Kristy's Big Day (GN#6)

Original Publication Date: 2018

Ghostwriter? No, the text copyright is for Ann M. Martin.

Illustrator: Gale Galligan

Synopsis:

Not a ton of difference between this and the original version. There is a mention that Watson's parents are very religious and he doesn't want to upset them, so moving in together before being married isn't an option. "Morbidda Destiny" shows up a bit later, and Dawn is the one who stops Karen from yelling about magics clashing, and Karen briefly treats her neighbor like a human being.

Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: She searches for Ring Dings but can't find them


Their Families:

Watson's house

Nannie and her Pink Clinker

Watson's parents seem uncomfortable with talk of magic as well as living together before marriage (although Elizabeth and Watson could have stayed in separate rooms!)

The Brewer/Watson family

The Club (and clients):

Six-member club

SMS:

End-of-the-year school dance

PSA Time:

Walkers are not recommended by the American Pediatric Association--too big a risk of falls.


Misc:

Galligan dedicates this to "Max, William, Durinn, Nate, and Lily. And for Patrick, who is much older than these cool babies, but still manages to have a good time."

The wedding

Karen causing a scene

Kristy's wedding present to her mother and Watson

Dawn and the Impossible Three (GN#5)

Original Publication Date: 2017

Ghostwriter? No, the text copyright is for Ann M. Martin.

Illustrator: Gale Galligan (praise for Galligan's work from previous illustrator Raina Telgemeier is prominently displayed on the cover)

Synopsis:

The plot is almost exactly like the original version of Dawn and the Impossible Three, but includes parts of Hello, Mallory in the form of Mallory joining as a junior member (Jessi is not in the graphic novel),


Established or continued in this book:

The Girls (and Logan):

Claudia candy: Gummi worms

Mary Anne's redecorated room (in chocolate brown and green instead of navy and yellow)

Their Families:

Scatter-brained Sharon

Dawn and Jeff eating their organic pizza (Dawn specifically asks Jeff if he wants "organic pizza")

The Bizzer Sign

Dawn's grandparents seeing Richard for the first time in years

The Club (and clients):

Five-member club

Mallory describes how Nicky broke his finger

Mallory's first meeting and the infamous test. She stands up for herself better here.

Mallory saving Marnie from the chocolate brownie

Mallory joins as a junior member

The Barretts' house before Dawn

The Puddle Walk (I've always loved this idea)

SMS:

SMS lunchroom (Dawn, Mary Anne, and Kristy are eating with the Shillaber twins)

PSA Time:

Yay, Dawn's wearing a helmet! I know they were less the norm when the books were published (thirty years ago!) but with an uncle who's not only into outdoor sports but also an ER doctor, I'm glad Galligan put this detail in.

Misc:

Martin dedicates this book to her aunt Dot. Galligan gives "eternal thanks to Mom, Dad, Lori, AMM, Raina Telgemeier, Cassandra Pelham, David Saylor, David Leviathan, Phil Falco, Sheila Marie Everett, Braden Lamb, John Green, Dave Roman, Rachel Young, Ngozi Ukazu, Dave Valeza, and all my beloved friends, family, and grads. [line break] And to Patrick, who gets his very own line because he is my favorite boy."

I really hope the release of this and Kristy's Big Day means we'll get at least the first ten books as graphic novels. I'd love to see The Ghost at Dawn's House in this format. Maybe some of the more memorable books or Super Specials so we can see Jessi, Logan, Shannon, and Abby!

The Show Stopper

Published in 2018; author Mary Casanova; illustrators Julie Kolesova and Kirsty Pargeter

Plot

Using her charm and self-confidence and a connection provided by her older cousin Michael, Rebecca is able to get herself and her cousin Ana a gig working at a Broadway theater--sort of. They play the parts of farm workers at a themed restaurant that holds dinner theater. But Rebecca's thrilled with this because she ends up being tasked with taking a daily glass of fresh milk to Olivia "Ollie" Barry, an up and coming actress (who Rebecca's boss thinks is a diva).

