Journey

     by Patricia MacLachlan

1st line of the book: "Mama named me Journey as if she somehow wished her restlessness on me".

Characters:

• Journey
  • 11 years old when Mama left--before the spring came
  • has memories of being bounced on someone's knee playing "Trot, trot to Boston" while looking at a shirt button
  • finally realizes that Mama is not coming back after spending time trying to patch back together the ripped up family pictures, being told by Cooper that it is impossible (tells Cooper that his cowboy hat looked stupid) and wakes hours later knowing that he cannot fix the pictures
  • would like to have something to look back on (pictures) unlike his mother who never said she was sorry for leaving
• Liddie (Mama)
  • described by Grandma as "always wished to be somewhere else"
  • ripped up all the family pictures before leaving
• Cat
  • Journey's older sister
  • Grandpa described her photographs as boring
  • looks just like younger pictures of Mama, but says she looks just like Grandma did
  • gave Grandma her flute and Grandpa her camera
• Grandpa (Marcus)
  • Grandma tells Journey he keeps taking pictures because he needs to (to deal with Mama, his daughter, leaving)
  • when Mama is leaving she tells Journey that she will be back and Grandpa tells Journey she will not come back so Journey hits him
  • when he was young he looked just like Journey
  • in June, on the longest day of the year (summer solstice) he keeps bugging Journey to drive the car (until Journey does) -- while Journey drives he takes pictures
  • gets a new flash when they go to town
  • also sets up a darkroom--his office--and develops pictures from the negatives of Mama's pictures for Journey
    • Journey looks at the picture of him with his father and realizes he does not recognize his father's face: it is his Grandfather's face that he remembers
• Grandma (Lottie)
  • secretive
  • becomes the favorite person of Bloom the cat, after saying she does not like cats and putting up a front
  • according to her they each deal with Mama's being gone differently:
    • Grandma and Cat by gardening
    • Grandpa by taking photos
    • Journey by thinking (himself to a sore throat)
• Mary Louise
  • their least trustworthy cow
• Lancie - Mama's sister
• Uncle Minor - Mama's brother?
• Cooper
  • Journey's best friend
  • has a younger brother named Emmett
  • has proposed marriage to Cat every year since he was 6
  • rides over to see Cooper on his bike
  • sees Journey driving the car and Grandpa takes his picture
  • calls his mother, Mrs. MacDougal
• Bloom
  • cat that comes to Journey's window and enters as though she has come home
  • Grandpa says not to name her because of the family rule: Once you name an aminal you must feed it.
  • Grandpa tells Grandma that Journey has already named the cat, Bloom
  • turns out to be a female
  • finds the box of ripped up pictures
  • ends up having her kittens (4) in the box of pictures while Journey is returing the bike to Cooper and having breakfast with his family (pancakes)