Jessamine is a calligrapher(书法家)and she has, over the years, recorded the history of her town by writing wedding and death announcements, invitations and menus. Now she has another ability—she finds herself capable of writing such events down before they happen. She knows this is a precious and dangerous gift. She persuades a man in town to accept the relationship between his daughter and a young man whom he dislikes because Jessamine has already written the wedding announcement. Her relationship with Callie, that young woman,is a wonderful intergenerational friendship. When Jessamine writes her own death notice, she deals with it as wisely as she has dealt with all the rest. The story of Jessamine is only 51 pages long, and there isn't much difficulty for less able readers.Meanwhile, the idea that one can use a magic power to do good secretly is such an （intriguing） idea that abler readers will also be drawn to the book. Readers might be willing to read the book closely to see how DeFelice, the writer of the story, managed to describe such a complex person in so few pages and do it so skilfully. There are times when the passages come close to poetry and students might like to read some particular episodes aloud. For example,when Jesamine learns that Callie will not win the scholarship which could give her a fresh start in life, the way she gives Callie the strength to accept the disappointment and gain self-respect is worth examining.