Odette's Secrets by Maryann Macdonald

Odette's Secrets by Maryann Macdonald

Author:Maryann Macdonald [Macdonald, Maryann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Published: 2013-05-03T14:00:00+00:00


I walk to school with the other children.

Our school is in the town of Saint-Fulgent.

It’s a long way there, past the cemetery.

If an oxcart passes by,

a brave child might hang on to the back and hitch a ride.

The rest of us trudge along together, singing folk songs.

Our church is in Saint-Fulgent too.

Mama and I go there every Sunday.

So does everyone else from the nearby villages.

Mama doesn’t know all the prayers yet.

When she’s not sure of the words,

I tell her to close her eyes and pretend she’s whispering them.

After Mass, the plaza in front of the church is like a fairground.

It’s full of people who chat, picnic, flirt, and play.

The children in Saint-Fulgent go to school all year long—

but not the children in La Basse Clavelière.

No one seems to care what we learn.

When springtime comes, we stop going to school.

It’s time to help with farmwork.

Except for one boy, Marcel,

who’s been sick for a long time,

every child has to help.

Girls watch cows, weed and water, or peel potatoes.

Boys cure tobacco leaves, sow and plow, or mend tools.

All the children bring animals home at the end of the day.

It doesn’t matter whose family you belong to.

If you’re a child, you must help anyone who needs you.



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