Tony, his bruises nearly healed, had insisted on helping carry the box to the center of the room. It was huge, and Stella could hardly imagine how many books were in there. Excited, she picked out the first book, but she grew quiet as she saw how raggedy it was—the binding frayed, even missing pages. “I guess the Mountain View children got new books,” she murmured. Jojo, whose cough had finally faded, leaned over and picked out another book from the pile. “Oh, brother,” he said with dismay, “this one’s got scribbles all through it.” “What should we do with it?” Carolyn asked Mrs. Grayson, who was cutting out paper feathers for a turkey art project. She sighed. “Let’s make a pile of all the ones that can’t be used. We can at least use them for kindling.” “Look here, though—a bunch of Hardy Boys books,” Tony exclaimed, pulling a stack out of the box. “There’s even a couple I haven’t read yet.” “You see any Nancy Drews in there?” Stella asked, her excitement returning.
