Chapter 5 Summary

Rachel plays paddleball with Helena and her parents, the Minors. Afterwards, while raking leaves outside, Rachel tells Helena about Lewis Olswanger staring at her in the library. Rachel suggests several explanations--maybe he is nearsighted or has mistaken her for someone else. Helena insists he's interested in Rachel. Finally, Helena admits that Lewis is Mikey's cousin, and Helena has been talking about Rachel to Lewis. Rachel is embarrassed and a little angry. Talking about her! As if she's a helpless charity case! She decides she couldn't care less about Lewis. The next time she sees him, she will just ignore him! She twists the top on the leaf bag with as much satisfaction as if it were Lewis' neck.

Chapter 5 Analysis

Like the preceding chapters, this one focuses on a picture of Rachel's normal life before Izzy becomes ill. No one in Rachel's family...