Contests Update

Due to mailing issues, contest entries must be mailed to our new address below (NOT the PO Box listed on page 2 of the magazine) or emailed to [email protected]. We apologize for the inconvenience!

 

(Name of contest)

c/o Scholastic

Storyworks 4th Fl.

130 Mercer St.

New York, NY 10012

Illustration of a framed family photo
Art by David Miles

The Perfects

Max feels like his life is falling apart—until a broken sink fixes everything

By Sarah McCarry | Art by David Miles

Learning Objective: Students will analyze the theme of a realistic fiction story about a military family that struggles to admit their true feelings about a difficult move.

Lexile: 600L-700L
Guided Reading Level: S
DRA Level: 40-50
Other Key Skills: theme, vocabulary, inference, plot, setting, key idea, author’s craft, compare and contrast, problem and solution, narrative writing
UP CLOSE: Theme

As you read, look for the important lesson Max and his family learn about honesty.

David Miles

Max was in his bedroom, looking at the news about the war on his phone. Many injured in surprise attack.

That’s when his little sister Lindy started screaming.

“Max! Help! Max!”

Max didn’t think. He just ran. Out the doorway. Past the old wooden door that squealed like something dying. Down the stairs, remembering to jump over the broken ones. To where Lindy was standing outside the bathroom, ankle-deep in water, holding a plastic dinosaur and screaming her head off.

“It wasn’t my fault! The sink just fell over! I was washing my duckbill and—”

Max looked past Lindy into the bathroom. The old-fashioned sink was lying on the floor, broken into pieces. The wall had a giant hole . . . and water was everywhere. Water pooling on the floor. Water streaming into the hallway. Water spraying out of the wall. And an ocean of tears pouring out of his sister.

That settles it, Max thought. Today is an extremely bad day.

It had been a few months since Mom had found the “House for Sale” ad online. The house hadn’t looked cursed. It didn’t look perfect, but it looked exactly like what Mom wanted: a big old house on a hill overlooking the ocean. 

It had a room for Mom’s painting stuff. There was a garage where Dad could have a workshop when he finished his final deployment and came home for good. There was a room for Lindy where she could keep all her dinosaur books and toy dinosaurs, and a room for Max with a view of the storm-colored sea.

“It needs a few repairs,” Mom had said, scrolling through the pictures with shining eyes. “But that’s perfect. We can work on it as a family.”

Max hadn’t said what he was thinking—that they hadn’t done anything as a family for so long they probably wouldn’t remember how. 

Dad had been in the military since before Max was born. He was used to living without Dad for months at a time when Dad was deployed overseas. He was used to moving to a new house in a new town in a new state, then moving again a year later. He was used to not making friends because it was easier to be alone than it was to say goodbye.

“Cool,” he’d said instead, because Mom looked excited about the house. He hadn’t wanted to ruin the moment.

Late that night, Max came into the kitchen for a glass of water. Mom was still in front of her laptop, but her cheerful expression was gone. Max was sure she had been crying. He cleared his throat. Mom sat up straight and slammed her laptop shut.

“Mom, you should go to bed,” he said.

“I know, I know,” Mom replied, voice full of forced cheer. “I was looking at pictures of the new house again.”

Max walked past her and filled a glass with water. He knew she was lying. He’d seen the screen. Mom couldn’t sleep for the same reason he couldn’t. She’d been reading the war news, yet another story from where Dad was deployed. 

“’Night, Mom,” he said.

“Goodnight, Max,” Mom replied.

When Max turned back to look at her, the laptop was already open again. The blue light of the screen made her face glow like a ghost’s.    

By the time they realized the new house was an absolute disaster, it was too late. They’d already packed their things, filled the car, and driven west through Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and Oregon. 

When they got to Washington, the rain started. Mom clutched the wheel as water came down in sheets around them. By the time they pulled up to the new house, the storm was so bad that Max thought the car might float away. 

