CBA ECR

Carol Jenkins and her mother visit the home of Mr. Linden to explore his collection of books. Upon a return visit, Carol makes an unusual discovery. 

from Mr. Linden’s Library

By Walter Dean Myers

5

1    It looked the same as the book she had handled before, but the ending of the story had changed. 

2    Taking a deep breath, she calmed down. There had to be a logical explanation. It was as if she had remembered a previous day but had mixed that day with another. 

10

3    “I’m glad to discover another reader,” Mr. Linden said downstairs in the kitchen. He cradled a cup of tea in his hands. “We are a dying breed, I’m afraid.”

4    That night Carol’s sleep was disturbed by troubled dreams. Carol dreamt of sitting in Mr. Linden’s library, questioning him about his life and all the books in his library. Then she awoke and lay in the darkness of her room, thinking of the book on the window seat and how she must have allowed her imagination or some random thought to change the way she remembered the page. 

15

5    All things made sense. There were no mysteries in the real world. She thought of mentioning the book to her mother but decided against it. It was her mystery, and she rather enjoyed the curiousness of it all. 

6    The next time they were supposed to visit Mr. Linden, Carol’s mother wasn’t feeling well. She had one of the headaches that plagued her when the weather grew heavier, just before the late fall and temperatures plummeted the town into its annual winter doldrums. Now that her mother knew more about Mr. Linden, she was fine to let Carol go by herself. 

7    As she made her first trip alone to Mr. Linden’s house, turning aside from the wind that rippled the bay, Carol thought about asking him directly about the book. Perhaps she would start by talking about the last book she had borrowed. But not at first, of course. First she had to get her hands on his book and check it out. 

20

8    She hoped he would allow her to go into the library alone, and he did. She held her breath and walked more softly, almost sneaking up on the books that awaited her. 

9    She glanced at the window seat. The book was still there, angled so that the sun cast a shadow diagonally across the title. She turned away from it, allowing her glance to capture it now and again as she read the titles of the shelved books. 

25

10   She found a book with small drawings of ships and islands, The Traveler’s Guide to Madeira and the West Indies, and leafed casually through it, all the time listening for sounds from below. When she heard the clinking of the metal teakettle against the stove, she moved quickly to Mr. Linden’s book. 

11   Esteban told himself that he had been swimming long enough. He had already gone much farther than anyone he knew, even farther than men with strong legs. No one swam all the way to the island. Now he was nearer than he had ever been, but it no longer seemed important to him. It was as if he were swimming not for himself but for the dolphin that went before him most of the time but sometimes behind me, nudging him forward. 

12   He began breathing hard, showing the dolphin how tired he was to keep going when he wasn’t at all sure of himself. He was not that strong and had already done more than he had ever done in his life. He stopped and treaded water for a while, with the dolphin only a few feet away. Esteban felt that he and the dolphin were on a mission together, that they were proving something. But what were they proving, and where would it lead?

30

13   Again Carol checked the number on the page, even looking at the numbers of the pages before and after the one she was reading. She was right; the story had changed. It was changing from day to day! The boy in the story was swimming out farther each time, and the dolphin swam with him, as if it knew something special about the boy’s mission. But how could the story be different each time she read it?

14   She grabbed the book she would borrow, holding it with both hands, and carried it down to Mr. Linden. 

35

15   “Ah, George Miller’s travel adventure from the age of sail.” Mr. Linden examined the book over the rimless glasses he wore. “Excellent choice.”

16   “What are you reading?” Carol asked. “Something about dolphins, I think.”

17   The old black man looked quickly away. For a long moment the room was engulfed in silence. In the distance, barely audible, the gentle lapping of the low tide on the graveled shore came rhythmically. 

40

18   “It’s not a very good book.” His voice was lower than it had been. “You wouldn’t be interested.”