Iveliz Explains It All

Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Middle Grade | Published in 2022

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Pages 1-52

Pages 53-113

Pages 114-165

Pages 166-213

Pages 214-263

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Pages 114-165Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Pages 114-124 Summary

Note: These pages contain the poems “Goals List,” “Updated Seventh-Grade Goal,” “Corazon de melocotén,” “I Find Mimi by the Bus Stop,” “I Should Be Doing Homework,” “I Sit with Mimi Before Bed,” “Bribes,” and “Therapy.”

In school, Iveliz ponders what Dr. Turnip said about trying again with goals instead of erasing them. Iveliz doesn’t think the list helps her. She feels other kids are easily happy while she’s a “disappointment.” In her updated list of goals, Iveliz includes not telling Turnip anything and never hurting herself.

On the bus home, Amir is absent. Akiko jokes that Iveliz can sit next to her if Iveliz acts “normal.” Akiko shows Iveliz her Victoria’s Secret perfume and discusses a Netflix show. By the bus stop, Mimi is barefoot and in her bata (robe). She calls Iveliz “Tania,” and Iveliz promises not to tell Mami that she got “locked out.”

Iveliz researches dementia and determines Mimi is between stages 4 and 5. She forgets names and events and needs help putting on certain clothes, but she can feed herself and go to the bathroom on her own. Iveliz watches Mimi swipe on her iPad. Mimi thinks it was a good day. Iveliz believes Mimi got lost.

In the morning, Mami makes pancakes. Iveliz realizes the nice gesture means she’s seeing Dr. Turnip. She speaks to Dr. Turnip about Mimi’s Alzheimer’s and Mimi’s criticisms of Iveliz’s medication. Dr. Turnip wonders if Mami could serve as an “advocate” for Iveliz, but Iveliz immediately dismisses the possibility.

Pages 125-136 Summary

Note: These pages contain the poems “Entrometida,” “Sharing Is Not Caring,” “Solitary,” “Dad Is Here,” “Current Seventh-Grade Goals,” “Saturday Is for Cleaning,” “Mimi and I Cook,” and “Happiness.”

In the car, Mami asks about the therapy session and peeks at Iveliz’s doodle. Iveliz is annoyed, believing her mother asks questions but doesn’t listen to her answers. In the building parking lot, Mami grabs Iveliz’s arm. Rolling her eyes, Iveliz assures her mother that she won’t hurt herself. However, if she was thinking about hurting herself, she wouldn’t talk to Mami, nor would she tell Dr. Turnip, because he would tell Mami.

Iveliz’s father visits her. He claims he visits Mami in her dreams. Iveliz says she should know what’s real. Her father replies that her poems are real. Iveliz asks if he’s real, and he says it depends on who she asks.

Mimi and Iveliz clean the house and wash Iveliz’s hair. As Mimi makes sofrito, she hums and tells Iveliz about Grandpa Nuni, her husband. Mimi and Iveliz express their mutual love. Iveliz notes how Mimi “calms” her better than Mami. In a pie chart, cooking with Mimi comprises 20 percent of her happiness.

Pages 137-144 Summary

Note: These pages include the poems “Does Thunder Scare You?” “Amir’s Mom Drops Him Off,” “Panic Attack,” “I Try to Stay Calm,” and “Mami Calls the Police.”

While eating rice and beans, Iveliz asks Mimi if thunder scares her. Mimi says it does, and so do the lights going out. Iveliz compares their triggers, wondering how hers matches up to losing electricity, family, and a home.

Amir comes over to Iveliz’s house, and they watch The Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix. Iveliz notices the quiet, so she and Amir look for Mimi, but they can’t find her. Iveliz has a panic attack. Amir tells Iveliz to breathe and calls Iveliz’s mother, but Iveliz can’t speak to Mami, so Amir tells her what happened. Mami calls the police. When they ask Mami if Mimi has “escaped” before, Iveliz runs to the bathroom. Iveliz blames herself for Mimi’s disappearance, but Dad appears and tells her it’s not her fault.

Pages 145-155 Summary

Note: These pages contain the poems “The Official Story,” “What Really Went Down,” “Onomatopoeia,” “Mami Has Never Said It,” “Eyes Open / Eyes Closed,” “The Cops Find Mimi,” “Mami Washes, I Dry,” “Language Arts Is Usually My Least Hated Class,” and “Okay, I Messed Up.”

