The Help - Part 2

Chapter 6

• Miss Skeeter gets a job writing a house cleaning advice column (Miss Myrna column) in the local newspaper. She has to ask Aibileen about what sort of advice to give because Skeeter doesn't really know anything about cleaning. 
• While talking to Aibileen, Skeeter discovers that Constantine was fired, she didn't quit. This gives Skeeter a new writing idea. 

Chapter 7

• Aibileen works on potty training Mae Mobley, but her progress is halted when Miss Leefolt gets furious over Mae Mobley trying to use Aibileen's separate bathroom. 
• A colored boy was beaten blind for using an unmarked bathroom that his assailants claim was for whites only. This story makes me so sad, it's just unthinkable that people could be so mean to someone over such a small matter. It really makes me question how much good there really is left in this world :( 
• Skeeter really wants to write a book about the households of the South from the point of view of the colored help, but Aibileen warns her of how dangerous it could be for everyone involved. 

Chapter 8

• Skeeter receives encouragement to write her book from a Harper & Row publisher in New York. She first contacted her to get a job, but the lady told her she needed more experience. This book, and writing about something that no one else has written about before, might just be what she needs.
• Skeeter's mom gets some newfangled contraption that makes her hair smooth and shiny . . .just in time for her date with the guy that Miss Hilly has been trying for months to set her up with. 

Chapter 9

• The date goes HORRIBLY. The guy (Stewart) gets really drunk and says he is not ready to start dating again (he had been engaged a few months before this but she broke it off). 
• Aibileen contacts Miss Skeeter and agrees to help her with the book because she is sick of Miss Hilly.

Chapter 10

• Minny meets Mr. Johnny. And lo and behold, he isn't upset that she is there. In fact, he is very glad because he's been eating much better (Miss Celia is an awful cook and Minny is one of the best cooks in town). Funny. 

Five more chapters down. These women are turning out to be real characters (literally). They all have unique personalities, and I think I'm going to enjoy getting to know them. Do you have a favorite character yet?