Relationships

One of the primary themes running through the novel is relationships. The novel reveals that even the individuals that make up a family have different relationships among the family members. For example, TJ has a very close relationship with his father. Jamie and her father, Colonel Dexter, on the other hand, seem to be close but in a much different way, to which Jamie associates with her being a girl.

Friendship is another type of relationship the novel tackles. It seems as if Jamie has lost her two closest friends to recent moves. Her third best friend is away for the summer visiting her grandmother. Jamie settles for her friendship with Cindy Lorenzo. While Cindy might be a little slow and a little younger than Jamie, Jamie soon realizes that Cindy is and always has been a good friend to Jamie—something Jamie has taken for granted...