Clementine

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2006

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Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-2

Chapters 3-4

Chapters 5-7

Chapters 8-10

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 8-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 8 Summary

Clementine tries to get her parents to feel sorry for her and give her a treat like they did for her brother when he got shots. This plan doesn’t work. Since Margaret and Clementine are no longer friends, Clementine is bored while she waits to go pick up the big picture of Polka Dottie.

Clementine needs to find a place to put the picture to scare the pigeons. She rides the elevator up, stopping on the seventh floor and playing with the painters’ stilts. She gets back on the elevator and runs into Margaret and Amanda-Lee on the way to the mall; this makes Clementine feel lonely.

Finally, Clementine picks up the picture of Polka Dottie. Looking at it makes her “heart hurt so much [she] couldn’t breathe for a minute” (100). Back at the building, Clementine realizes she can put the picture in Mrs. Jacobi’s apartment since it’s at the top of the building. In Mrs. Jacobi’s apartment, Clementine makes an incredible discovery: Mrs. Jacobi has been feeding the pigeons out of the front windows! Clementine decides that she will get Mrs. Jacobi whatever she needs from the store—a chore she often does—if Mrs. Jacobi can feed the pigeons out of the side window instead of the front.

Clementine’s parents are “SO happy!” with her, though this fades quickly when Clementine’s mother realizes that Clementine had borrowed permanent markers. Her parents decide that they will go talk to Margaret’s mother together that evening, without Clementine.

Chapter 9 Summary

Margaret’s mother scrubs the green marker off Margaret’s head until Clementine thinks there must be “a hole right through [her]” (109). Clementine has an idea to smooth over her friendship with Margaret.

Clementine collects lots of special things and glues them to a special hat. She finds Margaret in the hallway and they both say at the same time: “I have something for you” (118). Margaret has gotten Clementine a brand-new paint set to replace the one that got ruined at the birthday party, then talks about a different party that Clementine’s parents are throwing. Clementine gets nervous because she doesn’t know about it.

Chapter 10 Summary

Racing back to her apartment, Clementine hears her parents ordering a cake that says, “Good-bye and Good Riddance” with her name on it (121). Terrified of what her parents are planning, Clementine loudly announces that she will clean her room and do her homework, then drags things out from under her bed. She finds all kinds of things, including the missing homework she couldn’t find before.

Even though she has worked all afternoon, Clementine’s room isn’t clean. She is worried and expresses her fears to her parents. They hug her and show her what all the secret planning was about: a surprise party to celebrate Clementine getting rid of all the pigeons. Margaret and her mother and brother are there, and a beautiful cake with “Good-bye and Good Riddance! above a thousand frosting pigeons” (130). But best of all, Clementine’s father brings out a new kitten! As she looks around the party, Clementine realizes that everything, just as it is, is “perfect.”

Chapters 8-10 Analysis

Clementine doesn’t understand everything about the world around her. She spends a lot of time in her head, not sharing her thoughts and feelings. We see this when Clementine listens to her parents’ conversations and interprets what they must be talking about—like the “Good-bye and Good Riddance” phone call (121). Clementine draws her own conclusions without asking her parents about it; this means that the cake’s positive message is a huge surprise. For young readers, Pennypacker’s characterization of Clementine’s understanding—and lack thereof—highlights the importance of talking about one’s feelings, especially fears.

Over the course of the novel, Clementine has received many negative messages about her behavior and way of thinking. Yet it is precisely Clementine’s spontaneity and creativity that allow her to figure out why the pigeons congregate at the front of the building and to solve the issue.

Clementine’s parents embrace this part of Clementine. They support her being fully seen and throw her the surprise party. Pennypacker seems to suggest that parents should see value in their children and celebrate their unique contributions and personalities. She also suggests the beauty of being different: What others see as Clementine’s flaws are actually her virtues and what make her special.