Middle Grade Book Club: The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall

Reading
Ages 9-12

For more information, please call 718.666.3049 x102

RSVP appreciated: RSVP@POWERHOUSEon8th.com

Kids’ book blogger Jordan B. Nielsen of TheRustyKey.com will host a discussion hour based on The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall. Club members will receive a 15% discount on each month’s selected books. For more information, please contact Jordan Nielsen at Jordan@powerhouseon8th.com

About The Seventh Most Important Thing:

One kid. One crime. One chance to make things right.

It was a bitterly cold day when Arthur T. Owens grabbed a brick and hurled it at the trash picker. Arthur had his reasons, and the brick hit the Junk Man in the arm, not the head. But none of that matters to the judge—he is ready to send Arthur to juvie for the foreseeable future. Amazingly, it’s the Junk Man himself who offers an alternative: 120 hours of community service . . . working for him.

Arthur is given a rickety shopping cart and a list of the Seven Most Important Things: glass bottles, foil, cardboard, pieces of wood, lightbulbs, coffee cans, and mirrors. He can’t believe it—is he really supposed to rummage through people’s trash? But it isn’t long before Arthur realizes there’s more to the Junk Man than meets the eye, and the “trash” he’s collecting is being transformed into something more precious than anyone could imagine. . . .

Inspired by the work of American folk artist James Hampton, award-winning author Shelley Pearsall has crafted an affecting and redemptive novel about discovering what shines within us all, even when life seems full of darkness.