Question A

[Jonetta]

Olivia MacKenzie, Samantha Pearson, Jane Weston and Collins Davenport aka The Pips are sent to live at a medical research hospital in D.C. at a young age (around eleven years old) to participate in an experimental wonder drug program for the potentially fatal disease suffered by each girl. What opinions did you form after meeting each of these girls in the Prologue? Thoughts on their situations?

[Anita]

Each was an individual, unique personality brought together is a dire medical situation. They bonded and came to love and defend each other.

[Susan]

I was glad they had each other for support and then that friendship carried over as they got older

[Jessica]

I'm reading a book where the author talks about bonding over trauma (like soldiers do in group therapy). This is an example of that. The problem is that sometimes it makes it hard to bond with people outside the group. Fortunately, it looks like Olivia and company did form bonds with others. Olivia with her Aunt, Jane with her brother...

[Sharon]

It was very realistic. I had polio as a child and spent close to a year in the hospital. Back in the day, hospitals didn't allow family to visit every day. They claimed that the kids cried too much when the parents left and the nurses didn't want to deal with it. We formed friendships that got us through the loneliness, daily poking and prodding, etc. Some connections have lasted a lifetime.