“Calling Home” by Jean Brandt

I thought that Jean Brandt wrote a good story in “Calling Home.” It is something that a lot of people can relate to. Something is so inexpensive that it doesn’t seem to matter if you pay for it or not. I liked that at first she thought being in jail was exciting, but as she began to think of her family, she changed her mind. After the telephone call with her mother she felt terrible for the pain she had put her mother through. I thought that she set the setting well. It was at a crowded mall during the Christmas season, which most people can relate to as well. I usually cannot stand being at the mall, but during the holidays there is a joyous excitement in the air.  It also seems ridiculous that a thirteen year-old girl would be arrested for stealing a $0.75 item, but it added to the drama of the story.