Summary

Mrs. Richardson and Izzy had always had a tumultuous relationship. Mrs. Richardson had "terrible morning sickness, [and] bouts of dizziness and vomiting" before abnormally bleeding and birthing Izzy prematurely by eleven weeks (108). Mrs. Richardson's pregnancy was a "vague, terrifying haze," and once Izzy was born, Mrs. Richardson was "warned of a host of other problems" to come, including "jaundice, anemia....hearing loss. Metal retardation[, and h]eart defects" (109). Despite these medical predictions, Izzy "displayed a tenacity of will" (109) and developed "excellent vision...and a clearly agile mind" (111). However, Mrs. Richardson could not erase the loss of control she felt when Izzy was born "like a muscle she didn't know how to unclench," and so their relationship consisted of "Izzy pushing [and] her mother restraining" (112).

The weekend after Thanksgiving, the Richardson family attended a birthday party for the newly adopted, Mirabelle McCullough, a Chinese...