By GAIL CARSON LEVINE, Illustrator MARK ELLIOT
Whenever he told about the medal, Papa would laugh. "We had to come to this country because of the sultan," he'd say. "I didn't want any more work from him. If he liked what you did, he gave you a medal. If he didn't
like it ..." Papa would drag a finger across his throat. "... Too bad for you." He'd laugh some more and add, "When we came to New York City, I sold the medal and bought your mama a dress."
But this wasn't the real reason Papa came to the United States. The real reason was too serious for him to talk about, so he'd joke about his medal instead. The truth was that there had been a war, and Greece had taken over the city where he lived. Papa and his family, the Caros family, had sided with Turkey, and so they all moved here when Greece won.
The dad Papa died, i was late getting home after school. Detention and then stickball. When I got there, Gideon was sitting on the steps outside our building. As soon as I saw him, I knew something as wrong. He was never out here. he was always upstairs or at the library, studying. When I got close enough, I saw he had been crying.
"What happened?"
"Papa ..."
I ran into the building. Gideon followed me.
Publisher: HarperCollins, $14.95
Age group: 8-12 years
