The Friendship War

Using what her brother taught her, Grace scatters buttons all around the schoolyard, hoping that this easy access to buttons will make people less interested in the fad. However, by the end of the day, people are still trading, and they are more interested in Grace’s specialty buttons because they are different from the regular kind. From this, Grace concludes that her economics experiment has only one conclusion: “I now have four fewer boxes of buttons at home in my bedroom” (132).

Hank figures out that Grace put the extra buttons in the schoolyard. Grace wants to deny it and keep her secrets, but she doesn’t want to lose Hank’s friendship, so she tells him about her economics experiment. Hank agrees that her theory has some merit but also says that this fad could be more like a forest fire, and “you just added a lot more trees” (134). Grace invites him over to her house and shows him her button collection, which amazes him. Grace tells him about the button that Ellie broke, and Hank thanks her for being honest before leaving.