Chapter 8 Summary

Billy explains that dead people are so smart because they can see the big picture of what is going on. Billy says the reason he stays connected to Earth is because of Eddie. He mentions that his mother left him and his father when he was three. She fell in love with someone else and left town, but his father stayed and raised Billy. He says his father could have gotten a scholarship to college but that he chose to stay with his mother because he was so in love with her. Billy says the Eddie and Tartar trains are speeding toward each other and about to crash.

Reverend Tarter brings up the book Ms. Lloyd has assigned to the church board members at the meeting. The reverend says that Dan Moeltke brought the book to his attention because it contains topics, such...