★Narrator Point of View
Grade 5 Reading Worksheet
Circle the answer.
Read this first
The Girl with the Red Book
Everyone on Alder Street agrees that I am an excellent judge of people. Well, my friend Tamsin agrees, and she lives on Alder Street, so that counts.
That is why I knew right away that the new girl was stuck-up. Her name was Beatriz, and her family moved into the yellow house in June. On her first morning, I waved from my porch and shouted, "Want to play kickball at the park later?" Beatriz looked at me for a long moment. Then she smiled a small smile and went inside without a word.
"See?" I told Tamsin. "Too fancy to answer."
The next day was worse. Beatriz sat on her front steps with a thick red book. Every few minutes she flipped through its pages, frowning, and moved her lips. I figured she was showing off. Who reads a book that thick in the summer, on purpose, in front of everyone?
I tried one more time. I walked right up and said, very fast, "We need one more player for kickball, are you coming or not?"
Beatriz flipped through the red book again. "Kick... ball?" she said slowly. Then her mother called from the window, and they spoke in quick, musical words I didn't know. Beatriz went inside.
"Unbelievable," I said.
On Saturday, my abuela invited the new family for lunch. She does that with every new neighbor, even the stuck-up ones. Beatriz's mother brought a cake made with corn and coconut. Beatriz brought the red book.
When she set it on the table, I finally saw the cover. It said Portuguese–English Dictionary.
My face turned as hot as the stove. Beatriz had not been ignoring me. She had been trying to understand me, and I had talked like a runaway train.
After lunch, I pointed at the ball by our door. "Kick-ball," I said, slowly this time. I kicked the air to show her.
Beatriz laughed and pointed at herself. "In Brazil, I play football," she said carefully. "I kick very hard."
She was right. She kicked the ball over Tamsin's fence twice that afternoon. I am still an excellent judge of people. I just judge a little more slowly now.
What does the narrator believe about herself at the start?
- She is a good judge of people.
- She is better at languages than Tamsin.
- She is the best kickball player on her street.
- She is shy around new neighbors.
What does the second sentence suggest about the narrator's claim?
- Her proof is weak, so her opinion may not be reliable.
- She is joking about having any friends.
- Tamsin is a better judge of people than she is.
- Everyone on the street trusts her opinion.
The narrator thinks Beatriz is showing off with the red book. What was Beatriz really doing?
- writing notes about the neighbors
- reading a story for summer school
- looking up English words
- ignoring the narrator on purpose
Which clue, before the lunch, hints that Beatriz did not understand the narrator?
- She went inside when her mother called.
- She sat on her front steps in the morning.
- She repeated "Kick... ball?" slowly.
- Her family moved into the yellow house.
How does the narrator's point of view shape how she describes Beatriz's silence?
- She calls it rude because Beatriz said something unkind.
- She calls it rude because she has decided Beatriz is stuck-up.
- She calls it shy because she feels sorry for Beatriz.
- She describes it fairly because she knows all the facts.
Why does the narrator's face turn "as hot as the stove"?
- She is embarrassed about misjudging Beatriz.
- She is excited about the corn and coconut cake.
- She has been standing too close to the oven.
- She is angry that Beatriz brought a book to lunch.
