A well known short story by a New Zealand author, "The Fat Boy" by Owen Marshall always creates debate and discussion with high school students of all levels.

The story of a town that blames all its ills on an imaginary "fat boy" the story can be used with several different grade levels and ability levels.

This file contains the complete short story, two vocabulary activities (definition from dictionary and from context), a cloze reading activity (ready to print), a fun and creative activity for creating a "Wanted Poster" for the fat boy, and lastly several study questions that range from short answer to more indepth questions that require thoughtful and considered answers.