pg. 286-304

After Noelle and Craig have their 5 minute question game in the hallway, they have to go to the activity center for arts and crafts. I probably haven't mentioned this before because there is just so many things to talk about with this book and you exclude so much, but when Craig was younger he used to trace maps of certain areas of New York. Until one day when he couldn't get the exact shape of Manhattan, got completely enraged, and wanted to quit. Fortunately, his mom mentioned the idea that he didn't have to trace maps, but that he could draw his own. of cities and towns and highways, all that he could make up and it wouldn't matter if messed up. Craig did this for quite a while as a kid until he turned nine and resorted to video games. but before then, those maps had been his anchor and had made him happy.
so... back to the arts and crafts. Craig gets there and everyone is wanting him to draw something, so they try to unblock his mind and think of things he could possibly draw. it's no use with Craig though. he doesn't listen to a word anyone says until Noelle suggests that he draw something from his childhood. this sparks something in Craig immediately. before she even has time to finish her question, Craig is gone in the world of map making. he start s designing the kind of maps he did when he was a kid with rivers, highways, roads, and bridges. everyone is watching him do this by the way because they think his artwork is beautiful. but as he is doing it, one of the patients asks if he is drawing a brain, which again makes Craig think: "it could look like a brain, like if all the roads were twisted neurons, pulling your emotions from one place to another, bringing the city to life. A working brain is probably a lot like a map, where anybody can get from one place to another on the freeways. it's the nonworking brains that get unblocked, that have the dead ends, that are under construction like mine."
This one girls thought inspires Craig to draw a head around his map( like the cover of the original book), making it the only one he has ever finished.
This sparked me to remember things that i used to draw as a young kid. so far i have come up with ugly pug dogs, butterflies, elephant butts... i was a cool cat. i would have rather drawn maps. it seems a lot cooler.