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective
in the books," Nancy explained. "We're detectives,
so our snowman should have a detective
name. Right?"
"Right!" Bess and George said together.
Not only were the girls detectives, but they had
their own detective club called the Clue Crew.
When a mystery popped up in River Heights,
Nancy, Bess, and George were on the case!
The friends stepped back to admire their work.
Sherlock had Nancy's old blue scarf wrapped
around his neck. Over his head were earmuffs.
Bess built them out of two white powder puffs
and a plastic headband. George stuck a pair of
her dad's old rubber boots near the snowman's
base. For his mouth and smile, Nancy used little]]
round dog kibbles-the kind she fed to her
puppy, Chocolate Chip.
"Did we do an awesome job or what?" Bess
sighed.
"We?" George cried. "You mostly just watched,
Bess!"
Bess rubbed her thick red mittens together to
keep warm. "I told you. I'm skating in the River
Heights Ice Spectacular Show this Saturday," she
said. "I can't get my hands cold!"
"You're not skating on your hands, Bess,"
George said. She rolled her dark eyes. "Sometimes
I can't believe you're my cousin."
Nancy sometimes couldn't believe it either!
George had dark hair and brown eyes. She
was a computer geek and proud of it. Bess had
blond hair and blue eyes. She loved building
and fixing things. But now Bess had something
else to look forward to. A few days ago she won
a raffle at the ice-skating rink. The prize was to
skate in the ice show with Russian ice dancing
stars Svetlana and Alexi Dubonov. On Saturday]]
Bess would wear a pretty costume and ice skates
with pink pom-poms. Then she would skate in
the show like a star herself.
"It's okay, Bess," Nancy said. "You made Sherlock's
earmuffs. That was a big job!"
Bess stuck her chin out at George. Suddenly
someone shouted, "Wipeout!"
Nancy, Bess, and George whirled around. A
boy was riding a snowboard down the hill straight
toward them! They jumped behind
Sherlock and all held their breath as the boy
zipped by.
"He almost rode into Sherlock.!" George complained.
"And he didn't even say excuse me!" Bess said.
Nancy watched as the boy skidded to a stop at
the bottom of the hill. He laughed as he picked
up his board and walked away.
"Oh, forget about him," Nancy said. She
pulled the zipper of her red parka all the way
up to her chin. "Let's go to the Snack Shack for
some hot chocolate."]]
"With marshmallows!" Bess added.
The girls said good-bye to Sherlock. Their
boots made deep footprints as they walked
through the snowy park. Tons of kids were busy
sledding and building snow people. But as the
girls passed the playground they saw something
that made them stop. Between the slide and the
swings was a purple and gold tent!
"That was never there before," Nancy said.
She looked closer. Eight-year-old Toby Leo was standing
in front of the tent. Toby was in the
girls third-grade class at River Heights Elementary
School. He usually wore a sweatshirt, blue
jeans, and sneakers. But today he was wearing
a fancy green turban and a gold cape!
"Wow," Nancy said. "Toby looks like someone
out of the story 'Aladdin."'
"So does that tent," Bess said. "But what's it
doing on the playground?"
"I'll bet Toby is putting on some kind of play,"
George said. "Let's ask him."
As the girls walked closer Nancy saw a sign]]
pinned to the tent: HOT CHOCOLATE WITH MARSHMALLOWS.
$1.00.
"Are we lucky or what?" George said.
"Hi, Toby," Nancy said. "Can we have some-"
"Stop!" Toby said. He held up his hand like
a school crossing guard. "You must wait your
turn!"
The flap of the tent swung open. A girl burst
out with a big smile. "Yes!" She pumped her fist.]]
"I'm going to be an astronaut when I grow up!
I'm going to the moon! The moon!"
Nancy, Bess, and George traded puzzled looks.
What was going on in there?
Toby folded his arms across his chest.
"Madame Coco Chocolata will see you now!"
he announced in a deep voice.
"Madame Chocolata?" George whispered.
"Who is Madame Chocolata?" Bess whispered
back.
Nancy stared at the tent. This was way too
weird!
"I don't have a clue," Nancy said. She took a
step toward the tent. "But there's only one way
to find out!"]]
Chapter Two
Snow Problem.
"Close the flap!" a voice cried. "It's freezing out
there!"
The girls stooped to get into the tent. Nancy
smiled when she saw their classmate Deirdre
Shannon inside. Deirdre was sitting cross-legged
on a blanket. She wore a gold turban, hoop
earrings, and beaded necklaces over her down
jacket. On the blanket was a thermos, a stack of
paper cups, and a bag of mini-marshmallows.
"Hi, Deirdre!" Nancy said.
"What's up?" George asked. "Halloween was
months ago."
"I am not this Deirdre you speak of," Deirdre]]
said. "I am Madame Coco Chocolata-teller of
fortunes!"
"Fortunes?" Nancy, Bess, and George said
together.
Deirdre's turban almost fell off as she nodded
her head. "Some fortune-tellers read palms.
Others read tea leaves," she explained. "But I,
Madame Chocolata, read the marshmallows in
hot chocolate!"
"Huh?" George said.
Deirdre picked up the thermos and smiled.
"For just one dollar you get a steaming cup of
cocoa," she said, "and your life's destiny."
Nancy glanced sideways at her friends. Deirdre
Shannon always got whatever she wanted which
probably explained the fancy tent. But
she was usually busy working on her website,
