Early School Days Summary and Analysis

Temple's mother tells her school is going to be fun and exciting. Temple believes her, yet she knows she can be upset by strange situations. However, she does not yet realize how her bizarre behaviors will separate her from other children. Temple prepares the teacher for Temple's problems and the teacher tells the children. Temple sees the teacher's white face like a ghost and cannot stand the teacher's strong perfume. Most of all, the different way that Temple processes information makes trouble for her. The teacher wants her to mark all the words that start with various letters such as "b," and Temple calls a suitcase a "box," because the picture looks like one. She sees a birdbath in a garden so marks it "g." Mrs. Clark, the teacher, cannot accept Temple's alternative reasoning and logic and...