The Summer Camp from the Black Lagoon (Black Lagoon Adventures series Book 24) Read online

  BY

  MIKE THALER •

  ILL

  USTRATED BY

  JARED LEE

  24

  #24

  T HE

  SUMMER CAMP

  F R OM THE

  BLACK LAGOON

  Hubie is being sent far away to summer camp

  ®

  ®

  THE

  SUMMER CAMP

  FROM THE

  BLACK LAGOON

  Get more monster-sized laughs from

  The Black Lagoon®

  #1: The Class Trip from the Black Lagoon

  #2: The Talent Show from the Black Lagoon

  #3: The Class Election from the Black Lagoon

  #4: The Science Fair from the Black Lagoon

  #5: The Halloween Party from the Black Lagoon

  #6: The Field Day from the Black Lagoon

  #7: The School Carnival from the Black Lagoon

  #8: Valentine’s Day from the Black Lagoon

  #9: The Christmas Party from the Black Lagoon

  #10: The Little League Team from the Black Lagoon

  #11: The Snow Day from the Black Lagoon

  #12: April Fools’ Day from the Black Lagoon

  #13: Back-to-School Fright from the Black Lagoon

  #14: The New Year’s Eve Sleepover from the Black Lagoon

  #15: The Spring Dance from the Black Lagoon

  #16: The Thanksgiving Day from the Black Lagoon

  #17: The Summer Vacation from the Black Lagoon

  #18: The Author Visit from the Black Lagoon

  #19: St. Patrick’s Day from the Black Lagoon

  #20: The School Play from the Black Lagoon

  #21: The 100th Day of School from the Black Lagoon

  #22: The Class Picture Day from the Black Lagoon

  #23: Earth Day from the Black Lagoon

  by Mike Thaler

  Illustrated by Jared Lee

  SCHOLASTIC INC.

  ®

  THE

  SUMMER CAMP

  FROM THE

  BLACK LAGOON

  In loving memory of Joe Belperio,

  the best Schneid of all

  —M.T.

  To Skipper the dog

  —J.L.

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright

  Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted,

  downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into

  any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means,

  whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without

  the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding

  permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department,

  557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-55268-4

  Text copyright © 2013 by Mike Thaler

  Illustrations copyright © 2013 by Jared D. Lee Studio, Inc.

  All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc.

  scholastic and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks

  of Scholastic Inc. black lagoon is a registered trademark of Mike Thaler and

  Jared D. Lee Studio, Inc. All rights reserved.

  First printing, June 2014

  Contents

  Chapter 1: Exile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

  Chapter 2: Bummer Camp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

  Chapter 3: Call of the Wild . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

  Chapter 4: Packin’ It In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

  Chapter 5: Bearmare . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

  Chapter 6: The Early Worms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

  Chapter 7: Busted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

  Chapter 8: Buzz Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

  Chapter 9: High and Dry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

  Chapter 10: Out to Lunch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

  Chapter 11: For Goodness’ Snakes! . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

  Chapter 12: In the Swim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

  Chapter 13: What’s Canoe with You? . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

  Chapter 14: Yay, Camp Sherwood . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

  Chapter 15: Playing Chicken . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

  6

  CHAPTER 1

  exile

  Mom doesn’t love me anymore.

  She’s sending me away.

  She’s shipping me off to

  summer camp for seven days.

  I’ve never been away from

  home for more than seven hours.

  I’ve never missed a dinner, or

  spent a night out of my own bed.

  7

  This camp is far away . . . over

  mountains and through forests.

  I’ll have to eat there.

  I’ll have to sleep there.

  I’ll be all alone.

  Mom isn’t coming with me.

  CHAPTER 2

  BUMMER CAMP

  Mom shows me the camp

  brochure.

  There’s a picture of a big lake . . .

  the one I’ll drown in.

  10

  There’s a picture of a big

  forest . . . the one I’ll get lost in.

  There’s a picture of a big

  mountain . . . the one I’ll fall off

  of.

  11

  Mom says it looks beautiful.

  If it looks so beautiful, why

  doesn’t she go and let me stay

  home?

