e "nervous breakdown" leads her to reconsider her younger years in the hope of making sense of what she was and what she is now: "Lately, I've been looking at my life like there's something to learn" (Donofrio 10). She clearly regrets her younger years, and especially how her misbehavior carried over into destructive parenting of her son. Her story makes clear that her misbehavior is caused by a number of factors. First, she is a highly spirited young girl at 12 or 13 when the book begins. It is in the nature of adolescents to test authority, to rebel, and there are certain traditional avenues which that rebellion follows. For Beverly, it was boys, and especially boys who themselves are breaking the bonds of authority and conventional behavior. The child who goes through this stage and emerges ready to make her way in society has generally had some kind of adult guidance or help, but Beverly gets no such help, especially not from her frightened mother or her distant, dogmatic father. With respect to her turning into a "bad
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