50 pages • 1 hour read
Tony JohnstonAny Small Goodness
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1991A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 3-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 3 Summary: “The Coach”
Three years later, Arturo walks to school with Jaime, Alicia, and Raúl. On the way, they encounter a group of older boys, stinking of beer and sporting a bunch of tattoos. To Arturo, it’s clear that the boys belong to a gang. Though the boys harass them, Arturo and his friends remain calm, worried that the boys’ clothing might conceal weapons. Eventually, the boys drive away, and Arturo and his friends continue their walk to school.
During his first period, Arturo attends basketball practice. Basketball is popular in the barrio, and it’s common for kids to play with worn shoes and deflated balls. Led by the Coach, Arturo joins the Tigers, sporting green and gold. One day, the Coach unexpectedly arrives in a suit and tie, escorting an unlikely visitor: an NBA superstar. Named “Coach Tree” because of his towering stature, the new coach helps drill the players, easing into the community despite his celebrity.
One night, Arturo helps Mami and Abuelita prepare chiles rellenos (stuffed chili peppers), donning special goggles to help chop the onions. Over dinner, they discuss Coach Tree. As avid basketball fans, Mami and Abuelita are excited that Coach Tree has joined the athletic staff, convinced that his motivations are pure. Luis, however, wonders if Coach Tree is secretly seeking financial gain.
Coach Tree offers everyone an opportunity to play and personally compliments Arturo’s improvement. One player, however, sticks out. José, Alicia’s brother, is the team’s star, but his off-court troublemaking complicates his reputation. Oftentimes, he appears distant and moody, and Arturo avoids him. Some students suspect that José has stolen some of Coach Tree’s belongings and sold them for a profit. Arturo isn’t sure what to think until Alicia confirms the rumors one night over dinner. However, as Alicia explains, Coach Tree didn’t punish José but instead dedicated himself to José’s supervision. Under Coach Tree’s guidance, José has begun to flourish.
One afternoon, Abuelita visits the school, determined to give Coach Tree her chiles rellenos. Coach Tree graciously accepts but struggles with the intense spiciness. As he recovers, he and Abuelita laugh together.
Eventually, Arturo learns that Coach Tree did seek financial gain: a salary of $1. Arturo admires that Coach Tree has done “something for love” and vows to emulate his generous spirit (52).
Chapter 4 Summary: “Piano Lessons”
Arturo makes a habit of reading the Los Angeles Times each morning, often sitting next to Papi. One morning, Papi reads aloud a story about a group of Mexican migrants who travelled across the border on foot. However, though the migrants initially succeeded in their crossing, they ultimately died in a horrific traffic accident. Papi, deeply moved, cries as he reads the story, and Arturo realizes suddenly that he misses Mexico.
Arturo turns his attention to the obituary page, where he finds a notice about the community piano teacher, Leona Scott. As Arturo relates, Leona was an accomplished pianist but remained in the barrio instead of chasing celebrity. To help her community, Leona offered piano lessons, often accepting enchiladas and rice as payment. Leona developed a weakness for sugary Mexican dulces (candy) and kept a stash on her piano. Soon, the neighborhood nicknamed her “Mama Dulce.”
Arturo remembers Mama Dulce’s devotion to teaching and her strong connection to the barrio; she encouraged all of her neighbors to pursue music. In addition to teaching, she also was an accomplished songwriter, even authoring a jazz opera. When Mama Dulce fell sick, neighbors, admirers, and students flocked to visit her or to offer her gifts of food and plants. Students kept busy at her piano, while a famous jazz pianist penned a song in her honor about being paid “in kind.” Eventually, as Arturo reads, Mama Dulce died at age 33 from a kind of blood disease.
On Valentine’s Day, Mami leaves for the afternoon, whisked away by her friend, Flor Morales. Interrupting Arturo’s reading, Papi reminds him and his siblings of their plan: to decorate the Rodriguez home with fake stones to emulate other facades in the neighborhood. Together, Papi and the siblings paint and arrange crumpled balls of newspaper. As they work, Abuelita offers them refreshments, and Mama Dulce’s song plays on the radio. When Mami returns, she’s overjoyed, especially noticing the small rock that Papi has decorated with “te quiero [I love you]” (62).
Later that night, Arturo thinks about love. He hopes for a relationship that resembles his parents’—strong and enduring—and vows to follow Mama Dulce’s example of community. “Love each other. And help each other” (63), he remembers, before falling asleep.
Chapter 5 Summary: “The River”
One afternoon, Arturo lazes beside the Los Angeles River. Oftentimes, the river is dried out and barren, but today, it trickles with life. Arturo reads the various graffiti tags as they shine through the water.
Lying peacefully, Arturo is reminded of Ms. Cloud, the school librarian. As he thinks back to their first encounter, Arturo remembers joining Mami on a trip to the library, a near sacred institution. As they struggled to make a selection, Ms. Cloud approached them, probing Arturo’s interests and offering her recommendation. Bright and gentle, Ms. Cloud suited her name perfectly, and Arturo admired her passion. He began to enjoy reading, particularly the funny books that Ms. Cloud recommended. Quickly, his English skills improved, and he began to seek out more challenging reading material.
The school library, hindered by lack of funding, includes mostly dated or well-worn titles. However, Ms. Cloud fights for better material, coordinating with the PTA and organizing charity car washes. She even promises to kiss a pig in exchange for a donation. Eventually, an anonymous donor gifts the school an abundance of new books, and the excited students organize a thank-you parade.