Dishing with Deirdre.
"Whoever heard of reading marshmallows?"
Bess whispered.
"She's got hot chocolate," George whispered.
"Who cares what she does with it?"]]
"Thanks, Deirdre," Nancy said. "We'll each
have a cup ... and our fortunes!"
"And so you shall!  Deirdre said. As she
poured hot chocolate into three cups, Nancy
chatted about Sherlock.
"You should go and see him, Deirdre," Nancy
said. "He's the best snowman ever! 
"Really? What does he look like?" Deirdre
asked.
"You're the fortune-teller." Bess giggled. "You
tell us! 
Nancy jabbed Bess with her elbow. Deirdre
was taking this game very seriously!
"Sherlock has a blue scarf and a broccoli
nose," Nancy said. "And he's right near the
water fountain."
"Which isn't really a water fountain today
because the water's frozen," George added.
Deirdre lined the white cups in a row.
"Quick!" she said. "I must read your fortunes
before my trance breaks. And before the mini marshmallows
melt."]]
The girls sat cross-legged in front of Deirdre.
"Madame Chocolata will read Nancy's fortune
first," Deirdre said. She stared into a cup
without blinking. "I see a pizza in your future.
A large pizza with extra cheese. Madame Chocolata
predicts pizza for dinner tonight!"]]
"If you say so," Nancy said. "But my dad only
orders pizza on Saturday nights-"
"Next!" Deirdre said a little too loudly.
"That's me," George said. "What do you see
in my hot chocolate? Am I going to get that
neat computerized watch I want?"
Nancy smiled. George loved computers more
than anything. She even had a computerized
toothbrush!
"I see a snowman," Deirdre said slowly. She
stared into the cup. "Near the water fountain."
"Yeah! We just told you that," George said.
"Wait!" Deirdre said. She leaned over as she
stared deeply into George's cup. "The snowman
is taking a long, long journey. He is walking ...
walking ..."
George laughed and said, "Snowmen can't
walk-"
"Next!" Deirdre cut in.
"Bess, that's you," Nancy said.
"This is too silly," Bess said, shaking her head.
"I don't want to play. I just want a cup of hot]]
chocolate with marshmallows, please."
Deirdre narrowed her eyes at Bess. She waved
her hands over the last cup of hot chocolate and
said, "I see a big ice show! I see someone falling
on the ice! And Jots of people laughing and saying,
'What a klutz! What a klutz!"'
"What?" Bess gasped. "You mean I'm going
to fall in the Ice Spectacular? With Svetlana and
Alexi Dubonov?"
"It's in the marshmallows," Deirdre said with a
shrug. "That will be three dollars, please.
Have a nice day."
The girls dropped their dollar bills into a basket.
They sipped their hot chocolate as they left
the tent.
"Nancy, George!" Bess cried. "What if Deirdre
really can see the future? She already knew I
was in the show!"
"Who doesn't know?" George said. She licked
a marshmallow from her upper lip. "You told
practically the whole school. And the world!"
"Deirdre -is just doing this for fun," Nancy]]
said. "Come on. I want to show you something."
The girls finished their hot chocolate as they
made their way over to Sherlock. Nancy pointed
to their snowman and smiled.
"See?" Nancy said. "Sherlock didn't take a
long journey like Deirdre said. He's still where
we left him."
Bess smiled and said, "You're right. I guess it
was kind of silly."
"If anyone is a klutz, it's me!" Nancy said. She
pointed to a stain on her scarf. "See? I already
dripped hot chocolate all over myself!"
The girls watched as a bird landed on the
broccoli nose. They giggled as he began pecking
at it.
"At least somebody likes broccoli!" George
said. "Let's go home now, before my toes turn
into toesicles ! "
Nancy, Bess, and George left the park. They
all had the same rules. They could walk anywhere
as long as it was no more than five]]
blocks from their houses. And as long as they
were together.
"Let's come back to the park tomorrow,"
George said. "We can make snow angels and
have a snowball fight."-
"Maybe we can build a snowwoman!" Nancy
said.
"Okay," Bess said with a groan. "But from
now on, let's bring our own hot chocolate! 
"Can people read fortunes, Daddy?" Nancy
asked at the dinner table that night.
Mr. Drew shrugged as. he poured dressing
over his salad. He was a lawyer and great at figuring
things out. "Some people say they do," he
said. "They read palms. Or tea leaves. Or--"
"Marshmallows?" Nancy said.
"Did you say marshmallows?" Mr. Drew asked.
"Deirdre says she can read the marshmallows
in hot chocolate," Nancy explained. "But it
didn't work. She said we'd have pizza tonight-"
"And we're having vegetable lasagna! Hannah]]
said as she carried a casserole dish into the dining
room.
Hannah Gruen was the Drews' housekeeper.
Hannah had been taking very good care
of Nancy since Nancy was three years old.
That's when Nancy's mother had died. Hannah
brushed Nancy's reddish-blond hair every
morning until it shined. She made the best
tuna sandwiches with tomatoes. And Hannah
always smelled like sugar cookies-even when
she wasn't baking!
"Yummy!" Nancy said. She took a whiff of
the hot steaming lasagna. "Who needs pizza
when we can have this?"
Just then the doorbell rang.
"Who could that be at dinnertime?" Mr. Drew
asked.
Nancy glanced at the clock in the dining
room. It was six o'clock. Sharp.
Mr. Drew left the room to answer the door.
When he came back he was holding a big flat
box. "Did anyone order this?" he asked.]]
