Where It All Goes Down
Constant, Wisconsin
We don't hear much about where this book takes place: Constant, Wisconsin. It's a made-up city, so don't try looking for it on a Wisconsin map, but even though it's fictional, it still feels realistic. It's as if Billy and his family live in a middle-class American town that could stand-in for almost any other middle-class town in the country. All we know is that there's a home where they live, some schools where they learn and work, and that's about it.
The good news is we do get to learn a bit more about the two spots where most of this story takes place: Billy's house and Billy's school.
The Miller House (a.k.a. Family Fun Bonanza Land)
Here's the funny thing: We get almost no description of the Miller home. So we have to be setting detectives to figure anything out. We know that there's a kitchen, because they do lots of cooking and eating together. And we know that there are other typical rooms, like Billy and Sal's bedrooms or the living room. See what we mean about this home being a stand-in for your traditional middle-class American family house?
But there's one place in the house that really sets this home apart. Yep, it's the garage.
You see, the Millers' garage is where Papa has his art studio, and that means it's a place where cool things happen, like when Billy goes into the garage to find this:
Before them stood the broken-down cello Papa had found at the dump. He'd attached four store-mannequin arms to the cello, two on each side. (2.1.23)
Oh yes, Billy lives in a house where you might find musical instruments with fake human body parts in the garage. So the rest of the house might seem run-of-the mill, but we've got a feeling that cellos with limbs aren't in just any old garage these days. The Millers' garage lets us know that this family definitely has a creative side, and that they're more unique than meets the eye.
Georgia O'Keeffe Elementary School (a.k.a. Land of Organized Artsy Kids)
In some ways, Billy's classroom (Room 2) is a fairly normal set-up: "There were six tables with four chairs each arranged around the room" (1.3.3), plus there are a bunch of nametags for the students. Overall, the whole shebang sounds pretty standard to us. But this classroom is also unique because it's got a snazzy combo of creativity and organization.
On the creativity side of things, there's a ton of art going on in this setting. So we often find painting, drawing, diorama-sharing, and poetry-writing happening around these parts.
But on the other hand, Room 2 is also pretty stinking organized. And that's all thanks to Ms. Silver. Oh, and her gong:
All of a sudden, there was a noise like a single, penetrating toll of a bell. The laughter quieted. Silence, except for the resonant sound. […]
Billy had never known a teacher with a gong. It had worked like magic—the room was noiseless, still. (1.3.16, 18)
Ms. Silver sure knows how to keep her class in order. Her gong takes all that creativity and all those second-grade giggles and gives them some structure. Plus she's not afraid to use the gong on parents at the end-of-the-year show, too. Ha. The gong definitely reminds us that this setting is a place where Ms. Silver might be fun, but she also means business.