- In the library, Bud notices the smells and imagines that the powdery smell of the paper puts people to sleep. He looks for Miss Hill.
- When he can't find her, Bud asks the librarian who says, "Miss Hill. My goodness, hadn't you heard?" (7.12)
- This phrase makes Bud think about number sixteen of his Rules and Things for Having a Funner Life and Making a Better Liar Out of Yourself: if an adult ever says "Haven't you heard" get ready for tragedy…
- Bud says that when you hear this phrase, it usually means someone is dead, like a really bad kind of death.
- She tells Bud that Miss Hill got married and is living in Chicago. The librarian takes out an atlas to show Bud where that is. She points to Flint, Michigan, and shows him how far Chicago is, and shows him how to calculate how long it would take to walk there.
- Bummed out, Bud goes to sit and think about what to do next.
- Coming up empty, he leaves and thinks about what his mother said about one door closing and another door opening up.