During rehearsals, Ollie starts finding herself in untenable situations. It really seems like someone is out to at least sabotage her career, if not actually hurt her.  Rebecca and Ana are able to investigate pretty well, having access to a lot of behind-the-scenes areas. Who could it be? Rebecca and Ana's boss, who seems jealous of Ollie not only for her stardom but for dating her ex? The play's director, who's always short with her? For a while, Rebecca and Ana are even suspects, when Ollie is given milk tainted with rat poison.

After a few false leads and some lucky breaks, Rebecca realizes the real culprit: Mr. O'Hara, the set painter Michael was hired to help. He's known Ollie for years, and knows her secret. They're both Irish immigrants, but Ollie has worked hard to suppress her accent to avoid the prejudice so many in the 1920s have against the Irish. O'Hara wants to keep Ollie from catching too big of a break, believing that if she remembers her roots she'll fall in love with him. Never mind that she's already in a serious relationship! Still perfectly fine to endanger her because you pine for her. (sarcasm)

Misc

Dedicated to "Lucia and all who love the stage."

I like that the book touches on Rebecca and Ana feeling conflicted over working on the Sabbath, especially because their Sabbath is different from the majority's (Saturday vs Sunday). There's discussion of the religious observance vs practicality. Rebecca's father keeps his shoe store open on Saturdays because he can't afford to lose the business he'll do that day.

In a book about racial, ethnic, and national stereotypes, I was a little disappointed to see the main Irish character drinking on the job, and the Jewish theater owner being stingy.

The theater owner's last name is Hammerstein. A reference to Rodgers and Hammerstein?

Girl of the Year 2018: Luciana out of This World

Published: 2018. Author: Erin Teagan. Illustrator: Suzanne LaGasa

Summary

Luci is excited to be able to visit her cousins in Chile, and introduce them to her new sister Izzy. She can hardly wait to settle into her old routines with her extended family. But when she arrives, she finds that her cousins have bonded more with each other and are too busy for their usual antics. They don't cut her out completely, but they have their own private jokes that she doesn't get because she lives so far away, and one evening they're all going to spend the night at a friend's house without her; that sort of thing. So when Claire shows up with an opportunity to spend 36 hours in the Atacama Desert observing real astronaut training, Luci decides to go. She's still not quite sold on Claire's trustworthiness, but she figures seeing her dream job in person instead of feeling ignored by her cousins is worth the risk.

The astronaut training is incredible. But Luci is still a pre-teen, and when she impulsively tries to help with some samples, she accidentally contaminates them. The astronauts have to head back out to the sample site again, leaving Luci and Claire on their own in the desert habitat (because, as so often happens, Claire's father had to leave to attend to business). Luci is still trying to make the best of things (the astronauts-in-training were very understanding), but Claire is in a funk, missing her dad.

Suddenly, none of that seems important. There's a huge earthquake. Luci ends up trapped under a piece of furniture. Claire helps her out, but has a head wound herself. And there's a fire in part of the habitat. The girls are able to put it out and keep themselves safe during the hours it takes for the astronauts-in-training and Claire's father to return.

Claire and her father take Luci home before heading to a hospital to get Claire evaluated (at one point Luci had a hurt arm but that kinda just...doesn't go anywhere). Luci learns that her grandmother's house, so full of memories, is damaged beyond repair. In talking with one of her cousins about how to help their grandmother, Luci realizes she never bothered to ask her cousins what was happening in their lives. She was too busy talking about her own. That's why she felt left out. Working together, the cousins set up a family party with sentimental things from their grandmother's house, creating new memories together.


Misc

Dedicated to Kaelyn, Olivia, Kaia, and Addison.

Luci is awakened by doves cooing. When I lived in Honolulu, zebra doves were the first thing I heard every morning.

Luci and Izzy are bilingual, speaking Spanish at home and English in public.

Head wounds always bleed a lot because of how many blood vessels are in the head. While you should get big cuts looked at, it might not be as bad as it looks.

It's perfectly fine, and even recommended, to sleep if you're concussed. Provided you can hold a conversation and have no other neurological symptoms like sudden trouble walking or dilated pupils, it's not dangerous to sleep. You need cognitive rest as well as physical rest too; don't strain your brain. (Of course, seek medical attention when you can.)

It might be too late for Claire to get stitches. You typically have six to eight hours after an injury. Some injuries that need further treatment can get stitches up to 24 hours later.

