Doug went to the library and found a beautiful painting of a falling Arctic Tern that captured its movement in intricate detail. He also met a girl named Lil at the library, which was unusual for him since he usually feels like an outsider there.

1. Doug’s Journal

2. September 3rd
Yes,

3. yes

4. today

5. I

6. went

7. in

8. a

9. library.

10. So

11. what?

12. So

13. what?

14. NOt

15. that

16. I

17. read

18. or

19.
anything.

20. Only

21. chumps

22. read

23. in

24. the

25. library.

26. So

27. what

28. that

29. no

30. one

31. in

32. Marysville

33.
is

34. friendly,

35. everyone

36. knows

37. I

38. don’t

39. belong.

40. Even

41. the

42. dogs

43. know.

44. But

45. today

46. I

47.
found

48. the

49. most

50. terrifying

51. drawing.

52. It

53. was

54. a

55. painting

56. of

57. an

58. Arctic

59. Tern,

60. it’s

61.
layers

62. of

63. feathers

64. trembled

65. as

66. the

67. air

68. rushed

69. past

70. them.

71. This

72. bird

73. was

74.
falling

75. and

76. there

77. wasn’t

78. a

79. single

80. thing

81. in

82. the

83. world

84. that

85. cared.

86. Yet,

87. it

88. was

89.
the

90. most

91. beautiful

92. drawing

93. I’ve

94. ever

95. seen.

96.
I

97. met

98. a

99. girl

100. today,

101. I

102. even

103. talked

104. to

105. her.

106. Her’s

107. name’s

108. Lil.

109. She

110. didn’t

111. want

112.
to

113. talk

114. to

115. me

116. to

117. be

118. my

119. friend

120. or

121. anything.

122. She

123. only

124. wanted

125. me

126. to

127. be

128. the

129.
delivery

130. boy

131. for

132. her

133. father’s

134. shop.

135. I

136. told

137. you

138. Marysville’s

139. not

140. friendly.

141. Well

142.
at

143. least

144. I’ve

145. got

146. something

147. to

148. do

149. for

150. what’s

151. left

152. of

153. summer.

154. Dad’s

155. not

156.
pleased

157. with

158. the

159. salary

160. given

161. for

162. his

163. new

164. job.

165. He

166. claims

167. he

168. could

169. run

170. the

171. mill

172.
with

173. his

174. eyes

175. closed

176. and

177. still

178. do

179. better

180. than

181. Mr.Ballard.

182. Not

183. that

184. anyone

185. at

186.
the

187. dinner

188. table

189. believes

190. him.

192. September 28th
Most

193. people

194. are

195. wrong

196. about

197. the

198. library.

199. It’s

200. not

201. boring,

202. you

203. learn

204. so

205. much

206.
and

207. meet

208. people

209. there,

210. but

211. at

212. the

213. same

214. time

215. you

216. find

217. terrifying

218. things

219. in

220.
there

221. too.

222. Things

223. are

224. getting

225. better,

226. I’m

227. actuarially

228. enjoying

229. Marysville.

230.
But

231. not

232. all

233. things.

234. Not

235. dad’s

236. drinking

237. problem,

238. not

239. Christopher’s

240. criminal

241.
mind,

242. nor

243. mother’s

244. smile.

245. Yet

246. things

247. in

248. life

249. has

250. changed

251. for

252. me.

253. Doesn’t

254.
matter

255. to

256. my

257. family

258. that

259. things

260. have

261. worked

262. out

263. for

264. me

265. lately.

266. So

267. what

268. if

269.
my

270. family

271. doesn’t

272. care?

273. Only

274. chumps

275. rely

276. on

277. others.

278. And

279. I

280. did

281. get

282. the

283. job

284.
that

285. Lil

286. offered.

287. Guess

288. what

289. dad

290. said,

291. “If

292. they

293. really

294. thought

295. you

296. were

297. good,

298.
they

299. would’ve

300. let

301. you

302. start

303. this

304. Saturday”

305. So

306. what

307. about

308. that

309. I

310. didn’t

311.
start

312. this

313. week?

314. So

315. what?

316. At

317. least

318. I’ve

319. got

320. a

321. more

322. stable

323. job

324. than

325. you

326.
have.

327. Of

328. course

329. I

330. bit

331. my

332. tongue.

333. I

334. told

335. him

336. on

337. the

338. wrong

339. day,

340. but

341. there’s

342.
never

343. a

344. right

345. day

346. anyways.

348. November 16th
Mr.Powell,

349. short,

350. old,

351. no

352. emotions.

353. Greatest

354. art

355. teacher

356. ever.

357. He

358. saw

359. me

360.
staring

361. at

362. the

363. Arctic

364. Tern.

365. I

366. left

367. immediately

368. when

369. I

370. saw

371. him

372. ,

373. no

374. one

375. wants

376.
an

377. old

378. man

379. knowing

380. how

381. terrified

382. you

383. are

384. because

385. of

386. a

387. stupid

388. painting.

389. Only

390.
chumps

391. do

392. that.

393. But

394. I

395. guess

396. I

397. am

398. a

399. chump.

400. No

401. one

402. would

403. ever

404. guess

405. that

406. DOug

407.
Swieteck

408. is

409. having

410. art

411. lessons.

