I read this book in 1984 in the fourth grade. Actually my teacher read it to us. I recall a school age girl who visits a woman who lives alone and can’t see well. I’m not sure why she visits, perhaps to help her or get tutoring, but she visits regularly. The girl thinks the woman is blind and lies to her and/or steals, though I think she lies about her own appearance. She learns at the end of the story that the woman wasn’t blind after all and could see her the whole time.
Stump the Bookseller
New format, same book stumper solving.
Maybe Pickle by Susan Terris. A young girl moves to San Francisco with her family. Her mom makes extra money by jarring pickles, and the girl gets teased for smelling of vinegar and is nicknamed Pickles. She is dared to make friends with an old woman who lives in the neighborhood, which she does, and they become friends. Then the kids dare her to steal something –to prove she’s been in the house? She steals a music box, thinking the woman is blind. But the woman can actually see a little and tells the girl she can never come back. I think the friendship gets resolved because the girl points out the woman deceived her as well by making her think she was blind.
Small points I remember: the girl collected smooth rocks from the river behind her home. They could only take a few things when they moved, so she stuffed her favorite rocks in the toes of her shoes. The boy who bullied her always had a runny nose, he’d have one drop hanging off his nose.
Oh my goodness, you may be right! I kept thinking of the word or name ‘pickle’ but wasn’t sure how it fit or if it was even related to this book. I’m going to look into it more but this sounds right!! Thank you!!