Into the Pensieve: Because of Winn-Dixie

Alice and Martha take a break from stories about mice to cover a story about a dog, Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. Is Miss Franny Block really a librarian? Where do Litmus Lozenges get their flavor? And did Dave Matthews kill his chances at an acting career with his portrayal of Otis? Find out the answers to these questions and more! 

In this series, Alice and Martha reminisce on shared memories, inside jokes, and experiences reading both classic and lesser-known children's books, including favorite segments such as Quora Question of the Week, and Sorting Hat! Take Fives and character studies will continue, with this new episode format being added to the rotation with the other two formats. 

Please consider supporting us on Patreon! www.patreon.com/realweirdsisters

New episodes are released every Monday and special topics shows are released periodically. Don't forget to subscribe to our show to make sure you never miss an episode!

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Because of wind Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. May I have your attention? Please?
May I have your attention? Please? Well, the Real Weird Sisters,
please stand up. We're gonna havea problem here. We're the Weird
Sisters. Were the real Weird Sisters. All you are the Weird Sisters are

(00:22):
fine, man of the Bakers.Well, the real Weird Sisters, please
stand up, Please stand up,Please stand up. Hi, and welcome
to the Real Weird Sisters. I'mMartha and I'm Alice, and today we're
here to talk about because of WinnDixie by Kate DiCamillo. This is our
I don't know what number episode ofour into the Pond Sieve series. Are

(00:43):
you ready, Alice? I amvery ready. This was a fun read
and a little bit more literary thanwe've been doing recently, so should be
uh, should be a good oneto discuss. Yes, I'm very excited.
This was one of my all timefavorite books as a kid. I
think it was like one of thefirst books that I was obsessed with,
and I read it over and overagain. I think I probably saw the

(01:07):
movie in theaters. And it's nota movie, not a book or movie
that you really were into as akid, right, Well, it came
out too late for me. Right. It was written in two thousand,
so you know, by that point, I was already ten, So I
mean that's maybe about the age thatit's intended for. But at the same
time, like it had just comeout, so it probably wasn't like very
popular for a couple of years afterthat. And yeah, exactly, so

(01:30):
I didn't I didn't know about itin time. Yeah, And the movie
came out in two thousand and five. I think I started reading it in
probably about two thousand and two ortwo thousand and three. I'm pretty sure
that my second grade teacher read itout loud to us. It might have
been my third grade teacher, butI'm pretty sure it was second grade.
So I remember, like I whenI when I first read it, I

(01:51):
was like, oh, I hopethere's a movie soon. And then the
movie came, Like the movie cameout just a couple of years after that,
so it was very exciting. Butyou never read it as a kid,
or you just didn't obsess over it. I don't really remember. I
think I read it. It definitelywas like a familiar story when I read
it, and I vaguely remember watchingthe movie, so I think I did

(02:12):
read the book, but yeah,I didn't obsess over it. Yeah,
I mean I probably think I wasolder than like the target audience at the
time. I probably made you watchthe movie with me because I was obsessed
with that. I thought that.I mean, I haven't watched the movie
since probably like maybe high school.I was gonna say probably middle school though,
so it's been a really long timesince I've watched the movie. But
at the time I thought it waslike a perfect adaptation it. I was

(02:37):
obsessed with it, like I said, So I'm sure I probably either as
much as a younger sister. Asmuch as I could force you to watch
a movie, I probably force youto watch it. Yeah, when you
said it's a perfect adaptation makes mecurious, like how it's rated. Did
you happen to look at like rottentomatoes or anything like I think it's oh
like percentage or like, yeah,I'm just curious, Like I know,

(03:00):
good question. We have a differentbar for what a movie book adaptation should
look like, yes, than likesae as tim true because of When Dixie.
It has a six point four onIMDb out of ten, so that's
not bad. But let's look atwhat Rotten Tomatoes eight. No, that's
pretty good. Like if it's over, it's fifty five percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

(03:22):
I feel like, for a kid'smovie from the two thousands, that's
not terrible. Sixty three yeah,sixty three from the audience. Yeah,
that's all right. I mean,like you said, for movie, a
kid's movie from the early two thousands, you know, what can you expect?
Yeah? And it's actually, Imean a fairly star studded movie.
It has Cicily Tyson, Jeff Daniels, and Dave Matthews. Excitingly, there

(03:46):
was also Anna, Sophia Rob's firstmovie, I believe, and she's been
in quite a few, like playingthat, you know, Sophia Rob,
Chloe Grace Moritz and Dakota Fanning orlike the three. I feel like that
everybody gets picked up. I suredo. I can't. And actually,
interestingly enough, Elle Fanning plays sweetyPie Thomas, so she's she's in the

(04:06):
movie as well. Yeah, wellmakes sense. Yeah, since she looks
like Dakota Fanning, then that wouldlook like her sister. Yeah it's not
her sister though. Elle Fanning isn'tDakota Ning, but sweety Pie Thomas is
not. It was just her friend. But yeah, yeah, I feel

(04:29):
like that's a decent rating for apeach you know, PG rated movie.
Most most kids movies get kind oflow ratings, I feel like, unless
their picks are which is fair usually. So I mean, yeah, I'm
curious to hear how many of ourlisteners have watched the movie or read the
book, because I think, Ido think that most of our listeners are
older than you, and so Idon't know if this is going to be

(04:51):
a super popular one as far aslike lots of people having lots of childhood
memories about it. But it's definitelya great book and I would recommend reading
it maybe with your kids. Now. Yeah, so you're really curious to
hear what you thought about it,because I personally rereading it was like,
Wow, this really is. Itis a great book. It has a

(05:13):
couple things where that I probably didn'tnotice as a kid, where I was
like a little bit like, ohokay, that's a little bit dated now,
But for the most part, Iwas like, yeah, I can
see why I really love this book. Yeah, I agree. I mean,
it's a it's award winning book fora reason, and I think those
are the kind that usually hold upas far as like adults enjoy reading them

(05:33):
as well as kids. Yeah,I also both of us, I believe
listened to the audiobook and I thoughtit was a really well done audiobook.
Cherry Jones was the reader for it, and she did a really good job
like making it I feel like asa kid if I I don't remember if
I listened to the book on tapeas a kid or not, but I
think I would have really enjoyed listeningto it as a kid. Yeah,

(05:56):
she was, She was good andthought I thought she did a good job
with like the different voices and thatkind of thing mm hmm. And I
was impressed, like the kid voiceshe did was not like an annoying kid
voice, I felt like, andit actually kind of sounded like a kid
reading it. Yeah, I willsay I I listened to it at like
almost two or I think I listenedto it. Well. I listened to

(06:16):
it one point seventy five for alot, and then I switched to two
for a little while. Wow,So that that may have been that kind
of affects it. Yeah, Itypically listened at one point three to five.
That's my usual sweet spot, SoI'm not sure how I would have
been at one, but I doI thought she did an excellent job.
But yeah, let's let's go aheadand dive in. I do think while

