Summary: In this chapter Jeannette is 18 years old and living in New York City. She goes to a public school, but instead of going to classes she signs up for internships. Jeannette signs up for a weekly newspaper called "The Phoenix". Jeannette convinces Brian to come and live with her and Lori in New York. Brian agrees and comes. Jeannette applies for college and was accepted. She's hired as an editorial assistant at one of the biggest magazines in the city. Lori, Jeannette and Brian don't think its right for Maureen to stay with her parents in Welch, so they convince her to move to New York too. Maureen lives with Lori. A little while later, Rex and Rose move out to New York. First they stay with Maureen and Lori, but than Rex moves out to stay at Brian's. Brian won't let Rex drink, so Rex goes to live in their van. The van gets towed so Rex is homeless. Rose moves to the streets with Rex. They're both homeless. Rex get's tuberculosis, and is in the hospital.

Main characters: The main characters are Jeannette, Lori, Brian, Maureen, Rex, and Rose.

Character development: Jeannette is getting sick of her parents. She doesn't want them to live with her, but she doesn't want them to be homeless. She considers dropping out of school to take care of them, but Lori convinces her to stay in school. She wants to take care of her parents, but she's embarrassed by them.

Setting: This chapter takes place when Jeannette is 18 years old. The family now live in New York City. It's winter and very cold.

Quote:

"You can't just live like this," I said.

"Why not?" Mom said. "Being homeless is an adventure."

This quote is important because it shows that Jeannette wants to help her parents, but doesn't know how. Rose says that it's an adventure being homeless probably because she's used to not having a lot. Rex and Rose could go get jobs, but they don't want to.

Vocabulary:
 
Bodega: A warehouse for storing or aging wine.
Pint: A liquid and also dry measure of capacity, equal to one half of a liquid and dry quart respectively.