Part I: Pages 45 through 71 Summary and Analysis

October 21: Codell gets a complaint from a student named Asha's mother, about Codell's suggestion that all students should buy a dictionary. Asha's father is in prison and the family is very poor. Asha gets a new dictionary donated, and Codell sees that Asha is proud of her possession.

October 25: Esther is "putting voodoo spells on people." Codell calls a conference with her father (who needs a translator). The translator assures Codell Esther will no longer cast spells. Codell is pleased with Esther's progress, and admits Esther is her "secret favorite."

October 29: Codell has organized an after-school club focused on the "Addy" series of historical fiction books. Frankly, she's getting a little tired of Addy from all the related activity.

November 1: Codell describes recent Halloween-related activities. The class reads The Bat-Poet and studied bats. They have...