Jody Gerard was 10 years old when he decided he needed a job. He thought it might be fun to raise worms. He could sell them to farmers and people who fished. So in the spring, he bought many worms. Jody put the worms in clean dirt. He gave them water, leaves, and corn all summer. The worms got fat, and Jody sold many of them. But that winter he did not put them in a warm place. The cold weather killed all the worms.
The next spring Jody tried again. He bought more worms. He took good care of them. Many people bought Jody's worms. When winter came Jody took the worms inside so they would stay warm.
One day when Jody was 12, he got a letter. It was from the state of New York, where he lived. The letter said,? "Everyone who sells things has to pay taxes!"? Jody made only 50 cents per day selling worms. But he still had to pay part of that money to the state. Jody told many people in his town what had happened. Soon some people from a television station came to Jody's house. He told them about his problem. They showed a film on television of their talk with Jody. Many people saw it. The people began to write letters to the state. The letters said that the law was unfair. Finally the law was changed. Children like Jody can now sell things without paying money to the state.