Chapter 1, Remembering When Summary and Analysis

When Liane Willey, the author, was three years old, a psychiatric evaluation and IQ test told her parents that she was smart and spoiled. Willey remembers her childhood as full of a desire to be separated from her peers and to be with her imaginary friends instead. She wanted real school supplies to play with and lost interest in books that did not smell like new ones. Organizing the supplies was particularly fun. Liane could not stand other children because they would try to stop her from engaging in these tasks. And she was never forced to share. Group dynamics and casual friendship never made sense to Liane, though she eventually learned the skills well enough to have a few friends.

Nonetheless, she experienced social disasters. In ballet class, Liane could not understand what it meant to...