Part 1, Chapter 1 - Part 1, Chapter 10 Summary

Part 1, Chapter 1 - Eighteen year-old Layken Cohen, and her younger brother, Kel, who is nine, help to pack a U-Haul truck for their family's move from Texas to Michigan. Their father had passed away six months before, and their mother can't afford to stay in Texas. Layken is a combination of "Layla", the Eric Clapton song, and "Ken" from Kennedy, the political family her father loved. Layken walks through the house one last time, remembering her father and the memories they shared, such as when she was five and horribly cut her own hair, and her father comforted her by giving her a magic hair clip.

The trip to Michigan is made in two days, and the neighborhood in Ypsilanti looks nice. The new house is very small, though. As they pull up to the...