Iveliz tells her journal about the deadly car crash. It took place on a rainy Friday. A nearby bookstore had a “slam poetry fest,” and Iveliz, though the event was at night and for adults, begged her father to take her. He agreed, but on the way there, they collided with a truck.

Iveliz crawled out of her seat belt, saw her father, and screamed. She blames herself. The truck hit them because Iveliz distracted her father with a “stupid joke.” Mami refers to the crash as “the accident.” She believes her husband was “too good” for the world, and God wanted him back. Iveliz would trade her poems and life for Dad.

The police find Mimi at a bus stop three blocks from home. She yells at the police and her family. She’s a woman (una mujer) who had to leave her home. She doesn’t want to be treated like a baby. Iveliz tells Mami about Mimi’s first “escape.” Mami tells Iveliz that it wasn’t her fault: Mimi is “sick.” Mami makes Iveliz promise to tell her if Mimi attempts another “escape,” but Iveliz remains wary of Mami’s intentions.

Iveliz doesn’t want to go to school today, but her mother forces her. In Language Arts, Iveliz writes in her journal until Jessica seizes it and starts reading it out loud. She reads a poem about gardening with Mimi, and when Justin G. reads “Eyes Open / Eyes Closed” (149)—the poem about Dad and the crash—Iveliz blacks out.

Pages 156-165 Summary

Note: These pages contain the poems “Mami Doesn’t Speak,” “Therapy Throwback,” “Amir Calls Three Times,” “Bochinche,” “DON’T,” and “I Decide to Work on Rule Number Five with Dr. Turnip.”

Iveliz hits Justin in the face, so the school suspends her. Mami picks up Iveliz but doesn’t say anything. She remains silent at home, during dinner, and when Iveliz asks if she can have her journal back—though Iveliz is starting to mistrust her journal, too. Mimi claims therapy has worsened the situation, and Iveliz remembers when Dr. Turnip asked if she ever discussed Dad’s death with Mami. Iveliz laughed: She and her mom “aren’t talkers.”

Amir tries three times to contact Iveliz, but she can’t face him. She feels like she can’t get out of her head. When she hit Justin, she wasn’t thinking: Her body took over.

In the kitchen, Iveliz hears her mother talking to an aunt in Puerto Rico. Mami might send Iveliz to a “special” boarding school with staff trained to help young people with mental health conditions. The “gossip” upsets Iveliz. She rips up the “Ten Reminders” and blacks out her goals. She creates a list of things she shouldn’t do: She shouldn’t speak to Dad, get into fights, have panic attacks, speak to Mami, or share her feelings.

Dr. Turnip asks Iveliz about her medication, and Iveliz admits she doesn’t know if it’s effective. Iveliz receives her medication through another doctor, Dr. Carrot, whose real name is Dr. Salazar. Before school started, Iveliz told Dr. Carrot she was “great.” Dr. Turnip wants her to track her moods in a tiny blue notepad. As Iveliz thinks Mami is going to check the notepad, Iveliz commits to not recording her real feelings.

Pages 114-165 Analysis

In Pages 114-165, the narrative remains linked to Iveliz’s unreliable point of view. Iveliz states, “It’s hard, being a disappointment […] / When being happy is easy for all the other kids” (114). The other young people aren’t happy. Akiko gets bullied, Amir isn’t pleased with how Iveliz treats him—and he’s dealing with a younger brother with a serious heart condition—and Justin G. and Jessica’s constant harassment of Iveliz may suggest that they aren’t doing well themselves. Iveliz’s misrepresentation makes her look worse than she is. The truth is that happiness isn’t easy for her or her peers. This reinforces the theme of Misunderstandings Between Adults and Young People, as well as the isolation that results from Iveliz’s narrow perspective. Her inability to see beyond her own struggles suggests that her mental health condition clouds her perception, making it difficult for her to recognize the shared difficulties of adolescence.