Chile had an 8.8 earthquake for real, in 2010. More than 500 people died.

The strongest earthquake ever recorded was in Chile. May 22, 1960, southern Chile was hit with a 9.5 earthquake.

Girl of the Year 2018: Luciana Braving the Deep

Published: 2018. Author: Erin Teagan. Illustrator: Suzanne LaGasa

Summary

Luci is about to embark on another adventure. She and Ella are two of six kids selected for a youth astronaut training camp on the Atlantic coast. Like the last time she was preparing for being the first girl on Mars, her sister Izzy will be dealing with her own things. Izzy will be undergoing heart surgery to correct her birth defect. Luci's parents promise to keep her posted while she's away at her once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

At the camp, Luci and Ella learn that the six kids will be competing to see which three of them will spend time in an underwater habitat known as Cetus. They will need to show that they can perform certain tasks and demonstrate that they can safely dive and work with scuba gear. Luci is sure that one participant, Claire, will be a shoe-in. Her father is a famous entrepreneur, and has done work to help astronauts on the International Space Station. Claire tells Luci how she's gone with her father to various exotic locations and been able to try many skills most people never have a chance to. Luci is impressed, and Ella is even a bit star-struck.

The veneer wears off quickly for Luci. She notices holes in Claire's stories, like how she'll say "I did X! Well, almost. I got to see someone else do it." Ella is having trouble with part of the swimming skills test, and Claire offers to help her improve. But when Claire is timing Ella (she has to tread water for a set time), Claire drops the stopwatch, invalidating the time. Luci thinks it was on purpose, to knock Ella out of the competition. Ella thinks Luci didn't learn her lesson about being suspicious from Space Camp, but Luci just can't shake the feeling that something's wrong. During another skills test, Claire leaves Luci stranded underwater. Luci is able to get out, but she could have drowned. She's understandably scared and mad. Claire tries to play it off as an accident (which was a bad enough mistake), but she soon admits she was so wrapped up thinking only of herself that she was able to justify her decision. She also admits to dropping the stopwatch on purpose.

The camp directors take Claire out of the running for Cetus, but don't send her home. For one, they want everyone to learn about teamwork when you can't just leave, like in space. And also...Claire's dad is away and no one else can pick her up. Claire does apologize, but no one blames the other kids for being a bit distant from her. In the end, Luci and Ella are chosen to go down to Cetus along with a boy named Thomas. As she enters the airlock below the water, Luci ends up having a panic attack. Claire redeems herself some by talking her through it (over a radio). Luci is able to complete the underwater mission, learning while she's down there that Izzy's surgery was a success.


Misc

Dedicated to Meredith, Mikaela, Sofia, and Molly.

Claire's father, Lance Jacobs, seems to be an expy of Elon Musk, at least in terms of innovation. I don't know enough about his personal life to know how he might be as a father. Lance Jacobs is usually too busy to spend time with her daughter, and since Claire's mother is dead, she gets shuttled off to nannies and camps a lot.

I wish there had been more about Luci and her family getting to know Izzy after the adoption.

Here is a website for spotting the International Space Station: NASA.

Girl of the Year 2018: Luciana

Published: 2018. Author: Erin Teagan. Illustrator: Suzanne LaGasa

Summary

Eleven-year-old Luciana "Luci" Vega is a girl with a mission: she wants to be the first girl on Mars ("girl" specifically, not woman or person). She's just won a scholarship to Space Camp, and couldn't be more excited. She's intimidated at first, because several of her camp mates know each other well--they're members of the same extended family. They also did the preparatory reading and some have been to camp before, so they have a better idea of what to expect than Luci does.

But Luci catches on quickly, determined to get the most out of her experience. She settles in nicely, aside from rubbing one girl, Ella, the wrong way. Ella gets called out by her cousins for being too much of a stickler. However, when Luci is made leader of a team and seriously screws up (she suspects another team of sabotage and ends up disqualifying her team), she has to admit Ella may have had a point about thinking things through and not being impulsive. Luci rallies her team, which ends up still creating a submission that would have done well in the competition, and helping the team that she suspected of sabotage. Her team gets recognition for creativity and for accepting responsibility and making amends.

