Both
Winn-Dixie and
Miss Franny’s behavior reminds
Opal of
Gloria. Opal wonders who comforts her when the ghosts chatter about what she did wrong. Opal decides that she wants to comfort Gloria, and that the best way to do that is to read a book to her loud enough to scare away the ghosts. Opal asks Miss Franny for book recommendations and Miss Franny suggests
Gone with the Wind. Opal hasn’t heard of it, but she has heard of the Civil War. Miss Franny says her great-grandfather,
Littmus W. Block, fought in the war as a boy, and that’s a story. Opal asks to hear the story and settles in, but
Amanda Wilkinson comes into the library. She bossily declares that she’s ready for another book, but Miss Franny asks her to wait and invites Amanda to listen to her story. Amanda pretends she’s not interested, but she stands to listen.