Monday

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Sample

Ten-year-old Jeff is spending the summer of 1943 at his grandparents’ house. He has failed English class, and his teacher has threatened that if he doesn’t master his reading and spelling at home, he’ll have to go to summer school, or he won’t be promoted to the fifth grade. So Jeff’s parents have sent him to “Dad and Maw’s” small farm in central Texas to help him change his attitude and focus on his assignments. Jeff is indignant. Who needs reading or spelling anyway?

There are plenty of chores to do on the farm, and Jeff actually enjoys many of them. Unfortunately, his grandfather usually pairs him with Monday, the most stubborn, cantankerous donkey that ever lived. Monday makes every task harder, and Jeff can’t imagine why his granddad keeps her—nor why he insists on making Jeff use her instead of either of the other two donkeys.

But as cranky and crafty as Monday is, Jeff can’t deny that she’s also extremely intelligent and surprisingly brave. She proves her worth again and again, and yet every time Jeff thinks he’s starting to like her, she does something that makes him feel the opposite. Even so, as the summer wears on, he discovers a growing affection for her. At the same time, he finds that he doesn’t mind reading to Maw so much. In fact, he’s on track to complete his assignments for the summer.

And then something terrifying happens to bring home the realization of how much Monday truly means to Jeff, leading him to new perspectives that will shape his views for the rest of his life. Monday, it turns out, has some pretty important lessons to teach—in her own contrary way, of course.