The School Story

“And that was when Natalie hid some of her favorite books in the back of her closet. She didn’t want her mom to read them anymore. Those were Daddy’s books. Sometimes late at night, or on a quiet Sunday afternoon, Natalie would open up The Sailor Dog or The Grouchy Ladybug, and she could hear her father’s voice reading to her.”

This quote helps develop The Effects of Loss theme by showing how Natalie attempts to preserve memories of her father. Because of his animated style of reading, she didn’t want to hear her mother’s soothing voice reading the same stories her father used to read her. This quote also links Natalie’s love of reading to her father.

“She sat in her dad’s old red desk chair and used his old Macintosh computer. Not quite a cabin or an attic, but close enough—and it was as close as Natalie could get to her dad.”

This quote provides the reader with an image of Natalie’s workspace while writing and develops The Effects of Loss theme by linking Natalie’s writing to her grief over the loss of her father. By using her father’s old chair and computer, she can feel more connected to him. The connection between Natalie’s writing and her dad is only strengthened as the book continues.

“Natalie and Zoe had been best friends since their first day of kindergarten at the Deary School. From the start it had been a push-and-pull friendship, the kind that can happen when two very different people like each other a lot.”

This quote helps to establish the history and dynamic between Natalie and Zoe. The narrative of the novel shows how Natalie and Zoe are different people, but this quote puts words to the observable dynamic between the two main characters and sets expectations for how their dynamic affects the way the story unfolds.

“Balanced above the computer screen was a single photograph in a clear plastic holder—Dad and Mom and Natalie in a sailboat. Every time she came to the office, that picture was the first thing Natalie saw. All three of them looked like they were having such a good time, but Natalie couldn’t remember being there. She always wished she could.”

This quote delves into the sentimentality that both Natalie and her mother have. Hannah keeps this single photo in view in her office because it’s important to her to remember a time when her family was whole. Natalie also has a lot of emotions about the photo because, as happy as they all look, she does not remember that boat trip. This moment helps to develop the theme of The Effects of Loss.

“Zoe and Natalie had different ideas about what was and was not a lie. Natalie always got the best results with the whole truth. Zoe wasn’t a liar, but as long as the truth was not entirely absent, Zoe felt just fine. They’d had this discussion before, and Natalie usually held out for complete honesty.”

Here, the dynamic between the two main characters is expanded upon by showing the differences between Natalie and Zoe’s interpretations of honesty. The variances in their opinions about what is and isn’t a lie helps to establish the girls’ perspectives on the deceit they use to get Natalie’s book published and introduces the theme of Honesty Versus Deceit.

“Manuscripts from writers in California and Illinois and Texas and Florida. Hundreds of them. Some of them had been mailed more than six months ago. Some of the envelopes hadn’t even been opened. It was like a morgue of dead books.”

This is the book’s first description of the slush pile. The slush pile comes to symbolize the difficulties of getting published, and when Natalie learns about the it, she becomes discouraged about her own writing. The simile in this quote helps to emphasize the way many books never see publication.

“Give it up, Zoe. Cassandra Day is dead.”

After learning about the slush pile, Natalie feels like the plan to get her book looked at and published is hopeless. By telling Zoe that Cassandra Day is dead, Natalie communicates that she lacks the confidence in her writing and in their plan to get it published. This moment helps to solidify Cassandra Day as a symbol of Natalie’s confidence.

“The good ones stand out like roses in a snowbank. And if you find only one like that, then you know why we keep reading the slush pile.”

Hannah Nelson’s description of the slush pile to Natalie uses a simile to explain why the slush pile is an important aspect of the publishing business. This moment also foreshadows how Hannah feels when she first reads The Cheater and becomes excited that she has found something worth publishing.

“Natalie Nelson didn’t feel like writing at all, and by Saturday morning Cassandra Day was nowhere to be found.”

After learning about the slush pile, literary agents, and the immense difficulties new authors face when trying to get their work published, Natalie feels a sense of hopelessness about her own work. When she should have been working on finishing her book, Natalie struggles to regain her own confidence. This struggle is communicated through the symbolism of Cassandra Day—her absence is really the absence of Natalie’s confidence and motivation.

“As Zoe’s vocabulary grew she learned that talking had a purpose. It was how to give orders, how to let people know what she wanted. Zoe’s first sentence was Have dat!’ And by the time Zoe was three, her two older sisters knew better than to get in an argument with her. Zoe always won. Always.”

This description helps to characterize Zoe and trace the roots of her talking talent to her childhood. Zoe’s talent for talking plays an important role in driving the story forward and helps to make her fast-talking agent persona more believable. This characterization also shows how Zoe is used to getting her way, which is another major driving point in the story as she pursues publication of Natalie’s book.

“And at bedtime, Zoe’s dad came into her room to tuck them in. He bent over and gave Zoe a kiss good night, and at that moment Zoe looked over at Natalie. Zoe never forgot he look on Natalie’s face—angry and soft and hurt and strong all at the same time.”

Having been Natalie’s friend for years, Zoe understands how the loss of her father affected Natalie. This memory is the first time Zoe realized that Natalie struggled with the loss of her father. This quote communicates The Effects of Loss theme by showing the way Natalie’s loss echoed into Zoe’s life.

“The book was like a good-bye poem from Natalie to her father. That’s why Zoe spent the weekend thinking and planning. Getting the book published would be good for Natalie, and good for her mom, too.”

This quote helps to establish the book as a motif to communicate the theme of The Effects of Loss. This moment also explains part of Zoe’s motivations. Zoe understands that the book means a lot to Natalie because of the connection between the narrative and Natalie’s grief for her father, so Zoe becomes determined to get the book published as way of helping Natalie work through her residual grief. Zoe also understands how loss has affected Natalie’s mother as well, and Zoe wants to do something good for their family.

