Summary

Chapter 29 is an extract from one of Soot’s books which he reads at the event in Minnesota. It recounts the birth of Mia, which was a long, draw-out labor. The doctor delivering her fell to the ground moments after she was born and the fall realigned a slipped disc in his back that had been bothering him for years. Tasha had suffered from a weak bladder all her life but the problem went away after Mia was born. Soot suggests that Mia came into the world to heal people. Soot finishes the reading. A young black kid, whom Soot knows is grieving the death of his classmates the previous week, comes up to get his book signed. The kid says, “Thanks for being weird” (234). Soot breaks down in tears.

In Chapter 30, with Dylan awake and well again once more, the narrator, Dylan...