Iveliz’s subjective perspective also cuts her off from support. Dr. Turnip asks if Mami could serve as an “advocate.” Iveliz thinks, “[A]sking Mom for help? / No, Sir. / Not gonna happen” (124). As Mami winds up helping her, Iveliz’s biased perspective creates red herrings or false clues. Once again, Iveliz isn’t deliberately being misleading: She’s merely documenting her genuine feelings in her journal. This discrepancy highlights her unreliable narration, showing how deeply personal feelings can conflict with objective reality. It also reflects how trauma can distort one's perception of relationships, making it hard for Iveliz to see Mami’s genuine concern. The gulf between what she feels and how people are suggests personal feelings and objective truth aren’t on the same side.

Iveliz’s character and Mimi’s character begin to parallel each other. Mimi has Alzheimer’s disease, which impacts her actions, and Iveliz confronts mental health conditions that influence her behavior. Each must deal with triggers. Mimi admits that thunder and the lights going out trigger her, causing Iveliz to make a conspicuous comparison. She’s left “wondering / if [her] triggers / are as scary / as important” (137). This comparison suggests a deep, unspoken connection between Iveliz and Mimi. Despite their different conditions, both characters experience a loss of control and struggle to navigate their triggers. The parallel between them subtly demonstrates intergenerational trauma, hinting at a shared vulnerability that goes beyond their individual experiences. In these pages, Mimi tries to escape twice. Iveliz wants to escape Mami, Dr. Turnip, school, and the feelings caused by her mental condition. Arguably, Iveliz successfully gets out of school since the school suspends her after she hits Justin. This shared desire for escape suggests a larger commentary on the limits of their current environment to provide the safety and support they need. It implies that both Mimi and Iveliz are trapped, not just by their conditions but by a perceived lack of understanding from those around them.

The themes continue to move in unison, though Iveliz subverts Misunderstandings Between Adults and Young People. While she continues to present Mami as an antagonist who’d rather send her to a “special” boarding school than help her deal with the layers of her mental health condition, Mimi, despite her derogatory attitude toward mental health, becomes an occasional ally, with Iveliz admitting, “Mimi somehow calms me better than Mami / better than anyone” (135). Iveliz cements her fondness for Mimi in the pie chart: Cooking with Mimi equals one-fifth of her happiness. The bond between Iveliz and Mimi offers a rare moment of solace in the narrative, emphasizing the importance of connection amid personal challenges. This relationship also contrasts with Iveliz’s strained dynamic with Mami, highlighting the complexities of familial relationships and the ways that love and support can look different across generations. However, Iveliz presents an overly rosy portrait of Mimi. Meanwhile, with Amir, the relationship stays sharply slanted. After Mimi’s second escape, Amir must calm Iveliz and call her mother. He is more generous with his emotions and time than she is. This imbalance underscores the theme of The Importance of Maintaining Balanced Relationships, revealing how Iveliz’s trauma poses challenges to her friendships and prevents her from engaging in mutual support.

In this section, what happened to Iveliz’s father is finally revealed. Iveliz conveys the scene through imagery. There is a truck and black ice. Iveliz gets out of her seatbelt and screams as she sees Dad’s body. The vivid diction is immediate and transportive. This revelation of Dad’s death marks a turning point in the narrative, providing context for Iveliz’s PTSD and deepening the meaning of her flashbacks and emotional turmoil. It serves as a key moment of catharsis, as Iveliz’s retelling of the crash allows her to confront a painful memory that has haunted her throughout the book, demonstrating a growing acceptance of what happened.

The journal symbolism alters in this section when Jessica and Justin take it and read it out loud. They’re not the intended audience, and they’re not generous people, so they corrupt its accepting quality. After Iveliz hits Justin, Mami takes the journal. Once again, the journal is in unsafe hands since Iveliz views her mother as a nemesis. Iveliz tells her journal, “I’m not sure at this point / if I can ever trust you” (156). The loss of privacy and control over her journal signifies a deep betrayal for Iveliz. Her journal, once a safe space for her unfiltered emotions, becomes compromised, mirroring the violation she feels in her personal life. This shift in symbolism highlights the fragility of trust and the vulnerability inherent in sharing one's inner world, even with an inanimate object like a journal. As Iveliz keeps writing her unfiltered feelings in her journal, she trusts it. This vulnerability underscores the importance of seeking safe spaces, both emotionally and physically. It suggests that part of Iveliz’s journey will involve finding—or creating—environments where she can truly feel secure and understood.