The Valentine Box
Summary By Michele Franck Blake
Valentine's Day at Oak Grove School looks to be a lonely one for Janice, a
new student who has yet to make friends. She shyly watches as her classmates
gaily prepare a box from which valentines will be distributed, sure
it will yield none for her. Certainly she'll get nothing from "full of fun"
Margaret, with whom Janice longs to make friends. Janice's mother has warned
her not to expect many valentines, but encourages her daughter to be a
giver as well as a would-be receiver, and Janice's purse holds a thick
stack of greetings for her fellow students. When a wintry afternoon wind
snatches Margaret's valentines from her grasp, Janice forgets her own
troubles. She plunges after them, and into the friendship and acceptance
she's hoped for. When the valentine box is emptied, her heart remains full
of happiness, as she walks home from school with her "snowstorm valentine"
Margaret.