Opening
A fearless new girl upends sixth grade at Our Lady of Mercy just as a public test puts Samuel 'Sam' Hill under a spotlight he both craves and dreads. With Mickie Kennedy charging into the boys’ games and a high-stakes lector nomination looming, Sam faces a gamble: redefine himself or be humiliated. Home becomes his rehearsal hall, even as pressures at school—and at his father’s pharmacy—mount.
What Happens
Chapter 41: The Arrival of Mickie Kennedy
Sixth grade resumes after Christmas break with the rumor-fueled arrival of Mickie Kennedy, a short-haired, no-earrings, uniform-skirt-hiked outsider who refuses to conform. When a lunch lady scolds her for “showing too much leg,” Mickie fires back that she wouldn’t be showing any if girls could wear pants like the boys—and earns detention on day one. She ignores the girls’ cliques and storms the playground, demanding to play with the boys.
They try to shut her out until she taunts, “What, are you afraid a girl might beat you?” Then she proceeds to beat them—at everything. Only Ernie Cantwell embraces the obvious: she’s good, and he likes winning. Their instant partnership nudges Sam out of his usual spot beside Ernie, and Sam stews, watching Mickie take the field and his place.
Chapter 42: The Nomination
By late January, the class must lead the all-school Mass, and everyone remembers Anna Louise Gretsky freezing at the lectern the year before—a cautionary tale that makes the lector role both coveted and terrifying. Ernie quickly volunteers as an altar boy, neatly avoiding the microphone, and Sam misses his chance to do the same.
When Sister Mary Williams asks for lector nominations, Sam assumes the popular Valerie Johnson will be chosen. Instead, Valerie whispers to Mary Beth Potts, who nominates Sam. Sam sees a rare opening to prove he’s more than “the boy with red eyes,” a chance at Overcoming Otherness and Prejudice. Before he can react, Mickie seconds the motion and hustles the vote. The class elects him unanimously, and Sam feels a surge of pride at being seen—and at the thought of making his mother proud.
Chapter 43: A Warning and an Unlikely Ally
At recess, Ernie corners Sam and spells it out: he saw Valerie cue Mary Beth. He’s sure it’s a setup to make Sam freeze like Anna Louise—a fresh round of Bullying and Its Lasting Impact dressed up as kindness. Sam refuses to back down. He insists he’s the class’s best reader and that he deserves the chance.
Sam then asks Mickie why she supported him. She shrugs off sentiment: “You’re a brain; you should be the lector. Better you than that airhead Valerie Johnson or one of her stupid friends.” With a playful punch, she jogs away. In that blunt vote of confidence, a new alliance forms—proof of The Power of Friendship where merit matters more than popularity.
Chapter 44: A Mother’s Pride and Fear
Sam races home to tell his mother, Madeline Hill. Her face tightens first—she knows the risk—but she gathers him in a hug and praises him. When he says he needs to practice, she reveals a hidden chapter of her life: college theater, starring as Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. She’ll coach him. Her fear becomes fuel, her craft a shield—an act of Parental Love and Sacrifice.
Chapter 45: The Showman
Practice becomes ritual. After school, Madeline drills pronunciations, posture, pacing, eye contact, inflection. After dinner, Sam stands behind a stack of encyclopedias as a makeshift pulpit. His father, Maxwell Hill, joins in, sparring lightly with Madeline over which words deserve emphasis. Laughter fills the kitchen.
Then Maxwell breaks the spell: he can’t make the Mass. A new chain pharmacy down the road is cutting into business, and he needs to work. Sam swallows his disappointment, understanding that the performance at church and the fight at the pharmacy are both, in their ways, for the family.
Character Development
As the lector role raises the stakes, loyalties realign, courage is tested, and identity starts to cohere—Sam’s early steps in Coming of Age unfolding in public.
- Sam Hill: Seizes a public chance to redefine himself, choosing pride over fear despite the risk of a prank. His hunger to belong collides with his determination to excel.
- Mickie Kennedy: Rejects gender rules, dominates athletically, and backs Sam on principle. She refuses pity and respects competence, becoming an unexpected ally.
- Ernie Cantwell: Balances competitiveness with loyalty, welcoming Mickie for the sake of victory yet warning Sam to avoid humiliation. His protective streak sharpens.
- Madeline Hill: Moves from instinctive fear to deliberate support, channeling her stage experience into coaching. She models how love steadies risk.
- Maxwell Hill: Proud, playful, then pragmatic; his absence from the Mass shows the cost of providing, adding financial stress to the family backdrop.
Themes & Symbols
The lector assignment turns the church lectern into a proving ground. For Sam, that platform promises a rewrite of the story others tell about him—shifting from spectacle to speaker. It’s where courage confronts a trap laid by classmates and where performance becomes identity work.
Bullying shadows every choice, from the nomination’s hidden malice to Ernie’s alarm, while friendship cuts across those shadows: Ernie’s caution and Mickie’s blunt endorsement give Sam both warning and wind at his back. At home, parental love becomes a craft—voice lessons, posture drills, shared jokes—transforming fear into preparation. The rival pharmacy symbolizes encroaching adult pressures, reminding us that battles over dignity and stability happen in pews and storefronts alike.
Key Quotes
“I wouldn’t be showing any leg if they’d let us wear pants like the boys.” Mickie challenges the school’s gender double standard in one breath, announcing herself as a rule-breaker who insists on fairness. The detention she earns only underlines her refusal to play small.
“What, are you afraid a girl might beat you?” With a single taunt, Mickie flips playground power dynamics, forcing the boys to choose either inclusion or cowardice. Her dominance afterward secures her spot on merit.
Ernie, mouthing: “No.” This silent warning captures Ernie’s protective instinct and the social minefield around Sam. It foreshadows the cruelty embedded in the nomination while revealing Ernie’s clear-eyed read of their classmates.
“You’re a brain; you should be the lector.” Mickie’s endorsement reframes Sam’s difference as strength. Her respect for competence, not status, seeds a friendship built on honesty and shared defiance.
“Regular showman.” Maxwell’s pride validates the work happening at home and casts the lector role as performance, not exposure. His later absence complicates that pride, tying personal triumph to economic sacrifice.
Why This Matters and Section Significance
These chapters forge the trio that will anchor Sam’s story—Sam, Ernie, and Mickie—and shift his struggle from the playground to the pulpit. The lector role becomes his first public crucible: a chance to outgrow the identity others assign him and to face down calculated humiliation. At the same time, the warmth of kitchen rehearsals contrasts with the cold politics of school, revealing the forces shaping him: family devotion, principled friendship, and the ever-present threat of ridicule. Together, they chart the path Sam must walk—toward voice, resilience, and a self he claims in front of everyone.