(06:38):
this might not be something a lotof our listeners read as a kid,
I think it is a well knownenough book that a lot of people are
familiar with it at least or liketheir kids have read it, or somebody
they know read it. I dofeel like it was huge with my generation,
Like I feel like most people myexact age definitely read this as a
kid. Well. And this isa spoiler, so I don't so if

(06:59):
you don't want a spoiler, skipahead, Like there will be a lot
of spoilers in this episode, butI will say it was. It was.
It was nice to see a bookabout a dog where it wasn't like
heartbreaking and the dog didn't die.Yes, the dog doesn't die. That's
a great, great spoiler. Andit also there's moments where you're afraid a
little worried about the dog, andthere's moments where you know it's a little

(07:21):
It could be a tear jerker,depending on your mental state, I guess,
but I think like and it's definitelya poignant book, but it's not
It's not like a sob fest likemost no, most dog books are.
No, it's not a sob fest. But it is a very emotional book.
It has very real emotion emotions init, compared to I think what

(07:44):
a lot of people think of askids books like it has a very serious
tone. It's all about this girlwho's coping with her mom having left her,
and her and her father and likewhat her mixed feelings are about all
that. And she also encounters alot of different social issues that are pretty

(08:05):
interesting the way that she interprets it, and just the whole like message of
the book, I feel like,is a really pretty deep message for a
book that's written for kids. Yeah, I agree. I mean I think
that it's There were quite a fewbooks around the same time that were written
like Walk to Moons and stuff iskind of a similar theme. I think

(08:28):
of like a child kind of likesearching for their mom or searching for their
identity I guess, like and whothey're going to be without their parents.
That's always been a theme in children'sliterature. But I think that this gives
a lot of agency to the actualchild, and like you said, it
doesn't shy away from like some difficulttopics. Yes, so let's go ahead

(08:52):
and dive in. Like you said, it was written in two thousand,
I think I read it in probablyabout two thousand and three. I think
it was in my second grade class. And it's a protagonist is named India
Ople. Really she goes by Oplemost of the time. And she's ten
years old and she just moved toa new town in Florida, Naomi,
Florida, and she her father isa preacher. She just refers to him

(09:16):
as the preacher all the time.Now, I will say that's one of
my least favorite parts of this book. And I get why it's done because
she's not. He's a little bitemotionally closed off, especially at the beginning
of the book. He opens upthroughout the book because of wind Dixie.
But he is kind of like justa serious guy who's like always working,

(09:39):
and she's not really super close withhim. She wants to be, but
she sees him kind of as likea you know, more like an authority
figure. I guess who she's notclose with, right, And it's interesting,
like this whole the whole book isvery like we live in the South.
There's a lot of Southern things thatare in it, just like calling

(10:03):
him a preacher. I think it'sa Baptist church that they don't really like
go into any like specific like doctrineor anything, which I was thankful for.
But yeah, I mean they livein a trailer park, and there's
just a lot of things that arevery Southern. I feel like about her
life. Yeah, I think likea lot of the characters that you encounter

(10:26):
to feel very Southern. And Imean part of the narrator that we were
listening to reading the book was,you know, definitely a Southern accent.
But yeah, it has a littlebit of a stereotype. Now, I
wasn't totally clear on what year thiswas set. It feels like it's quite
It does not feel like it's inthe current day. Feels a little like
maybe set in like the seventies.Really, I mean, I guess,

(10:48):
I I did never think about it. It could be I've kind of gotten
more. I mean, I don'treally know. I mean, I definitely
don't think it's set in the twentytwenties, but right, yeah, the
nineties, I guess. But itor maybe the eighties or something like,
I feel like somewhere in there,but it definitely like it doesn't feel like
I mean, there are a coupledated references in vocabulary, but I think

(11:09):
that other than that, it doesn'tfeel super dated. And I guess the
date isn't super important. But justthe fact that this girl is like running
around the town, well, that'syeah, That's what I was gonna say.
Is she she is very independent andvery other kids are too. Yeah,
all the kids are just kind ofall around. But I do also
think that that might be kind ofa southern tiny town thing. But also

(11:31):
I don't know, so I mightjust be making that up, but I
kind of feel like it feels alittle bit like I think that they are
supposed to be like sort of workingclass. I mean, they live in
a trailer park, and it's kindof a like there's a lot of like
like it seems like a lot ofthem live in like sort of small houses
or like in a trailer themselves.So I feel like that there's sort of

(11:54):
this like independent Uh. I don'tknow what I'm talking about clearly because I've
never lived in the South, butit just feels like I've seen other or
read other stories where kids in southernsmall towns just are like this and it
doesn't really doesn't really have to beforty years ago right now. When I
googled it just now, it saysthat because of based on the clues,

(12:18):
given what you can infer, itis set between the nineteen fifties and the
nineteen nineties. So okay, allright, so wide, Well, I
guess that the biggest clue is thatMiss Franni Block talks about her great grandfather
being a Civil War soldier. Soif you think back four generations to somebody
two generations older than her, thatwould kind of make sense. Yeah,

(12:39):
that's a lot of math for me. Yeah, exactly. So let's go
ahead and get into who wind Dixieis, and I will, you know,
start by saying, obviously, thesecond part of wind Dixie's name is
not a word that we would besaying today. However, wind Dixie is
named after the supermarket chain, whichstill does exist, So just to clarify
where the name comes from. Soopen first is she's, like you said,

(13:03):
she does a lot of stuff onher own. She's out picking up
some groceries for her and the preacher, and there's a kind of a chaotic
day. Is how this book opens, where there's a dog loose in the
grocery store, and she describes himas a really ugly dog, really big,
scruffy, a bunch of bald spots, and he's just running around kind
of she thinks he seems like he'shaving a good time, but I'm guessing,

(13:26):
you know, from the dog's perspective, he's probably super stressed out and
like anxious being in this sinclosed spacewith all these things that are falling off
the shelves and stuff. Right,And she just immediately kind of her heart
goes out to the dog and shewants to you know, the employees at
the store are kind of annoyed withhim, and like the owner is threatening

(13:48):
to take him to the pound,and she just can't stand the idea of
taking him to the pound. Soshe steps in and pretends like it's her
dog, right, And so sheimmediately comes up with the name when Dick's
because they're like, well, that'syour dog, what's his name? And
so she just sees the name windDixie, and so she names him that,
and he comes home with her andthe preacher kind of that she doesn't

(14:11):
really have to put up that bigof a fight to get him to stay
with them. But apparently in thetrailer park they're not supposed to have dogs,
so they basically just agree they're goingto have to make sure that he's
well behaved and stuff. I thinkone of the cutest things about whind Dixie
is how he smiles right, andhe always and I can just picture it
with the type of dog that theyhave in the movie. That's exactly what

