Baby Goslings

Izzy finds some baby goslings in a field near a road. She hesitates, uncertain as to whether or not she should move the baby geese, or leave them for their mother's return. Izzy allows the mother to return and watches the happy family of geese reunited. This is a very symbolic early moment. It illustrates a theme that will run throughout the story of younger children who are left on their own with absentee mothers. Since Izzy will spend the majority of the story struggling with issues relating to her mother, her foster mother and even Clara as young mother, the writer is clearly using the goslings to symbolically set in motion a major theme of the book.

Long Sleeves

Izzy wears long sleeved shirts because she cannot afford to let anyone know she has been cutting herself for years. Peg playfully notes the long...