about the book
Of all the juvenile delinquents waiting for their sentencing, Arthur T. Owens is the youngest and the best dressed. At thirteen, he is slender, pale, and moody-looking—not what people thought a boy-who-threw-a-brick-at-an-innocent-man would look like.
This just fueled their desire to know WHY he threw the brick. He could easily have killed the man!
Was it because the man looked helpless? Was it an attempted robbing? Or was it his color?
“‘It was because of his hat, Your Honor.’” No sarcasm, just the truth.
Remarkably, the man Arthur hit with a brick—known as the Junk Man—offers Arthur an alternative punishment to juvie: 120 hours of community service working for him.
Can collecting glass bottles, foil, cardboard, pieces of wood, lightbulbs, coffee cans, and mirrors really redeem and transform someone, let alone Arthur?
And what does the Junk Man want with all this… junk?
about the author
Shelley Pearsall has been writing stories for as long as she can remember. She handwrote LOTS of stories in her bedroom closet—which was her office—and stapled each tale between construction paper.
Before becoming a full-time writer, Shelley worked a number of jobs. She’s been a public school teacher and museum historian as well as an 18th century shoemaker in Colonial Williamsburg and a participant in a Revolutionary War shipwreck archaeology project.
When Shelley went back to school to get her master’s degree, her children’s literature professor started the class by reading from Night John by Gary Paulsen. She was transfixed. Over the years she’d tried various types of writing, trying to find right fit, but nothing had clicked. But hearing Night John read aloud made her realize that she was meant to write for young readers.
Shelley has over five novels published, most of which are inspired by some piece of history: runaway slaves, Elvis, and an all-black paratrooper unit in WWII.
She lives in Silver Lake, Ohio, with her husband and cat.
Sources:
Author website
Author biography: Random House
Author interview: Pandora Books
Author interview: Fandom Monthly Magazine
Author interview: Cynsations
Also by Shelley Pearsall:
Jump into the Sky. Knopf Books for Young Readers. 2012.
All Shook Up. Alfred A. Knopf. 2008.
All of the Above. Little, Brown and Company. 2006.
Crooked River. Alfred A. Knopf. 2005.
Trouble Don’t Last. Alfred A. Knopf. 2002.
read more!
All Shook Up by Shelley Pearsall
When Josh arrives in Chicago to visit his Dad, he is in for a shock. His quiet shoe-salesman father has become an Elvis impersonator! Even worse, his dad’s new girlfriend has a beautiful daughter who goes to Josh’s new school. Josh does everything he can to keep this humiliating secret, but how is that possible when his dad is hired to perform at his school?
The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky by Holly Schindler
Auggie is excited to be starting the school year in a new school, in a better part of town. But her new classmates make her question the way her family lives for the first time. Then the city’s House Beautification Committee deems many of the houses in her neighborhood, including her own, are in violation of their standards. Determined to make her home more beautiful, Auggie and her grandpa make improvements using found and discarded materials.
Paperboy by Vince Vawter
Little Man can’t talk without stuttering. So when he takes over his friend’s paper route for the summer, he has mixed feelings. Throwing the papers will be fun, but collecting the money for the newspapers every Friday night is messing with his insides. He’ll have to talk—but he can’t. Not without stuttering. Who will give him grief first?