(14:33):
I picture, just kind of thatkind of dog does kind of smile,
yes, but anyways, he'll alwayssmile at people and sort of endear himself
to them. Yes, it's veryadorable. Like they multiple times like people
are like, well, we can'thave a dog here, and then wind
Dixie just starts smiling and they're like, oh, well, maybe maybe he
could come. So that he winsthe Preacher over pretty quickly. I will

(14:58):
say a pretty memorable scene for mebefore we get into all the different people
that when Dixie helps her meet,is when when Dixie goes to church with
them. This is in the movieas well, and I feel like the
cadence of what the Preacher says islike stuck in my mind, and when
the scene came up, I waslike, oh, I know what line

(15:18):
is coming. And this is whenwhen Dixie first gets tied up outside the
church because he doesn't like being leftalone in the In the trailer, it's
very sweet. He has abandonment ofissues. So he's tied up outside and
he starts whining throughout the service,so then they decide to bring him in.
But then he catches a mouse andthe preacher says, let us pray

(15:41):
for this mouse, and I'm justlike, that's a super memorable scene for
me. Yeah, it was ait was a cute scene, like just
picturing the chaos and I don't know, it's very like small town moment too.
Yes, well, because the openarms Baptist church, which is where
they've come to she's come to bethe preacher at, has no pews.

(16:03):
They everybody brings their own chair.And it used to be a picket quick,
I guess this is what it's called. Uh, it's like a or
pick and save. It says it'sa grocery store, so it has like
old signs and stuff in the grocerystore in the building. And yeah,
there's a lot of really good detailsthat the author does here. Like k

(16:25):
Dickamilla does not the author. Bythe way, you definitely say her last
name differently than I do. Isay, well, I've always said Dick
Camillo, and I know that emphasison the first syllable I hear. I
don't know why. I don't knowwhy that's always been what I've said.
I can't remember. I feel likeI looked up how to say it when

(16:45):
I was a kid and heard hersay that in an interview. But to
your credit in the audiobook, theydid say d Camillo. So I just
feel like most names that start likewith a di I capital something is pronounced
dad. Yeah, you're You're notwrong. I just have to say.
That's imprinted in my mind of howto say it. But I don't know

(17:07):
if I'm just making that up.I probably am. Okay, So let's
jump into all the different people thatwinn Dixie helps Opal meet, because that's
kind of the premise. Obviously,the title is because of wind Dixie,
and that's the whole opening uh chapterof the book says like everything that happened
to me that summer was because ofwind Dixie. So as who who is

(17:30):
your favorite of the different cast ofcharacters that she meets. I liked probably
uh, Gloria Dump the best.I don't know, or maybe Otis.
I liked the both of them.Miss Franny Block was not my favorite.
I knew she was not going tobe your favorite. She was a little
bit heavy handed. Yeah. Uh, Gloria Dump was definitely my favorite as

(17:52):
a kid. And in the moviesshe's played by Cecily Tyson, so she's
iconic and was my first introduction.It makes me wonder, like, how
old was Cecily Tyson at the time. I mean she was. It was
twenty years ago, so it's wortha google. I guess, I guess.
I just don't. I guess shewas eighty. She was eighty years

(18:14):
old, all right, she justI don't. I don't know. I
didn't think she was quite as oldas she is. I didn't realize she's
currently ninety six, So I guessthat makes she died in twenty twenty one
at night oh race, right,Okay, I forgot that she had died.
I didn't realize that she was thatold. I had thought she was
younger. I mean, she doesn'tlook that old to me, so well,

(18:36):
yeah, she was great in themovie, and Gloria dumb herself is
a very interesting character, So whydon't you set up how we meet her?
I guess the important thing to knowis that the neighborhood kids think that
she's a witch. And so there'sthese boys, the Dewberry Boys, that

(18:56):
are kind of like harassing Opal throughoutthe book, and it's kind of a
trope of like, oh, theyjust want to be her friends. They
probably have a crush on her.Well, they don't ever actually say it's
a crush. Yeah, but yeah, it didn't feel that way. Yeah,
But anyway, they have told theyhave told Opal that there's a witch
that lives in this house. Andthen wind Dixie runs into the yard of

(19:18):
this house, and so Opal hasto follow, and then she ends up
talking to Gloria and realizing she's nota witch. Right, so they become
fast friends. And the reason whenDixie ran into the yard was because he
smelled peanut butter and he loves peanutbutter apparently, and yeah, they they

(19:40):
basically she comes starts hanging out withGloria every day, and she realizes that
Gloria can't read anymore because her eyesighthas becomes too bad, so she decides
to start reading to her, andshe reads Gone with the Wind to her.
Yeah, which is That's part ofanother reason why I thought this was
an older setting, because that actuallywas a huge factor for me, because

(20:03):
I was thinking, if this hadbeen even in the nineties, there was
a lot more books to choose fromto read for her to read out loud,
and Gone with the Wind seems likea real daunting task for like a
I don't know how old she is, like ten year old to read out
loud to an old woman. Imean it, I just I didn't feel
that that would be the recommendation inthe nineties. Yeah, well it's it's

(20:26):
also because Franny Block is the onewho recommends it. She's like too,
that's true. But yeah, thatthat was probably the fact that actually,
honestly was the factor that influenced mealmost the most on thinking about when this
was set. Yeah, that's fair. Well, you know how like older
books, the kids are always readingclassics like Gone with the Wind or Treasure

(20:47):
Islands. That's what they're always reading, right, Yeah, exactly, So
I felt like it was kind ofsimilar to that. Yeah, that's that's
a good point. Yeah, Andthen I mean people still read Gone with
the Wind, so it's not likeout of the realm of possibility. But
yeah, sure, I've never readit myself. No, me neither.
Okay, I mean it does seemlike ople's pretty advanced, clearly, if

(21:08):
she's able to read this out loudand like get it. And I mean,
obviously we do want to find abook that's going to be appealing for
both the kid and the old lady. But right, well, it's all
because of Gone with the Wind thatthey end up having this party at the
end, because that's the only bookthat or that's the only story that's ever
had a summer barbecue before. Whatthey did say that I don't remember that.

