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But there are many more in which readers are left to decipher things for themselves.įor instance, sometimes she openly criticizes her mother’s actions and decisions, but other times she just silently observes a notepad with the messages that Jill and her mother have shared to let each other know about telephone calls each of them has missed during the week, or she overstuffs her mouth with pancakes and corn syrup trying to get full. There are scenes in which Sammie’s confusion and anger and fear play out overtly, in which the reader’s sympathies are directly engaged. They tell lies to protect the feelings of family and friends, mislead people to achieve advantages, and neglect problematic parts of life in favour of an easier “solution”.

But it becomes clear that she is not the only hustler in the story other people hustle in their own way, too. Sammie, too, has this kind of ambivalence about herself (and, for that matter, about other characters too). At times, one is impatient with her impulses and her attitude at other times one wants to pull her in and hold her close. Just as Sammie’s relationships can be push-pull in nature, the reader’s relationship with her is much the same. What they don’t get is, if you act like Marlene, you end up like Marlene.

“All these jerks want to do is get drunk and stoned. Nonetheless, Sammie’s determination to reach beyond the model her mother has provided for her cultivates a degree of sympathy with readers. In response to years of living with her mother’s alcoholism and criminal behaviour, she has adapted survival techniques, many of them designed to keep people at a distance (including readers). If I could make words right now, I’d say, Who are you again? And who am I?”īut Sammie isn’t cute and cuddly like a stuffed animal, simply mute and inert. White cotton in my eyes and mouth, clogging my whole skull, spilling out of me. And just when Sammie is trying to make something new for herself, wanting to suss out what is authentic about her life, her identity. For her mother, Marlene, is falling apart she is disassembling. She has learned these tricks from her mother and her father, but just as they sometimes work to her advantage, they confuse and complicate things too. She has already been there for two weeks before Jill’s mom even started asking questions, and, then, Sammie knows just what to say to gain the woman’s sympathy and extend her stay.