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Chapter 39
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Piecing Me Together, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Intersectionality, Identity, and Discrimination
The Power of Language
Mentorship, Opportunity, and Dignity
Friendship
Summary
Analysis
Life has been slow and quiet. Mom is working extra shifts to save for a car and E.J. has spent a lot of time at the studio, so Jade spends time home alone. She hasn’t spent much time with Sam, both because she’s busy and because Jade wonders if she can be friends with someone who doesn’t understand how she feels. Today, though, Jade can’t avoid Sam and she accompanies her to Mrs. Parker’s office after school. Sam goes into the office alone and Jade sits in the waiting area, looking at the photos of graduates from last year and where they’re attending college. Sam comes out of the office smiling and says she’s going on the study abroad trip to Costa Rica. Jade’s chest hurts. Jade wants to ask Mrs. Parker why Jade isn’t going, but she congratulates Sam nonetheless.
After the racist incident at the mall, Jade has to think about how to make a friendship work with someone who’s very different from her for the first time since Sam clearly didn’t understand where Jade was coming from. Jade doesn’t have this issue with Lee Lee, as Lee Lee is also black and so she understands the pain Jade feels about what happened. Jade’s discomfort is heightened when Sam learns she’s going to Costa Rica: to Jade, it feels as though Sam is award respect and privilege merely because she’s white.
Themes
Sam says that Mr. Flores nominated her, and Jade purposefully looks away so that Sam doesn’t have to see how upset she is. Jade can’t concentrate on what Sam says. When Sam asks what’s wrong, Jade insists that nothing is bothering her. The girls get on the bus and Sam suggests that Jade come to the information session too, but Jade snaps that no one nominated her. After a long silence, Sam asks if Jade is mad at her. Jade says she isn’t. Right before Sam’s stop, she invites Jade to spend the night and make pizza over the weekend. The bus takes Jade through the transition blocks to North Portland, where the river is polluted. Jade wonders how people decide who gets what and how much they get.
The implication here is that Mr. Flores would’ve been the teacher to nominate Jade, which makes this news sting even more. When Jade thinks again about the metaphor of the polluted river, she’s still thinking about the structures that keep her from going on trips like this. There are people in charge who make choices about how to deal with the proverbial river and how to allocate the river’s resources—like the study abroad trip—and Jade sees now that she’s at a disadvantage.
Themes
