Rules of the Road

“I didn’t feel big, awkward, and lost. I felt successful. I helped people. They looked to me instead of away.”

In this quote Jenna informs the reader that she feels validated while working at Gladstone’s. Her talent as a salesperson and her bright personality overshadow her gawky height and teenage awkwardness. In expressing this, Jenna is also letting the reader know that outside of the store she has a negative self-image, which is fueled by bullies at her high school.

“My sister got the beauty in the family. I got the personality.”

Jenna’s narrative style is humorous, but there is an underlying edge of self-depreciation and dissatisfaction. At the beginning of the book, Jenna often compares herself physically to her younger sister, who she sees as beautiful, and denigrates her own physical appearance. Jenna compensates for what she perceives as her lack of beauty by trying to fix problems (such as her father’s drinking) and cultivating her “personality.” In this quote she also somewhat unfairly implies that her sister is lacking in personality.

“He didn’t like that so I lied and told him I was sick and had to get some sleep and maybe we could get together when I was feeling better.”

This quote is about Jenna telling her drunk father not to come over to their house to “catch up.” Rather than tell him the truth that she doesn’t want to see him, she lies to him. Superficially this does not seem important, but one of the main themes of the book is that facing the truth is the only way to solve problems and to move on from them.