Get a grip, Rylee! I rub the tears off my cheeks with the backs of my hands and resort to my previous year in therapy to try to keep my claustrophobia at bay. I concentrate on a mark on the wall across from me, try to regulate my breathing, and slowly count. I focus on pushing the walls out. Pushing the unbearable memories away.
-- Rylee as Narrator (Chapter 1 paragraph Page 4, Paragraph 1)

Importance: This passage, which appears near the beginning of the novel, marks the first time the author hints at the tragedy that has affected Rylee so strongly and foreshadows the revelations to come later.

He turns around to face me, walking backwards. "Yes, Mom!" he replies, the term of endearment not lost on me. For that, in fact, is what the staff here is to these boys: we are the parents they no longer have, whether as a result of death, drugs, or other circumstances.
-- Shane and Rylee as Narrator (Chapter 4 paragraph Page 32, Paragraph 7)

Importance: This passage...