Summary

The short story “Tin Man” by Jennifer Kerslake begins with the narrator expressing her doubts about her father’s ability to make her a costume for a school play. The narrator returns from school with fabric for the costume and sees a light in her father’s workshop. This worries her, because he is not usually home at that hour.

The narrator hides the material in a shoebox and changes out of her school clothes. She notices the nametag her father sewed onto her shirt is coming loose, which is how she knows he will not be able to make her a costume. The narrator remembers that when her mother sewed her nametags, they lasted a long time, but her father has trouble with such tasks. This makes things awkward for the narrator at school, although no one says anything because they do not know how to treat her after her mother’s death.

Then, the narrator lights the fire and prepares dinner, calling her father when everything is ready. Her fat...