Summary
Highlights
Stella and her friends hurry to school, discussing their preferences and the challenges of their segregated education. They stop by Kathy's Candy Store, one of the few places where Black customers are allowed to enter through the front door. Stella observes the disparity in wealth and privilege between her group and the white children who also visit the store, particularly Paulette Packard, the doctor's daughter. A white boy, Kenneth, makes disparaging remarks about Black children's educational prospects, suggesting they only need to learn to cook, sew, and clean.
Stella witnesses Paulette receiving a five-dollar bill from her father and realizes the vast difference in their financial situations. Mrs. Cooper, the candy store owner, interrupts Stella's thoughts, reminding the children not to be late for school. As both Black and white children leave, each receiving a Hershey's Kiss, Stella notes the irony: despite society's divisions, everyone receives the same candy.
Stella and her friends arrive at their school, a single room housing grades 1 to 11. Mrs. Grayson, the teacher, addresses the students about a recent unsettling event in the woods and warns them to never walk alone, to stay in groups, and to avoid the woods for their safety. She reassures them that they are safe at school with her.
To uplift spirits after the safety warning, Mrs. Grayson decides to start practicing for the Christmas pageant, which is still ten weeks away. Jojo and Carolyn are excited about their parts, and Mrs. Grayson mentions that even the Spencer clan, all 13 of them, will participate. When Mrs. Grayson opens the piano to play, two frogs jump out, startling her and the students. Herbert and Hugh capture the frogs, and Mrs. Grayson, softening, allows them to keep the frogs, which Herbert intends to give to his sister for stew.
Mrs. Grayson demands to know who put the frogs in the piano. First-grader Claudia Odom confesses, explaining that she likes frogs and brought them to school in her lunch pail. She put them in the piano for exercise, not realizing Mrs. Grayson would open it during morning music. Mrs. Grayson, initially flabbergasted, eventually bursts into laughter and tells Claudia never to do that again. Hugh confirms he can keep the frogs, and Claudia amiably informs him that Kilkenny Pond is full of frogs.