Young and Smart Characters

TJ, my oldest grandchild, is still young and is definitely smart. He also provides good company. Both Grandpa and I enjoyed his company this weekend. He is holding copies of my two latest reads, both delightful because the main characters are young, a bit quirky, and very smart.

THE SELECTED WORKS OF T. S. SPIVET by Reif Larsen is the tale of a 12-year old boy living on a ranch in Montana. The ranch life is not his true passion, cartography and scientific observation are. His illustrative skills are outstanding and his work soon earns him the Beard Award at the Smithsonian. This is the tale of his journey east to accept the award without telling his family. The Smithsonian is unaware of his true age. It is also the story of an extended scientific family. This is a book to be savored. It is a bit oversized at 8 x 9 1/2 inches. This allows for wide margins which are full of T. S.'s maps, drawings, diagrams, and notes. One can't help but learn new things. I will never forget Tecumsah Sparrow Spivet. Surely there is a sequel already in progress.

(Thank you to Eric's family. This is how I spent my Mother's Day Border's gift card:)

THE SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE by Alan Bradley is a winner of the Crime Writers' Association Debut Daggar Award. I do not regularly read mysteries, but the title and a great review of this book piqued my interest. Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce lives in England on a country estate called Buckshaw which has been in her family for generations. She is an aspiring chemist with her own on-site laboratory (created for a promising chemist in the family during the time of Queen Victoria who was sent home from Oxford after a mental breakdown) and her speciality is creating poisons. She is also at constant war with her two older sisters. Her mother died in a mountaineering accident and her father hides away in his study with his stamp collection. A dead bird with a penny stamp impaled on the beak left on the doorstep followed by the discovery of a dieing man in the cucumber patch sets the stage for Flavia to use all of her smarts and skills in solving the mystery. Flavia is a most engaging heroine. I see sequels in her future as well.

I found it interesting that I picked two books to read in a row which were based on such young, imaginative characters. Two weeks prior, I picked three books all set in the early 1900's with political overtones with regards to immigration and anarchy. They would not provide the basis for such an engaging post, eh?

This morning I turned on the BYU channel as I was getting ready for church. A former talk of Elder Richard G. Scott was playing. He was basing his address on:

1. Alma 7: 23
   23 And now I would that ye should be ^ahumble, and be ^bsubmissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.

Elder Scott stressed that his trying to be "easy to be entreated" had made a huge difference in his life as regard to his personal relationships and the pattern of his life. I ran to a dictionary to look at the meaning of "entreated."

entreat - bid: ask for or request earnestly

So, I assumed that "easy to be entreated" would mean that as one would ask for or request earnestly of another that if they were easy to be entreated, they would respond positively and with love and kindness.

So are we "easy to be entreated" when our visiting teacher calls to make an appointment, we are asked to substitute in the nursery, or when a friend or family member asks for our help and support? That has been my Sunday Musing today.

I can say that my sweet TJ, at the tender age of 10 1/2, exemplifies the scripture above. Those are his very qualities and I love him so much. He was easy to be entreated when I asked him if he would like to help me clean out the game closet.

He and grandpa filled the back of the Tahoe with games and puzzles which they delivered to DI. We kept the special ones. (I hope this includes any of your sentimental favorites. Simpsons' Trivia, Nathan?) TJ gladly returned home with a rock collection, fossils, and a compass plus other odds and ends. We managed to free up a shelf for "grandpa collections" and you all know what that means!

Thank you TJ for helping to move it all out including vacuuming the dust and debris.