As Arturo deepens his love of reading, he faces an unexpected dare. Rat Nose, who works in a grocery store after school, brings home a shark eye, tempting Arturo to swallow it. For a prize of 50 cents, Arturo agrees. A crowd gathers as Arturo swallows the shark eye. Though Arturo realizes he should’ve argued for a better reward, he feels a swell of pride.
Arturo jumps back to Ms. Cloud, remarking on her mysteriousness. Curious about her life outside of school, Arturo tails her one evening, wondering if poverty has discouraged her from sharing more about her personal life. However, as Ms. Cloud nears the LA River, Arturo watches as she hops into a black Jaguar, complete with a personal driver. Arturo realizes that Ms. Cloud must’ve been the anonymous donor all along but vows to keep her secret.
One day, the school board realizes that Ms. Cloud lacks proper credentials, and they dismiss her immediately. Enraged, the Rodriguez family tries to protest in her favor, but the school board doesn’t relent. Papi regrets that an official certification should weigh more significantly than genuine love and interest. Mami, similarly disappointed, throws herself into making an extra spicy mole (a sauce used in Mexican cuisine).
Back in the present day, it begins to rain lightly. Though Arturo is sad to have parted with Ms. Cloud without a proper goodbye, he senses that she already appreciates his gratitude. He thinks of her in a different barrio, just as upbeat and dedicated. As he journeys home, Arturo wonders if someday, he might also be a “book-warrior” (77).
Chapters 3-5 Analysis
In these chapters, Arturo develops a nuanced understanding of value, eventually accepting that certain rewards—like those earned from community engagement—prove more valuable than money. This lesson is first introduced through the arrival of Coach Tree, a former NBA all-star whose celebrity sends ripples throughout the barrio. Johnston never specifies the barrio’s socioeconomic conditions but relies on imagery to suggest the community’s need. For instance, Arturo describes the “too-worn shoes” and “too-soft balls” that challenge players’ success (39-40). Similarly, the basketball team’s head coach owns a “Timex as primitive as a sundial and a car that’s easily Jurassic” (40). Together, these descriptions suggest that the barrio struggles with economic insecurity, often saddled with outdated or failing equipment and expected to make the best of it.
In this light, Coach Tree’s arrival appears perplexing to the characters, and many wonder why he should abandon a promising career in favor of assistant coaching. Luis, already cynical as an adolescent, immediately guesses that Coach Tree might be seeking some financial gain. As Luis insists that Coach Tree wants money, he eats with a mangled fork—yet another example of damaged but unreplaced necessities. However, Mami argues otherwise, imagining that “[Coach Tree] is doing this coaching for love only” (45). Though Luis remains cautiously silent, Arturo can almost hear his rebuttal: “Love! Man, don’t you know? The world goes on verde—the green of dollars” (45). Here, observing Luis’s cynicism, Arturo occupies an uncomfortable middle-ground between Luis and his parents, newly emigrated from Mexico; this is reinforced by his mixture of Spanish and English to describe money. Mami may optimistically argue the value of love, but Luis is more in tune with a materialist, stereotypically American viewpoint. As he remarks on the importance of “dollars,” Luis insists that in America, only money matters.
However, though Luis and Arturo are tempted toward this limited outlook, they ultimately accept a valuable lesson. Arturo eventually learns that Coach Tree is paid the “salary-shattering price of one dollar” (52), suggesting that his motivations lay in more meaningful places. Though Coach Tree is awarded almost no salary at all, his passion for teaching and dedication to service ensure his commitment. Furthermore, Arturo’s experience with Ms. Cloud advances a similar lesson. Ms. Cloud, though privately wealthy, dedicates herself to the barrio, spending her own money to update the library’s collection. To Coach Tree and Ms. Cloud, money is secondary to a positive, life-changing impact, emphasizing The Value of Family and Community.
This value system is perhaps best summarized in Mama Dulce’s story. Mama Dulce appears as another positive role model, underscoring less material joys. Leona Scott, nicknamed “Mama Dulce,” is a talented jazz pianist who forgoes stardom to remain in her native barrio. Like Coach Tree and Ms. Cloud, Mama Dulce delights in teaching the neighborhood kids, spreading the “magic of music” through piano lessons (56). Many of the barrio residents cannot afford to pay Mama Dulce in cash, so they offer instead “enchiladas or sacks of rice–even pigs” (55-56). Motivated by a characteristic dedication to her community, Mama Dulce rejects the traditional value of money in favor of a few meaningful gestures. Her radical approach to payment inspires a song penned by a famous jazz musician. To pay someone “in kind” is to offer goods or services instead of money, but Johnston puns on the word “kind” to underscore Mama Dulce’s good-hearted nature. Mama Dulce may have earned her nickname from candies, but the suggestion of sweetness is also an element of characterization.
Arturo learns to distinguish between value and money. This is reinforced when he is satisfied with the praise he receives for eating the shark eye, despite the low amount he earns. Accordingly, he recognizes in his community a true willingness to love, which overcomes the challenges of poverty. For instance, though the neighborhood basketball equipment needs replacing, the community still has a passion for basketball: “ours is a barrio of basketball maniacs” (39), Arturo admits. Similarly, the outdated library books still excite Arturo, and he reads voraciously. Though their resources are sparse, the barrio still enjoys what they have, evoking True Character Versus Appearance. Reflecting on the lessons of Coach Tree, Ms. Cloud, and Mama Dulce, Arturo echoes a powerful ideal: “Love each other. And help each other” (63). This highlights the text’s format as an explicitly moral tale for young adult readers.
