"The Seventh Most Important Thing" by Shelley Pearsall: An Inspiring Story of Friendship and Redemption

David Fielder: Order group set for Grade 6. Excellent novel to teach symbolism.

Canada on May 15, 2023

M. Mullin: Marvelous story that vividly puts you there, experiencing it all. Emotional, profound, yet relatable on a simple, human level. Details you will appreciate even more on the second and third reads. This book deserves to be part of the literature curriculum anywhere from 5th grade up into high school.
After the end, there's a surprise you'll be so glad you waited for, and want to chase down other info about it. Don't ruin it for yourself and peek, but I wouldn't want you to miss it, not knowing.
This starts off grimly, and that's necessary, but don't get stuck there, the real meat of the story is coming and so worth it. If you've ever been a teenager, ever lost someone, ever had a little brother or sister, ever messed up, really bad...then even as an adult, read this and know there is beauty in mistakes and in making it right.
There are people we must work to understand, but who turn out to be nothing less than a miracle in our life. There are unappreciated things waiting to become something amazing if you just look. It's a quick read, and you won't regret it.
Sometimes we like to read together, so I checked it out to read aloud to my twins, freshmen in high school. When...

United States on Jan 04, 2022

Arpit kumar: Good book to read

India on May 31, 2021

Pop Bop: This felt like the sort of book that could be so earnest and well intended that it would sink under its own weight. The first few chapters didn't exactly dispel my concern. But once it gets up and running we speed along, and the messages, such as they are, are leavened by humor and authentic human feeling. This ended as an upbeat, affirmative, and not at all preachy testament to spirit, focus and independence. An unusual but rewarding find.

United States on Mar 29, 2020

Amazon Customer: My son is not an avid novel reader, he prefers graphic novels. This book however caught his interest and he read it quickly and enthusiastically. Age 11.

Canada on Dec 29, 2019

Sabs: Good read

United Kingdom on Jun 23, 2019

AAZEE TRADERS: Ok

Canada on Mar 12, 2019

balaclava: I read this book because my 11 year old grandson has to read it for summer reading. My daughter sent it to my IPad so I could help him with his study questions. As a Language Arts teacher, I jumped at the chance. Especially since he's my boy! His teacher is brilliant to give this assignment. The book is rich with symbolism, descriptive language and very challenging. The story is about a 13 year old boy who throws a rock at "a crazy man who collects junk ". What happens as a result is magical. Redemption is the key word. The twists and turns come at a rapid pace and the end result is a masterpiece made from junk. It's impossible to get into the story because it has lots of sub themes. I highly recommend it to anyone who believes that beauty is inherent in anything if you look for it. There is a religious theme running throughout the story and it will soften even the hardest of hearts. Based on a real person, this book is for the young and mature as well. I read it in one night and it will stay with me for many many more to come. I marvel that this is being taught in 6th grade advanced classes. There is so much to take away from this story that I would love to observe how his...

United States on Jul 06, 2017

🌺 Lynne E.: THE SEVENTH MOST IMPORTANT THING is a charming (but wholly fictional) story about the creation of a real folk art sculpture--James Hampton's masterwork, "The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations' Millennium General Assembly". The sculpture, on permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., is built from discarded furniture, tinfoil, light bulbs, glass bottles, cardboard, mirrors, coffee cans, and other "useless" scraps that Hampton spent much of his life collecting from his neighborhood and from the government buildings where he worked as a janitor.

In the story, young Arthur Owens throws a brick at an old black man who is always scavenging through the neighborhood garbage cans. Arthur is basically a good kid--he's going through a bad patch after his father's death--and he's NOT a racist. However, his thrown brick knocks the scavenger down and breaks his arm. As a result, Arthur ends up in the Juvenile Detention Home, or juvie.

When Arthur appears in court, the scavenger speaks to the judge and intervenes on Arthur's behalf. Instead of returning Arthur to juvie, the judge sentences Arthur to probation--on the condition that Arthur...

United States on Jul 12, 2015