They stared out the car windows at the place that was supposed to be home. It didn’t look like something that would bring them together as a family. It looked like something out of a horror movie.

“Is that a hole in the roof?” Lindy asked.

“I’m sure it’s nothing.” But Mom didn’t look like it was nothing.

A flash of lightning split the sky open. Thunder boomed. And in that moment, Max realized that the garage that was supposed to become Dad’s workshop was missing a wall.

They had been in the house for a couple of days when they started calling the wall in Mom’s new painting room the Perfects’ Wall. It was the one part of the house that looked normal. The paint was smooth and finished. The ceiling overhead didn’t ooze rainwater. The window looked out over the ocean. Mom put up a framed picture of their whole family on the wall.

The Perfects’ Wall looked like it came straight from a TV show about a happy family living in a beautiful home. The Perfects weren’t scared. They never scanned the news for stories about war. They ate dinner together every night. They had birthday parties—and friends to invite to them.

The Perfects’ Wall was where they sat when they video-chatted with Dad each week. “We want your father to be excited about coming home to this house,” Mom joked. But something in her eyes made Max wonder if she was really joking.

So when they talked to Dad, they made sure smiles were stuck on their faces like masks. Mom washed and blow-dried her hair. Max put on a button-down shirt. Lindy put away her dinosaur books and toys. The important thing was that Dad believed he was coming home to the Perfects. 

What happened when Dad realized the truth was something Max tried not to think about.

Now Max stared at the wave of water pouring out of the bathroom, his heart sinking in his chest. Mom would be home from work in half an hour—just in time for their weekly video chat with Dad. 

“I’m sorry,” Lindy sobbed next to him. “I didn’t mean to, I swear!”

“It’s not your fault,” Max said, his mind racing. “But we have to make this water stop. Maybe the neighbors can help.”

He ran to the front porch, the one Mom had loved so much online. The street was empty. But a few houses down, a small figure in a baseball hat pushed a lawn mower.

“Stay there!” he shouted to Lindy.

The person turned out to be a girl about his age. “Hi, new kid,” she said. “I didn’t realize you were my neighbor.”

“You’re in my homeroom,” Max said. He wasn’t used to paying attention to the kids around him at school. There usually wasn’t any point. He struggled for a moment, trying to remember the girl’s name. “Jenny, right? Um, do you know anything about plumbing?”

“Not really,” Jenny said. “But we can call my dad. He’s good at that stuff.”

Max felt a pang. He wished he could call his dad. But that was impossible.

“Can you hurry? I think a pipe burst,” Max said. Jenny followed him down the street to where Lindy sat crying on the porch. When Jenny saw the water gushing out the front door, her eyes widened.

“I don’t know how to make it stop,” Max said desperately.

Jenny pulled out her cell phone. “Dad? It’s kind of an emergency—the neighbors’ house is flooding!”

She kept talking, then listening, and Max could hear a low voice on the other end of the phone. When she hung up, Jenny said, “We need to find the water main and shut it off.”

“The water what?” Max asked. But Jenny was already combing the front lawn, which was more weeds than grass.

“My dad says it’ll be underground,” she called. “Beneath a cover of some kind.”

Lindy ran down the stairs and poked through the tall weeds on the other side of the house. Max searched the yard by the porch.

“I found it!” Lindy shrieked in excitement. Max and Jenny ran over.

“That’s it,” Jenny said. “Take off the cover. Pull the big lever, and it will shut off the water to the whole house.”

The lever was right where Jenny said it would be, covered in rust. Max pulled and pulled, but it didn’t move. Jenny reached in and pulled with him. With an angry squeal, it lifted. The flood of water pouring down the steps finally slowed, then stopped.

“We did it!” Lindy cried. But Max could only stare at the water pooling all over the floorboards.

“Come on. I’ll help you clean up,” Jenny said. 

Water was everywhere, but at least it wasn’t spraying out of the wall anymore.

“Wow, this place is a wreck,” Jenny said, looking around. She sounded almost impressed. Anger flashed through Max. Then it faded.

