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Regarding the Fountain is an epistolary children's novel by Kate Klise published in 1998 and the first title in her Regarding the ... series set in Dry (Geyser) Creek, Missouri.
Through letters, memos, postcards, transcripts, documents, newspaper articles and telegraphs, Regarding the Fountain follows a class of fifth graders as they collaborate with a quirky fountain designer who has been hired to fix a leaky water fountain and in the process unexpectedly solve a local mystery.
The other titles in the series are Regarding the Sink (2004), Regarding the Trees (2005), and Regarding the Bathrooms (2006), and, most recently, Regarding the Bees (2007).
Plot summary
editThe novel, told through a series of letters, newspaper clippings, drawings, and other correspondences, tells the story of how Sam N.'s fifth grade class at Dry Creek Middle School under the guidance of a free-spirited fountain designer, Florence Waters, creates a unique fountain for their school, as the old one has a persistent leak. The students, which consist of Minnie O., Tad Poll, Gil, Shelly, and best friends Lily and Paddy, each attempt to aid Florence by coming up with their own increasingly eccentric designs, while Sam N. and principal Walter "Wally" Russ provide more practical ones. At the same time, through a series of zany mishaps, the group uncovers a scandal that will shock the entire town as the students discover what really happened the day the creek dried up.
It turns out that a long time ago, their hometown of Dry Creek was once known as Spring Creek, and had a free-flowing spring feeding their creek, until criminals Sally Mander and Delbert "Dee" Eel blocked off the water to feed their respective swimming pool and drinking water enterprises. In the present, it turns out that Mander and Eel's plan is going awry as the spring itself was fed by a geyser, which is currently about to erupt, and is also responsible for the fountain leak.
In the end, the town of Dry Creek, once known as Spring Creek, will be renamed Geyser Creek, and the criminals who diverted the town's waters for self serving purposes some years previous will be put behind bars. Florence installs the school's highly unusual new fountain, a combination of the best ideas sent by the locals.
Characters
editMany of the characters in Regarding the Fountain (as well as the rest of the series) have names with water references or puns:
- Flo Waters - fountain designer
- Sam N. - teacher at Dry Creek Middle School
- Wally Russ - principal of Dry Creek Middle School
- Goldie Fisch - secretary of Dry Creek Middle School
- Lily and Paddy and Tad Poll - fifth grade friends
- Minnie O - best student in Sam N.'s class.
- Sally Mander and Delbert "Dee" Eel - water stealing criminal masterminds