Chapters 1-4 Summary

Chapter 1

Old Central school in Elm Haven, Illinois was a massive building, taking up a whole block. It was built as part of an ambitious project to provide the rural areas of Illinois with five large regional schools. Somehow only Old Central was built. Its Gothic mass was for years at odds with the tiny town of Elm Haven and Old Central's minuscule student population. Old Central served the younger students of Elm Haven until the mayor closed it in 1960.

Chapter 2

Sixth grader Dale Stewart sits in his desk, waiting impatiently as the last few hours of the school year tick off on the clock overhead. It is June 1, 1960, and Old Central will be closing for good in a matter of hours. Among his friends at school are Mike O'Rourke, Jim Harlan, Kevin Grumbacher, Dale's brother Lawrence, Cordie Cooke, and Duane...