The next day, Mom's boyfriend Tad came home in a bad mood. He slammed his 
six-pack down on the kitchen table, pulled out a beer, and headed for the 
living room. Nell was trying to get out of the way. She picked up Dinosaur, 
Duck, Peter Rabbit, and Purple, her magic wand, a paper bag that was actually a 
car her kids could drive around in, and a piece of cardboard that was a sword 
for killing pirates. Then she ran for the room where she and Harv slept, but 
Tad had already come in with his beer and begun rooting through the stuff on 
the sofa with his other hand, trying to find the control pad for the mediatron. 
He threw a lot of Harv's and Nell's toys on the floor and then stepped on the 
book with his bare foot.