Arthur T. Owens grabbed a brick and hurled it at the trash picker. Arthur had his reasons, and the brick hit the Junk Man in the arm, not the head. But none of that matters to the judge—he is ready to send Arthur to juvie forever. Amazingly, it’s the Junk Man himself who offers an alternative: 120 hours of community service . . . working for him.
Arthur is given a rickety shopping cart and a list of the Seven Most Important Things: glass bottles, foil, cardboard, pieces of wood, lightbulbs, coffee cans, and mirrors. He can’t believe it—is he really supposed to rummage through people’s trash?
by Shelley Pearsall
Random House
2015
The Seventh Most Important Thing
Hampton's Art
yersinUSA. (2013, August 14). Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations’ Millennium General Assembly - J Hampton [Video file]. Retrieved from YouTube.
James Hampton's Throne of the Third Heaven artwork is permanently on exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC! Here is a video of this amazing exhibit!
James Hampton devoted the remainder of his life to building his vision for the "Throne of Third Heaven." What does he mean by third heaven? In ancient times three different things were sometimes called "the heavens," where the sky was the first layer of the heavens, outer space was the second layer, and the place where they believed God lived was the third layer, which is just known as heaven today. This is James Hampton's vision for what that might look like."
Third Heaven
Who is James Hampton?
All of the characters in The Seventh Most Important Thing are fictional, except James Hampton. James Hampton was born in Elloree, South Carolina in 1909. In 1942 he was drafted into United States Army Air Forces. He served as a carpenter and was stationed in Guam, among other places. In 1945 he moved back to Washington, DC.
Bates, N. (2013, September 3). The Living by Matt de la Pena [video]. Retrieved YouTube.
Book Trailer
