th the ritual memorization of facts that all students endure. From multiplication tables (18) to facts about insects (139) Tommy is required to memorize the correct answer; learning is not a choice. With Miss Ferenczi Tommy chooses to learn. He decides to go home and expand his mind. Once Tommy begins to seek out or verify information he is able to think for himself. Tommy is no longer afraid of the unknown or of questioning what he has been taught. The idea that “[six] times eleven, …is sixty-eight”(18) isn’t upsetting. Tommy realizes that the world won’t stop turning if a fact is substituted with an idea. He is simply doing what Miss Ferenczi told him to do when she said, “[you] are free to think what you like” (40). This newfound freedom allows Tommy to be uninhibited by fear when Miss Ferenczi reads tarot cards. When a child, Wayne, who is filled with fear and doubt gets the “Death card”(125) he panics and tells the principle. When Tommy learns of Miss Ferenczi’s removal from school he thinks for himself and reacts with violence (136). No longer predictable Tommy has learned Miss Ferenczi’s lessons well. Miss Ferenczi will be remembered by all who encounter her for all her various unique qualities. Some students in Mr. Hibler’s fourth grade class will remember the substitute from “Mars” (10). Other students will remember the teacher who predicted Wayne’s untimely death (128). Tommy will look in years to come and remember Miss Ferenczi as the teacher who taught him to be an individual, to question everything and to think for himself....
