45 pages • 1 hour read
Betty G. BirneyThe Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1980A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 7-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary: “Into The Woods”
Eben goes to church on Sunday morning, and as he passes the graveyard, he notices butterflies and violets at the grave of Tom’s wife. In church, he hears Calvin playing and almost hears locusts buzzing. He also thinks about Mrs. Pritchard’s doll and envisions the Colorado mountains.
Eben continues his search, dismissing Rae Ellen, who has followed him again. Eben finds Jeb fishing at the creek. Soon, two girls from the school, Carrie and Maggie, join them. Maggie tells Eben that Coogie Jackson, a local boy, has a wonder for him. The girls lead Eben and Jeb to an outhouse in the woods. There, they find Coogie and his friend Albert.
Coogie says that the outhouse is a wonder and tells Eben a story about his father’s “Flight from Georgia” (129). One day, Coogie’s father was in the outhouse when he felt it “bouncing”: A cyclone had hit. Soon, he realized he was in the clouds. His father traveled around the world before landing in Sassafras Springs, all in the span of 10 minutes. Eben asks if Coogie can prove the story. Coogie tells him to go inside the outhouse to see a map his father drew. Eben does, and the other children knock the outhouse down, laughing. Eben realizes he was tricked, but Coogie tells him it was a good tale.
Eben tells his father he feels embarrassed to have been deceived; he is also concerned that he did not discover a new wonder. His aunt, however, does not share his worries, instead knitting him new clothes for his trip. Later, Rae Ellen appears as Eben milks the cows in the barn. Eben is annoyed again but finally agrees to see her “wonderful.”
Rae Ellen opens her bag and takes out a bottle with a miniature ship in it that belonged to her uncle Dutch. She narrates her “Dark Seas” story. When he was young, her uncle sailed for Africa on the S. S. Phantom of the Sea. The ship’s captain was a mean person who mistreated the sailors. One day, they warned him about an imminent storm, but he refused to anchor in a harbor. When the storm struck, the sailors thought they would die. Then, a ghost appeared in front of them and went into the captain’s cabin. The captain, who was drinking from a whiskey bottle, was yelling that he wanted no help when the sailors heard a voice saying the captain was doomed to remain on the ship forever. The sailors fell into the sea; Uncle Dutch reached land the next day. He found the bottle with the ship in it on the shore. Eben feels Rae Ellen’s story is a “genuine wonder” and promises to give her a pie at school.
Chapter 8 Summary: “Day Six and Seven: I Start Again”
Eben must work on the farm. He thinks it impossible to find two wonders the following day, as his list of places to visit is short, but he decides to try. The next morning, Coogie visits to help Eben find wonders and says that Jeb will join them. Eben’s father gives him the day off, and Eben and Coogie find Jeb and start searching.
Eben realizes he has learned much about his neighbors while asking for wonders. He now understands that prosperous people are not open “to barefoot boys in dusty overalls” (159), that everyone believes they have a wonder, and that few can admit they do not have special things.
The boys continue the search but soon feel hungry. They decide to steal a watermelon from the mayor’s yard. Eben keeps guard, but Mayor Peevey catches him and asks Eben to follow him to his farm. Mayor Peevey tells him that a wonder is “worthless” if one cannot understand its meaning. He shows Eben a piece of fabric with the name “Buddy” spelled on it. Eben prepares to write as Mayor Peevey starts his story: “The Song of the Loom.”
When the mayor was a child, several naughty boys would play pranks on people, and the worst of them was Buddy. Once, he decided to trick Old Emma, a woman who had lost her sight. Despite this, Old Emma was skilled in weaving on her loom, which almost “sang” for her. Emma followed ropes to lead her to the room where she used to work, but Buddy fixed the ropes differently to lead her into the woods. Old Emma was terrified by the time her family found her but said that her loom would reveal the culprit. When she wove on her loom the next day, the cloth spelled Buddy’s name. Old Emma went to Buddy’s house, and the boy apologized. His father threatened to beat him, but Old Emma stopped him. Buddy promised to stop his tricks and help people, and Old Emma gave him the cloth as a gift.
Eben asks the mayor how he obtained the cloth, and he reveals he was Buddy. He says that as a boy he thought he was smarter than others but that since that day, he has used his mind for good. Eben feels guilty and reveals he and his friends stole a watermelon. To compensate, he agrees to chop wood for the mayor. Eben is still curious about the loom. Mayor Peevey reveals that Uncle Alf, Old Emma’s grandson, has it. He suggests that Eben could visit him to find a wonder. After leaving, Eben tells Coogie and Jeb that he found the sixth wonder and rushes back home.
Chapters 7-8 Analysis
This section’s embedded stories continue to highlight the theme of The Importance of Imagination in Childhood. Even though Coogie’s story is a fabrication and not included in Eben’s final wonders, its inventiveness highlights the impact of Eben’s journey on the community. While Coogie intends to prank Eben, Eben’s quest has also aroused his imagination. Meanwhile, Eben doubts Coogie from the start, but his desire to listen to the story overtakes his commitment to finding more “wonders.” This suggests that the children find crucial inspiration in storytelling.
Eben’s character develops as he learns that extraordinary stories can be found in unexpected places. For instance, while he continually dismisses Rae Ellen, the girl offers him his fifth “wonder.” Rae Ellen’s story uses elements of magical realism to convey a moral message: The ship in the bottle represents the evil captain’s punishment, as his selfishness and his defiance of a ghost’s warnings endangered his entire crew. The story amazes Eben, who doubted that a girl like her would have something interesting to share. Ultimately, Rae Ellen’s story encourages Eben to continue his quest despite his doubts about his ability to complete it.
That quest also continues to emphasize the theme of Fostering Community Through Storytelling. Despite Coogie’s prank and Jeb’s commitment to his family, both join Eben in his quest for wonders, determined to help him achieve his goal. As Coogie notes, “Jeb said how important this Wonder thing was to you, so I’m here to help you” (157). Though Eben’s quest for wonders is an individual one, driving his personal development, his friends’ support is key in reinforcing his determination to continue: “I guess he was still my best friend, even if he didn’t understand about exploring and Wonders and such” (158). More broadly, Eben’s quest reinforces the bonds that exist within the community—e.g., among friends.
This process of forging community is closely related to Finding a Sense of Place, as it is largely the people who live in Sassafras Springs who define it. Through his quest, Eben learns more about these people, suggesting his growing connection to both them and the town: “If you ever want to learn about your neighbors, just go asking them for Wonders” (159). He sees, for example, that while class differences might divide people, generosity also characterizes the Sassafras Springs community; Mrs. Saylor, one of the town’s more affluent residents, is hospitable. A submerged sense of community feeling, drawn out through Eben’s quest, thus becomes one of the qualities that characterize Sassafras Springs.
Mayor Peevey’s story extends the wonders motif and reflects Eben’s changing consciousness. Before beginning the story of his childhood, the mayor suggests that Eben must learn to see the wonders “right under [his] nose” and understand their “meaning” (164). This implies that Eben must redefine his understanding of what constitutes a “wonder” to encompass the small as well as the big. The story is another parable-like tale with elements of magical realism, offering Eben a lesson about forgiveness and knowing right from wrong. Although the magical loom is the story’s ostensible “wonder,” his story indicates that leading a life of positivity and empathy is also wondrous. With its emphasis on transforming one’s perspective on the world, this story leads Eben to the final stage of his journey.
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By Betty G. Birney