“And in that instant Natalie saw what mattered. It wasn’t whether the book got published or not. It wasn’t whether Zoe was absolutely crazy—which she was. The important thing was Zoe herself, her friend.”

This moment parallels the moment in the previous chapter where Zoe realizes she’s working hard to get the book published for Natalie. Here, Natalie realizes that working with Zoe to get the book published would be something she does for Zoe. Natalie wants to support Zoe on the endeavor, even if she doesn’t have as much faith and confidence as Zoe. This moment, coupled with its parallel in Chapter 8, shows the way the girls’ friendship is one of their greatest strengths as they push forward with their plan.

“If she hadn’t been Natalie’s writing teacher for the past five months, she never would have believed a twelve-year-old had written it.”

Ms. Clayton’s opinion of Natalie’s work plays an important role in grounding the story and making Natalie’s gifts in writing more believable. This also helps explain why Ms. Clayton has enough faith in the girls to sign on as an advisor for their plan.

“Zoe had cut off every possible escape. If she backed out now, she would brand herself a coward. And she was not a coward. Even if she had never run a marathon.”

Ms. Clayton’s internal reasoning here also helps explain her motivations for helping the girls, even if it means taking risks. She compares herself to Mr. Karswell, whom Zoe hinted at asking for help if Ms. Clayton backed out. Ms. Clayton feels she has something to prove because she’s not as cool or popular as the marathon-running Mr. Karswell. Because she feels trapped by her own insecurities, Ms. Clayton agrees to help the girls.

“Letha read the label. ‘Sherry Clutch…oh, yes, I believe I’ve heard of her. She’s supposed to be very bright.’”

In this quote, Letha Springfield unintentionally lends credit to the fake Sherry Clutch Literary Agency. Because Letha is unable to admit fault or acknowledge she doesn’t know something, she pretends to be familiar with the fake agency created by Zoe. This moment helps characterize Letha and helps the manuscript get expedited through the review process. Without Letha’s need to assert her own knowledge, the manuscript would not have been assigned to Hannah Nelson on the same day it arrived.

“Because…because I feel bad. I feel like the girl in my book. I feel like I’m a cheater too. All those other stories at my mom’s office, stories that she’ll never even look at? And here’s my story, and it’s all the way up at the head of the line. It just doesn’t feel fair.”

Natalie’s guilt here helps to communicate a theme and a symbol of the story as well as create a parallel between Natalie and the main character of her book. The theme of Honesty Versus Deceit comes into question because Natalie feels that her and Zoe’s deception has cost other potential authors their place in line at the publishing company. This also helps to develop the slush pile as a symbol of the difficulties of publishing because Natalie is thinking about all the stories in that pile going unread while hers gets special treatment.

“Hannah worried about Natalie. Ever since she lost her dad, Natalie had kept much more to herself. She seemed happy enough, and she didn’t seem to need to talk about not having a dad, but maybe that was a problem.”

After excitedly telling Natalie about the book she’d discovered, Hannah regrets having mentioned it because she worries the part about the main character and her dad will upset Natalie. This moment shows the book as a motif for the theme of The Effects of Loss. This moment also presents irony as Hannah believes Natalie doesn’t express her emotions about losing her dad while also having unknowingly read Natalie’s writing where she explores father-daughter relationships.

“I think finding a new writer is even more fun than working with someone who’s already great. It’s like…it’s like finding a new island out in the middle of the ocean. And once you find it, from then on that island goes on every new map. Then every time you look at a map, you see the island, and you say to yourself, ‘That’s the one I found!’”

Here, Hannah uses the metaphor of discovering an island to describe her excitement about having discovered Cassandra Day. She feels excited about The Cheater and cannot wait for the boost that discovering such a talent will give to her career. This moment helps to explain how Hannah feels about the book while also foreshadowing the upcoming troubles with Letha wanting to claim the book for herself.

“Letha planted both feet and crossed her arms. ‘Unless I get an apology, we will not publish that book.’”

This moment heightens the conflict with Letha. While Natalie and Zoe do not want anyone to edit the book but Natalie’s mom, Letha has thrown a wrench into their plans and threatens to hold the publication of the book hostage until she gets her way. This quote characterizes Letha as stubborn and hard to please and establishes her as an antagonist and an obstacle in the girls’ plans.

“Hannah took several deep breaths to try to clear her head. She thought, Doesn’t Tom know what an impossible situation this puts me in? Doesn’t he know it’s already hard enough to work for Letha?”

This quote shows the height of the tension between Hannah and Letha. As Hannah reads the letter from their boss instructing Letha to assign the manuscript to Hannah, Hannah considers the ramifications of this move. The stakes for Hannah are never higher than in this moment because she does not know how Letha will react to the email or to the agent going over Letha’s head.

“Ms. Clayton, I don’t know if helping the girls to do all this was wise on your part. However, I do know this. You have been very courageous, and I can’t thank you enough.”

Mr. Reisman’s words here help to validate Ms. Clayton. She chose to help the girls in part because she didn’t want to be labeled a coward. Ms. Clayton worried about her decision, so when Mr. Reisman tells her she’s courageous and thanks her for getting involved, it wraps up Ms. Clayton’s story arc with her own validation that she did the right thing.

“Near the end of the manuscript there was a note from the editor about Angela’s father. Of all the notes, it was the one that meant the most to Natalie.”

While working on edits back and forth with her own mother, Natalie finds a note that her mom has written, addressing the relationship between the main character and her father. This note is important to Natalie because she feels she has successfully communicated the importance of father-daughter relationships through her story. This moment also reinforces Natalie’s book as a motif for the theme of The Effects of Loss, as Natalie and her mother both related that section in Natalie’s book to the loss of Natalie’s father.