“It kind of is,” he admitted.

“Well, it’s nothing you can’t fix,” Jenny said, “except maybe that sink. My dad can help.” 

Just then, Max heard his mom’s footsteps coming up the porch stairs. The front door opened.

 “Oh!” Mom gasped. “What is all this water?” And then she was with them in the bathroom, a look of horror on her face. “No,” she whispered.

Max watched the emotions move across his mom’s face like storm clouds. Was she angry? Upset? Heartbroken?

Then, to his surprise, Mom started to laugh. Bright, clear laughter. The kind he hadn’t heard since before Dad left. Before he knew it, he was laughing too. And then Jenny. And then, finally, Lindy.

“I can’t believe this house!” Mom exclaimed. “It’s a disaster.”

“I was just washing my duckbill, Mom,” Lindy said. “Duckbills like the water.”

Mom shook her head. “Well, now this house is a perfect place for your dinosaur, Lindy. Who’s your friend, Max?”

Friend, he thought. For the first time in a long time, he thought the word might turn out to be true.

“Jenny,” Max said. “She helped us shut off the water.”

“Thanks for that, Jenny,” Mom said. “Want to stay for dinner?”

“Sure,” Jenny replied. “Let me just check with my dad.”

“Which reminds me,” Mom said. “Kids, it’s time to call your father.”

Max turned toward the door, ready to head upstairs to the Perfects’ Wall. Then he stopped.

“Mom? Do you think we could just call Dad from here?”

His mother looked surprised, but then she laughed. “You know what? I think we should. I want to show your poor father this sink.”

“Are you sure?” Max asked.

“I’m sure,” Mom said. And this time, the smile on her face was the realest one Max had ever seen.

Write to Win

Imagine you’re Max. Write a letter to your dad telling him about how you stopped the flooding in the house and what you learned from the experience. Send a well-written response to “Perfects Contest” by February 1, 2024. Five winners will each receive a $20 gift card for the Scholastic Store Online. Visit the Storyworks Contests page for more information.

PLEASE NOTE:

Due to mailing issues, contest entries must be mailed to our new address below (NOT the PO Box listed on page 2 of the magazine) or emailed to [email protected]. We apologize for the inconvenience!

(Name of contest)
c/o Scholastic
Storyworks 4th Fl.
130 Mercer St.
New York, NY 10012

This story was originally published in the December 2023/January 2024 issue.

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Activities (9)
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Answer Key (1)
Looking for more stories about United States veterans and their families? Explore the plays, articles, and poems in our Stories for Veterans Day Special Collection.
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Step-by-Step Lesson Plan

Table of Contents

1. Preparing to Read

2. Reading and Discussing

 SEL Focus, Close Reading, Critical Thinking

3. Skill Building and Writing

4. Differentiate and Customize

Striving Readers, Advanced Readers, Multilingual Learners

5. Can’t-Miss Teaching Extras

6. Literature Connection

 

1. Preparing to Read

Build Engagement, Preview Vocabulary, Set a Purpose for Reading

  • Build engagement and activate understanding of the story’s main characters by asking students if they have ever had trouble sharing their true feelings about a difficult experience. What helped them to open up to others?
  • Distribute or digitally assign the Vocabulary Skill Builder to preview challenging words. Vocabulary words include cursed, deployment/deployed, pang, scanned, and shrieked. Students will be able to add other unfamiliar words from the story as well.
  • Invite a volunteer to read aloud the Up Close box on page 11. Point out the questions in the margins and the arrows that connect them to lines in bold in the story. Preview the questions together.

 

2. Reading and Discussing

First Read: Get to Know the Text 

  • Ask students to read the story independently or in small groups. They can also listen to our Read-Aloud, in which a special guest reads the story! 

Second Read: Unpack the Text

  • Put students in small groups. Ask them to discuss the close-reading questions in the margins of the story. Answers to the questions are below. Go over the critical-thinking questions together as a class.

