Booktalking Colorado - Full Booktalk Record

Booktalking Colorado Full Record:

	Title:	Blizzard's Wake
	Author:	Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds
	Date Published:	2002
	Genre:	Real Life
	Grade Level:	7 - 12
	Booktalker:	Sam Marsh

Booktalk:
I got out early on good behavior. It was March 14, 1941. I took a bus back home just outside of Grand Forks, North Dakota. There was me enough money for that, and a bit for food and lodging. When I tried to call my brother, I was told the phone was disconnected, so I spent the night at Grand Forks, at a place where they didn't seem to recognize me. The next day was Saturday. I asked around about jobs a bit, but the few places that might have had something to offer did recognize me, and I was summarily dismissed. At places where they didn't recognize me, I was told that there would likely be jobs once the draft got into full swing, but that would be most likely summertime. I still couldn't get hold of my brother. When I called the operator I was again told the number was disconnected. I would later find out that the house had recently burned to the ground, but since I hadn't told Dwayne I was getting out early, he had no reason to let me know. I asked around about a bus or another way to get out to the house. A mechanic at the Shell station said he'd get off at 8:30 and would give me a ride on his was home if I wanted to wait. I thanked him and accepted. I had him drop me several miles from the house...I didn't want him seeing the name and connecting it. You see I had been in prison for vehicular homicide while driving drunk. I didn't even remember anything about the accident. But, I had run into a car with two women at the corner near our houses. Only one of the women walked away from the accident. Mrs. Sterling, the doctor's wife, didn't make it. Dwayne and I had been alone for quite a while after our parents died about eight months apart. We didn't have much in common except our blood, and were both used to looking after ourselves. I'd tried living on my own when I was twenty, but it didn't work out, and I ended up back home with Dwayne because there wasn't anywhere else to go. I hadn't meant to kill anyone that night. Especially Mrs. Sterling. I was just a stupid, depressed kid with no direction, using the bottle to help drown my sorrows. But after the accident, I sure wouldn't drive and drink again. It was dark and starting to snow lightly when I was dropped off. It seemed a nice night for a cool walk. The night before was a full moon, so I figured it would be a well-lit walk. It was only about a forty-minute walk, and I was looking forward to the time alone. But clouds soon brought obscured the moon, and a blast of cold air suddenly hit me head-on. The direction of the wind had changed 180 degrees, and the temperature had dropped drastically. I pulled up the zipper of my jacket and hurried on. But, it just got worse. The snow got heavier and deeper minute after minute, and the wind (clocked at up to 84 mph we later heard) was amazing. Sometimes I walked backwards against the wind. I was soon lost. I couldn't see anything. It had been several hours and I was freezing. Icy frost was already forming on my eyebrows as well as my clothing. I finally changed direction, just trying to find anyplace warm to settle. At one point, I almost gave up and lay down in the snow to die. But, something kept me going. My legs were stiff and I could hardly feel them anymore when I stumbled across the car, already half buried in a snowdrift. The door was locked or frozen shut, so I pounded on it. There were answering thumps inside and finally it was pushed open and I was dragged in, barely conscious. At first, they didn't recognize me, and I could barely speak. But, I recognized them, and knew it would only be a matter of time. It was Doc Sterling and his son Jesse...the husband and son of the wife I had killed.