Summary

Before Part I, there is a brief description of the deafening sound of a barn filled with hens and machinery on an egg farm.

In Part I, Chapter 1, 15-year-old Janey Flores arrived in Iowa, having taken a bus from her home in New York to meet her father for the first time. Janey's mother, Olivia, had just told Janey of her father's existence days earlier. Angry that her mother kept this a secret for so long, Janey packed a bag and left. Having arrived, Janey regretted her rash decision and thought about what “the old Janey” (8), the version of herself she left behind in New York, would be doing at any given moment. Janey's father was gruff and their meeting was awkward, but this only fueled Janey's anger, and when he asked how long she was staying, she responded sarcastically, “Forever!” (14).

In Chapter...