Alexander’s two brothers have money in their pockets. All he has are bus tokens. It isn’t fair. He had money last Sunday when his grandparents gave them each a dollar. Now it’s all gone. At first he was saving the money for a walkie-talkie. But saving money is hard. He bought gum with some of the money, but when it stopped tasting good, he had to buy more. Good-bye 15 cents. Then Eddie offered to rent him his snake for an hour, and he couldn’t pass up a chance like that. Betting his brother that he could hold his breath while he counted to 300 wasn’t a good idea, either. He’ll never own that walkie-talkie! Judith Viorst has a gift for getting inside a little boy’s head and making sense of what goes on there. Paired with Johnny Heller’s acting talent, the result is a good chuckle, laced with real compassion, for the child in everyone.
