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What Happens in Part 5
The Moody family holds a garage sale, and Judy spots one more chance at fame. She takes an ordinary cherry pit and tries to convince people that it is a genuine two-hundred-year-old pit from the very cherry tree that George Washington supposedly chopped down as a boy! It is, of course, a complete hoax — a made-up story to fool people and get herself noticed. There is a rich joke buried here: the famous tale of George Washington and the cherry tree is all about honesty (young George admitting, ‘I cannot tell a lie’), and here is Judy telling a whopping fib to try to get famous! Naturally, the cherry-pit scheme does not turn Judy into a star. Bit by bit, she is running out of tricks — and running closer to a much better idea.
What We Will Learn
Focus
What It Means
Irony
Judy tells a lie using a story about honesty
Myth vs. Fact
A famous legend that is not actually true
Another Failed Scheme
The hoax that doesn’t make her famous
Chapter Summary
Pages
Key Events
pp. 61–75
At the family garage sale, Judy tries to get famous by passing off an ordinary cherry pit as a genuine 200-year-old relic of George Washington’s cherry tree; the hoax fails, and Judy is running out of tricks
💭 Before You Read · Warm-Up (not scored)
There are no wrong answers here — just think, guess, and talk:
Judy uses the George Washington honesty story to tell a lie. Why is that funny — and a little sad?
The famous cherry-tree tale probably never really happened. Why do you think untrue stories sometimes become so famous?
Predict: Judy’s fame schemes keep failing. What kind of thing might finally work — and would it even be a ‘scheme’ at all?
Copyright Notice
This is an independent study guide created by Garden Heights Academy to support reading comprehension and literary analysis. It contains original analysis questions and does not reproduce any text from the novel. Judy Moody Gets Famous! is a work by Megan McDonald. This guide is not affiliated with, authorized by, or endorsed by the author or any associated rights holder.
Part 1
Vocabulary
Study 10 key words from pages 61–75, then answer each question.
🧠Knowledge Bank · Words of Truth & Trickery
Media Literacy · Myths & LegendsNot everything you hear is true. Everyone knows the tale of young George Washington chopping his father’s cherry tree and confessing because he could not tell a lie — and almost none of it happened. A biographer named Parson Weems invented the scene after Washington died, hoping it would teach children to be truthful. A made-up story that spreads until everybody believes it becomes a myth or legend. In an age of papers, television, and the internet, the useful habit is to ask where a claim came from and who first told it. Checking before you believe or share is what we mean by media literacy.
garage salen.p.61
A sale of used household items, often in a yard
“The family held a garage sale on Saturday.”
convincev.p.64
To make someone believe something
“Judy tried to convince buyers the pit was ancient.”
genuineadj.p.65
Real; truly what it is said to be
“The pit was not genuine; Judy made the story up.”
hoaxn.p.66
A trick meant to fool people into believing a lie
“The cherry-pit story was a complete hoax.”
antiquen.p.63
An object valuable because it is very old
“People at the sale hunted for a real antique.”
claimv.p.64
To say something is true without proof
“Judy claimed the pit was two hundred years old.”
doubtfuladj.p.68
Unsure; not believing something is true
“The buyers looked doubtful about her story.”
relicn.p.65
An object that has survived from long ago
“She said it was a relic from Washington’s tree.”
worthlessadj.p.70
Having no value at all
“In truth, the pit was worthless.”
ironyn.p.67
When what happens is the opposite of what fits
“There was irony in lying with an honesty story.”
1A ‘garage sale’ is —Pages 61–75
2To ‘convince’ is to —Pages 61–75
3Fill in each blank with the correct word.Pages 61–75
Word choices:hoaxironytruthgift- some words will not be used
The cherry-tree tale is a famous
Using a fake story for fame is pure .
4Something ‘genuine’ is —Pages 61–75
5To be ‘honest’ is to tell the truth.Pages 61–75
6An ‘antique’ is —Pages 61–75
7Fill in each blank with the correct word.Pages 61–75
Word choices:doubtfulworthlessprecioussure- some words will not be used
The buyers look ___ at Judy’s claim
The plain cherry pit is really .
