The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall

Title: The Seventh Most Important Thing

Author: Shelley Pearsall

Pages: 278

Finished: January 27, 2017

First Sentence: On a bitter November day in Washington, D.C., when everything felt metallic--when the sky was gray and the wind stung and the dry leaves were making death-rattle sounds in the alleys--thirteen-year-old Arthur Owens picked up a brick from the corner of a crumbling building and threw it at an old man's head.

Summary: Arthur is very angry about his father's death. Especially teh fact that his mother has thrown out all his mother's thing. Which is why, when he sees the local junk man wearing his father's old hat, Arthur throws a brick at the old man's head. This lands him a trip to juvie, but the junk man requests his help as community service. Through community service, Arthur learns a lot about dealing with his own emotions and caring for other people.

Thoughts: This wasn't horrible. It was a fairly quick read. But I did almost throw it against the wall when the vice principal refused to believe anything Arthur said because he was a "bad kid." So many people are that way in the real world, refusing to look at the deeper meanings. (You see it often in disciplining kids. We discipline the act without even looking into why the act happened or trying to solve the root cause.) I also get that this happened in 1963, so things were even worse.

I liked how Arthur grew as a person too. I don't know who I'd recommend this for, but anyone who likes historical fiction set in the 60s would probably appreciate it.

Read for the Rebecca Caudill Challenge.