(21:30):
I did say that's the only bookthat's ever had a summer barbecue before.
But that's where they get the idea. Oh okay, I thought that
they I thought you were saying thatthey like fixated on that. No,
they were like, well, let'sdo what they did and Gone with the
Wind and invite people over for abarbecue. Yeah, it's like, oh,
it's nice that you read this book, so you now know that people
invite people to your yard in thesummer, right, very unique choice of

(21:55):
party for them. Right, Soevery person that India. Open Meats has
kind of their own troubled backstory,and Gloria's turns out to be that she
she's an alcoholic recovering and she hasmade a very symbolic choice to hang all
her bottles on a tree outside inher yard. And I will say,

(22:17):
me, as the little prude thatI was as a kid, like definitely
really was like this really stuck withme. The image of Gloria dump's mistakes
that she calls the ghosts of herpast. And and Opal's reaction is very
like Martha as a kid, becauseshe's like, oh, but there's beer
bottles and there's whiskey bottles, andit's like, what, like this woman

(22:41):
drank And yeah she's like, well, my mother drank too, my father
told me. And it's like it'svery much the way that like alcohol was
portrayed to us as kids. You'reright, well, it's like the concept
of she drank it like really whenmeans it's like she she had a dependency
on alcohol, like than just somebodywho drank drinks exactly. Yeah, but

(23:04):
no, I mean she's got thesealcohol bottles. Just to be clear,
it was not all the alcohol sheever drank. I would assume or oh,
I don't think so. No,it's just one to represent each of
her like mistakes, right, yeah, I think so. Yeah. I
kind of got the sense that sheput them up because like as part of
her recovery to remind herself. Itwas like symbolic, yeah exactly, but

(23:27):
it's a little bit creepy, likeI mean, yeah, the sound of
these bottles like winking. Yeah,yeah, I think that you know this,
this is like something that I feellike kids would really feel like wow.
Well I definitely was. Yeah,it definitely left an impression. It

(23:49):
was a little bit different. Imean it sounds like, like you said,
she actually did have an alcohol problem, and the way it's portrayed is
not necessarily saying that anybody who drinksis going to go down a dark path,
but it's more of like she's sayingI made mistakes, right exactly.
Yeah, Like you said, India'sreaction is kind of or I mean,

(24:11):
Ople's reaction is kind of similar tolike how we would be as kids.
Well yeah, I think it's likea pretty like typical kid reaction of like
like oversimplifying everything. Okay, solet's move on to talk about Otis,
who in the movie portrayed by DaveMatthews, one of his only acting jobs
I think ever, Yeah, wasthis is his only one? Or I

(24:34):
mean, I'm not that we needto go down the Dave Matthew's rabbit hole.
But we never heard of him inanother movie. Yeah, I'm looking
it up right now. Filmography,he does not even have a page for
filmography on They just really wanted agood singer for Otis because yeah, okay,
here's here's acting. Okay. Beforehe was known as a musician,
he was an amateur actor. Andhe's had some small roles in how and

(25:02):
he was in a skit on SNL. He was briefly in I Now Pronounce
You Chuck, and Larry Uh brieflyin You Don't Mess with the Zohan.
So yeah, it looks like becauseof Wind Dixie's his largest rightest role he's
ever had except for two thousand andthree he was Will Coleman and Where the

(25:23):
Red Fern Grows. Oh. Helikes to be in dog movies. Yeah,
like dog movies that are adaptations ofchildren's novels. So yeah, that,
like you said, the big partof his character is that he's a
good musician. He plays guitar andhe sings, and the other kids in

(25:45):
town refer to him as the Rwords. So I kind of do think
that he might, you know,have some sort of social difference or neurodivergent
in some way. Nothing is everlike fully described, but he's definitely like
socially awkward, shy, and kindof like a little bit uh maybe like
doesn't necessarily like being around people thatmuch. Yeah, I mean, and

(26:10):
he's very sweet. Like when whenOpal first meets him, or you know,
some of the first interactions she haswith him, he's playing music for
the animals that he that live inthe pet store that he works at that
Ople kind of helps out too,But so he really cares about the animals,
and that's kind of seems to behis passion. I guess. Yeah,

(26:33):
he's kind of a Doctor Doolittle type, huh, I guess so.
But yeah, then him playing themusic for the animals is what Opal what
leads Opal to find out his backstory, because he said he feels bad for
the animals having to be in cagesall the time because it reminds him of
when he was in jail. Yeah, and you know, to her credit,

(26:55):
she doesn't just immediately be like,why were you in jail? She
she finds like a actual way tobring it up later and she tells him
like, you don't have to tellme. Yeah, she's very mature for
a ten year old, and likevery generous too with adults. With everybody.
She's well, not really with Amanda, but with not at first anyway,
with adults especially, I'd say herpeers she's less generous with. But

(27:21):
yeah, the fact that she's she'sjust like, oh, okay, Well,
she doesn't judge him for it.She does find out the story of
why he went to jail. She'slike, she's like, were you a
murderer or a burglar? That's anotherreason why I felt a little bit old
fashioned too, the word burglars usedquite a bit. Yeah, and honestly,
like the story of when he wentto jail was really depressing, And
yeah, it really was, like, you know, it's sort of realistic

(27:47):
for the things that people do getput in jail for that are frustrating situations,
especially considering that he probably is neurodivergent. Right, So he got put
in jail because he was playing musicon the street and then he was asked
to stop, and he didn't,and then the police asked him to stop,
and then what happened he and helike hit the police officer. Yeah,

(28:10):
it sounds like the police officers andhim got into a conferenceation. Yeah.
I think the police officer tried tograb his guitar and so then notice
hit him. Yeah. But Ithink again, if we're considering him not
being neurotypical, that he probably likewas you know, there was some sort
of aggression that was not his soundslike he was triggered in this. Yeah,
exactly. It wasn't like, youknow, it wasn't like this is

(28:33):
how he'd typically acts. He seemslike a very gentle person in general,
exactly. So anyway, he wentto jail. Then after he got out
of jail, he was this partwas a little bit unrealistic because They're like,
they let me out on with theagreement that I would not play guitar
in public, And I'm like,is that something that they can dictate like
after you're out of jail, Like, yeah, it might have just been

(28:56):
how old was interpreted it, butmaybe yeah, but he told him like
you better not risk it, like, don't play music in public. Well,
because I think he was going toget a citation for busking, Like
it seems like that he was youknow, he wasn't he wasn't playing for
money, but people were giving himmoney. Yeah, so I think that
that's kind of also just pushed himof, like my music is private now,

(29:17):
But I did think it was kindof interesting. He doesn't mind ople
listening at all. And then SweetyePie Thomas, who's a five year old
who goes to their church, startscoming to and so he he doesn't really
push back on having an audience besidesthe animals at all. Maybe it's because
it's not adults. But he's avery sweet man and it's a very endearing
moment at the end where so theyhave this party at the end and he

(29:41):
brings a jar of pickles and he'slike kind of holding on to the jar
of pickles the whole time, likehe's like it's like his security jar of
pickles. Yeah. Very sweet.Yeah, and an Ople is a nice
relationship with him. So yes,that's nice. Now. Picture Dave Matthews
as him is kind of hard forme, but oh he he did a

(30:03):
great job in it. I'm notgonna lie. I think he was never
cast in another movie again. Yeah, that's I mean he did. That
was his second role in a movie, and he did have other roles afterwards.
But I don't know, I thinkhe Dave Matthew. I mean,
because Otis is this kind of sociallyawkward guy, Dave Matthews didn't have to

(30:23):
be able to act that well.He just kind of like grunted a bunch
and then played music. And Ido remember the music in like when he's
playing it was really good. Imean, honestly, Dave Matthews. Yeah,
so he was. He was anice guy. Yes, he was

