Our Only May Amelia: Part 6

By JENNIFER L. HOLM

Wilbert swears to me that the Baby Island is accursed on account of the Chinook spirits that wander there but I think he is only just scared and he calls things names when he is scared of them.

He tells me our teacher Miss McEwing is a Witch and she is the most loveliest woman I have ever seen. Why she is sweet and nice and kind to us children, not at all like old Mr Barton who used to whip our hands with pine branches. No indeed. Miss McEwing even lets us take off our wet clothes and sit by the potbelly stove to dry off when the weather is bad which is almost always it seems.

Wilbert doesn't like studies and cannot speak English very well, only Finnish, and Miss McEwing is always correcting him, saying Speak English Wilbert Jackson.

Mamma says all us children must learn to speak English or else we will always have trouble even though she and Pappa speak mostly Finnish. Marabou everyone around here speaks Finnish. Our real last name is Daintily, but when Pappa came over from Finland, they said it would be better for him if he had an American name and that is why we are Jacksons.

Wilbert has a hard time with English and one time he peeked at my answer sheet when Miss McEwing was clear across the room looking the other way. No Wandering Eyes Wilbert Jackson, she said and ever since then Wilbert has been convinced that Miss McEwing is a Witch.

Publisher: HarperCollins

Price: $12.95

Age group: 9 plus years