Important Event

An important event in the novel is when Tracey tells Mandy that she's in Garrett. Leading up to this moment, Tracey avoids all questions that may lead to Mandy finding out her secret but Mandy suspects that Tracey isn't telling the truth and begins to persuade Tracey to tell her what's really going on. When Tracey finally decides to tell Mandy that she's in youth prison, the former feels that Mandy won't want to write to her anymore. "Keep writing if you want... I wouldn't know what to say." This event leads to Tracey telling Mandy why she started writing in the first place. "I wanted to know what a real life was like. I wanted to know what normal people do"

This event shows us that Mandy, who managed to persuade Tracey to tell the truth, is a strong, determined and non-judgemental person due to the way she dealt with the whole situation. It also shows that Tracey is a very defensive person who tries to escape the problem by avoiding Mandy and then trying to scare her away, but things got better after Tracey told the truth. This situation also shows that friendship is very important when some is going through a tough phase. It isn't easy for Tracey, being in youth prison. But to know that she has someone 'outside' to talk to makes the situation a bit easier to cope with.