Throughout the month of May, Holling’s class takes cover under their desks to practice the government drill regulations for responding to an atomic bomb. Holling also takes cover from the eighth graders, who aren’t happy about losing to a seventh grader. Family dinners are quiet after Mr. Hoodhood learns about Kowalski and Associates’ new multi-million-dollar project: renovating Yankee Stadium. Holling’s father buys a white Mustang convertible to remind the neighbors—and himself—of his business success. Tension in the family builds as Holling’s sister makes plans to attend Columbia University after graduation, while her father says she’ll stay at home and continue the job she already has. Holling’s sister leaves to find herself in California with her boyfriend Chit, leaving only a note, and the Hoodhood house grows quiet and empty.

At school, Holling reads Hamlet for his afternoons with Mrs. Baker, and spends his lunch recesses helping Danny prepare for his bar mitzvah speech. One Wednesday while the class is gone, an atomic bomb drill sounds, and Mrs. Baker decides it’s ridiculous to practice with just the two of them in the class. She takes Holling to “survey points of local architectural interest” (221) around town.