The Library Card

By: Jerry Spinelli

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction

Age Range: 4th-6th grade. All four separate stories deal with growing up and changing but not in a physical way. Some have the main characters being made fun of, leaving everything they've known behind, giving up something they thought they couldn't live without, and not even having a home.

Plot: All four stories are different and not related. Each of the characters has it's own unique story of how reading books affected them positively. The first story is about Mongoose.  A young boy who began to steal and vandalize various spots in the city with his friend Weasel. He stumbles into the public library, begins reading, and cannot stop. The second story is of Brenda. A young girl who has becoming addicted to television. When the school and parents decide to participate in a television blackout, Brenda cannot seem to function. After a few days, she finds her old library card after years without using it. After days without television and now reading books, Brenda begins to change in a positive way. The third story tells about Sonseray. He lives with his Uncle Jack in an old Cadillac Elderado that they drive from town to town when they need to leave. Sonseray cannot seem to control his temper or actions. When Sonseray stumbles into a library and finds the book his mother wold read to him as a child, he finds peace in knowledge that he never made it up and that she was real. The fourth is about April. Her family moves from News York City to a mushroom farm. She hates everything about it. They worst part is she cannot find a library. That is until, she stumbles upon the book mobile. In it she meets Nanette, a teenage girl hijacking the bus to get to her fiance. By the end of the trip, April gives Nanette to her address and they begin to write each other letters becoming the best of friends.

Characters: Mongoose, Weasel, the Masked Man, Brenda, Brenda's Mom and Dad, Sonseray, Uncle Jack, Edwina, April, Nanette, and the driver of the bookmobile.

Setting: First story is in the city, second in a suburban community, third in a city, fourth in a rural community.

Theme: Books have different affects on different people. They mean more than just knowledge.

Illustrations: None