Chapter 13
Connie goes to the chapel, alone - without Autumn, so my prediction from last week - entirely false. Well, so far. I suppose Jenny could still feel bent out of shape that Connie went to Autumn instead of Jenny. Weirdness is there - Connie experiences a trance, and there's a big glow-y ball thing. That's about it.
Some nice touches though. 1) Connie crashed her bike here in the summer - this we know from before - and bled a lot. Bets on that being significant later - blood tying Connie to a specific location of mystical significance? 2) "with the wind cutting through my wool coat and the fuzzy blue hat abuela Maria had knit me." a subtle reminder of the fact that Connie is Hispanic. Izzy isn't beating her readers with a sledgehammer, because that's not the point. Connie is a woman of colour - and that's totally normal. But we, as readers, should not allow ourselves to forget that and begin picturing her as a blonde blue-eyed white girl, because she isn't. Finally, 3) - a perfect description of epiphany:
It was looking at a Magic Eye painting and seeing the sailboat. It was running down the soccer field with the ball in front of me and Tisha at my side, knowing exactly where I needed to be and knowing that my body would do what needed doing, no questions. It was hearing the beat in a new song. It was the smell of chili when you walk into the house on a winter Saturday, a million different ingredients making up one scent that reaches right into your stomach and practically drags you to the kitchen. It was the feel of Autumn's afghan under my hand. It was everything. Everything broken into parts, and everything put together. I could see how it all fit.
The writing in this book - hell, I only paid $5 for this, and it's clearly worth more than that. If you haven't got a copy yet, when you click on the clicky link above, spring for one of the more expensive packages and get the bonus stuff, because you won't be disappointed.
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