Chapter 1 Summary

Davey Wexler is a teenage girl from Atlantic City, New Jersey, who loses her father at the opening of the novel. He is killed by robbers in the family's 7-Eleven store and Davey is the last one to see him alive. Davey has to take a journey to New Mexico and a mental journey within herself before she is able to get over her father's death and the fear the tragedy brings into her world. Davey's travels introduce her to a world completely different from her home in New Jersey. However, in the end, Davey appreciates everything she learns there and everyone who intentionally and inadvertently challenges her to live happily.

It is the morning of Davey's father's funeral and as the family prepares to leave, Davey cannot find anything for her feet except sneakers. Her mother offers Davey a pair of too...