8To ‘claim’ something is to —Pages 61–75
9A ‘relic’ is —Pages 61–75
10To ‘doubt’ something is to fully believe it.Pages 61–75
Part 2
Comprehension
How well do you understand pages 61–75?
🧠Knowledge Bank · Questioning What ‘Everybody Knows’
Reading Skill · Fact vs. OpinionA fact is something true that can be checked. ‘Water is wet’ is a fact. An opinion is what someone thinks or feels, like ‘Water is the best drink.’ Opinions can differ and still be fine. Good readers keep the two apart, especially when a story or a news report tries to tell them what to believe. Ask, ‘Can this be proved, or is it just what someone thinks?’ When Judy questions what ‘everybody knows,’ she is learning this very skill. Telling fact from opinion keeps your thinking clear and sharp.
1What event does the Moody family hold?Pages 61–75
2What does Judy try to pass off as valuable?Pages 61–75
3How old does Judy claim the cherry pit is?Pages 61–75
4The George Washington cherry-tree story is a made-up tale.Pages 61–75
5Write the numbers 1–5 in the boxes to show the correct order across Part 5. Number 1 = what happens first.Pages 61–75
Judy claims it came from George Washington’s cherry tree.
Judy tries to sell a cherry pit as a priceless relic.
Judy’s fame scheme flops once again.
The Moody family holds a garage sale.
Doubtful buyers refuse to believe her.
6The doubtful buyers do not believe Judy’s claim.Pages 61–75
Understanding HOW and WHY Megan McDonald tells the story across pages 61–75.
🧠Knowledge Bank · McDonald’s Word-Craft: A Delicious Irony
Language · Irony SpotlightIrony is a funny twist when what happens is the opposite of what you expect. You plan for one thing, and the very reverse comes true. Megan McDonald loves this playful surprise. Judy tries so hard to be famous in big, showy ways, yet fame does not come the way she plans. That gap between the wish and the result is irony, and it makes readers smile. Watch for these upside-down moments. Spotting irony helps you enjoy the writer’s clever jokes and see how a story loves to catch you by surprise.
📚 Literary Devices in This Part · definitions & examples
Irony is a contrast between what would fit and what actually happens — Judy tells a lie by using an honesty legend. Allusion appears again in the reference to the George Washington cherry-tree story. The irony quietly supports the theme: real fame, like real honesty, cannot be faked.
1Judy using a made-up famous story to get famous is a funny —Pages 61–75
2Irony is a surprising gap between what fits and what happens.Pages 61–75
3Fill in each blank with the correct word.Pages 61–75
Word choices:ironycontrastthemesetting- some words will not be used
Judy using a fake famous tale is rich with
The difference between the real facts and Judy’s claim is a .
4The gap between Judy’s grand claim and the plain truth is a sharp —Pages 61–75
5A theme is a big idea a story explores, like checking the truth.Pages 61–75
6Fill in each blank with the correct word.Pages 61–75
Word choices:themeironycontrastmood- some words will not be used
The idea that we should check facts before believing is a
Judy using a false story for fame is .
7That a famous story can still be false is the chapter’s —Pages 61–75
8Judy’s fake tale to win fame is full of —Pages 61–75
9Fill in each blank with the correct word.Pages 61–75
Word choices:ironycontrastthemeplot- some words will not be used
Using a false story to get famous is
The gap between claim and truth is a .
10The irony of the cherry-pit trick mainly makes the scene feel —Pages 61–75
Part 4
Think Deeper
Four deeper challenges — no single-word recall. Read, weigh the evidence, and reason it through.
🧠Knowledge Bank · You Can’t Fake the Real Thing
Ethics · AuthenticityYou can pretend for a little while, but not for long. Judy keeps trying to look famous instead of doing something that matters, and each trick fizzles within a day. There is a well-known saying that in modern life everyone gets about fifteen minutes of fame — attention arrives fast and leaves faster. What a person actually did tends to outlast the noise by years. Copying, fibbing, or showing off may fool a crowd briefly, yet it leaves you feeling hollow, because you know the truth. Real achievement grows from real work and real care. Being your own true self is far easier than guarding a fake.
