Dreamland Lake

by Richard Peck

  I demand the immediate prosecution of Park District officials who have allowed the tax-supported public parks to degenerate into notorious wastelands, the resort of derelicts, and the site of any number of unsound structures that stand as a clear and present danger to us all.

  If there are any real men left in this community, I charge them to rise up in a body and to raze this deadly bridge and burn the woods around the dreadful duck pond. I speak in the name of the innocent children of our once-fine community.

  Print this letter in its entirety.

  (signed)

  (Miss) Bernadette Dunthorpe

  Number 1 Dunthorpe Boulevard

  Dunthorpe

  Richard Peck is the author of more than twenty highly acclaimed novels for young readers, including A Long Way from Chicago, a 1999 Newbery Honor Book; Ghosts I Have Been, a New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year; and Father Figure, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. In 1990, he received the American Library Association’s Margaret A. Edwards Award, which honors “an author whose book or books, over a period of time, have been accepted by young adults as an authentic voice that continues to illuminate their experiences and emotions, giving insight into their lives.”

  Mr. Peck was born in Decatur, Illinois, and attended Exeter University in England, DePauw University, and Southern Illinois University. He lives in New York City.

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