Summary

Chapter 1 – Eighteen-year-old Caitlin Paine begins her first day at her new high school in New York City in March, guarded by armed policemen. The only white girl there, she feels out of place for another reason, which she cannot quite place. She does not like living in the city. She carries a journal with her wherever she goes. It is her one escape, and is full of drawings and writing. Caitlin also wear a necklace with a cross on it. Though she is not religious, the cross, which bears a Latin inscription, is from her grandmother, and has been in the family for generations. The incredibly large school is packed with thousands of kids. Despite her being the only white girl, no one seems to notice her. She takes a seat in her first class near a boy everyone calls “Barack Obama” because...