Brenda Z. Guiberson

“Henny started to check things over—cables, speedometer, tire pressure, mirror adjustment—and then he sprayed the chain with WD40. He always does this, even if he’s going two blocks to the grocery.
“Almost ready,” he said, when I thought he was all done. “I’m going to fill the water bottle and throw a bag of dried fruit into the seat pack.” Then he made one more trip for a bandage, just in case.
When we finally got going, it was the hottest part of the day. I didn’t want to know how hot it was, but I knew Henny was going to tell me.
“Did you check the thermometer?” he called up to me at the first intersection. “A hundred and five in the shade. It’s hot enough to uncurl your hair. We’ll die of heat exhaustion out here on the high-way. Can’t we go in something air-conditioned?”
Henny never does anything without a few complaints. He has terrible things to say about trumpet lessons but he likes to play the trumpet. And then there are book reports. Henny reads the long, nonfiction books, the Yellow Pages, everything. Just don’t ask him to write up a report, because he will complain about it forever, and then turn in thirty pages.”
― Brenda Z. Guiberson, Turtle People

“Gil, for once, looked like he was not going to drop off to sleep at any moment. “Interesting,” he said. “I’ve been studying artifacts and reading archaeological journals for years. No one ever mentioned anything like this.”
“That’s what makes it such a great discovery,” I said, getting excited all over again. “It’s totally brand-new. It will put my name in the history books, and yours too, if you care to translate. My mother will love it. My dad will come right back to be in on the celebration.”
“Oh, my,” said Gil. “You’re expecting to get quite a bit out of this one discovery. We may have a problem here.”
“I know what problems are,” I said, feeling a little bit uneasy. “This is not a problem. This discovery is everything. It’s more exciting than a petrified rhinoceros. That island will be better known than Atlantis. Now I just need a little help getting that bowl across the Snake River.”
Gil looked at Henny. “Is he always like this?” he asked. “Maybe he’s been touched by the sun. Someone should throw him in the river and see if he comes to his senses, yet.”
I thanked Henny for his kind support.”
― Brenda Z. Guiberson, Turtle People