Paper Things

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions of homelessness, stigma, and discrimination against people without a home, including violence and verbal abuse. It also contains content related to childhood bullying, bereavement, and miscarriage.

Eleven-year-old Arianna Hazard (who goes by Ari) sits in her desk at school. She is distracted by the fact that, two months before, she left her guardian’s home with her 19-year-old brother, Gage. After their mother died, the siblings were sent to live with her friend, Janna. Gage did not like Janna; he felt as though Janna only cared about Ari and never about him. Ari found living there tolerable and grew to be fond of Janna but was worried about the conflict between Gage and Janna. She couldn’t bring herself to speak up about her concerns and left with Gage despite Janna’s protests. The siblings had promised their mother they would “stay together always” (4). Before leaving, Ari packed a small amount of clothes and her “paper things,” paper cutouts from catalogs that she uses as dolls.

Gage lied to both Ari and Janna about having an apartment to go to. Ari finds herself and Gage sleeping on friends’ couches or in a shelter for people without homes.