Summary

In “How I Walked to School,” Charlotte describes the blind man who played the accordion who she always passed on the way to school. She was a little afraid of him so she never talked to him. She liked the way he always said “God bless America” (182) whenever anyone put money in his accordion case. When she started attending middle school, she walked a different route to school so it was not until winter break that she noticed the accordion man was gone.

In “How I Spent My Winter Vacation,” Charlotte tried to find out what happened to the accordion man. Her mother channeled Charlotte’s obsessive energy into collecting coats for homeless people. When Charlotte went back to school, Mr. Tushman asked Charlotte to help him organize a coat drive at...