Chapter 4 Summary and Analysis

Finally after three and a half months in City Hospital, Joni is transferred to Greenoaks. When the orderlies transport her, Joni is overjoyed to be in the outside air again. Even though the orderlies tell her all they smell is pollution, she breathes it in with joy. Joni is quite disappointed when she arrives at Greenoaks. She had built it up in her mind and expected a beautiful building on rolling green hills. Instead, the old, rambling brick building looks more like an industrial complex. Inside is no better.

Joni's parents meet her in her room, a small ward consisting of four other girls around her age. The conditions on the inside of the building are worse than the outside. Her parents do not stay long—Joni knows that her horrid new living space had them on the verge of...