Breadcrumbs

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion and depictions of mental illness, child abuse, neglect, and divorce.

Hazel Anderson lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with her mother. After her parents’ divorce, she transfers to Lovelace Elementary for financial reasons. At her old school, Hazel didn’t have to sit at a desk, and she was allowed to address her teachers by their first names—a very different atmosphere to Lovelace. The only thing that the fifth grader likes about her new school is that her next-door neighbor and best friend, Jack Campbell, is also a student there.

One winter morning, Hazel misses the bus because she is admiring the snow and playing with Jack. Her mother drops her off at school and entreats her to be more practical and to try and befriend other girls. Hazel’s teacher, the cranky Mrs. Jacobs, disapproves of the imaginative girl because she is frequently tardy and daydreams during class. Hazel longs for the days when her teachers appreciated her creativity. Her troubles at school are compounded by the bullying and exclusion she faces from her classmates. Hazel feels like an outsider among her peers because her white parents adopted her from India when she was a baby.