A Five-Color Buick and a Blue-Eyed Cat
by
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For over an hour I had been sitting on the bench outside Kennedy High's job office. I had watched a steady stream of people go in smiling and come out looking worried.
Finally, Mr. Goldman came to the door.
"Let's see who's left out here. Just you two guys? Why don't you come on in together."
We stepped into his office.
"You both want to see about summer jobs?" he asked.
We nodded and handed him our application forms.
"I'm sure you saw all the long faces leaving this place," he commented. "You have lots of company."
As he read our applications he shook his head slowly and looked very tired. "I really wish I could help you. But this is a bad season for people who need work."
"It's also a bad season for people who need car insurance," I said. "I wouldn't dare ask my father about it again without having the money right in my hands."
"Well, having insurance and a car is only the beginning of trouble," the other kid warned me. "I don't have a father to hassle with about insurance, but my mother says she can't afford to feed both me and that old Buick of mine."
He shrugged his shoulders. "So, I'm not much better off."
"Hold it . . . you do have a car?" asked Mr. Goldman, suddenly coming alive. "If that's the case, there's one possibility. I just had a call for two students with wheels--sort of a team job. Are you two friends?"
We had sat and waited together for an hour, but we had been too wrapped up in our own problems to talk. Now we sized each other up for a moment.&nb
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Book Details
About the Book
REVISED 2006 EDITION
Wanted: Two Students . . . Variable Hours . . .
Furnish Own Vehicle
Randy had a car—if you could call his fourteen-year-old home-customized multi-colored Buick a car. Fred needed a summer job to make money. So right there in the Kennedy High Employment Office they formed a partnership, and went on to land the job with Palmer Pets. With Laurie Palmer as the third team member, they were to transport animals between the various Palmer Pet Shops. The job sounded too good to be true. And it was. They never bargained for complications like a parrot that used language that kids shouldn't know, canaries that nearly got cooked, and a Siamese cat with deep blue eyes, who was absolutely certain that she owned A FIVE-COLOR BUICK.
"The younger teenager tired of the sex and crime syndrome in young adult novels will be happy to read this enjoyable book. . . It is well written and combines the best of pets, friendships and first cars."
--Children's Book ReviewServiceInc.
"A first purchase highly recommended for media centers . . . Both boys and girls will like the subjects of summer jobs, cars and pets written with teen interests in mind."
About the Author
Phyllis Anderson Wood, winner of the Church and Synagogue Library Association's award for "significant contribution to children's literature," is the author of thirteen young adult novels, which have been popular since 1971 in schools and libraries throughout the U.S., Canada, England, Australia, and New Zealand. Three of the titles were Junior Literary Guild selections. Now these books, newly revised by the author, are back in print for a new generation of young readers.
These novels were written during Mrs. Wood's years of teaching in the Jefferson High School District just outside of San Francisco. Her students' daily lives and problems were reflected in her stories, and their reactions to her books strongly influenced the course of her writing.
Altogether, Mrs. Wood taught for thirty years in California public schools, including a two-room mountain high school, an inner-city junior high, a continuation school, adult school, and several large rural and suburban high schools. Over the years, she also supervised and mentored thirteen teaching interns from the Stanford University School of Education, conducted in-service workshops throughout the United States, and spoke at many national conventions.
More information can be found on her website, www.phyllisandersonwood.com.