In Luci's defense, she has reason to be distracted. Her parents are working to adopt a toddler from their home country of Chile, Isadora. While Luci's at Space Camp, Izzy goes missing from the orphanage. Luci's grandmother in Chile is able to locate her--in a hospital being evaluated for a heart defect. Things get pretty tense with Luci and her parents not knowing the severity of the defect or the toddler's prognosis. But as Space Camp draws to a close, they learn that Izzy's heart defect is serious, but not so much that they can't continue with the adoption. Luci is a big sister!


Misc

Dedicated to Jaeda.

Luci and her family live in Virginia. Space Camp is in Houston, TX.

Luci and her best friend Raelyn were playing with hair dye and put a purple streak in Luci's hair. She says that her parents don't mind her creativity, but prefer "less permanent" changes. Granted, I don't do much with hair dye, but how permanent is purple in  dark brown or black hair? It would be pretty simply to get it dark again, right? The hair itself might be damaged from the bleaching required for the purple to show up, but a streak of purple doesn't seem that big of a deal to me. Then again, her parents don't care that much so I'm probably overthinking this.

Speaking of Raelyn, she's not really present in any of Luci's books, since they all take place away from her home.

Luci gets to sample some dehydrated astronaut food. I remember getting it at the Seattle Science Center. The ice cream was good; the scrambled eggs were awful.

There are a lot of good charities for children with heart conditions. One I especially like is Little Hats Big Hearts, which distributes hats to newborns to help people learn about the signs and impacts of congenital heart defects.

Chances and Changes: My Journey with Molly

Published in 2016; author Valerie Tripp; illustrators Julie Kolesova and Michael Dwornik

"My Journey" books

These are choose-your-own adventure books written from a first person perspective. Just for ease, I'm going to always pick the first option when I come them, but I'll try to mention the other possible endings. Since the reader is meant to insert herself into the story, most of the the main characters (a modern-day pre-teen) aren't named. Since it would sound to weird to me to summarize the story as, "and then (Historical Characters) and I saw a..." I've been using the author's first name, but in this book we find out the main character's name is Margaret in the first sentence.

Plot

Margaret is excited about the foal her best friend's horse is about to have, and wants to help Bea pick the perfect name. Bea gently points out how difficult it is for Margaret to ever make up her mind, which she has to admit is true. And it's not long before she's faced with another choice: she's offered a scholarship to an eight-week summer music camp. It's an incredible opportunity, but it would mean missing out on time helping raise the foal with Bea (who is homeschooled, unlike Margaret who goes to public school; they don't see each other often). The foal is born the next day. Bea thinks Margaret should stay home, but Margaret's grandmother thinks she should go to camp. Margaret walks into the woods to think. By an abandoned staircase, she spies a pin, a gold bar with three red stones and one white one. She picks it up and rubs some dirt off the white stone, and is suddenly somewhere else.

Margaret is at a summer camp. She finds out because almost immediately upon her arrival in the past, a girl named Molly introduces herself. When Molly dashes off to find her friend Linda (she assumes Margaret is a new camper, and wants to help her feel welcomed), Margaret rubs the white stone again and is back in the present. Realizing how it works, she takes advantage of this opportunity to try something new and returns to the camp. There she meets Linda, and in the course of conversation realizes she's in the past (President Truman, World War II ending, President Roosevelt having died recently). Molly and Linda explain there's an empty bed in their tent which Margaret is welcome to. They assume her trunk is delayed, and plan to raid the lost and found for a swimsuit, pajamas, and other things Margaret will need. On the way to the tent, Molly's dad drives up with something she left in the car. Margaret can tell there's something amiss about the relationship between Molly and her dad, but she's not sure what. Molly and Linda tell Margaret about camp, and how soon they can either go on a two-night hike or stay at the main camp to enjoy activities.

First choice: hike or stay

The girls prepare for the hike, and get to know each other a little bit as they trek through the woods. Molly brings up how her dad has suggested a summer fishing trip, carrying on a tradition he had with his dad. Molly is undecided, in part because of her fear of drowning and also because it would interfere with being in the school band. Margaret sympathizes; she has a similar tough decision between disappointing her grandmother (staying with the foal) or Bea (music camp). Linda brings up last summer's camp and how even though she and Molly were on opposing sides for the Color War and Molly dumped worms on her, she got past it. She's sure that whatever Molly and Margaret decided, the people who love them will understand and not be mad. Margaret decides Linda must be right. Now she has to decide whether return home or stay the night in the woods.

