Each Tiny Spark

“I hear the bus rounding the corner, rumbling like a grumpy yellow rhino that hasn’t had coffee yet. Would a rhino drink café con leche? Probably.”

Emilia uses a simile to illustrate her school bus for the reader. She compares it to an animal that needs coffee. Thus, she engages with anthropomorphism and personification––she gives the bus animal traits and human traits. The image of a rhino drinking coffee reveals Emilia’s humor.

“I think about my mom and add how nervous and excited I am about seeing my dad. I hope the two feelings don’t cause an explosion inside me, like the experiment we tried last year in science class.”

Emilia uses the experiment to illustrate her combustible feelings. The baking soda and lemon juice exploding in the Coke bottle becomes a recurring symbol for intense interior life and foreshadows her “explosion” in Chapter 20.

“I can figure it out. Maybe.”

Using blunt diction, Emilia asserts her independence. She has ADHD, but that doesn’t mean that she always needs help or can’t solve problems on her own.