The novel emphasizes seeing people as whole individuals rather than just their disabilities. Aven prefers "person-first" language and works hard to maintain her self-sufficiency.
Here is a look at the profound beauty found in the seemingly mundane moments of a cactus’s existence. 1. The Geometry of the First Fold insignificant events of a cactus
Insignificance, then, is just visibility from the wrong angle. The cactus is not waiting to be seen. It is waiting for the observer to shrink their ego down to the size of a seed, to sit in the shade of a spine, and to realize that the smallest event—a droplet, a flower, a scar—is also the only kind of event that ever truly lasts. The novel emphasizes seeing people as whole individuals
Another event: a spine catches a drop of fog. In the Sonoran Desert, rain is a rumor. But fog drifts in from the Gulf of California, and the cactus’s network of tiny barbs—each one a broken promise to a predator—becomes a net for moisture. The droplet slides down the spine’s groove, travels along a rib, and reaches the soil at the plant’s base. One drop. Then another. Over a season, these insignificant sips become a gallon, a gallon becomes a year survived. The cactus does not store water; it collects seconds. It is waiting for the observer to shrink
Follows Aven as she enters high school.