"I'm youth; I'm joy; I'm a little bird that has broken out of the
egg." With these words, Zoey Elita Chance, a lover of words, thus
enters the 'real world' after college graduation. She is ready to
try her hand at living in New York City, although she has lived
most of her life in the quiet, naove, little Colorado town of
Pristine. On New Year's Eve 1998, she hears of the state quarters
to be minted by the US Treasury starting in 1999 with the Delaware
quarter and ending in 2008 with the Hawaii quarter, released in
order of admittance to the Union. She wonders what changes her life
will endure from that moment until she finds the Hawaii quarter,
the final one to be minted. A kind, sensitive, thoughtful girl, she
grapples with similar and poignant questions and dilemmas that
plague many of us, especially post-college females in the
twenty-first century. As a college graduate with a double major in
History and Literature, she is interested in current events, the
human condition, and both real and fabricated stories. She takes
interest in listening to others. The majority of the story is set
in New York City. When the story opens, Zoey is already six years
into the task of writing her first novel, Broken Things, one that
she began writing as a sophomore in high school, and she is finding
the task much more daunting that she expected. It becomes clear to
readers that she has suffered from some emotional trauma that she
parallels in her novel. She holds this distress inside herself and
creates a safe avenue for her emotions in the form of Tabitha, the
main character of Broken Things. Tabitha, a ballet dancer, becomes
known to the readers for her desire to make everything better.
Zoeyabandons Broken Things on many occasions, only to be drawn back
to the desire to complete it once and for all. Zoey's employment
includes editor's assistant, freelance writer, waitress, cashier,
and a few other odd jobs, "to pay the bills." Her freelance job,
with varying assignments, opens her eyes to the importance of
education as well as the value of open-mindedness and compassion.
She is given the opportunity to travel, and visits places such as
Mount Rushmore, San Francisco, and New Orleans, on her
cross-country journey. The world is not always fair, she learns
early on, and she is indoctrinated into unjust practices that make
her doubt herself. She continues struggling to earn a buck, with a
few small windfalls padding her bank account, always keeping alive
the goal of becoming a published author. But this is not an easy
road; she is reminded of this time and time again. Zoey finds love
many times, but it never seems to last. She wavers on what kind of
man she wants: is it Doug, the quiet young man she meets on
Amsterdam Avenue? Or Rusty, the athletic, pompous young guy whom
she meets in Northampton, Massachusetts? Or maybe it's Jake. Zoey
finds the illusive game of love hard to play at times, in part
because of the trauma she is holding in. She has a frailty that she
works hard to hide from others. Throughout the novel, Zoey has the
opportunity to spend time outside of New York City, and these times
make her question whether or not urban life is for her. Such times
are when she stays at a farmhouse in Windsor, Vermont, at a beach
house on Goose Rocks Beach, in Kennebunkport, Maine, and at her
parents' home in Pristine, Colorado. That gentle tug between
country and city is evidentthroughout the novel. Zoey is a loyal,
well-meaning friend, sometimes struggling with the boundaries and
trials of friendships. There is Sarah, her fellow writing friend,
who writes of heinous characters and situations. There is Sara,
whose actions force Zoey to ponder the meaning and value of
friendships. There is Nicole, an honorary sister, who Zoey claims
is so very much like herself. There is Celeste, who offers a view
of life through a dissimilar lens. There is Cecile, like a mentor
to Zoey, reminding her to
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