excerpt from A Good Place for Maggie
by Ofelia Dumas Lachtman
The old man's words stayed with her as she drove
up into the mountains. She began to feel shaky.
This was the first time she had driven outside of
Los Angeles. Still, last night she had poured over
maps and written everything down; she knew
exactly where she was going. So far, everything
had been all right.
Even getting away from home this morning hadn't
been too bad. It was spring vacation, and her mom
and stepfather were away on business. The only
person she had to explain to was the neighbor
woman who looked in on her. The hard part had
been figuring what to say to her mother. She had
sat staring at a blank sheet of paper for a long
time.
She knew what she wanted to write: "Dear Mother,
It was bad enough after the divorce, being without
Dad, I mean. After a couple of years I got used to
seeing him mostly on weekends, but now it's
worse. Because he's dead. Three whole months
and I still can't believe it. Maybe you can't help
being away so much, but with both of you gone it's
awfully lonely. Sure, there's been school, and I did
have dinner at Mim's house and a move with
Lorena on Saturday. But the good things are
missing. Dad. Dad. Dad. I don't feel that I'm part of
a family anymore. Jase is a good enough
stepfather, but I told you both how I felt about that
condo in downtown L.A. and you guys went ahead
18
Select the correct answer.
What can the reader infer about Maggie's character in the excerpt?
A.
Maggie left home because she was unhappy there.
B.
Maggie has not driven by herself before.
C.
Maggie did not have any friends in Los Angeles.
D.
Maggie left home because she misses her grandparent.
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