Chapter 7 Summary

The family gets its first boarder. Katrin claims the attic as her own space, daydreaming about being rescued from her bleak surroundings by Prince Charming or reading magazines that the boarder was going to throw away. In one of these magazines, there is an ad to get a course in "How to Become an Author" for $7.00. While the seven dollars is an unimaginable sum of money to Katrin, the ad says that there is a 5-day trial period, and within those 5-days, the course could be returned with no obligation. Katrin imagines being a famous author and rescuing her family from poverty, so she sends a letter requesting the course.

Katrin waits in agony for weeks for the package, and it finally comes, in the form of little pamphlets with big words that Katrin can't read. She intends to copy everything down word...