The Seventh Most Important Thing, Shelley Pearsall
The Seventh Most Important Thing, Shelley Pearsall
9 Rating(s)
List: $35.99 | Sale: $25.20
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The Seventh Most Important Thing

Author: Shelley Pearsall

Narrator: Nick Podehl

Unabridged: 5 hr 37 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/08/2015

Synopsis

This “luminescent” (Kirkus Reviews) story of anger and art, loss and redemption will appeal to fans of Lisa Graff’s Lost in the Sun and Vince Vawter’s Paperboy.Arthur T. Owens grabbed a brick and hurled it at the trash picker. Arthur had his reasons, and the brick hit the Junk Man in the arm, not the head. But none of that matters to the judge—he is ready to send Arthur to juvie forever. Amazingly, it’s the Junk Man himself who offers an alternative: 120 hours of community service…working for him.Arthur is given a rickety shopping cart and a list of the Seven Most Important Things: glass bottles, foil, cardboard, pieces of wood, lightbulbs, coffee cans, and mirrors. He can’t believe it—is he really supposed to rummage through people’s trash? But it isn’t long before Arthur realizes there’s more to the Junk Man than meets the eye, and the “trash” he’s collecting is being transformed into something more precious than anyone could imagine.…Inspired by the work of folk artist James Hampton, Shelley Pearsall has crafted an affecting and redemptive novel about discovering what shines within us all, even when life seems full of darkness.“A moving exploration of how there is often so much more than meets the eye.” —Booklist, starred review“There are so many things to love about this book. Remarkable.” —The Christian Science Monitor

About Shelley Pearsall

A former teacher and museum historian, Shelley Pearsall is now a full-time author. Her first novel, Trouble Don’t Last, won the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction. Her other books include Jump into the Sky, Crooked River, All of the Above, and All Shook Up.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Maja (The Nocturnal Library) on September 09, 2015

3.5 stars The Seventh Most Important thing is one of those quite little understated works that nevertheless conveys an important message. It’s based on the life of James Hampton, a folk artist from the 1960’s, a janitor and a recluse intent on creating his vision of heaven from scraps. His life’s......more

Goodreads review by Kristen on February 09, 2017

3.5 stars I went into The Seventh Most Important Thing not knowing what to expect, but it wowed me. The book follows the story of Arthur, a boy who goes to juvie for throwing a brick at the "Junk Man" (Mr. Hampton) in his town. Following juvie, Artie finds himself stuck with community service…workin......more

Goodreads review by Sandra on May 14, 2019

3,5 steluțe. Nu mi-au plăcut ciudățeniile așa-zisului artist, iar firea lui excentrică și foarte bizară a făcut ca unele metafore să fie ascunse prea bine pentru un copil care ar putea citi cartea, dar mi-a plăcut mult mesajul. Ideea de a nu judeca un om pentru o singură greșeală, de a nu-l trata în......more

Goodreads review by Jonathan on October 23, 2017

This is a really good book, it shows the power of being given a second chance and how you can do things for the better. Definitely recommend this to anyone, doesn't matter if you have a preference of genres/books. (I was so excited when I saw this as a Rebecca Caudill award nominee.)......more

Goodreads review by Amy on June 01, 2016

update: I am always wary when I like a book too much, because I am afraid my personal judgement can cloud teen reading value. As predicted, though, teens are clicking to this book and they are reading it quickly.... even "non-readers." All I did was read the first two pages out loud to them. I loved......more

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