Give and Take Read Online Free PDF

particular order. They placed Hilary with a woman in a wheelchair named Miss Peggy. It appeared that Peggy was shy, so the two of them seemed like a perfect match.
    Davy Miller was assigned to a short, round, and very fat man named Mickey, whose last name just also happened to be Miller. Davy seemed to like that coincidence. Madison wondered if maybe Mickey had B.O. like Davy did. That would have been a better coincidence. He gave Mickey the extra Sprite and they walked out into the hall together.
    Hart was assigned to a bearded man dressed in a brown suit and tie even though it was by no means a formal occasion. The man said his name was Mr. Leo Koppel. That was all he said. Hart looked nervous, but the man put his hand on Hart’s shoulder and they walked out together.
    Egg was paired with a man wearing a brown T-shirt who called himself Smokey. He acted very serious because it was the anniversary date of the Pearl Harbor bombing. Madison could hear Smokey mumbling. “December seventh,” he said to Egg. “Day of infamy. My cousin Skeeter was there. Never forget him.”
    “This guy seems pretty cool,” Egg said to Madison as he walked out with Smokey. Madison laughed.
    Soon, the room was paired off except for Ivy, Madison, and two other women. One older woman had on a bright orange straw hat and a flowered dress even though it was wintertime. The other woman had on a blue-and-white-checked dress, buttoned all the way up to the top, and a fuzzy cardigan sweater. She wasn’t smiling at all.
    Madison knew immediately who she’d get. The woman with the hat was wearing her favorite color. It was meant to be.
    But then Señora Diaz read off Ivy’s name. And Ivy was paired with orange-hat lady, whose real name was Holly. Mrs. Holly Wood. Not only was she cool-looking, but she had the cool name to go with the looks.
    Madison got Eleanor Romano and her fuzzy sweater dress instead.
    “Hi,” Madison said as they walked out into the hall. “I’m Maddie. How are you, Mrs. Romano?”
    Mrs. Romano sighed. “My back aches today,” she said. “Ana told me I should take on one of you young volunteers to cheer me up, but I don’t know that I need any cheering up. I really don’t like the holidays much.”
    Madison froze up. “Oh,” she said.
    “You have to excuse me. I’m always like this,” Mrs. Romano said. “Like I said, my back aches and I just … well, I’ll try to enjoy myself with you, young lady. What did you say your name was?”
    “Madison,” she said. “Madison Finn.”
    “That’s a nice name,” Mrs. Romano said. “My name is Eleanor Romano.”
    “I know,” Madison said. “That’s a nice name, too.”
    “Oh no, it’s a horrid name. I’m named after my crazy Aunt Ellie,” she said. “But the truth is, she wasn’t really crazy, she was just spirited. I used to be like that. A long, long time ago.”
    “Oh,” Madison said.
    “Do you want to go see my room?” Mrs. Romano asked. “I have flowered walls. It cheers me up in the wintertime especially.”
    Madison shrugged. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”
    “You know,” Mrs. Romano said as they walked down the hall toward her room. “You are a very pretty young girl.”
    Madison beamed. “Thank you,” she said. “Mom says I look a lot like my gramma Helen, actually.”
    “Are you and your grandmother close?” Mrs. Romano asked.
    Madison nodded. “Totally. We talk on the phone and e-mail each other a lot.”
    “You know how to do all those electronic mail gadgets? I could never figure out something like that. I just don’t understand how it all works. Computers baffle me.”
    “It’s easy,” Madison said. “Maybe I can show you sometime.”
    “So why are you adopting a grandparent when you already are close to one of your own?” Mrs. Romano asked.
    Madison didn’t know what to say. She shrugged. “I don’t know. I just wanted to volunteer, that’s all.”
    They arrived at Mrs. Romano’s room a few moments later. The