I just love the rising action in chapters nine through eleven. As they say...the plot thickens.
In chapter nine, Jeremy and Lizzy's task for the day is to return the book to Mrs. Billingsly. This is their first task, and they don't know what the purpose is so they read the contents of the letter to learn more. It turns out that Ozzy Oswald would pawn items for teenagers back in the day, and now Jeremy and Lizzy are asked to return the items to their owners. The book brings back memories for Mrs. Billingsly but Jeremy learns an important fact of life. Mrs. Billingsly could not have known the outcome of her actions...pawning the book to buy a dress. Yet choices are part of everyday life and who knows how they affect others down the road. And yet, we manage to live with all of them. Good or bad, they make us who we are.
In chapter ten, Jeremy and Lizzy learn more about the identity of Oswald Oswald, the grandfather who started the pawn business. I particularly like the way he would make the teenagers type their reasons on the typewriter to discourage all but the most determined children.
In chapter eleven, Jeremy and Lizzy return a lamp (a Tiffany, no less) to its original owner. Mr. Rudolph ends up being an eccentric guy who had pawned his mothers lamp to buy a watch, which was incredibly useful to him. He made a million dollars in the stock market, gave most of it away and now leads a simple life. It turns out that Mr. Rudolph practices meditation and has given a lot of thought to the meaning of life. He quotes a wise man's adage "We can count how many seeds are in the apple, but not how many apples are in the seed."
Nobody knows what the future holds. But you have to face life with a sense of adventure! I have always liked the saying, when life gives you lemons...make lemonade. Think of the times when something turned out different from what you expected. Was it a good surprise? If not, did you learn something?
This was a great book. Until my next blog entry...
Mrs. Grannemann
P.S. Chapter 9 made me want to reread The Tao of Pooh. If you've never read it...it's fun.
Andrea,
ReplyDeleteI love the Tao of Pooh! My sister used to carry it around when she was in college, and being 12 year old, I thought whatever anyone in college was doing had to be cool. So I snagged it from her and read it one summer. So worth getting in trouble for!
Your questions in the last paragraph got me thinking about some of the experiences I've had in my life that came from situations that did not seem good to begin with. Many times, it's not the place you find yourself in, but rather how you view that place that determines how you do. For example, I used to work in a restaurant while I was in high school washing dishes. When I started, I hated that job. I thought I should be a busboy, not a dishwasher. It turns out, at least in this restaurant, dishwasher also meant assistant chef, so I spent just as much time helping to cook as I did washing pots and pans. What came from that is that I learned to cook things that I never would have if I didn't take that dishwashing job. Now, I can cook just about anything.
Perspective...