Allergic

As the novel opens, Maggie faces several changes and sees them all as bad because she wants her life to stay how it is. One of the main ways she grows as the story progresses is by learning to accept change, both changes she can anticipate (like a new school and a new baby in her family) and those she can’t (like not being able to get a puppy because of allergies), and to make the best of changes that come her way. She also learns that change can be good and to look for opportunities in changes rather than dread them.

One change Maggie confronts is that school district zoning changes force her to attend a new school beginning in fifth grade. She won’t know anyone at her new school, and she doesn’t anticipate anything good coming from this change. Additionally, her mother is going to have a baby. This will change the dynamics in her family, and she anticipates that these changes will have a negative effect on her life. Then, after she sets her heart on adopting a new puppy and becoming a veterinarian, she learns that she won’t be able to do either because she’s allergic to animals with fur or feathers.

As her mother prepares to leave to give birth, she assures Maggie that change can be good. Maggie, however, remains adamant at this point that change is bad. Despite her pessimistic attitude toward change, all three of these experiences benefit her in different ways. At her new school, a boy named Sebastian befriends her. This relationship is important for two reasons. First, he’s her first real friend at the new school, and she no longer has to sit alone at lunch. Second, he has a food allergy to eggs and his sister has a severe allergy to bee stings. Through her relationship with Sebastian, Maggie learns more about allergies and finds someone who has a chronic medical condition like her own and thus provides her with empathy.

Within her family, even though everyone is loving and fun and treats her well, Maggie has always felt somewhat like an outsider. Her brothers are twins and have each other, and her parents have each other as well. She longs for companionship and someone to depend on her, which is why she craves having a pet. She dislikes the idea of a new baby because she thinks the baby will take up more of her parents’ time and attention and she’ll feel even lonelier. After June is born, however, Maggie starts to learn that this isn’t true at all. Her parents love the name she chooses for the baby, June, and Maggie frequently takes care of her, so the two develop a tight bond. Instead of taking away attention from Maggie, the new baby gives Maggie someone else to love, someone she can care for, and someone to depend on her.

Maggie finally accepts that she can’t become a vet because of her allergies. On a trip to the aquarium with her mom and June, she realizes that she could still work with animals by becoming a marine biologist since she isn’t allergic to sea animals. While this change is possibly neither better nor worse than her previous goal of becoming a veterinarian, it shows that people can adjust to changes they can’t control in ways that bring them fulfillment even in the face of disappointment. Through these three situations, Maggie embraces changes she dreaded and makes good come from them. Thus, the novel proves that change can be positive depending on one’s response to it.