Clementine

“And then Margaret went all historical, and the art teacher went all historical, and nobody could think of anything to do except the regular thing, which is: send me to the principal’s office.”

Early in the novel, readers are introduced to the idea that Clementine is often sent to the principal for her behavior. She is used to being blamed for other people being “historical,” or hysterical, about something that she doesn’t perceive as an issue. Pennypacker shows how ineffective this form of discipline is, at least for children like Clementine, through Clementine’s nonchalance. 

“If they had a special class for gifted kids in art, I would definitely be in it. But they don’t, which is also unfair—only for math and English.”

One of Clementine’s primary critiques of the education system is its lack of support for gifted art students. Pennypacker seems to be commenting about the value of arts education, especially for motivated or gifted young people.

“And then I feel too sad because it reminds me of my old cat Polka Dottie who died.”

While she can’t express her feelings about Polka Dottie fully until later in the novel, we see Clementine’s grief early on. It shows up in many ways, such as in her behavior at school and jealousy toward Margaret for having one of Polka Dottie’s kittens as a pet. These lines in Chapter 2 are a hint from Pennypacker to pay attention to Clementine’s sadness.

“I feel itchy in Margaret’s room because it looks like a magazine picture.”

Like many children, Clementine struggles with organizing her things and being able to keep her room clean; in Margaret’s room these issues are thrown into sharp relief. Clementine wonders how Margaret can make her room like this; additionally, she feels physically uncomfortable. Later, Clementine will use the same word, “itchy,” to describe how she feels about sitting still, which is something else she struggles with.

“That was the craziest thing I’d ever heard, because Margaret is perfect.”

In her black-and-white way of looking at the world, Clementine often decides that things are or are not perfect. Her understanding of Margaret as “perfect” limits Clementine’s ability to understand when Margaret has insecurities, fears, or difficulties. Part of Clementine’s learning process is to embrace more nuance in people and her way of seeing them.

“Oh, Clementine, you already are! You may end up being something else, too—whatever you want to be—but you’ll always be an artist. You just are.”

Clementine’s interactions with her parents are frequently affirming and supportive. When Clementine’s mother tells her that she already is an artist, Clementine undergoes a distinct shift and begins to express herself more decisively. This illustrates the importance of supportive parents who can see and value their children’s unique personalities and skills.

“So even though I’m not going to be a writer—too much sitting still—I notice interesting things and write them down. I draw them, too.”

In Chapter 3, Clementine begins to believe more in herself and express more determination to be the person she already is. She identifies adult pathways that she can follow, understanding that she might not want to do something that requires sitting still, that she would rather move around noticing things and writing and drawing about them. 

“If I try to sit still I get all itchy and swelled up and I can’t breathe right. So that means I’m allergic to sitting still.”

In her path to being surer of herself, Clementine expresses herself differently to adults who critique her behaviors. In this scene, she stands up for herself with Principal Rice, arguing that her teacher shouldn’t tell her to sit still. This is one of the only times Clementine leaves Principal Rice’s office feeling relaxed. Clementine demonstrates an increasing capacity to understand her own physical needs and capacities.

“What if we never looked alike? What if we did?”

Margaret serves as a foil to Clementine. We see the contrast between their appearances and personalities: Margaret is neat, clean, and older, while Clementine is messy, energetic, and younger. Clementine begins wondering more about them looking alike or not alike. This reflects an internal journey toward understanding how she wants to be and how she wants to be perceived. She isn’t sure if she wants to look like Margaret, but also isn’t sure how she wants to look, more generally.

“But she didn’t even turn around, so now I had nobody to play with for the rest of my life.”

For an eight-year-old, conflicts that might seem easily resolvable or temporary to adults can feel world-ending. When Margaret ignores Clementine after a fight, Clementine feels that she will have “nobody to play with” forever. Pennypacker shows how children perceive these conflicts as extremely fraught.

“That’s the best part, because when a million pigeons take off at the same time right above you, you can feel their wing beats exploding inside you, like fireworks.”

Clementine experiences the world differently from other people. This allows her to notice and feel small moments like this one more profoundly. While pigeons aren’t generally considered exciting or beautiful, for Clementine, the experience of their flight is miraculous. Through this description, Pennypacker highlights the specialness of Clementine’s perspective.

“I knew Friday was going to be a bad day right from the beginning, because there were clear parts in my eggs.”

Some of Clementine’s more idiosyncratic behaviors aren’t explained. She has specific rules about what her food can touch, has strong feelings about pointy versus round things, and has some images she would rather avoid. Pennypacker presents these reactions matter-of-factly, rather than as part of a particular diagnosis.

