Summary Valentine’s Day arrives causing Melinda to remember past Valentine’s Days. She remembers that in grade school, everyone got a valentine card and celebrated the holiday openly. In middle school, crushes were shared covertly through an intricate network of friends who passed messages to each other. When she gets to […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Third Marking Period, Conjugate This”-“Our Lady of the Waiting Room””Summary and Analysis Third Marking Period, Code Breaking”-“Lunch Doom””
Summary In English class, Melinda reads Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Hairwoman makes the class focus on discovering the symbols in the text and what they suggest. Melinda enjoys the work as she likens it to breaking a code. Rachel, however, voices her distaste for searching for symbols, suggesting […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Third Marking Period, Code Breaking”-“Lunch Doom””Summary and Analysis Third Marking Period, Death of the Wombat”-“Escape””
Summary Winter has descended on Syracuse, and Melinda sleeps through her alarm one morning because it is so dark outside. Her mom makes her walk to school and on her way there Melinda decides to stop at the local bakery. In the bakery parking lot she sees Andy Evans. Melinda […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Third Marking Period, Death of the Wombat”-“Escape””Summary and Analysis Second Marking Period, Rent Round 3″-“Dark Art””
Summary Melinda’s guidance counselor calls her mom to warn her about Melinda’s upcoming report card. Melinda’s parents fume at her, but she continues to ignore their attempts to find out why she is doing so poorly in school. They decide to ground her. Melinda finds a paperclip and scratches her […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Second Marking Period, Rent Round 3″-“Dark Art””Summary and Analysis Second Marking Period, Dead Frogs”-“Naming the Monster””
Summary Frog dissection begins in biology. Melinda is in charge of making the first slice down the frog’s abdomen and as she does so, she has a flashback to the night of her attack, causing her to faint. Heather’s latest attempt to gain popularity is to become a model. She […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Second Marking Period, Dead Frogs”-“Naming the Monster””Summary and Analysis Second Marking Period, Foul”-“Poster Child””
Summary Now that winter has settled over Syracuse, gym class is held inside. The first day of indoor gym focuses on basketball. When Melinda approaches the foul line, she is able to make over forty shots in a row, earning the respect of her gym teacher, Ms. Connors. Ms. Connors […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Second Marking Period, Foul”-“Poster Child””Summary and Analysis Second Marking Period, Winter Break”-“Hard Labor””
Summary Two days before Christmas, Melinda digs the Christmas tree out of the garage, dusts it off, and sets it up. She thinks that Christmas needs little kids around to add to the festive spirit. Now, she feels that she and her parents are just going through the motions of […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Second Marking Period, Winter Break”-“Hard Labor””Summary and Analysis Second Marking Period, Peeled and Cored”-“Wombats Rule””
Summary In biology, Melinda is studying the reproductive qualities of plants, particularly apples. She and David Petrakis, her lab partner, core their apples and the scent of apples reminds Melinda of being a child and going to an apple orchard with her parents, of a time when the three of […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Second Marking Period, Peeled and Cored”-“Wombats Rule””Summary and Analysis Second Marking Period, First Amendment”-“Wishbone””
Summary Mr. Neck storms into history class one day and begins a debate on immigration because he feels his son is unable to get a job because of immigrants. As more students chime in, Mr. Neck sees that they do not agree with his premise that the United States should […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Second Marking Period, First Amendment”-“Wishbone””Summary and Analysis Second Marking Period, Go______ (Fill in the Blank)!”-“Job Day””
Summary The Ecology Club’s campaign against having a tiger as the school mascot succeeds, and the school holds an assembly to come up with new suggestions. The students vote on one of four options. Melinda’s parents are making her stay after school to get extra help from her teachers because […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Second Marking Period, Go______ (Fill in the Blank)!”-“Job Day””