  CHAPTER 3

  CALL OF THE WILD

  I’m desperate. I call Eric for

  sympathy.

  He’s happy. He’s going to

  baseball camp. They get to play

  baseball all day.

  They get caps and uniforms. I

  wish I could go there.

  13

  I call Derek. He’s happy, too.

  He’s going to tennis camp. They

  get to play tennis all day.

  He’ll have a ball. What a racket!

  14

  Randy’s going to soccer camp.

  That’ll be a lot of kicks.

  15

  Freddy’s going to cooking

  camp. All he’s taking is a knife,

  fork, and spoon.

  16

  Penny and Doris are going to

  ballet camp. That should keep

  them on their toes.

  17

  I’m going to a wilderness camp.

  My only sport will be survival.

  And with all my friends away, I

  won’t know anybody, and nobody

  will know me.

  18

  CHAPTER 4

  PACKIN’ IT IN

  Mom says we should start

  packing. She has a list from the

  brochure. We have to take a first-

  aid kit (oh, great!), a flashlight,

  warm socks, a backpack, and a

  sleeping bag.

  19

  The list says we have to sew my

  name into all my clothes. That’s

  so they can identify the body.

  I want to take my video games,

  my computer, the TV, all my

  baseball cards, and my entire

  closet. Mom says they
’re not on

  the list. But I can take my pillow.

  Now that we’re done packing,

  Mom says I should go to bed

  because we have to get up very

  early. Don’t most executions take

  place at dawn?

  21

  CHAPTER 5

  BEARMARE

  I can’t sleep. I try to count

  sheep. But instead I count

  bears, mountain lions, wolves,

  skunks, coyotes, snakes, spiders,

  scorpions, mosquitoes, bats, and

  alligators. Finally I do fall asleep

  and have a dream.

  22

  It’s “Hubie and the Three

  Bears.”

  Mom has sent me to the deep,

  dark woods to pick berries. I get

  lost. There are no street signs

  or streetlights. Suddenly, I see a

  light between the trees. It’s a little

  cabin just like the ones at camp.

  I go in. There are three bowls of

  porridge on a wooden table. I’m

  hungry. I eat them all. Then I see

  three beds. I’m tired. I lie down

  and fall asleep.

  23

  Suddenly, I’m woken up by a

  hairy paw shaking me. There are

  three bears standing over me.

  “It’s Goldilocks,” says the baby

  bear.

  “That’s not Goldilocks,” says

  the mamma bear, reading the

  label sewn on my shirt, “it’s

  Hubie.”

  “Let’s eat him” says the poppa

  bear.

  24

  The alarm goes off. Saved by

  the bell. I open my eyes, but it’s

  still dark outside.

  “Rise and shine!” chirps my

  mom from the other room.

  I hate camp already.

  25

  CHAPTER 6

  THE EARLY WORMS

  I sit numb in the car as the sun

  tries to climb out of the night.

  Finally, we pull into a parking

  lot. There are lots of moms

  shoving unhappy kids onto a

  purple bus that says Camp

  Sherwood.

  26

  I Sherwood like to go home.

  Mom kisses me on the forehead,

  hands me my backpack, and

  marches me onto the bus.

  It’s full of sleepy kids with

  morning mouth.

  Some are crying. Some have

  quietly accepted their fate.

  27

  I’m still hoping for a pardon

  from the governor.

  I sit down next to the biggest

  kid.

  “What’s your name?” I ask.

  He looks at the label sewn

  inside his shirt.

  “Jerry,” he says.

  I look at my label.

  “I’m Hubie,” I say.

  28

  We shake hands.

  “You know any camp songs?”

  he asks.

  “No,” I answer, “but I know a

  knock-knock joke. Knock-knock.”

  “Who’s there?”

  “Sherwood.”

  “Sherwood who?”

  “I Sherwood like to go home.”

  “Me, too,” he says, and smiles.

  CHAPTER 7

  BUSTED

  The driver closes the door and

  starts up the engine.

  The moms all wave good-bye

  as we pull away.

  “I think this vacation is for

  them,” says Jerry, looking out

  the window.

  30

  All signs of civilization slowly

  disappear.