Close-Reading Questions

 

  1. Why do you think the story begins with Max looking at news about a war? (inference, p. 11) Max is probably looking at news about a war because someone he cares about is fighting in it.
  2. How is the broken sink the start of a problem for Max and his family? (plot, p. 11) The family’s house is already in poor condition, but the broken sink causes a huge flood, making things worse. It’s a problem that Max can’t solve on his own or with the help of his sister. He needs to ask for help from his neighbor and schoolmate Jenny.
  3. What makes the house seem cursed in person? (setting, p. 11) The house seems cursed because it’s in such bad shape: It has a hole in the roof, a missing wall, broken steps, a sink weak enough to fall out of the wall, and a door that squeals “like something dying.” When Max and his family first see the house in person, Max thinks that it looks “like something out of a horror movie.”
  4. What does Mom think is important about the house before they move? (key idea, p. 12) Mom thinks the most important thing about the new house is that it will bring their family together. She believes that the house’s imperfections make it perfect because they will be able to repair it as a family.
  5. In what ways are Max and Mom dishonest about their feelings? Why don’t they share their true thoughts? (character, p. 12) When Mom shares that she wants the family to repair the house together, Max is skeptical because the family has gotten used to doing things without Dad. Max keeps these thoughts and feelings to himself because he doesn’t want to spoil Mom’s hope for the future. When Mom is worried about Dad’s safety, she probably tries to hide the computer screen and her tears because she doesn’t want Max to worry too. Mom and Max both hide their true thoughts because they don’t want to make each other’s lives harder. They also might not want to deal with the pain of their real feelings.
  6. How does the description of the weather match what is happening in the characters’ lives? (author’s craft, p. 12) When the family first arrives at their new house, a terrible storm is happening. This matches what’s happening in the characters’ lives because they have just learned that their house will probably make life more difficult for them.
  7. Why did Mom choose to put the family’s picture on the Perfects’ wall? (theme, p. 13) Mom probably wanted at least one part of the house to look and feel like the home they had expected. She put the family’s picture on the Perfects’ wall so whenever they looked at it, they could pretend that they live happy lives free of the problems caused by the new house and Dad’s deployment.
  8. How are the Perfects different from Max’s real-life family? (compare and contrast, p. 13) The Perfects have everything Max’s real-life family doesn’t. The Perfects have great friends, live in a beautiful home, and don’t have anything to be afraid of. In real life, Max’s family experiences the opposite. They don’t have a strong support system or close friends where they live, their house is falling apart, and they are often afraid that something terrible will happen to Dad.
  9. From what you’ve read so far, what can you conclude about Max’s role in his family? (character, p. 13) So far, we have learned that Max is often thinking about what other people need first, and he does his best to make things easier for his mom. When Max has concerns, he keeps them to himself to protect Mom’s feelings. His parents probably rely on him to take care of Lindy and the house when they aren’t around to help.
  10. Why doesn’t Max try to get to know the other kids at school? (character, p. 14) Max doesn’t try to get to know the other kids at school because he isn’t used to living in places long enough to make and keep friends.
  11. How do Max, Jenny, and Lindy stop the flooding in the house? (problem and solution, p. 14) Max, Jenny, and Lindy stop the flooding in the house by relying on help from one another. Because Lindy was honest with Max about the flooding, he was able to ask Jenny for help, who then asked her father for help over the phone. After following Jenny’s dad’s advice, it took the strength of both Jenny and Max to turn off the water main and stop the house from continuing to flood.
  12. Why do you think Max chooses to admit the truth about his house? (inference, p. 14) Answers will vary but should be similar to: Max probably chooses to admit the truth about his house because he can no longer hide it when Jenny is there to see it for herself. Even though he is embarrassed about his house, it probably feels good to finally be honest about it.
  13. Why do you think Mom’s reaction surprises Max? (inference, p. 15) Up until this point in the story, Max tried to manage Mom’s stress and fear by keeping the truth of their problems to himself. When Mom sees the flooding, Max expects her to be angry or devastated, but instead, she laughs. It’s probably surprising to Max that Mom finally chooses to be honest about the house after the flood.
  14. How does Max’s question about calling Dad show that he has changed? (theme, p. 15) We know Max has changed because he says what he wants instead of keeping it to himself. His question lets us know that he is ready to be honest with Dad about the house and admit that they have been struggling without him.
  15. Write your own question about these lines. (p. 15) Answers will vary.

