Isolation

"This was the summer when Frankie was sick and tired of being Frankie. She hated herself, and had become a loafer and a big no-good who hung around the summer kitchen: dirty and greedy and mean and sad." (p. 26)

When Frankie is first introduced to readers, she seems to be a lost and sad child who can't seem to find herself. She feels like a "freak," because she is tall and is fed up with not having somewhere to belong. It's from this excerpt from the novel that Frankie's sense of depression and unhappiness with her life are portrayed. She focuses on how she doesn't have that sense of belonging in the world, and that the world has essentially excluded her. Instead; she resorts to staying at home and worries about being a "freak." Even when Frankie's friend John Henry comes over to play and eventually gets kicked out by her, she realizes that she is being overly harsh, and yet doesn't change her demeanor. Frankie tries to go around town to find a place to belong, but in the end, she is just unhappy again. It's as though Frankie makes attempts to find a group to identify with, but it seems as if she is just too picky to accept anything.

Is Frankie truly trying to find a place to belong or is she just allowing herself to wallow in her loneliness and isolation? If she does find a group to identify with, will she get the satisfaction that she seeks?