RUSH: Here is Matthew, 9 years old, from Raleigh, North Carolina. Hi, Matthew. Really nice that you called. Hi.
CALLER: Oh, hi. I’m so happy to actually be on the talk show with you.
RUSH: Well, I’m happy to have you on the talk show with me. I’m happy to have you out there. What’s up? How you doing?
CALLER: Great. It’s a sunny day here. No clouds.
RUSH: Sunny day with clouds? Well, enjoy ’em while you can. No clouds you say, no clouds, even better. Okay. Is it hot, is it really hot, or not?
CALLER: It’s about 85 degrees out here.
RUSH: Eighty-five. Well, can’t do better than that in August. I mean, that’s cool.
CALLER: I wanted to talk about your book.
RUSH: My books? Cool.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: What do you think about ’em?
CALLER: The books are really good. I can’t believe it.
RUSH: (laughing) You can’t believe it. (laughing) They’re really good, I can’t believe it! (laughing) You’re cracking me up here, Matthew. What do you like about ’em, Matthew?
CALLER: I like Liberty. He’s kind of really funny, and he’s smart, too.
RUSH: Liberty is the talking, time-traveling horse.
CALLER: Yes. Very funny.
RUSH: He is. He’s hilarious. He’s the funniest horse you’ve ever run into.
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: Matthew, for people that may not know, let me tell them who Liberty is. Liberty is the time-traveling talking horse in the adventure series, Rush Revere and Time-Travel Adventures with Exceptional Americans. There are two books out, Brave Pilgrims and First Patriots. Have you read both of them?
CALLER: Only the first one. I’m saving up for the second one with money from selling eggs that my chickens lay.
RUSH: You’re selling eggs that your chicken lays?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: Do you sell the eggs by the dozen?
CALLER: Yes.
RUSH: And how much?
CALLER: Four dollars.
RUSH: How much?
CALLER: A dozen for four dollars.
RUSH: Four dollars for a dozen eggs, and how much money have you collected?
CALLER: I’ve collected $19, I think.
RUSH: Well, you should be right there, Matthew, you should be right there. I mean, that’s right in the affordability range. In fact, you should have a little more than is necessary. So all you need is somebody to take you to the mall.
CALLER: We don’t go to the mall much. We kind of just stay home.
RUSH: Okay, well, let me do this.
CALLER: I have school now. Well, on Wednesdays we have school.
RUSH: Oh, you’re in school already? Okay.
CALLER: Well, I start on Wednesday. Still kind of getting ready.
RUSH: Start on Wednesday. Okay. Well, you know, Matthew you have cracked me up here so much by telling me that you really couldn’t believe how good they were — (laughing) — you couldn’t believe how good they were gonna be. I want you to keep the money that you have earned selling eggs laid by your chicken. I want to send you a copy of the second book. And as an added bonus, Matthew, I want to send you the audio versions on CD for both books, Rush Revere and the Brave Pilgrims, which you’ve read, and Rush Revere and the First Patriots, which is what you have been saving up money for from the sale of eggs laid by your chicken.
CALLER: Oh, my gosh, this is so good!
RUSH: Well, you’re more than welcome. I’m happy to do it. I mean, I think you’ve earned it. You’ve earned it. I mean, it’s very enterprising of you to actually sell eggs by the dozen in order to raise enough money to buy the next book with Liberty, the talking, time-traveling horse. These books, by the way, go deep down into American history, and they take the reader — you like the books because you actually learn about stuff in American history, right?
CALLER: Yeah. I really like history and that class. I like history the most, that class, that’s why I got it for Christmas and I read it like 20 times.
RUSH: Wow. Twenty times? Well, you are going to have a lot of days in your future being very satisfied learning about American history. I think that I can safely assure you that. Now, Matthew, I want you to hang on. Do not hang up the phone, because I need to get your address so that we can send you Rush Revere and the First Patriots and the audio versions of both books, and I want to thank you again. You crack me up. I’m happy to have your review. The fact that they’re much better than you thought they were gonna be, you couldn’t believe it, is just choice. So don’t hang up.