From the Desk of Zoe Washington

“No way was I telling her anything. She’d probably force me to forgive Trevor, and that was not going to happen.”

A secondary conflict surfaces on the heels of Zoe’s first reading of her father’s letter: her dispute with former best friend Trevor. Trevor arrives with a birthday gift, but Zoe would prefer not to see him. Zoe does not reveal why she is angry and upset with Trevor here, which has the effect of piquing the reader’s interest and concern.

“What I really want to know is why you did what you did.”

Zoe drafts a letter to Marcus in her new journal; she includes this line regarding the crime that put him in prison, but she quickly decides to eliminate it. Scratching out the line and sending the good copy without the question in it shows that Zoe is a girl who is curious but uncertain.

“It was a maybe. I could work with that.”

This line of Zoe’s interior monologue occurs after her “pitch” to her mother and Paul regarding applying to Kids Bake Challenge!. Her parents do not immediately agree to let her apply, but Zoe senses possibility in their words and demeanor. Her ability to respond favorably and hopefully characterizes her indirectly as an optimistic young lady.

“Dad and I got ‘the look’ again on our way to my first day at Ari’s Cakes.”

Another subtle conflict surfaces with this line of interior monologue. Zoe refers here to strangers’ scrutiny upon seeing Zoe, who is Black, and her white stepfather, Paul, together in public. Zoe feels obligated to call Paul “Dad” loudly to appease the staring woman’s curiosity. This instance foreshadows what Zoe will later learn about racism and biases in the criminal justice system. 

“I decided to study sociology—why people are the way they are.”

In a letter to Zoe, Marcus describes how he is earning higher degrees with his time in prison. The line builds characterization for Marcus directly; it also shows irony in that he, a prisoner removed from society, wants to study the motivations and actions of people living and working outside the carceral system.

“Sometimes good people do bad things, and bad people do good things.”

Grandma’s offers her opinion to Zoe when Zoe asks if Marcus is “bad” (79). At this point, based on Grandma’s wisdom, Zoe begins to entertain the idea that most conflicts—especially adult matters—are not clear-cut. 

“I really don’t need your advice.”

Zoe does not realize how harsh and how childish she sounds in saying this to Mom when Mom suggests the reasons Zoe should forgive Trevor. Ironically, Zoe is in the middle of the kitchen insisting she bake raspberry crumble bars alone to show how mature and independent she is. Instead, her insistence that she cannot learn from her mother’s experiences and expertise shows that she (Zoe) has some distance to go in terms of maturity and wisdom.

“How could I let myself believe a convict I’d never met?”

Zoe feels foolish and immature when she reads Marcus’s claim that he is wrongfully imprisoned. She shows a naive trust in the legal system, assuming that Marcus is lying; otherwise, she thinks, there is no way he would have spent more than 12 years behind bars. It takes a trip to the library and some reading up on the justice system’s history of wrongful convictions to awaken her to the possibility that Marcus might be telling the truth.

“I won’t tell anybody anything […] I can help, if you want, with whatever you’re doing with Marcus.”

Trevor offers his help in the library after Zoe discovers the existence of the Innocence Project, a group that helps to overturn wrongful convictions. His line foreshadows defined action on Zoe’s part as she wonders about Marcus’s role in the murder of Lucy Hernandez. Trevor’s offer to help contributes to Zoe’s eventual ability to forgive him for what he said about her. 

“But his letters were making me realize that there had always been a piece of me missing, like a chunk of my heart. I was finally filling in that hole.”

Zoe’s realization about the importance of Marcus in her life comes on an emotionally significant day for her—she spends time at the library researching Marcus’s crime, wonders if Marcus might really be innocent, and finally tells Trevor why she is holding a grudge. Here, she tries to rationalize to herself why she must continue to pursue the truth about Marcus while keeping her letters to him a secret from her parents. Ironically, Zoe does not yet see how her desire to learn about her father—and more specifically her refusal to tell the truth—is causing her to behave dismissively toward her parents, rather than openly discuss her emotional needs.

“I couldn’t let that happen again. I wouldn’t. What would Ruby Willow do?”

Zoe shows that she has inner strength and resilience in this moment that follows her minor kitchen disaster with rolling fondant icing at Ari’s Cakes. She recognizes that her distractibility over whether Marcus is innocent caused her mistake, and she vows to stay focused moving forward. This event foreshadows Zoe’s future difficulty with staying focused; her intense need to learn about Marcus’s innocence will result in missing the last chance to attend her internship.

“She’s cool. I never should have said that stuff about her. I didn’t mean it.”

Trevor displays responsibility, kindness, and maturity when he clearly states to friends Lincoln and Sean that he and Zoe are indeed friends. Zoe hears his words from inside his kitchen. The line marks a moment of significance not only because Trevor redeems himself, but also because Zoe feels so awkward when he returns to the kitchen that she cannot acknowledge his attempt to make amends between them. Her inability to show graciousness suggests her own need to similarly develop and mature.