Nancy stared at the
box. There was only one
thing that came in a box
like that!
"Pizza?" Nancy gasped.
"No way!"
"Maybe Hannah
ordered the pizza,"
George said. "To go
with the lasagna!"
It was Wednesday
morning. The girls
were walking through
the main gate of the
park. It was so cold they wore layers of fleece
shirts under their parkas.
"Hannah said she didn't," Nancy said. "She
even called Pizza Paradise. They said someone
ordered the pie at five thirty but didn't leave a
name."
"Omigosh!" Bess gasped. "Madame Chocolata]]
said you'd have pizza for dinner and she was
right!"
Nancy smiled as she shook her head. "Daddy
and I figured it out," she said. "Deirdre probably
ordered the pizza herself to make it look like
her fortune came true."
"But I saw Deirdre at the mall yesterday,"
George said. "She was trying on shoes with her
mother. And it was exactly five thirty."
"How do you know it was exactly five thirty?"
Nancy asked.
George pulled up her sleeve to show a hi-tech
silver watch. "Because I got the computerized
watch I wanted," she said excitedly. "I couldn't
stop looking at it!"
Nancy's heart sank. She'd thought she had
the whole thing figured out; but she didn't.
"If Deirdre was trying on shoes at five thirty,"
she said, "then she couldn't have ordered the
pizza."
Bess stopped walking. Her eyes flashed with
fear.]]If Deirdre was right about the pizza then 
she'll be right about me,'' Bess said. "I'm
going to fall on the ice in front of hundreds of
people!"
"Right," Nancy chuckled. "And our snowman
will take a long journey tool"
"As if that's going to happen!" George
laughed.
Bess finally smiled too. "You're right," she
said. "The only snowman who can walk is
Frosty!"
The girls began singing "Frosty the Snowman."
Their singing stopped when they reached
the water fountain.
Nancy, Bess, and George looked around.
Something was missing.
"Um ... 'Bess, George?" Nancy said. "Where's
. Sherlock?"]]
Chapter Three
Snowball Fright
"Are we sure this is the right spot?" Bess asked.
"Totally," Nancy said.
The three friends stared at the empty spot in
the snow-the spot where Sherlock had been
standing just yesterday.
"Maybe he melted," Nancy said.
"He couldn't have melted," George said.
"The temperature is still below freezing. And
all the other snowmen from yesterday are still .
around."
"Then what happened to Sherlock?" Bess
asked. "Did he take a walk? Just like Deirdre
said he would?"
Nancy walked to the spot where Sherlock ]]
had stood. She patted the snow on the ground.
"Someone probably knocked him down," she
said. "That's all."
"Then where is Sherlock's scarf?" George asked.
"And his broccoli nose? And my dad's old boots?"
"I don't know," Nancy admitted. She saw a
big footprint in the snow.
Looking up she saw a whole
trail of footprints leading
away from the site. 
 "Look," Nancy said. "Whoever
knocked down Sherlock left
footprints." 
George tilted her head as she studied a print.
"The soles had a diamond design-just like my
dad's old boots," she said. "The boots we put on
Sherlock."]]
"Then Sherlock did walk away!" Bess gasped.
"Just like Deirdre said he would."
Nancy shook her head. She didn't believe
for a minute that Deirdre was a fortune-teller.
There had to be a reason that Sherlock wasn't
there!
"Hey, guys!" a voice called out.
Nancy turned. Their friends Marcy Rubin and
Trina Vanderhoof were walking over. Trina's
thick furry boots made loud clomping sounds
in the snow. Marcy wore blue rubber boots with
a pretty white snowflake design.
"Guess where we're going?" Marcy asked.
"To the beach!" George joked. "To swim with
the polar bears and penguins!"
"Very funny," Trina said with a smirk. "We're
going to see Madame Chocolata!"
Oh, no, Nancy thought. Not them
tool
"Trina and I saw Madame
Chocolata yesterday," Marcy said.]]
"She told me I'd get a bright and shiny surprise."
"What did that mean?" Nancy asked.
"Ta-daa!" Marcy sang. She held up her wrist
to show a bracelet with glittery pink beads.
"This was in my mailbox this morning. Isn't it
awesome?"
"Totally," Bess muttered.
"Madame Chocolata said I'd get a new basketball,"
Trina chimed in. "And this morning I
found a basketball in my front yard! How cool
is that?"
"Way cool," Bess muttered again.
"Who needs a magic eight ball when you
have Madame Chocolata?" Marcy said.
"Her hot chocolate is pretty good too," Trina
said. "Come on, Marcy. Let's see what's in the
marshmallows today!"
"Maybe I'll get earrings to match my bracelet!"
Marcy said excitedly.
Nancy, Bess, and George were silent as their
friends walked toward the playground.]]
"I have to go to the ice-skating rink now,"
Bess said in a small voice.
"To practice?" George asked.
"No," Bess said. "To quit!"
Nancy felt bad for Bess. Skating with Alexi
and Svetlana was her dream-Nancy couldn't
let Deirdre spoil it!
"Deirdre is not a fortune-teller," Nancy said
with a firm voice. "And the Clue Crew is going
to prove it!"
"How are we going to prove it?" Bess asked.
"By finding out what really happened to Sherlock,
that's how," Nancy said with a smile.
"Another mystery!" George cheered. She
pumped her fist in the air. "Bring it on!"
Nancy looked at Bess. She didn't seem excited.
Just worried. "Bess?" she asked slowly. "We're
not the Clue Crew without you too."
Bess giggled at the rhyme. "Okay. I'm in," she
said.
"Cool!" Nancy said. "The Clue Crew is on the
case!"]]

