She had been accepted at Princeton and offered a scholarship, but had so far failed to convince herself that the intense study of difficult texts was a worthwhile or even defensible pursuit. It was one of those rare periods when she was without a boyfriend, having dumped Tim Veldhuisen in April. ...
“Mr. Scrounger,” called Crossbones, “take the wheel. Steer a course thirty degrees west. Make sure our own ship follows us.” “Aye, aye, Crossbones,” said Mr. Scrounger, going to the wheelhouse. “Where are we going? Where are we going?” asked Jacob. Crossbones gave Jacob a nasty smile. “It is alwa...
EVERY MORNING the Birnbaum chauffeur, whose name was Monroe, drove the limousine up to the front of the house. Jeremiah would come down the grand staircase carrying his briefcase and wearing his school uniform — blazer, striped tie, gray pleated trousers and shiny black shoes. His parents would b...
But even then I felt none of that, no need to be embraced as one of the pack. Instead, I kept to myself. Sometimes I went to the library, the big branch with the high arched windows at Gladstone Avenue, where I would sit at a table and read from a book that I pulled off the shelf. I didn’t like m...