Originally I had planned to read a book I purchased at Half Price Books over the break, but I can be forgetful and left the book on the kitchen table when I left for work this morning. I could have said “Oh well, I’ll just read when I get home…” but I don’t allow my students to do this so I shouldn’t get a pass either. Instead, I did what I tell all my students, I got another book to read in the meantime. Sitting on my classroom shelves are plenty of books so I picked up an interesting title and did not allow myself to read the back of the book. I wasn’t going to allow myself any chances to skip out on reading including the age-old excuse “I don’t know what to read.” I hear that often enough out of the underclassmen because they’ll read the book synopsis and put it back because it is “boring.” I have done this in my past and missed out on books that were really extraordinary and had to find them years later to read as they became major motion pictures. Nikola Tesla was a man of science, with wondrous ideas and has only in recent years gained recognition for his works posthumously by society. Yet this book did not scream of historical fiction but rather fiction or science-fiction, a genre I find difficult to immerse myself into, so I thought why not use this time to challenge myself as well.
During our 45-minute class today I was able to complete the first two chapters of the story; I have to say I didn’t want to put it down but alas I did have other classes to teach and papers to grade and plan to resume reading after I’ve completed this post.
Right away we are introduced to our main character Nick Slate, his younger brother Danny, and their father through a mishap of an old toaster falling on Nick resulting in a rush to the ER and 4 stitches. As the exposition pulls us in we learn these three have moved into the decaying remains of a Victorian home once owned by Great-aunt Greta who had left it to the Slates in her will. We also learn they are on their own after a fire took not just the home in Florida (prompting the move to Colorado along with the will) but the boys’ mother as well. Nick is determined to help his father and brother continue on even with his mother’s untimely passing and to make the most of their new home. Upon returning from the hospital Nick thought to return the old toaster to the attic it fell out off. His dad said he could have any room in the house as his bedroom and looking at the sizeable attic Nick felt that it offered potential if only it weren’t so full of junk. The Slates hold a garage sale to earn a little money and to clear out the attic but the garage sale is successful beyond what they could have hoped for, almost as if the townspeople were hypnotized into attending and overpaying for their broken worn out items. Two of these customers are students at Nick’s new school, Caitlin, a popular (yet weird and artsy) cheerleader, and Mitch Murló, a less than popular Irish-Hispanic 8th grader who can hold a conversation with himself by talking so much.
By the end of chapter two Nick seems to have found what drew such enthusiastic people to the sale and as he is cleaning up while his father and brother are out to buy dinner he is approached by four men who scrape together the last broken remains of the attic wares and pay for them with $50 and a business card with instructions to contact them if anyone decides they’d rather return the old junk.
Picnic with a Book 