Kellan had been looking forward to the first day of summer vacation since, well, September. Now that it was actually here, he would have given anything to be back at school. At school he forgot that his parents had decided to start chasing their dream of being farmers and had moved the family to this house in the middle of nowhere. While at school, he pretended that he still lived in the old neighborhood with Tobin and Carter, his best friends since kindergarten. But now school was over and Kellan was looking at three long months of...nothing much. Sitting alone in his new bedroom, Kellan considered last summer, when he and his friends had attended baseball camp together. They had spent two weeks there, and at the end of the session their team had won the camp–wide baseball tournament. Unlike Carter and Tobin, Kellan would not be going back to camp this summer. His mom and dad said that camp just was not possible this year—but hey, what did he need camp for?! He would be having tons of fun, living on a real live farm!

Right. What, exactly, did farm kids do for fun? The only thing even mildly appealing about this back–to–nature experiment was the horse. Behind the ancient farmhouse sat an equally ancient barn; in it lived the horse, Jack, whom Kellan's parents had adopted to complete their picture–perfect farm life. It had surprised Kellan to find that he actually appreciated having Jack around. Kellan didn't know much about horses, but he'd learned how to care for Jack and had paid attention during Jack's recent vet checkup. When his dad had enrolled in riding lessons at the nearby stables, Kellan had decided to join him.

By August, Kellan was spending all his time at the stables. There was actually a lot more to farm life than he'd imagined, and he even made some friends among the kids he met at the stables. One, Robin, was a member of the local Pony Club, and she convinced Kellan to join as well. The club's annual rally was coming up; Kellan was signed up for several events and was training enthusiastically. Robin had claimed that practically everyone she knew would be cheering her on. Kellan was excited to invite Carter and Tobin to the rally; it had been a while since they'd seen each other, Kellan couldn't imagine not having his friends there to watch him compete.

The moment Kellan found out that the rally was set for the following Friday, he grabbed the phone to let Carter know. Rather than sharing his excitement with his friend, however, Kellan found himself receiving unwelcome information from Carter's mother.

"I am sorry, Kellan, Carter's actually still at camp. The oldest campers were invited to play in a regional tournament this year, and Carter and Tobin are staying an extra week in order to participate. We're all going to watch the game; why don't you come with us? It is next Friday. I know the guys would be thrilled!"

Kellan managed to mumble a response to Carter's mother before hanging up the phone. This move to the country had kind of been growing on him, but all of a sudden, Kellan felt that it had been a disastrous mistake. Sure, he was really enjoying riding—but was that worth losing his friendship with Tobin and Carter? They'd grown up together, but it was beginning to feel like they had nothing in common anymore.

At that moment, Kellan's mom entered the room. "You seem upset, Kel," she observed.

"Carter and Tobin are going to miss my Pony Club rally, and I'm not going to be able to watch their baseball tournament. I guess...it's just too hard to stay friends now that we're so far away."

Kellan's mom smiled a little wistfully. "It is harder, sure. But sweetie, good friendships are worth expending a little effort to preserve, don't you agree?" Kellan nodded, and his mom continued, "Well, then, why don't you invite the guys to spend a weekend here after they return from camp so you can celebrate your sports successes together? And in the future, I promise I will make myself more available to take you over to see them."

"It's a deal," Kellan smiled.

questions:

1. How does the dialogue in paragraph 6 help the reader understand the relationship between the three boys?

A. The reader understands that Kellan wants to be a part of his friends’ lives even though they are not near each other.

B. The reader understands that Kellan has been left out of activities between them.

2. Overall Theme: “It is harder, sure. But sweetie, good friendships are worth expending a little effort to preserve, don’t you agree?” (paragraph 10)

Activity 2 of 2
Which sentence from the text further develops the overall theme?

A. “...it’s just too hard to stay friends now that we’re so far away.” (paragraph 9)

B. “...why don't you invite the guys to spend a weekend here after they return from camp so you can celebrate your sports successes together?” (paragraph 10)