Subjective Criteria

Illustrations: No support

Dialog: Multiple speakers

Dialog: Broken dialogue

Vocabulary: Few decoding/definition issues

Language: Few descriptive words

Sentences: Multiple phrases

Text structure: Blend of written/oral

Chapters

Features

Simple problem/solution

Topic

Snowmen

Tricking

Problem Solving

*Feelings, Behaviors

Low Frequency Words

alexi	announced	astronaut	broccoli	bulky
casserole	chocolata	computerized	daa	deirdre
deirdre's	destiny	detective	diamond	dishing
dubonov	earmuffs	earrings	elementary	excitedly
fayne	figuring	fleece	fortune	fortunes
furry	future	geek	glittery	gruen
halloween	headband	heights	holmes	jeans
kibbles	klutz	lasagna	lawyer	legged
madame	marshmallow	marshmallows	mini	muttered
nancy's	necklaces	omigosh	palms	paradise
parka	penguins	practically	predicts	prove
raffle	reddish	rhyme	rink	rubin
scarf	seriously	sherlock	sherlock's	shrug
shrugged	sideways	skidded	sledding	smirk
snowwoman	soles	spectacular	studied	sundae
svetlana	sweatshirt	thermos	tilted	toesicles
trina	trina's	tuna	turban	vanderhoof
veggie	website	weird	whiff	whirled
wipeout	wrinkling	wrist