The magic stone

the long version

"It's the first day of seventh grade, and Andrew is the new kid in town. As he walks off to school, Grandpa gives Andrew a gift -- a magic stone to help him get through the day. Andrew is skeptical at first, but becomes a believer when surprising things begin happening. First, he wins attention from popular Sophie and her genius-sister Clara, then he fires answers -- correct ones -- back to tough questions dished out by infamous Miss Legthorne. The day is going quite well until Andrew's stone falls from his pocket, and the kids rile him about his belief that it has magical power. Andrew scuffles on the playground to keep his grandpa's stone and ends up in Principal Crundle's office, where the principal gives a surprising response -- that he thinks the stone is magic, and he'd like to show it to a few people he knows who are authorities on the subject. Fortunately, the adults who care about Andrew see the power of possibility that the stone represents, and are able to gently guide him to hold onto that magical quality. Looking back, adult Andrew recalls his life and how his grandpa's ordinary stone helped him see 'the magic that's waiting to be used by you and me.'"--P. [4] of cover.