Characters in Gwendy's Button Box

Frankie Stone wants to know if the Aztecs really ate human hearts, and Billy Day wants to know who made the statues on Easter Island, but most of the questions on Curiosity Day in January of 1975 are what-ifs.

“I’m sorry.” “And you don’t even like half those guys. Bobby Crawford asks you out and you giggle and twirl your hair and say ‘Sure, why not?’

Gwendy usually enjoys these visits, because Aunt Dottie and Uncle Jim’s twin girls are almost exactly her age, and the three of them always have fun together.

They hurt my eyes now.” Mrs. Peterson doesn’t believe it, so she takes her daughter to Dr. Emerson, the Rock’s resident optician.

“Sixteen,” says Mrs. Peterson without hesitation. She was actually eleven, kissing with Georgie McClelland, up in the loft of the McClelland barn. Oh, they smacked up a storm.

Many agree with this. Ginny Brooks thinks it would be just grand if Russia could be obliterated.

“A combination. My father wanted a Gwendolyn—that was his granny’s name—and my mom wanted a Wendy, like in Peter Pan. So they compromised. Are you on vacation, Mr. Farris?”

“Hank, you mind watching my table for a minute?” “Only if you bring me back a soda,” Hank says. “Done.” Lenny slips out from behind his table and escorts Gwendy to the door. “You sure you’re going to be okay?” “Positive.

… President, named captain of the junior varsity soccer team, and asked to the homecoming dance by Harold Perkins, a handsome senior on the football squad (alas, the homecoming date never happens, as Gwendy dumps poor Harold after he repeatedly tries to …

… where she has attended to her studies for the last two years, next to a framed picture of Harry Streeter, is a small, neat black hat. She has no doubt that it’s the one she last saw on the day she and Harry were flying that kite on the baseball …

And if so, which place, and why?” They talk about it for the rest of the class. Hanoi, says Henry Dussault. Knock out that guy Ho Chi Minh and end the stupid Vietnam War once and for all. Many agree with this.

“Then ask it and get out of my way.” She glances around for an escape route. Jimmy Sines emerges from behind a parked car. Stands on the other side of her with his arms crossed. He looks at Frankie. “Sugar tits, huh?”

The babies. And the radiation afterward! That killed even more.” “I get that,” Joey Lawrence says, “but my grampa fought the Japs in the war, he was on Guadalcanal and Tarawa, and he said lots of the guys he fought with died.

He taps the nametag attached to his shirt. “Name’s Jon Leonard, like it says, but I go by Lenny to my friends. You look friendly, so is there anything special I can help you with today?

… sitting in a circle on the Peterson’s den floor: Gwendy, Sallie Ackerman, Brigette Desjardin, and Josie Wainwright. The other three girls are seniors at Castle Rock High and frequent visitors to the Peterson home this school year. “You ever notice that?”

Ginny Brooks thinks it would be just grand if Russia could be obliterated. Mindy Ellerton is for eradicating China, because her dad says the Chinese are willing to start a nuclear war because they have so many people.

Nancy Riordan says, “What about Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Are you saying blowing them up was bad?” Miss Chiles looks taken aback. “No, not exactly,” she says, “but think of all the innocent civilians that were killed when we bombed those cities.

Instead of spending her fifth period study hall in the library, she heads for Mr. Anderson’s empty World History classroom. There’s a reason for this: the pair of pull-down maps that are attached to Mr. Anderson’s chalkboard.

So is blowing up any place.” Nancy Riordan says, “What about Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Are you saying blowing them up was bad?” Miss Chiles looks taken aback.

Mrs. Peterson laughed. “If you mean did we join AA or stand in front of Father O’Malley and take the pledge, we didn’t.” “Well...whose idea was it? Yours or his?” Gwendy’s mother looked vague.

There are four of them sitting in a circle on the Peterson’s den floor: Gwendy, Sallie Ackerman, Brigette Desjardin, and Josie Wainwright.

Gwendy usually enjoys these visits, because Aunt Dottie and Uncle Jim’s twin girls are almost exactly her age, and the three of them always have fun together.

“It’s just the strangest thing, and way too early for answers,” Castle Rock Sheriff Walt Bannerman commented. “We don’t know if there was a minor earthquake centered in this area or if someone somehow sabotaged the stairs or what.

… 14 The day before she’s scheduled to attend junior prom with Walter Dean, Gwendy rolls out of bed late to discover that the basement has flooded overnight after a particularly heavy spring thunderstorm. “It’s …