The Year of Billy Miller Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary

  • After school, Billy doesn't feel like talking about his class. At all. And we can't blame him. But Sal is a chatterbox about how she can read two letters now: A and I.
  • The best part about coming home from school is that Billy gets to see the new "treasures" (1.4.26) his dad has collected. He's got everything from a beat-up cello to an old telephone, and Papa's going to try to make it all into something special.
  • Papa asks if Billy or Sal have any inspiration for him.
  • Sal's favorite treasure is a silver ball because it's shiny, she can see her reflection, and it's silver like Ms. Silver's name. What's not to love?
  • Well Billy might not love the silver ball (he thinks the telephone is super snazzy), but all this talk of silver does give him an idea for how to show Ms. S that he's a cool dude.