“Three times during journal writing the teacher said, ‘Clementine, you need to pay attention.’ And every time he said it, I was paying attention.”

The novel’s first-person narration is critical to understanding the tension between how Clementine sees things and how other people see things. The reader can feel the frustration of being a child in a class where the teacher doesn’t understand them.

“One’s all we need?! I slammed the door behind me so they would know I was there. If they were talking about getting rid of me so they’d only have one kid—the easy one—I wanted them to S-T-O-P, stop.”

Clementine’s fear that her parents don’t want her anymore is a recurrent issue. This stems from Clementine’s imagination. She behaves in ways accordant with her internal beliefs without expressing her thoughts to her parents. For example, in this scene, Clementine thinks her parents are saying they only want one child; she slams the door to get them to know she’s home and to stop talking about it, even though it’s unlikely that her parents are talking about getting rid of her. Clementine’s lack of communication leads her to harbor this fear much longer than necessary.

“When the clerk brought out the picture of Polka Dottie, my heart hurt so much I couldn’t breathe for a minute. She looked so beautiful that big, and I missed her so much.”

Clementine allows herself to begin processing how much she has missed Polka Dottie, her former cat. Saying how much her “heart hurt” is one of the biggest expressions of emotion that Clementine has given the reader up until now, implying a significant shift.

“I guessed this was what my dad meant about seeing things from a different angle, but I didn’t understand how it could help.”

Many times in the novel, Clementine wonders about what adults mean or why they say certain things. In this case, Clementine is at the start of interpreting what it might mean to see “things from a different angle,” and soon solves the pigeon problem as a result. Pennypacker’s descriptions of these moments from Clementine’s perspective helps readers understand the process that children go through to understand what adults might consider simple or basic ideas.

“‘I have something for you,’ we both said at exactly the same time, which we have never practiced before.”

Margaret and Clementine’s reconciliation begins when both girls separately decide to get or make a gift for the other. When they collide in the hallway, Clementine makes sure to tell the reader that they didn’t “practice” the interaction. Clementine’s surprise that Margaret has done something nice for her shows how much Clementine still must learn about the nuance of relationships.

“If my parents were having a party and I didn’t know about it, that meant it was a surprise party. Surprise parties are either for birthdays or going-aways.”

Children have limited frameworks with which to understand the world around them. For Clementine, at eight years old, “surprise parties are either for birthdays or going-aways;” there can be no other meaning. Pennypacker flags these moments as emotionally important and shows how easily young children can misinterpret adult behavior if things are kept secret.

“I dragged out everything from The Black Hole and piled it on top of my bed. And you would not believe how much stuff came out!”

“The Black Hole” under Clementine’s bed symbolizes all the things in her life that she hides from, avoids, or ignores, including her academics, her appearance, and her confusion about how to be more organized. She wants to be perceived as easier, so that her parents will love her. While Pennypacker presents this as part of her age and immaturity, it is also an important moment that shows Clementine’s growth—she is literally willing to deal with the things she has been avoiding.

“And I will never bring another note home that says, ‘Clementine had a difficult day at school today.’”

Clementine believes that the notes from her teacher reflect how difficult she is; if she had fewer, her parents would think she was better. Pennypacker critiques the way these notes make children feel and how damaging discipline from school can be for young children.

“And on it was a cake, all right. But it didn’t say Good-bye and Good Riddance, Clementine, it said Good-bye and Good Riddance! above a thousand frosting pigeons and then under that it said Thank You, Clementine—Hero of The Great Pigeon War!”

Clementine realizes how she has misinterpreted events over the past few days: What she thought was her parents getting rid of her was actually her parents getting a cake to thank her for her creative problem-solving. Not only are Clementine’s parents not angry with her, but they use the phrase “hero” to describe her. This affirming moment is representative of Clementine’s parent’s behavior, but it also disrupts the internal narratives that Clementine builds over the course of the novel.

“A kitten! I am not kidding you.”

One of the key plot arcs of the novel is about how Clementine processes grief for her former cat. When she gets a kitten at the end, she is extremely surprised. Importantly, Pennypacker preserves Clementine’s conversational tone at this moment, as if the reader is side-by-side with Clementine. This narrative technique builds reader investment in the character and make the resolution more impactful.

“Which filled up a space in my ears that had been empty since Polka died.”

While Pennypacker doesn’t make Clementine’s grief the center of the novel’s plot, Polka Dottie’s death underlies other conflicts. As Clementine learns more about herself and relationships, she begins processing her emotions about her cat’s death. This moment of resolution is made more impactful by Clementine’s earlier grief.