Jeremy Fink: A box of rocks?

Would you ever expect a box of rocks to be special? In Jeremy Fink's life, the box was an amazing mystery to be solved before he turned 13. Each rock represented a different experience from Jeremy's Dad's life. For example, Rock # 8 was "from the cemetery at my father's funeral, 23." I believe Jeremy changed a lot from the beginning of the story. Jeremy was afraid of almost everything. His friend, Lizzy, was not afraid of anything! On a bus trip into the city, they had to lie about going to the flea market all by themselves. He was so scared that he would get in big trouble. At the end of the story, Jeremy was more confident because he did community service and performed in a talent show all by himself. Jeremy said, "Never in a million years did I think I could have hula-hooped in a grass skirt in a talent show. I wonder what else I could do that I never thought I could." Once, I had to perform Irish dancing in front of over 200 people at my Mom's school for International Night. I was nervous because I had not danced in a year. All the eyes were staring at me! But once I started, it wasn't so bad. I did a pretty good job, and everyone clapped and cheered. So I know how Jeremy felt. Does anyone else ever feel nervous performing in front of a crowd like Jeremy and I did?