Graff establishes parental divorce and complex family dynamics as a core theme of the novel in Chapter 1, and uses hyperbole, exaggerated character behavior and heightened plot elements to convey the complex feelings that divorce can create for a child. The narrative begins the action on the day Winnie finds out about her parents’ divorce, indicating the event as a major driver of conflict and action in the novel. Winnie’s parents center their own emotions at the expense of Winnie’s, and their exaggerated behavior—needing things to be exactly equal between them—provides a visceral reflection of a child’s emotional landscape in the midst of a parental divorce.

However, the narrative focuses on Winnie’s parents’ behavior toward one another and their resulting disregard for Winnie’s feelings as the source of the conflict rather than the divorce itself, underscoring research that suggests children going through parental divorce are distressed not so much by the separation itself, but by the behavior of those involved. Winnie feels unheard in her family, and this structures conflicts in the novel. Due to her parents’ holiday, Winnie starts to fail in class, a conflict which catalyzes the other events that drive the central action of the narrative.