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Chapter 10
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Love, Aubrey, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Grief, Loss, and Healing
Love, Family, and Community
The Value of Routine
Forgiveness, Empathy, and Compassion
Summary
Analysis
On the first day of school—the dreaded September 7—Aubrey’s alarm clock rouses her from a dream about Savannah’s seventh birthday. She briefly wonders if she’s going to be ill but decides she’s not. Downstairs, Gram hands Aubrey her lunch. The bus will be here soon, Gram says, so Aubrey had better meet Bridget outside. Aubrey and Gram meet Bridget and her family at the bus stop. The bus arrives, and the families wave as the girls depart.
Starting at a new school can be anxiety-inducing even under normal circumstances. That Aubrey has Bridget by her side helps her to confront the scary experience with courage and confidence. It’s notable that although Aubrey nearly falls back on her coping mechanism of being sick in response to painful memories, she’s able to resist it this time, suggesting that she’s continuing to heal.
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At school, Bridget shows Aubrey to the office to get her schedule. Aubrey’s includes a note explaining that she has a meeting tomorrow with Amy Carlisle, the guidance counselor. “Goody,” thinks Aubrey. Aubrey and Bridget part ways to go to their respective homerooms. Aubrey’s is in Ms. Engleheart’s room. The bell rings, and Ms. Engleheart enters the room to greet the class and give them their first assignment: a letter to Ms. Engleheart, in which they will describe how they spent their summer. Aubrey is horrified at the prompt and decides she hates Ms. Engleheart.
Aubrey’s snarky response to the note about her meeting with the guidance counselor tomorrow hints at her disinterest in receiving counseling. She dismisses the whole thing before she’s even tried it, seeming to feel it won’t help her to feel better. Aubrey’s horror at Ms. Engleheart’s writing prompt shows that despite the progress Aubrey has made in learning to open up to her family and friends, she’s still very reticent to share too many personal details with others.
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That afternoon, Mabel happily greets Bridget and Aubrey as the school bus drops them off outside Bridget’s house. Aubrey returns to Gram’s. “School stinks,” she replies when Gram asks how her day went. Gram fixes her a snack, and Aubrey grudgingly sits down to eat. Gram eventually gets Aubrey to admit what’s troubling her most: the letter she has to write about how she spent the summer. But Gram assures Aubrey that she can handle it—and she doesn’t have to include every detail of the summer in her letter if she isn’t ready to. After a pause, Aubrey asks if Gram can take her to a toy store, and Gram agrees.
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At the toy store, Gram hands Aubrey some money and waits in the car while Aubrey shops; Aubrey selects a princess-themed boardgame. When they return to Gram’s, Aubrey wraps the game and places it on the kitchen table. Gram places her own wrapped gift on the table, explaining she’s had it for a while. Aubrey’s eyes fill with tears as she starts to think of Savannah. She thought doing this “would help…so she would know…I didn’t forget.” Gram assures Aubrey that Savannah knows. Then she suggests they put the presents in the attic.
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Later, Aubrey writes her letter for Ms. Engleheart. She describes tending the tomatoes in Gram’s garden and ending up with way more tomatoes than they needed.
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