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Description edit
Cal Lavender is perfectly happy living her anonymous life, even if she does have to play mother to her own mother a whole lot more than an eleven-year-old should. But when Cals mother has one of her unfortunate episodes in the middle of the public library, she is whisked off by the authorities... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Characters/People edit
- Cal: 10 year old daughter of a mentally ill mother. She is put in a Foster Home while her mother tries to get better.
- Betty: Cal's mother who moves from place to place, mentally ill and flips out in the middle of a public library and the police take her away
- Knitting Lady: The woman in charge of the Group Home who is loved by all of the girls
- Amber: Child in group home who does not speak due to the abuse she has suffered
- Whitney: The "boss" of the Group Home, she knows everything that goes on and makes up lie after lie to protect herself from her past
Setting & Locations edit
First Sentence edit
Everyone is always living her story.
Themes & Symbolism edit
- Everyone can change.: In the beginning of the novel, cal is separated from her mother, Betty, and taken into a group home. While Cal is away from Betty, Betty tries to work on her abilty to act as more of an adult and parental figure. While Cal is in the group home, she puts up a front agaisnt the girls, and against reality. She was taking her experience at the group home as "a detour" from her life. The knitting lady tells a story while in the group home, which she bases the main character, Lillian, on aspects of all of the girls in the group home. At the end of the the Knitting Lady's story, Mrs. S, the social worker, told Cal to pack her bags, because she was going home. Just when she was getting to finally realize that this WAS her real life, she got to return home to her mother. They have both changed, in different ways, but both to become a better person.
Authors & Contributors edit
- Jill Wolfson (Author)
Subjects edit
- Books › Children's Books › People & Places › Social Situations › Emotions & Feelings › Fiction
- Books › Children's Books › People & Places › Family Life › Orphans & Foster Homes
- Books › Children's Books › People & Places › Girls & Women › Fiction
- Books › Teens › Social Issues
- Books › Children's Books › Literature
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