“I pretended he was my brother, only he was better than a brother because I chose him and he chose me.”

Rosie and Bailey have had a close relationship from the time that they were babies. The two mean a lot to each other, and through these words, Rosie explains that Bailey is more like family to her than just a common friend. This closeness demonstrates why the rift between them is so upsetting to her at the start and why it is so important that they fix this rift.

“You going to tell me what’s making your eyes so inside-looking?”

These are the words that Granny uses to ask Rosie what is wrong with her when she is upset. These words demonstrate that Granny Torrelli realizes that Rosie is being introspective and thinking about herself rather than what is around her. In order to heal her rift with Bailey, Rosie will need to look beyond her own perspective to see his.

“That Bailey has made me molto molto sad. Boo hoo hoo.”

Granny Torrelli’s playful teasing here illustrates the tone of the novel. The novel is told informally through a colloquial, conversational tone. Though written in English, it also contains numerous Italian words as Granny Torrelli is from Italy. Further, instead of using quotation marks, the author uses italics to indicate dialogue, which breaks with written tradition.