(30:44):
sweet. So final big character isMiss Franny Block, who we mentioned already.
She's the librarian and she's kind ofthis like southern heiress. She got
this library because when she was likewhen she turned I think sixteen or certain
age, her daddy asked her whatshe wanted for her birthday and she wanted

(31:04):
a library. Yeah, And Ilike how then She's like, so I
became a librarian at a young age. And I'm like, this is what
annoyed me. I'm like, you'renot a librarian just because you had a
little shed of books. Well backthen, I think that kind of is
what made you a library I guessit just kind of irritated me. I
was like, Okay, So thereason that ople connects with her in the

(31:26):
first place is, well, she'sgoing to the library a lot over the
summer, because what else does akid who has no friends do? Right?
Right, exactly? And when Dixie'swaiting outside, but Franny Block freaks
out because she thinks it's a bear, and then turns out she actually has
some past experiences with a bear comingto the library. Yeah, I feel

(31:47):
like she she knew it was adog the whole time. She just wanted
an excuse to tell that story,and he excused to tell that story.
I mean, it is a greatstory. Doesn't sound like it happened.
But I guess back then Florida wasreal. Why held there were wild men
and wild women and wild animals allover the place. Yeah. Sure,
Franny, So she was reading thebook Warren Peace, and I said,

(32:13):
I'm gonna fight back, and Ithrew that book at that bear. Yeah.
But the funny, the crazy thingis he took the book with him.
Probably, if I had to guess, this would be our dad's favorite
character in the movie. Yeah,I mean, why do you see that?
I don't necessarily agree, but justbecause he tends to pick like the

(32:35):
quirky old woman to like it's hilarious. True, that's true, You're right.
Yeah, I could just see thathe would. He would find her
chuckling, he'de chuckling at the bearstory. Well, and the fact that
she's our least favorite probably would alsocontribute to him. So, yeah,
she has a long history that shelikes to tell. She likes to tell

(32:59):
stories. This is how Ople becomessort of friends with Amanda, who is
this girl who Opel describes as pinchfaced. And we learned that the reason
she's so pinch faced is because herbrother drowned last year. Ye just pressing.
It was kind of a don't judge, don't judge a book by its
cover moment or like yeah, orwalk two moons in someone else's shoes moment.

(33:20):
Yeah right, yeah, So likeyou know, Ople kind of learns
a lesson about judging people by theirappearance. I guess. Yeah. So
miss Franny Block is the great granddaughterof a Confederate soldier, which was kind
of an interesting Uh it was likenot exactly mentioned or not like there was
there was one moment where I waslike Okay, this is getting a little
bit too uh southern and a littleproblematic, where she's like, my grandfather

(33:46):
fought, my great grandfather fought inthe Civil War, and uh, Ople's
like that was the war that endedslavery, and she's like, well,
yes, it was about slavery,but it was also about state rats.
It was like, kay, Ople, we don't need to tell giving us
a lecture about states rights. Wellit wasn't Opal giving hers, it was

(34:07):
Franny. Yeahran, Well here's thething, Like, I agree, that
was kind of I didn't care forthat moment, but at the same time,
it felt pretty realistic. Yeah,howe who lives in the South would
talk about it. So it wasn'tnecessarily endorsing that opinion, right, it
was saying it in a way thatI was like, Okay, let's not

(34:29):
go down that path any further exactly. It definitely made it. It definitely
made a very believable scene because yeah, it was very like, Yes,
I think an older woman whose grandfatherwas a a great grandfather was a Confederate
soldier probably would say something like that, And I agree, I don't think
that Kate DiCamillo or Opel or likethat I don't think the intention is for

(34:51):
the reader to come away and belike, oh, the Civil War wasn't
just about slavery. I guess myonly concern would be that like a kid
reading it isn't going to necessarily understand why that's included, like right,
and they might then think like,oh, okay, well it was more
than it's about just slavery, andI mean it's just it's kind of one
of those moments where it's like,this is too complex of an issue to

(35:14):
try to make into a cute littlescene and so exactly let's maybe I think
it would have been better, possiblyjust better, even though it maybe wouldn't
be as realistic if she would havejust said, yes, that's right.
Yeah, I agree. I waskind of like why but yeah, But
the reason that do we even needto mention what the Civil War is?

(35:35):
Like, just say the Civil Warand then right, you know, right,
move on, because the whole pointof the story is that not Linus
lit miss a great name uh litmiss Block was her great grandfather, and
he came back from war. Andthis is another very very memorable thing for
me, that he came back fromwar and taught everybody that war is hell

(35:58):
and uh almost like that's a cussword, Miss Franny, And she's like,
well, war should be a cussworld too, And I remember that that
was a very memorable line for methat I sounds like something our grandma would
say, Yes, it does,although she would not say hell, she

(36:20):
would say I hate war, right, But I just, I mean,
honestly, like that is a goodlesson because like, yeah, I think
it's an interesting like just message aboutlike word choice that for kids, you
know, totally. So I thinkthat you know, it's you know,

(36:42):
when you get a kid like youor me like then that you're like,
oh wow, that's deep. Yeah, it's like whoa, I've never thought
about war being a cuss word.Yeah no, but it definitely had a
big big impact on me reading that. And I think the line in the
movie is really I'm pretty sure it'sexactly like word for word like that in
the movie as well, but assumingthat most of the movie is word for

(37:05):
word like the book, or youwouldn't have liked it, so true,
it's basically like Chamber of Secrets.Yeah. So anyway, lit Miss came
back from war like completely traumatized,and he all he wanted was a piece
of candy. I'm sorry, Ican't that kid's a piece of candy.

(37:28):
How do you say candy in thisothern accent? Yeah, I don't know
how either. A piece of candycandy? And because everybody, everybody in
his family had perished, his sistershad died of typhoid fever, and his
uncles and aunts all perished of sohe wanted a piece of candy, and

(37:50):
he decided to invent a new kindof candy, the world famous lit miss
lozenge. Yeah. And then Amanda, who's there for the story, and
Opal are both like, well,I've never heard of those, right,
Well, it just so happens.I have a big stalk of litmus lossonges
right here in my desk. Wouldyou like to try one? So,

(38:10):
the lit miss Logic lozenges were aninteresting sort of like this is obviously a
realistic fiction, but this part wasa little bit like magical kind of.
You can pass it off as likeimagination kind of, but it had a
little bit of a I don't know, just like a little a little bit

(38:30):
like of a mystical like yeh,feeling to it of because the lit miss
Logic lozenges have a very unique flavorwhich includes which is mostly pleasant flavor of
like strawberries, but then it includesthe flavor of sorrow. Littans figured out
how to include that in the recipe. That's the secret ingredient, right,
Well, I guess it's not asecret anymore. Well right, but I

