Hi, Lucy,” she said. Her voice sounded shy but urgent. She leaned forward and squeezed my foot through the sheet. “Hi, Wizzle,” she said. I had not seen my mother for years, and I kept staring at her; I could not figure out why she looked so different.”
-- Mother ( 1 paragraph 5)

Importance: This passage in the first chapter establishes the relationship between Lucy and her mother. This relationship is explored in much more detail throughout the rest of the book. The reader gets the important facts right away; about how long it has been since they were last together, but also that Lucy’s mother clearly cares about her.

We were told on the playground by other children, “Your family stinks,” and they’d run off pinching their noses with their fingers; my sister was told by her second-grade teacher—in front of the class—that being poor was no excuse for having dirt...
-- Lucy (chapter 2 paragraph 1)