Jerry's Charge Account

Jerry Martin wants candy, and he wants it now. When he discovers the local grocery store extends credit to regular customers, he sees an opportunity too good to resist. The problem is: he's eight years old, and he hasn't told his parents. What starts as a few sweets on credit becomes a mounting stack of IOUs, an April Fool's prank gone spectacularly wrong (shattered sugarbowl, anyone?), and a desperate game of keeping secrets from his family. With his twin sister Cathy always watching and little Andy looking up to him, Jerry has to figure out how to dig himself out of this mess before his father finds out. Hazel Hutchins Wilson captures the universal childhood feeling of wanting something immediately and the thrill (and terror) of keeping it from the adults who could never understand. It's a warm, funny portrait of ordinary family life in mid-century America, where the stakes feel enormous to a child and the resolution comes through honest confession and the relief of being loved anyway. Perfect for kids who've ever hid something from their parents and wondered if the world would end.