(38:52):
think the secret is how do youinclude that in a piece of candy?
Right? Yeah? So then yeah, like like you said, it is
a little bit mystical because it's notjust something that they say. It's something
that like everybody who tastes it experiencesit. So is she one thing if
she's if like miss Franny Block saidthat and the kids were like, oh
yeah, I can kind of tasteit, or if maybe she's telling a

(39:14):
somewhat sad story, and then theytasted and felt it. But then everybody
just independently comes to that on theirown, right exactly. Yeah, her,
she gives one to her dad andhe's like, this candy tastes a
little bit melancholy. Sweety Pie islike that candy tastes like not having a
dog, because that's what Sweety Piewants. So yeah, I mean the

(39:36):
limous lozenges are definitely a sort ofsuspended disbelief kind of thing, but they
are something that everybody sort of bondsover because she, miss Franny Block gives
Opal a bag to go and goaround and give to everybody, and Otis
is like that tastes like when Iwas in jail, right, yeah,
exactly, And then so I mean, like I said that part was,

(39:59):
but I think obviously they're in thereas a symbolism thing, right, It's
like supposed to, you know,show how there's everybody has a little bit
of sadness in life, but it'sstill there's still sweetness that you can taste
and all that, you know,Right, and connects connects Opal with Amanda
as well, because that's how shelearns about the brother. Yeah. So

(40:22):
the whole culmination of the book isthis party that they have, and it's
not actually a barbecue because they don'twant to have to run the grill,
but they decide to make egg saladsandwiches and yeah, yummy. And another
reason that this book feels old,cut them into triangles and put like toothpicks
with crinkly paper to make them lookfancy. So she invites everyone, including

(40:45):
the Dewberry Boys, but then there'sa thunderstorm, which was kind of a
through line throughout the book a coupleof different times where when Dixie is really
terrified of thunderstorms. And I thinkthis is how I learned the term pathological
fear, because the Preacher teaches OpalWind Dixie has a pathological fear of thunderstorms.
So Winn Dixie's lost, and soOpal and the Preacher go out looking

(41:07):
for him, and they have thiswhole kind of emotional outburst with each other
where Opal says that it's his faultthat her mom left, and the preacher
says like he's so glad that hehas Opal, And it's a very emotional
moment of the two of them werebecause the preacher's just known for not really

(41:28):
sharing any kind of vulnerability. Yeah, he's typically pretty stoic. So this
is when he finally, you know, you get a little bit of a
connection between the two of them buildingmore and so it's a sweet moment.
Yeah, And so they find theykeep going out trying to find Winn Dixie
and there's no luck. So theyend up having to go back to the

(41:49):
house for a little bit, andit turns out that Whind Dixie was hiding
under the bed after all. Sothen they just all sing songs while Otis
plays guitar and it's a grand oldtime for everybody. Yeah, so then
it's a happy ending. So likeI said, you know, there's a
fear that the dog's going to belost, but ultimately he's not right.
So yeah, overall, it wasa very great reread for me. The

(42:13):
whole time, I was just like, wow, this this book was really
good. Like it wasn't just abook that I enjoyed as a kid.
It was a very touching read.Ople's a very sweet protagonist when Dixie himself
is just adorable, and some reallyinteresting characters too. Yeah, it was
a lot of fun to read,and I think, like I said,
it's one of those ones where kidsand adults both enjoy it. Yes,

(42:34):
So we'll be back in a minuteafter a word from our sponsors to talk
about all of our other segments.All right, So first to talk about
the author, Kate d Camillo orKate DiCamillo, depending on who you are,
depending if you're everybody else or ifyou're Martha. Yeah. So interestingly,
this is her first book. Shehadn't written any or hadn't published anything

(42:55):
before because of whind Dixie. Butsince then she's published twenty five or over
twenty five novels. Could say thatthat was because of wind Dixie. That
she did exactly was because of becauseof wind Dixie. Right, So,
yeah, she made a name forherself in two thousand with Because of wind
Dixie, and then she's written alot of other pretty prolific books. The

(43:15):
Tale of Despero, I think,is her other most well known book,
and that was another one that Iwas obsessed with. Yeah, I mean,
if you're in the children's literature world, Flora and Ulysses was a really
big one a few years ago,well twenty thirteen, I guess, but
that one, I think also wonthe Newberry it did. Yeah, so

(43:36):
that one is also famous or ifyou you know, probably if you have
kids these days, it's not onethat you know, we would have grown
up with because it didn't come outtill twenty thirteen. But right. She
also wrote The Tiger Rising on TheMagician's Elephant, and the Mercy Watson series.
I'm pretty sure I read all ofthose, and yeah, Tale of

(43:57):
Despero was my other favorite though besidesthis one. Yeah, yeah, I
think I can't honestly remember if Iread the Tale of Despero either, But
you know, like you said,that's the other one that's super famous,
and Tail of Despero is so cute. I think that it's like one of
the sweetest books ever. Well,we might need to read it because it's
another mouse slash rat story. Yeah, exactly, something we like to focus

(44:20):
on the show exactly. And honestly, I think that my second grade teacher
read us that and maybe didn't readus When Dixie. I'm pretty sure I
remember that one being read to us. That would honestly make more sense because
I feel like, because of whindDixie is aimed at a little bit higher
age group than second grade. Yeah, you're right, not that it has
stuff in it that's like not appropriate. I just don't feel that it would
be super compelling to second graders.Yeah, I think now that i'm remembering,

(44:44):
I think second grade was when,because when I'm looking at that one
came out in two thousand and three, so that would make sense to that
it had just come out. Yeah, Okay, So because When Dixie is
like a fourth or fifth grade book, and I mean, yeah, I
might read it earlier, but that'sthe age group that it's but I maybe,
yeah, I read it for maybea teacher read it out loud to
me in fourth or fifth grade,but maybe I just read it on my
own after reading Tale of just Borrow. I'm not sure. Yeah. So,

(45:08):
because of whn Dixie won a NewberryHonor and a couple other awards,
the Josette Frank Award and the MarkTwain Award. She didn't win the Newberry
Award for this one, but shedid for Tale of jas Burrow as well
as Flora and Ulysses, and shewon an honor for this one. I
think though, right, That's whatI'm saying. She didn't win the medal.

(45:30):
Sorry, yeah, yeah, yeah. Kate Tikomillo was born in Pennsylvania.
I grew up there, but nowshe lives in Minnesota and has lived
there for most of her life now, and she's been like kind of listed
as like one of the most importantMinnesota writers. I thought it was interesting
that she's not from the South.Yeah, me too, And it kind
of makes me question, how likeI'd like to hear somebody who is maybe

(45:53):
from a small town in the Southand here if they feel like this is
authentic or if it might be alittle bit based in stereotypes, because well,
she did go to college in Florida, in Florida, yes, yeah,
okay, well but did she goto college in a small town in
Florida. Well it says that shewrote because of Windixy because she was missing

(46:13):
Florida. So I kind of feellike she like, I don't just like
to hear it because to me,I mean, it feels like how I
picture the South, but a lotof that is based on stereotypes, you
know, so sure, you know, I wonder if this is if people
who are from a small town inFlorida would agree with this portrayal. Sure.

