Dear Mr. Henshaw Diary 52-58 Summary

Out of the blue, Dad calls.
It's so surprising that Leigh is not sure how to respond.
Leigh asks if he's found Bandit, and Dad asks if Leigh misses him.
Leigh says he does, but he writes that it isn't as true as it was a couple months ago.
Dad wants to talk to Mom, but she doesn't want to talk to him.
Dad calls him "kid" again, and Leigh figures his dad will never change.
He reads Ways to Amuse a Dog "for the thousandth time" (52.18) because it makes him feel good. It's like an old, familiar friend.

It's Saturday morning, and Leigh takes a slow walk through the butterfly trees.
He thinks about writing a descriptive piece about them instead of a poem, but he gets distracted remembering this one really great time he hauled grapes with his dad.

With one day left before the story deadline, Leigh dashes off a description about the day his dad took him along in the rig to haul grapes.
He puts in lots of vivid descriptions but leaves out the part about the waitress and Dad playing video games.

Barry comes over for dinner.
Leigh wasn't sure if Barry would like their house because it's so small, but Barry says it's great to eat without a bunch of little sisters all over the place, and that makes Leigh happy.
Barry says his door alarm works, but his mom says it's too loud and he needs to stop using it.
How great is it to have a friend?

Even though he doesn't like thinking about his dad being lonely, that's what Leigh's doing.
He asks his mom if she thinks his dad will get married again.
She says probably not; he can't afford it.
She says his dad is a good man, and Leigh wants to know why they don't kiss and make up.
Mom says it's because he'll never grow up and that's that.
Tomorrow is the day we find out who wins the Young Writers contest and gets to have lunch with a famous author. We're rooting for Leigh.

Leigh gets an honorable mention in the Young Writers' Yearbook.
He admits he's bummed that he doesn't get a prize and get to meet the famous author but figures "you win some, you lose some" (57.3).
The mysterious author is one all the girls like because she writes about girl probs.

It turns out that Leigh gets to meet the author after all because the winner copied her poem from a book.
Miss Neely, the librarian, gets the okay from Leigh's mom to go to the lunch and then drives him to the Holiday Inn.
There are other librarians and student winners there.
The kids sit with the famous author, Mrs. Badger, at a long table, but there's not a lot of talk at first.
Mrs. Badger finds out Leigh was the one who wrote "A Day on Dad's Rig" and praises it, saying that "it was written by a boy who wrote honestly about something he knew and had strong feelings about" (58.13).
She encourages Leigh in his writing and calls him an author, which is just about the best thing anyone's ever said to him.
The other kids start chatting more, and Leigh asks Mrs. Badger if she's met Mr. Henshaw. She sure has. She says he's a nice young man with a wicked twinkle in his eye.
Everyone goes home, and Leigh stays up late writing this diary entry and wishing he could tell his dad about the exciting day.