57 pages 1 hour read

Stanley Gordon West

Until They Bring The Streetcars Back

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1991

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Chapters 19-27

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 19 Summary

Steve is in love with Katie Mills, but Katie invites Cal to a dinner dance, and Cal agrees. Katie is blonde, and she has an “athletic body.” Cal wishes God made more girls like Katie.

On Friday, Cal (who plays guard) and Rick Powers (who plays center) lead Central’s basketball team to a dramatic win. The Central fans storm the court. Exhausted, Cal takes the streetcar home and wishes his dad was at the game.

School is out due to the holidays, so Cal works more for Finley and regularly drives down the bakery alley to see if Gretchen is there. On Thursday, she is. She tells Cal she’s going north, where her relatives operate cabins. However, no one rents the cabins, so things could get “worse.” To cheer her up, Cal gives Gretchen a Nut Goodie. While she eats it, she tells Cal she dreamed that he killed her dad by running over him in the grocery truck. Gretchen thanks Cal for the candy and the help. Cal realizes she has “more guts” than he ever will.