Second choice: home or woods

Margaret makes an excuse to head back to camp and home, thanking Molly and Linda for the friendship they've shown her. She returns to the present, ready to tell Bea that she's going to music camp. She knows Bea will understand, maybe not right away, but in time.

And since that was super short, here's what can happen if Margaret stays to camp overnight in the woods:

The next morning, everyone gets ready to continue the hike. Just before they set out, Margaret drops her pin! She frantically searches while Molly and Linda wait with her. She finds it, but it's taken just long enough that they're not sure whether everyone else took the uphill trail or the downhill trail (why they couldn't yell ahead for them to wait I don't know). Molly thinks they should go up; Linda down. And they have to decide fast: it's just started to pour.

Next choice: up or down

As the girls trudge uphill, Molly talks about how while she's thrilled her father is home safe, it's difficult to adjust to his being home after he was gone for three years. As they talk, Margaret thinks of a way for Molly to still be in the band. Her father suggested the fishing trip so they could spend time together; what if he helps with the band? That way Molly can do what she has her heart set on and she gets time with her dad. Suddenly, they hear something moving through the woods.

Next choice: find out what the noise is, or run

It's a cow! Margaret knows quite a bit about cows; Bea lives on a farm. She deduces that the cow is lost, and they should help guide it home. They get it to a nearby farm, and the farmer is grateful. He gives them directions back to camp, calls to let the people in charge know the girls are safe, and gives them some ice cream made from the cow's milk as thanks. Soon after, Margaret returns to the present, and goes to tell Bea that she's staying for the summer to help raise the foal.


Misc

Dedicated to Beverly Dawson and Barbara Peck Rothrock, with gratitude for [their] help.

This book seems to be set the summer after Molly Saves the Day, but Molly had already overcome her fear of drowning then. And it's definitely set after Molly Marches On; that was the first time at summer camp (possibly the same camp as Molly Saves the Day). In that one, they're not too young for the hike, Molly and Susan just get lost because Molly thinks she knows more than she does. And where is Susan, anyway? She's not even mentioned.

Margaret lives with her grandmother at a ranger station. Her parents died when she was young. The cause isn't mentioned, and it seems she was old enough that she remembers them at least a little.

The foal is named Moon Shadow.

Linda mentions V-E Day, Victory in Europe Day, the anniversary of which is tomorrow (May 8).

The first twenty-three pages are without choices, just setting up the story. But with every scene change, it's "Turn to page 4/8/13/etc." which are all just the next pages. I don't get why the editors didn't just save those directions for when the readers makes a decision and has to pick page 43 or 58, for example.

There are so many fish-related puns.

Not only did Europe have to ration more than the US during WWII, the rationing lasted for several years after while the land recovered from the fighting.

Two of the possible endings are online. If I were to buy a copy of this book (I got it from the library; I pretty much only buy the main story books) I'd print out that part in case the website is unavailable in the future or I wanted to read it somewhere without internet access.

Other possible endings: staying at camp and helping Molly practice for the swimming competition can help Molly overcome her fears about drowning and inadvertently spark some jealousy in Linda which can be resolved or run away from using time travel; staying helps Margaret get over her own jealous feelings toward her grandmother's new hired hand; admitting homesickness to Molly and Linda prompts them to show her the horses on the neighboring (no pun intended) farm which reminds her more about the decision she needs to make in the present, she either chooses raising the foal and her grandmother understands not wanting to miss out and her not being ready to be away for so long, or she chooses music camp and Bea understands and promises to send daily updates on Moon Shadow; finding a raspberry bush at camp leads to Margaret learning about rationing; running from what turns out to be a cow results in the girls being on a hilltop that Margaret recognizes, and from there she leads them to the pond the other hikers were heading to; going downhill leads to them finding an injured dog; treating its wounds and getting it unstuck leads to them waiting in one spot to be found, after which Margaret decides to stay home to raise the foal; staying with dog means they discover it belongs to a young German POW; alerting the POW guards to him teaches Margaret about responsibility and forgiveness and she decides to go to music camp, which Bea understands; letting the POW sneak back in unnoticed (in the other choice he just gets extra KP and restrictions, nothing awful) also teaches her about forgiveness and getting to know people before judging them which inspires her to be kinder to the hired hand.