(46:34):
Interestingly, she received four hundred andseventy three rejection letters before finally getting
a book published. I don't knowif they we're all. I don't think
that they would have all been forbecause of wind Dixy, but perhaps I
would certainly hope not, because Iknow we hear stories about that from like,
you know, same thing with theHarry Potter series that you know,
it was rejected by different publishing houses, But like that is a ridiculous number,

(46:59):
and because of Dixie is just likevery literary, Like I don't see
how that would get rejected right manytimes. But I think, yeah,
it's probably more likely that she wastrying to make it as a writer previous
to this, right yeah. Imean because she was born in the sixties,
so she's not like she was likereally young when this got published.

(47:20):
Right, Okay, Well that's kindof it for who k Di Camillo is
or Dick Camillo. Even the wayyou said d Camillo, you were like
hesitating. I was trying to sayI was trying to say it the way
that you did. All right,So let's go ahead and jump right into
the core question of the week.It's your favorite segment on the Ponceive episodes,
especially especially uh here's a fun one. Uh. You know, when

(47:45):
you has to preface it with that, you know it's going to be good.
Okay, So, Alice, thisis a question I think you've probably
wondered before. Where is the nearestwhen Dixie Supermarket in Georgia the nearest to
what in Georgia? That is?Okay, not to I'm gonna guess if
there's gonna be a response that mightbe like this, maybe that person who

(48:08):
jumped in last time. Somebody respondingwith something like that isn't that doesn't make
sense. What are you asking?And where does closest to what? Well?
Okay, then we have two answers. Both of them answers sort of
similar things. But first one firstone's from Sue, who's an educator for

(48:28):
seventeen years. Sue says, trysurgriic on the app or website of wind
Dixie. Put in your location andit will tell you the nearest locations instead
of asking, instead of asking onForlora and the Christy is self employed.
And Christie says, Georgia had winddixies in Kingsland, Saint Simon's Island,

(48:49):
and Brunswick, two locations in Columbusand one in Valdosta. I believe that
unless there is still one in Kingslandor Saint Simon's Island, all the stores
have been closed. And she sawChristy, so it is the question intending
to ask the closest one to Georgia. I think so. And actually James
lives in Georgia and said, ifI recall when Dixie went out of business

(49:09):
in Georgia about fifteen to twenty yearsago, that answer was collapsed. And
Flagg does an answer that needs improvement. Why that's the most important I mean,
okay, yeah, I know Ididn't see it at first, but
then I saw that there was ananswer that was collapsed, so I opened
that one up. Well maybe hejust wasn't citing his sources so he didn't
Well yeah, he was very likeWaffy on that, like that if I

(49:30):
recall and a fifteen to twenty yearsago. Right, but yeah, interesting,
no, when Dixie is in Georgia. Correct, So, according to
James, very interesting and has somuch to do with this book. That's
why we love the cour of Questionof the Week. Somebody should write back
and say, I believe that there'sone in Naomi, Florida. Yeah,

(49:52):
is Naomi Florida a real place?That's what I should look up next.
Yeah, uh yeah, I don'tknow what is Naomi jud famous for?
Is that the same thing? Allright? Well, that leaves us with
just one other large segment, Iguess which is our not large segment,
our short shorting hat, our shortinga large segment. This is a very

(50:15):
short short it's not a larger hat. It's a shorting hat. So we've
got actually more characters to sort thanwe typically do on these into the pensive
episodes, because there is a fairnumber of characters that we get in this
book. So first of all,well, I don't know if we want
to go, and let's just goin order. India Ople. I know,

(50:35):
I keep saying India, but it'snot her. She goes by Opl.
I don't like her name, sorryto anybody out there who has this
name, but it's like a littlemuch. It's like, well, I
think Ople's cute. Well, Iknow, but her name as a whole
just does not suit her. Ifyou ask me, I think Opal suits
her. But yeah, the factthat she's India Opole, it's I mean,
kids don't choose their names. Theynamed her that because her father was

(50:59):
the preacher, was a missionary inIndia or something, so that's great too.
But okay, I think Opal isprobably a Gryffindor or a Hufflepuff.
Yeah. I was kind of leaningtoward Hufflepuff when I just initially got this.
I don't know that she's particularly brave, like well, the fact that

(51:19):
she takes wind Dixie in and pretendsthat it's her dog, that's the only
thing that I thought. I thinka lot of it is just driven out
of her sense of like compassion,not necessarily like chivalry, Like, I
think she just is a really empatheticperson in general. Yeah, so I
would I would go with Hufflepuff forher. I agree. I like that
for her, and I think abig challenge that she has is like standing

(51:42):
up for herself, is that that'slike what she's trying to do, more
like learning about her mom and stufflike that. Right, Okay, when
Dixie, he maybe Hufflepuff as well, Yeah, I think so. Yeah,
he's actually honestly very I mean,he's very similar to Opal, Like
they get along very well. Theyare a good pair. So I think

(52:07):
maybe that's because they have similar personalities. That makes sense. He's a little
bolder, I guess, but Ithink that's just because he's a dog and
he does a lot of inhibitions.Right, Okay, Miss Franny Block,
I think she's either raven Claw ormaybe Slytherin. Yeah, I'm gonna say
probably Ravenclaw for her just being alibrarian and you know, she's I don't

(52:30):
know if I see this Lytherin asmuch other than the fact that she's she
asked for a library for her birthday, so that definitely seems rich. So
sometimes a Slytherin thing, But Ithink she's more of a raven Claw.
Okay, uh, Gloria Dump maybeGryffindor. Yeah, I don't know,

(52:52):
it's kind of hard to know.With her, she seems yeah, yeah,
Gryffindor. I guess I think she'skind of you know, she's a
she's a survivor, you know.Yeah, exactly. She seemed like a
tough old broad, yeah exactly.Okay. The preacher, the preacher I
think is probably a raven claw.He seems, Yeah, he's very in

(53:15):
his head all the time. Yeah, and like I said, like kind
of a stoic like worker. SoI mean that could be Hufflepuff, but
I like his work is kind ofmore like intellectual, so yeah, true,
Yeah, so I would put himraven claw. True. Okay,
and then uh, otis I thinkalso also raven claw. Oh really,

(53:37):
I think Hufflepuff for sure. Ithought he was like the creative, like
I saw him like kind of youknow, bonding with animals over people kind
of. Yeah, that's true.I don't I don't know if I saw
the raven claw side. I guessother than him being I guess a musician
could fall in there. But okay, I think, yeah, Hufflepuff is