 

Critical-Thinking Questions

  • How does the broken sink lead to positive changes for Max and his family? (theme) Before the family moves, they expect that their new house will bring them together. But to their surprise, the broken sink that makes their crumbling house worse is the thing that helps them. When the sink breaks, Max is forced to ask their neighbor Jenny for help. After he and Jenny stop the flood together, Max realizes that Jenny could become his first real friend in a long time. The broken sink also forces Max’s family to be honest with themselves and each other about their problems. In the beginning of the story, Max and Mom struggle most with honesty. By the end of the story, they learn that being honest about challenges can relieve stress and make it possible for others to give them the help they need.
  • Why is it important that Jenny helps Max stop the flooding in his house? (how a character changes) If Max had been able to stop the flooding in his house by himself, he might not have been inspired to begin sharing his honest feelings or gotten to know Jenny. Because Jenny helps Max, he is able to experience the relief of being honest about his challenges and learn that his life could change for the better if he opens up about his true thoughts, feelings, and experiences.

3. Skill Building and Writing

Featured Skill: Theme
 
  • Distribute or digitally assign the Theme Skill Builder, which will help students understand the lesson Max and his family learn.
  • Ask students to respond to the writing prompt at the end of the story. When they’re done, you can submit their responses to our writing contest (see page 2 of the magazine for details.)

Differentiate and Customize
For Striving Readers

This story offers a great way to review nonlinear story structure. Have students listen to the Audio Read-Aloud of the story. Then, in small groups, work with students to label each section of the story “present-tense” or “past-tense” as they listen a second time. (Note: Each section of the story begins with a large purple letter.) Before listening to the story a second time, ask students why they think the author decided to alternate between past- and present-tense.

For Advanced Readers

In “The Perfects,” the author includes several weather descriptions to establish a gloomy and anxious mood. Before or after reading the story, show students a picture of a storm and ask them to share the feelings they associate with the image. Then have students work in groups on a story scavenger hunt. Ask them to find examples of weather descriptions in the story and explain why they think the author included them. Examples can be found on page 11 (“. . . and a room for Max with a view of the storm-colored sea”); page 12 (“. . . the storm was so bad Max thought the car might float away.”); page 13 (“A flash of lightning split the sky open. Thunder boomed. And in that moment, Max realized that the garage that was supposed to become dad’s workshop was missing a wall.”); page 15 (“Max watched the emotions move across his mom’s face like storm clouds.”)

For Multilingual Learners

In the story, the author uses figurative language to describe the house’s run-down state. This is a great opportunity to review the literal meaning of cursed as well as the nonliteral meaning of the word as it is used in the story on page 11. Check for understanding by asking your students to draw a picture of the house based on the author’s descriptions after they finish reading the story.

Can't-Miss Teaching Extras
Explore the Storyworks Archive

Read another moving story about a kid whose father is deployed away from home. In Roland Smith’s fiction story “Wind,” a girl and her mother weather a hurricane shortly after moving to a new town with the help of a strong, supportive community. After reading both stories, have students discuss how each family’s experiences and lessons are similar and different.

Learn About Military Life

You may have students in your class who connect with this story because they come from a military family. Share this Youtube channel with them from the Defense Health Agency for helpful videos about the ups and downs of military life from kids’ perspectives.

Build Emotional Vocabulary

Students may relate to Max’s family’s struggle to communicate feelings honestly. Using an emotion word wheel can help your students share their feelings when they are struggling, better understand themselves and others, and analyze characters with greater fluency.

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