The Legend of the Shark Goddess

Published in 2018; author Erin Falligant; illustrators David Roth and Julie Kolesova

Plot

There are so many rules to follow in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attacks. It's hard, but Nanea does her best. She wants the war to be over as soon as possible, so that her Army brother can be safe and life can go back to normal. So it's especially frustrating when a boy named Mano starts hanging around her grandparents' shop bragging about flaunting the rules. Nanea thinks he's stealing things to sell on the black market. But her grandparents keep finding jobs for him! How can the help someone so shady?

The only person who seems to be on Nanea's side about Mano is her friend Lily. Everyone else is bending over backward to accommodate Mano, but Lily shares Nanea's suspicions. When trying to find out more about him after her grandfather's special watch and Lily's father's knife goes missing, the girls discover that Lily's own brother Gene may be hiding something.

Shortly after, Nanea's dog Mele runs off and Mano finds him. Nanea wonders if she might have misjudged him. She doubts it, but thinking back on when little things have gone missing, she also remembers that the soldier staying with her grandparents, nicknamed Jinx, was around too. And her own sister seems to be hiding something. Mary Lou, Gene, Jinx, Mano...are any of them behind the missing watch and knife (and other items)? The plot thickens when she sees Mano and Jinx trade a paper bag for the watch!

Nanea confronts Jinx. He explains that Mano knows someone who could fix the broken watch band, and the watch is being returned. He also mentions taking Gene to some top-secret job at Pearl Harbor. Nanea is relieved someone is being honest, but she has even more questions now, like whether Gene's job is even legal. One is resolved when she finds out that her sister has been writing to a boy she knows who enlisted--her secrecy is due to her long-distance relationship.

 And soon other secrets come out. Gene can't tell anyone the specifics of his job, but it's honest work, and he's being well-compensated. Mano isn't stealing; he's been trading with Nanea's grandparents for food. He's the oldest of several boys living together in a bomb shelter, boys whose parents are dead or being held at internment camps. He catches fresh fish for the market, and his other boasts are exaggerations. Even Lily's father finds his knife: Lily's toddler brother hid it. Nanea learns to have more trust and less suspicion.

Inside Nanea's World

The Red Hill facility still exists today. During World War II, it was critical and top-secret. While still important today, it's staffed by only four people. Hawaii residents know about it, but access is restricted  .

Misc

Dedicated to "my brother, born on Pearl Harbor Day, and my grandfather, who bravely fought in the war."

The titular Legend of the Shark Goddess is a reference to a story Nanea's grandmother tells her, which she thinks of when dealing with Mano. It's really not that big a part of the plot, but I guess the title sounded cool?

It's little surprise that Nanea's grandfather thought he heard zebra doves. They're all over Oahu!

Um...oops. Nanea is thinking about banana splits, and that she feels like "a banana, split in two." She's half Hawaiian. "Banana" is sometimes used as a derogatory term for an Asian or Pacific Islander who "acts white" (yellow outside, white inside). Aside from being a clunky metaphor, it's kinda awkward to have her describe herself as a banana.

Why wouldn't Nanea's grandparents ever mention, even in passing, about the fish? "Oh, Mano's here with his catch." "Mano is such a good fisherman; maybe he'd be good at some odd jobs around the neighborhood." Especially when Nanea expresses her concern to her grandparents--they didn't need to be so cagey about it.

Menace at Mammoth Cave

Published in 2018; author Mary Casanova; illustrators David Roth and Julie Kolesova

Plot

Kit and her Aunt Millie are visiting Kit's older brother Charlie where he works at Mammoth Springs (he's in the Civilian Conservation Corps, one of the programs started to ease the effects of the Depression). Part of Charlie's job includes tearing down houses sold to the government, because they're now part of the Mammoth Caves park property thanks to eminent domain. Some of the former owners were less than pleased. Kit sees a burned building, which Charlie says was the work of an arsonist. Charlie also finds a venomous copperhead snake hidden in his footlocker, clearly on purpose. It's evident someone is angry with the CCC.