(54:01):
fine. Also, just because hehas such like a sweet demeanor that's kind
of Yeah, then I lean towardraving or hufflepuff for people like that.
True. I think Amanda is probablyraven claw. She's a very advanced reader,
Yeah, exactly, she reads aton, and she also seems to
be very in her head, whichI mean, I know it's partly because
of what she's gone through in herlife, but I think she's one of

(54:22):
the people that that's how she's dealingwith her situation is to be very like
in her own head. Yeah,I would agree, and then we have
we have Sweety Pie was probably ahufflepuff. Yeah, and I'm sure you
will be shocked to hear sweety Piewas my least favorite character. Yeah,
I couldn't imagine that. We didn'ttalk about her much, but she was

(54:45):
basically like an annoying little kid whoyeah, yeah, well Opal likes her.
Well, are you coming to mybirthday party? The theme is pink?
Yeah? Okay. I did thinkit was sweet how she wanted there
to be a theme for the party, so she made the theme dogs,
and she cut out a bunch ofpictures of dogs from magazines that brought them

(55:07):
to the party. That was cute. Yeah, okay, so I don't
think there were really any Harry Potterparallels in this book, well except for
wind Dixie and Snuffles have a lotcommon Yeah, and I guess we have
the sense of it's not exactly thesame, but like a child who's very

(55:28):
independent and doesn't know much about theirI mean, doesn't know much about their
parents, even though the preachers there, I don't feel she really knows much
about the preacher either. True,so she's kind of on an identity search.
But yes, Snuffles and wind Dixie, they are very very similar.
Yeah, okay, so that's alwayswas a bit like Hagrid. Yeah,

(55:49):
I guess talk to the animals andjust like kind of solitary dude people.
Miss lozenges miss lodges lozenges are kindof like Weasley's wizard we orscribing snack boxes.
I was gonna say that they weremore like lemon drops when Dumbledore eats
one of those. Yeah, Dumbledorewould definitely like the litmus lozenges. Oh,

(56:10):
he would love them. Although yeahhe would be like, oh ah,
Harry, it is the sorrow thatmakes us appreciate the joy. Yeah,
he would taste he wouldn't admit it, but he would be thinking about
Arianna. Yes, he sure wouldate his lit mis lozenge. Yes.
Okay, so let's go ahead andjump into rating this. It's our final

(56:32):
thing that we will do. UhSo, first question is how well does
it hold up? So I thinkit holds up well minus some of the
reference like a we didn't talk toomuch about the fact that it says the
R word. That was right Again, that was not used in a way
where it was like where it seemedlike a good thing. It was used

(56:53):
by some of the kids in thetown talking about otis in a derogatory way.
And right also like Ople didn't likethat either, So I think like
the way it was used, Imean, it still was like if it
was written now, it wouldn't beactually in there, probably, but like
it wasn't used in a way thatwas like condoning usage of the word right,

(57:15):
Like, yeah, she didn't Iagree, Ople didn't agree with them
using it, But she also wasn'tlike, well that's a bad word to
use or any like, she justlike he's not a blank, you know.
So yeah, I would say itcan't be a five. But I
think other than that, I thinkit's pretty solid, so I think,
yea four seems right, so too, Okay, next question, how well

(57:37):
does it capture what kids want toread about? I think this is a
five. Yeah, probably, Imean it's like a sweet dog. I
mean I guess the like I guess. The question is like, does this
mean the whole thing or does itmean like our kid's going to pick this
book up? And definitely, yes, kids are going to pick this book
up when they see a dog onthe cover. Like it's maybe a four

(58:01):
just because it is a little bitmore serious. But like I'm still like
the condest thinking, like, Iagree that dogs appeal to kids, but
like it's it is a more quiet, serious read, So to me it
would be more of a four.Okay, I can I can get on.
It would appeal to the to certainkids, it wouldn't necessarily appeal to
every kid. That's fair, okay. Next question, how much did it

(58:23):
contribute to our inside jokes and relationship? Unfortunately, this would be a zero.
Do we give zeros or I guessa one. I remember you reading
it, so I do have thatmemory. Yeah, lucky you. And
then finally, how unevil is theauthor? She is still alive, so

(58:43):
nothing. I mean, did youfind out anything negative about her? I
don't remember if there's been any scandalswith her or not. No, I
didn't look at her Twitter. Idon't know if she has one. I
guess I should just check it reallyquick. Yeah. I mean she only
has four thousand and followers and notweets, so that's a good thing.

(59:04):
Yeah. I don't know if that'sbecause she did a cleanse or I mean,
there's not a section on Wikipedia forcontroversy or anything, so that's a
good sign. I think we couldgive her a four. Yeah. I
think so too. She's following oneperson on Twitter, only one account,
and it's Jenna bush Well, solet's let's stick with the four. That's

(59:29):
an interesting choice. Yeah, that'sgoing to be the one person who choose
to pull extremely random, That's whatI'm saying. First I was like,
who is this person that? Iwas like, Oh, that's she's hugging
HW with the picture in her profilepicture. Yeah, sick enough. Kate
d Camilla went down slightly after Iheard that. But there's were people I

(59:52):
guess that she could be following aswell. True, maybe she was like
a guest on her show. Orsomething at one point, probably, and
then Collie Jenna Bush was like,you should get Twitter, yeah, because
the fact that she's never tweeted anything, unless she just has cleansed her ole
Twitter or something. But I getthe sense that it's just truly doesn't ever
tweet. Yeah, I don't know. Okay, let's move on. So

(01:00:17):
that gives her a total of thirteenpoints. There gives this book total of
thirteen points. That seems right,I think, because we I mean,
the not contributing to our inside jokeskind of brings it down a lot.
I did just google kated Camillo controversyjust to see if there was anything.

(01:00:39):
Okay, one controversy is that,apparently in the twentieth anniversary edition of because
of When Dixie, they've removed Gonewith the Wind and changed it to a
different book. Why. I think, because Gone with the Wind has some
problematic things, all okay, Sothen that's not on her right and she

(01:01:00):
kind of let me see what ityeah, because it's I'm reading it on
this blog and it says that itwas because of When Dixie was included on
a list of books that reference racistclassics, and that was included that was
included because of Gone with the Wind, and so it was then changed.

(01:01:22):
Trying to see what she changed ittoo, Oh it was David Copperfield.
Oh, it is interesting. GloriaDump in the movie is black, but
that's not something that's mentioned in thebook. Yeah, that is interesting,
and I think, like, yeah, that's I don't think that any character's

(01:01:43):
skin color is mentioned one way orthe other, is it. Well,
I mean the fact that she's aredhead is mentioned. For Opal, Opal's
a redhead. Yeah, just yeah, I mean that's I think that that's
fine. That the that the movieproducers chose to have a little bit of
diversity include did seems to be probablyrealistic and a good idea. Yeah.

(01:02:05):
So I had a lot of funtalking about this book. Like I said,
it was one of my favorites asa kid, and I definitely recommend
reading it today as well. Somake sure that you are following us on
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(01:02:28):
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(01:02:49):
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