"They're like two peas in a pod," adults whisper about the girls. But Garmann knows that they aren't. Then one day Johanna takes Garmann into the woods to show him a surprise, and the two find a secret world full of imagination and discovery.
Award-winning author and illustrator Stian Hole has once again created a book filled with wonder that will delight fans of Garmann.
Hannah's horrible, Garmann thinks, moving away. He has seen how things work on the playground; he knows that children form a circle around you and shout and jeer. You have to get away before you're left standing in the middle.
For the rest of the break he stays in the shadow of the tree and watches Hannah and Johanna jump rope.
The twins are identical and yet different, Garmann thinks. Johanna is ready to jump in after Hannah. When Hannah starts to move out, Johanna moves in. The girls skip together for a while. But when the rope hits Hannah's legs, Johanna gets the blame. "You're always copying me, you little baby!" Hannah whines.
Johanna gets quiet and walks off.
The twins are at the front of the Constitution Day parade. In front of the band, in front of the mayor and all of the events committee. Hannah and Johanna sparkle. They look like white circus ponies as they march through the school gates, down the main street, and across the square.
They're like two peas in a pod," Garmann hears some adults whisper as the girls pass by. No, they aren't, Garmann thinks.
Later, after all the holiday games have been played and the last ice cream has been eaten, Garmann feels a hand on his shoulder.
He turns and sees Johanna.
"Come on, Garmann, and I'll show you a secret," she whispers. Garmann and Johanna head off through the park, along the wire fence that Hannah tricked Garmann into licking last winter. Soon they're by the tall spruce trees. Johanna looks over her shoulder to make sure no one is watching them. Then they take the path into the forest.
"Where are we going?" Garmann whispers.
"Wait and see," Johanna answers.
The path narrows as it enters the dark forest. It's cool and damp beneath the leaves. So many shades of green, Garmann thinks to himself. None of the leaves is quite the same as another. They plunge deeper into the forest, stopping only at an anthill to watch the worker ants carrying spruce needles.
"Wonder how they can tell each other apart," Garmann says.
"I once saw two ants carrying a drop of water between them," Johanna says.
Johanna takes a running start and jumps over a stream. "We're getting close," she says under her breath to Garmann. They creep through the wild brambles. Johanna stops at the edge of a clearing. She pushes some branches to the side and points. Garmann cranes his neck to see.
Between the ferns on the forest floor he sees some twisted chunks of blackened metal.
"You're the only person I've shown this to," Johanna says. "I think it was a space capsule."
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Garmann's secret by Stian Hole Copyright © 2012 by Stian Hole. Excerpted by permission of Eerdmans Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Overview
"They're like two peas in a pod," adults whisper about the girls. But Garmann knows that they aren't. Then one day Johanna takes Garmann into the woods to show him a surprise, and the two find a secret world full of imagination and discovery.
...