conversations.from: human
conversations.value: What could be a title for a story about Pete, Preacher, Pete's with the genre: Children's Books, Literature & Fiction?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: A title for this story could be 'A Fine White Dust'
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me the first two paragraphs for this story.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: A Fine White Dust
  Summary: The visit of the traveling Preacher Man to his small North Carolina town gives new impetus to thirteen-year-old Peter's struggle to reconcile his own deeply felt religious belief with the beliefs and nonbeliefs of his family and friends.
  I've got these little bitty pieces of broken ceramic in my hands, and some of that fine white dust is coming off them, like chalk dust. There are some flecks of green paint on a few of the pieces. And some blue here and there. You'd never know to look at it that this mess used to be a cross.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me five more paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: I turned sort of slow and looked at him. We were on the sidewalk. The last of the cars were pulling out. Most everyone who was walking home had already gone.
  I said okay, and we started down the street together. Like I said, I was so tired I could hardly muster up the nervousness I usually felt when I was around him. So I was quiet and content, and we walked.
  We got to the machine about six blocks down and took our pops to sit on the stone wall alongside the station.
  He took the longest drink of root beer I ever saw a grown man take. Then he wiped his mouth, stood up, took off his jacket, and sat back down.
  Without his suit jacket he was like a stranger. For a minute I looked at him in his shirt, and he was nearly like any other man. That jacket did cast its spell.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me the last four paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: That's what finally needs finishing. The Preacher Man is behind me. But God is still right there, in front.
  And, finally, I know, too. That throwing away this mess doesn't mean I'm giving something up. Or losing something I can't get back.
  Pete is thirteen years old the summer the Rev. James W. Carson, a traveling minister, comes to his small North Carolina town to hold a revival. The Preacher Man, as Pete calls him, delivers "hell fire and damnation" sermons that are so powerful people swarm about him to have their souls saved. Pete is among them, but his parents aren't. Neither is his best friend, Rufus, an avowed atheist. Pete feels betrayed by those he loves, but he is so caught up in his search for "truth" that he can't see the darkness that lies before him. When the Preacher Man invites Pete to travel with him and "spread the word," Pete packs his bags, leaves his parents a note, and sets out to meet the Preacher Man. The Rev. Carson never shows up, but Rufus does. It takes the remainder of the summer for Pete to come to terms with his feelings about the man who betrayed him, the man he had made into a hero. Through it all, Rufus is quietly by his side, proving his loyalty and friendship during Pete's darkest days.
  Tell students that deals with betrayal. Ask them to define betrayal. Have them write a journal entry about a time in their life when they have felt betrayed. Consider the following questions: Who betrayed you? How did you know that you were betrayed? How did you deal with it? At what point were you able to move on and forget about the betrayal? Students who don't wish to write a personal entry may choose to write about a main character who deals with betrayal in a novel they've read.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Delete the last sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: That's what finally needs finishing. The Preacher Man is behind me. But God is still right there, in front.
  And, finally, I know, too. That throwing away this mess doesn't mean I'm giving something up. Or losing something I can't get back.
  Pete is thirteen years old the summer the Rev. James W. Carson, a traveling minister, comes to his small North Carolina town to hold a revival. The Preacher Man, as Pete calls him, delivers "hell fire and damnation" sermons that are so powerful people swarm about him to have their souls saved. Pete is among them, but his parents aren't. Neither is his best friend, Rufus, an avowed atheist. Pete feels betrayed by those he loves, but he is so caught up in his search for "truth" that he can't see the darkness that lies before him. When the Preacher Man invites Pete to travel with him and "spread the word," Pete packs his bags, leaves his parents a note, and sets out to meet the Preacher Man. The Rev. Carson never shows up, but Rufus does. It takes the remainder of the summer for Pete to come to terms with his feelings about the man who betrayed him, the man he had made into a hero. Through it all, Rufus is quietly by his side, proving his loyalty and friendship during Pete's darkest days.
  Tell students that deals with betrayal. Ask them to define betrayal. Have them write a journal entry about a time in their life when they have felt betrayed.