42 pages • 1 hour read
Richard PeckA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Grandma meets Joey and Mary Alice at the train station. She is also there to see off an old friend who is leaving because she can no longer afford her house. This summer, Joey has his eye on a Terraplane 8 car in town, but he cannot afford driving lessons. One night, they see Dracula at the movie night in the park, and the walk home in the dark spooks them all. Mary Alice asks whether vampires exist, which prompts Grandma to reflect that movies prove how gullible people are, for they “[m]ake something seem real, and people will believe it” (107). Grandma sends Joey and Mary Alice into the attic to find items to donate to a church rummage sale. Later, they attend the rummage sale, where they contribute an old hat and a quilt. Both items appear to be the property of Abraham Lincoln, and Grandma makes $17 for them.
A rumor arises that claims that the items came from the foreclosed house of Grandma’s friend. This development causes trouble for the town’s banker. He is supposed to clear the land on which the house is built, but if the items originated there, the house must be designated a historical building that cannot be destroyed.
By Richard Peck
7th-8th Grade Historical Fiction
View Collection
Juvenile Literature
View Collection
Laugh-out-Loud Books
View Collection
Memory
View Collection
National Book Awards Winners & Finalists
View Collection
Newbery Medal & Honor Books
View Collection
School Book List Titles
View Collection
Truth & Lies
View Collection