One family impacted by Charlie's work is that of Aunt Millie's friend, Pearl Thatcher. She and her family, which includes her frail ninety-three-year-old mother-in-law, have three weeks to leave the farm they've been living on for decades, which is so well-run and and self-sufficient that's it's been Depression-proof. Kit learns more about the soon-to-be-former residents of the land through Benny, who's been giving tours of the caves his whole life but will soon be forced to move. It's especially hard for his family, because they've been renting their land rather than owning so they won't get any money when the leave, and because Benny's great-great-grandfather, a slave, was integral in discovering the cave system. During a (segregated) church service, one member delivers an impassioned speech about resisting the government's mandate to move. It seems there are a lot of angry people who might take their frustrations out on the CCC workers.

Kit gets a chance to visit Charlie one day, and just as she's talking with him about her worries that he might be in danger, a work truck goes up in flames. A few nights later, there's a fire in the woods near the Thatchers' house, threatening to burn it or their neighbors' houses down. Kit splits her time between working the fireman brigade effort and watching over the elderly Mrs. Thatcher (her granddaughter, Dorothy Ann, watches her at other times). While with Mrs. Thatcher, Kit discovers a sack of matches and turpentine-soaked rags hidden behind some curtains--the arsonist's tools. There's no one to inform though; everyone's away fighting the fire. Kit eventually falls asleep. She rouses in the morning, still alone, and finds Mrs. Thatcher has passed away in the night.

A park ranger arrives just as the family finds out about their matriarch's passing, just in time to hear Dorothy Ann confess to start last night's fire: Mrs. Thatcher had made her promise to let her be able to die in the home where she was born. Dorothy started only the one fire to try to delay her family's eviction, not realizing how it would spread and how dangerous it could be. The ranger informs the family that their church (on park grounds) will be staying, so the grandmother can be buried in its cemetery...and that as penance, Dorothy Ann is to knit warm wool socks for every worker. As another person confessed to the first fire, he knows she wasn't responsible. Relieved to not have a prison sentence, she agrees. Her parents also let her know that they've found a farm a few miles away to move to.

As Kit gets ready to leave, she realizes how the snake got into Charlie's footlocker: he left his wet boots outside to dry in the sun, the snake crawled in, and he brought his boots inside. In turn, Charlie tells Kit the incident with the truck was a mechanical failure, not sabotage. With the mystery solved, Kit and Aunt Millie board the train back to Cincinnati--with a kitten each, a gift from their new friends in Kentucky.

Inside Kit's World

The Civilian Conservation Corps was hugely important to the development of our national parks system, building trails and lodges, maintaining the environment, and making sure the lands would be preserved for future generations to enjoy.


Misc

Dedicated to Winnie and Vivian, "and all who pursue life with courage and curiosity."

We watched a neighbors' house while they went on a vacation that include a trip to Mammoth Caves. They gave me a piece of iron pyrite (fools' gold) from there.

I like how Kit isn't quite used to the more formal way people in the South speak, reminding herself to say "sir" and "ma'am" and feeling more comfortable asking people to call her by her first name rather than using honorifics. It's an accurate representation of how two people with different versions of "polite" interact.

Venomous animals inject their toxins purposely, typically by biting. Poison is toxin that has to be touched or ingested (e.g.; touching a poison dart frog or eating hemlock). While an animal can be both, like the slow loris which rubs toxins secreted from its elbows on its fur (poisonous) and licks the toxins to deliver a deadly bite (venomous), venomous and poisonous are not synonymous.

Calico cats are almost always female.

Kit keeps excusing Charlie's working for the CCC to the residents as "doing as he's told" or "doing his job." In about ten years, "following orders" isn't going to be a good excuse...

Dorothy Ann is 16 and her grandmother is 93. That's a big age gap, 77 years. Her brother is a little older. My grandmothers were 51 and 65 years older than I, and I wasn't the first grandchild on either side.

While it's true that elderly people can get confusion from dementia, senility, and other age-related memory problems, a sudden onset can also be caused by a urinary tract infection.

There really is a church with a cemetery in Mammoth Caves National Park.

The CCC didn't just work on national parks--there's a bench at St. Edward State Park (in Kirkland, WA) engraved with the CCC's logo.