“Even though I got to bake with Vincent again, I couldn’t wait for the morning to be over.”

Zoe shows here the extent to which her interest in Marcus is affecting her. Only a week after vowing to focus more completely on learning about baking, Zoe should be eager for another chance to work at a bakery task. Instead, she is a ball of nerves over Marcus’s upcoming call. The juxtaposition between the baker she wants to be and her lack of attention at the bakery points to the severity of her emotional conflict over her father.

“I hope nothing prevented Marcus from calling me back.”

This line of interior monologue from Zoe shows conflict and suspense; she wanted to ask about his alibi witness but did not have the chance on their first call, so now she must wait until they hopefully speak again the next day. The line is ironic in that Zoe never spoke to Marcus in her 12 years, yet now, his call becomes crucial to her goals of finding the witness and seeing if he is innocent. As a chapter cap, the line also foreshadows the conflicts of the next scenes.

“Susan Thomas, wherever you are, I’m going to find you.”

This is Zoe’s strongest vow yet in the narrative; she boldly fibs to Grandma that she will drop the idea of seeking Marcus’s alibi witness, then seconds later, demonstrates with this line of interior monologue that she fully intends to do just that. Her options are closing off rapidly; her mother refuses to allow contact with Marcus, the lawyer on Marcus’s case refused to help, and even Marcus himself seems intent on forgetting the past. It is up to Zoe to ascertain the truth. 

“And then I remembered. I wouldn’t have to do this on my own after all.”

Zoe’s has no one left as a confidante or sounding board except for Trevor. It is ironic that Zoe spends the first several chapters adamantly insisting that her friendship with Trevor is over but here accepts that she needs him in her plans. Accepting Trevor’s help becomes the first step in repairing their friendship.

“Your first taste of independence.”

Trevor’s mom grows a little emotional in the car on the way to the movie theater at Davis Square, noting here how big a step middle school and outings like this one will be in Zoe and Trevor’s growing up. The line is highly ironic, as Trevor’s mom does not know just how independent Trevor and Zoe intend to be; the line is also humorous in that her mood on the way to the theater will directly juxtapose with her mood on the way home, having caught them in a lie.

“I’m here to find out if he’s telling the truth. If he’s really innocent.”

So much depends on the response from Professor Thomas to this statement of Zoe’s; it is significant that Zoe frames the most important aspect of her quest for truth about Marcus in a personal context. To Zoe, Professor Thomas is the key to her continued relationship with her father, in that his going to the tag sale 13 years before means he is being honest now. This is Zoe’s primary concern—not so much the impact on his potential for an overturned conviction but the future of her own relationship with him. 

“I think I remember Marcus now.”

This line serves as a notable plot twist; Zoe leaves Professor Thomas’s office in utter disappointment, then fears the consequences of her disregard for parent rules, but in the middle of those negative emotions she gets the email from Professor Thomas with this detail. Everything will change for Zoe now in her quest for truth and in her relationship with both her mother and Marcus.

“I waved Trevor over and let him into the seat next to me.”

Zoe demonstrates maturity at the end of the novel in several ways regarding her new and improved friendship with Trevor. She apologizes for getting him into trouble by sneaking off to Harvard and worries that he may have to quit basketball as a punishment. Here, on the bus with Maya, she calls Trevor to join them; this shows she is trying to include him, unlike previous school years when, according to Trevor, she ignored him whenever her girlfriends were around.

“He said he could use some stuff for his ‘Little Tomato,’ which is what he called the baby. I thought that was so cute.”

Marcus’s fate hinges on this memory from Professor Thomas that provides the crucial proof and validity of his innocence. It is also fitting and satisfying that the important connection occurs via Marcus’s nickname for Zoe, as she is who wanted most deeply to believe Marcus and the only one who acted on his claim of innocence.

“I hope you understand why I did it, that I was only trying to protect you. I still am, the best way I know how.”

Mom’s line to Zoe is a good reminder to readers that adult characters in middle grade novels often display great change—in a sense, they can come-of-age with as much significance as younger characters. After over 12 years of insistently believing that Marcus must have committed the crime and consequently preventing Zoe from any contact with him, she has a solid and substantial change of heart. She accepts that Marcus and Zoe should be in one another’s lives and asks Zoe to forgive her.

“In a few minutes that would be me, seeing Marcus in person for the first time ever.”

In this suspenseful moment, Zoe feels fear of the prison setting and nervousness about meeting her father face-to-face. This scene’s anticipation lasts until Marcus arrives and Zoe hears his voice—it is familiar to her from their phone calls and puts her at ease. The scene comprises the falling action of the story, consisting of their conversation and goodbye.