“As for what I’ve started thinking now—

don’t go there. Heads is bad; tails is worse: like that no-win coin toss.”

Frost uses enjambment and end-stopped lines, and the latter, which breaks when there’s a grammatical pause, builds suspense, as the dash and line break create a dramatic pause before Stephie reveals her bleak thoughts. The image of a coin toss that she can’t win reinforces her belief that she doesn’t belong anywhere, least of all at home, where she believes she must be perfect. This quote highlights the challenges of The Quest for Belonging.

“I face each night

by calling this place home. No one’s going to see me acting scared.”

Though the house belongs to Joe, Keesha makes it her own and turns into a symbol of acceptance. Keesha survives “by calling this place home”—her tie to the home is a source of strength for her. Keesha’s emphasis on not appearing afraid highlights the precarity of her situation and the exceptional quantity of toughness she needs to manage her daily life. This quote represents The Need for Resilience.

“This could drive

you crazy: Just try to do some little thing like drive

a friend that needs a ride, and you keep

findin’ yourself locked up.”

The sestina form shows the malleability of words and how the meaning changes depending on the context. Carmen gets put in juvenile detention because she drove