  No more buildings, billboards,

  street signs, fast-food restaurants,

  stoplights, streetlights, or neon

  lights.

  It’s a good thing we have our

  flashlights.

  31

  Jerry asks the bus driver if he

  knows any camp songs.

  He says he knows one, and

  starts to sing “Ninety-nine Bottles

  of Root Beer on the Wall.”

  By the tenth time through

  we all know the words, and by

  the twentieth time we’re driving

  under an old wood sign that says,

  Welcome to Camp Sherwood:

  Home of the Bears.

  CHAPTER 8

  BUZZ OFF

  We all pile out of the bus and

  line up. I stay close to Jerry.

  I look around—we’re in the

  middle of eight little cabins, just

  like the ones in my dream. Maybe

  this is a dream. Maybe I’ll wake

  up.

  A guy blows a whistle.

  “Welcome to Camp Sherwood,”

  he says. “My name is Buzz.”

  I wonder if his last name is Saw.

  He’s big. He has one eye. We find

  out later he lost his other eye last

  summer. I wonder what he’ll lose

  this summer. . . .

  34

  “I’m the camp safety director

  and your counselor,” he says.

  He blows his whistle again.

  “Pick up your gear and follow

  me.”

  I don’t have any gear . . . I’m on

  automatic.

  CHAPTER 9

  HIGH AND DRY

  Buzz leads us to one of the

  cabins.

  “Go pick a bunk and meet me

  at the mess hall.”

  “Why do they call it a mess

  hall?” I whisper to Jerry.

  36

  “You’ll find out,” he says, “and

  be sure to get a top bunk.”

  “Why?” I ask as we hurry in.

  “Bed wetters,” he says, while

  climbing up to a top bunk.

  I grab the last one.

  37

  CHAPTER 10

  OUT TO LUNCH

  We all march into the mess hall

  and sit down. I still don’t know

  why they call it a mess hall.

  Then they bring out the food

  and I figure it out.

  38

  Echh . . . it’s a mess! Mashed

  everything.

  Mashed potatoes, mashed

  peas, squashed squash.

  The chef must be King Kong.

  This makes the school cafeteria

  look like a four-star restaurant.

  Well, the good thing is you don’t

  have to cut anything . . . or even

  chew it.

  39

  After lunch it’s time to go

  swimming. I hope we wait at least

  a half hour so we don’t drown.

  CHAPTER 11

  FOR GOODNESS’

  SNAKES

  We march back to our cabin

  and put on our bathing suits.

  Then we walk barefoot down to

  the lake.

  There are all sorts of sharp,

  prickly things on the ground.

  “Ouch!” “Ouch!” “Ouch!”

  Pine needles, pine cones, sticks

  and stones that can break your

  41

  bones. I walk carefully.

  We get to the lake and it looks

  cold. Maybe we should go ice

  skating instead.

  “Jump in, boys,” shouts Buzz,

  and he blows his whistle.

  We just stand there. I raise my

  hand.

  “I’d like to know a little about

  the aquatic life before I leap in,” I

  say. “For i
nstance, are there any

  snapping turtles, piranhas, or

  sharks?”

  “No sharks.” Buzz smiles. “But

  look out for the snakes.”

  “Snakes! No way, I’m not going

  in there.”

  43

  44

  Buzz winks his good eye, “In

  ten years, I’ve only seen one.”

  “Yeah, well that one won’t see

  me.” I sit down on a log. “Ouch!”

  This log has just as many

  sharp places as the ground.

  Uncomfortable!

  45

  All the kids are splashing

  around. Looks like they’re having

  fun. There are snakes in logs, too.

  May be I’ll take my chances in the

  water.

  CHAPTER 12

  IN THE SWIM

  Wow! Swimming is cool. I can

  swim down to the bottom and

  open my eyes. It’s got a lot more

  stuff in it than a swimming pool.

  46

  There are plants, and rocks,

  and little fish. It’s sorta like an

  aquarium. Jerry and I play sunken

  pirate ship and look for treasure.

  47

  Jerry finds an empty soda can,

  and I find a rubber sandal.

  When Buzz blows his whistle,

  no one wants to get out.

  We’re having too much fun.