Ava, sweetheart, if you ask me to talk about how I got to be the woman I am today, what do you think I’m going to say?
-- Addie (Section 1, Nobody Told You? paragraph 1)

Importance: Here, the foundation for the entire novel is set in the form of an interview between Addie and her granddaughter, Ava. The reader understands that he or she will now be listening to (reading) Addie’s account of her early life.

How did I get to be the woman I am today? It started in that library, in the reading club. That’s where I started to be my own person.
-- Addie (Section 1, That’s Where I Started to Be My Own Person paragraph 24)

Importance: As Addie describes her early life, she also reveals how influential books and the library were to her. Beyond providing a good education, the time Addie spends at the library helps her to establish a sense of self and independence.

If it hadn’t been for Filomena I don’t think...
-- Addie (Section 2, It Was Like Waking Up From a Bad Dream paragraph 1)