1Claim: “Judy tries to fake her way to fame with the cherry pit.” — choose the two details that best prove it.Claim & Evidence
2Shows Judy’s dishonest shortcut, or just a detail of the scene? Tap each item to send it left or right.Sort into two
◄ A dishonest shortcutJust a detail ►
3Match each cause to its result. For each cause, pick its result.Cause & Effect
The family holds a garage sale→
She has an ordinary cherry pit→
She claims it is Washington’s→
The story is a fake→
4Fill both blanks to complete the reasoning.Build the Argument
Judy’s cherry-pit scheme shows that , which means that .
Part 5
Standardized Test
Myth vs. Fact & Inference — SAT & TOEFL-style practice
🎯 You already have the skills from the sections above — this is just a fun way to meet real SAT & TOEFL-style questions. Read the passage (the highlighted words are tested below), then answer the questions below. Tap an answer to select it, then tap it again to confirm — you can change your choice until you confirm.
Almost every American child knows the story: young George Washington chops down his father’s cherry tree, and when his father asks who did it, the boy bravely confesses, ‘I cannot tell a lie.’ It is a charming lesson in honesty — but here is a surprise: it almost certainly never happened. The tale does not appear anywhere during Washington’s life. It was invented by a writer named Parson Weems, who added it to a biography a few years after Washington died, hoping a memorable story would teach children to be truthful. Over time, the little tale was retold so often that people began to accept it as fact. This is how many myths are born: a good story, repeated again and again, slowly hardens into something people simply assume is true. Historians, whose job is to sort fact from fiction, look for real evidence — letters, records, eyewitness accounts — before believing a claim. The cherry-tree story reminds us of something important: a tale can be famous, beloved, and full of good advice, and still be entirely made up.
Original passage written for Garden Heights — not a quotation from the novel.
1What does the famous story say young George Washington did?TOEFL · Factual Information
2The surprising truth is that the story almost certainly never “happened,” meaning it —SAT · Words in Context
3Who created the cherry-tree story?TOEFL · Factual Information
4The story was “invented,” meaning it was —SAT · Words in Context
5Why did people come to accept the tale as “fact”?TOEFL · Factual Information
6The passage suggests a story can become famous even if it is —SAT · Inference
7What do historians look for before believing a claim?TOEFL · Factual Information
8“Evidence” is —SAT · Words in Context
9What can the reader infer is the passage’s main lesson?SAT · Inference
10This passage connects to the chapter because Judy —TOEFL · Rhetorical Purpose
Part 6 · Optional
Creative Writing
A bonus challenge to practice your English. Take your time and have fun with it.
About This Section
This writing task is optional and is not part of your auto-graded score. The feedback below checks only the basics — length, spelling, and grammar — not whether your ideas are right or wrong. It is meant for classroom discussion and creative practice, so feel free to use your imagination!
Writing Task — Part 5 “True or Just Famous?”
Judy learns a famous story can be untrue. Write about a time you found out that something ‘everybody knows’ was actually wrong — or write about why it matters to check whether a story is really true before believing it. Write at least 40 words.
You can start with: “Once I found out that something everyone believed was not really true…”
0 / 40 words minimum
🗣 Teach It · Just for Fun (optional)
No right or wrong — close the screen and tell someone nearby about Judy’s cherry-pit hoax and why it is so ironic. Can’t find anyone? Tell yourself out loud. The moment you teach it, you truly understand it.
Part 5 Complete!
You finished pages 61–75 of Judy Moody Gets Famous!.
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Your Writing
Your writing was checked automatically for length, spelling, grammar, and whether you included the key parts of the scene. Scroll back to Part 5 anytime to read your feedback and improve your work.
Independent study guide by Garden Heights Academy. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the author or any rights holders. Contains original analysis only; no text from the novel is reproduced.