412. I

413. was

414. doing

415. pretty

416. well

417. and

418. impressive

419. making

420.
progress

421. on

422. the

423. Arctic

424. Tern

425. (according

426. to

427. mom

428. and

429. Mr.

430. Powell.

432. Just

433. out

434. of

435.
the

436. blue,

437. Stupid

438. Marysville

439. sold

440. the

441. painting

442. because

443. they

444. needed

445. money

446. to

447.
shovel

448. the

449. snow,

450. so

451. guess

452. what?

453. I

454. have

455. to

456. draw

457. dumb

458. looking

459. puffins,

460. instead

461. of

462.
the

463. brave

464. Arctic

465. Tern.

466. So

467. what?

468. It’s

469. not

470. like

471. anyone

472. cares.

473. Just

474. as

475. I’ve

476.
always

477. seen

478. the

479. world,

480. something

481. bad

482. always

483. happens

484. when

485. things

486. get

487. too

488. good.

489.
I

490. hate

491. it,

492. I

493. hate

494. school.

495. Every

496. teacher

497. treats

498. me

499. like

500. I’m

501. my

502. brother.

503. It’s

504. not

505.
like

506. I

507. broke

508. into

509. stores,

510. it

511. was

512. Christopher.

513. But

514. it

515. doesn’t

516. matter

517. to

518. them,

519.
even

520. Lil

521. says

522. the

523. teachers

524. are

525. jerks.

526. Sometimes

527. I

528. do

529. know

530. the

531. answers

532. to

533.
math

534. questions,

535. but

536. Ms.

537. Math

538. Teacher

539. doesn’t

540. call

541. on

542. me.

543. She

544. purposely

545. calls

546.
on

547. me

548. when

549. I

550. don’t

551. have

552. my

553. hand

554. raised.

555. Doesn’t

556. she

557. get

558. what

559. raising

560. your

561. hand

562.
means?

563. And

564. by

565. the

566. way

567. x

568. =

569. -6.

571. December 2nd
Maybe

572. the

573. Puffins

574. aren’t

575. dumb,

576. and

577. one

578. of

579. them

580. isn’t

581. just

582. drowning

583. in

584.
the

585. water

586. for

587. no

588. reason.

589. Maybe

590. it’s

591. drowning

592. because

593. it’s

594. trying

595. too

596. hard

597.
to

598. get

599. the

600. puffin

601. that’s

602. on

603. sturdy

604. land’s

605. attention,

606. yet

607. the

608. puffin

609. on

610. the

611.
land

612. is

613. just

614. out

615. of

616. reach

617. and

618. casually

619. looks

620. past

621. it.

622. Yep,

623. that’s

624. me.

625. Trying

626.
to

627. get

628. Lil’s

629. attention,

630. but

631. she

632. just

633. thinks

634. I’m

635. a

636. chump,

637. like

638. everyone

639. else

640.
in

641. Marysville.

642. So

643. what?

644. Don’t

645. laugh,

646. at

647. least

648. I’m

649. not

650. goina

651. die

652. like

653. the

654.
Arctic

655. Tern.

658. January 13th
I

659. have

660. been

661. babysitting

662. the

663. Daugherty’s

664. for

665. quite

666. a

667. while.

668. I

669. read

670. to

671. them

672. every

673. night,

674.
five

675. different

676. books

677. for

678. five

679. different

680. children.

681. Right

682. when

683. school

684. was

685. okay,

686. I’ve

687. been

688.
handing

689. in

690. every

691. homework

692. assignment,for

693. exchange

694. of

695. the

696. Brown

697. Pelican

698. painting

699.
that

700. belongs

701. in

702. the

703. library

704. but

705. is

706. in

707. Principle

708. Peattie’s

709. office.

710. Like

711. I

712. said

713. before,

714.
something

715. bad

716. always

717. happens

718. when

719. things

720. get

721. too

722. good.

723. That

724. night

725. at

726. the

727.
Daugherty’s,

729. right

730. when

731. I

732. was

733. about

734. to

735. leave.

736. The

737. kids

738. were

739. sleeping

740. soundly,

741. when

742.
suddenly

743. Joel

744. start

745. coughing

746. like

747. he

748. was

749. choking,

750. I

751. ran

752. upstairs

753. just

754. in

755. time

756. to

757. see

758.
him

759. turn

760. blue,

761. then

762. purple

763. gasping

764. for

765. breaths.

766. His

767. eyes

768. looked

769. exactly

770. like

771. the

772. Arctic

773.
Tern’s.

774. I

775. quickly

776. carried

777. him

778. to

779. Ottis

780. Bottom’s

781. house.

782. Ottis’s

783. dad

784. never

785. really

786. liked

787.
me.

788. The

789. whole

790. town

791. doesn’t,

792. all

793. because

794. of

795. my

796. troublesome

797. brother.

798. So

799. far

800. he’s

801. been

802.
accused

803. for

804. breaking

805. in

806. the

807. Deli

808. and

809. the

810. Hardware

811. store.

812. But

813. when

814. he

815. saw

816. me

817. bringing

818.
little

819. Joel

820. and

821. begging

822. him

823. to

824. save

825. him,

826. the

827. way

828. he

829. looked

830. at

831. me

832. made

833. me

834. feel

835. like

836. I

837.
was

838. the

839. Brown

840. Pelican.

841. Standing

842. on

843. one

844. foot,

845. wobbly,

846. yet

847. still

848. sturdy,

849. looking

850. ahead

851.
and

852. never

853. behind.

854. Noble,

855. but

856. making

857. mistakes

858. too.

859. I

860. became

861. a

862. hero

863. that

864. day.