When the Moons and Patrice finally realized why Ginny was so concerned about her "baby doll," were you surprised? How did their original dismissal of Ginny's obsession make you feel?

When the Moons and Patrice finally realized why Ginny was so concerned about her "baby doll," were you surprised? How did their original dismissal of Ginny's obsession make you feel?

I found their surprise frustrating. They should have been asking better questions all along. This could have been cleared up ages ago and Krystal with a K would have been safe. They could have sent someone to care for her. It wasn't realistic to me that a therapist would not be better skilled at talking to an autistic child to get better information, particularly on a subject that was clearly important to her. Children with autism need simple, direct questions. You cannot overwhelm them or confuse them, as Ginny showed in her internal dialogue. The entire story from the therapist's point of view was irritating and tedious to me. Having worked with Special Olympics for years, it infuriated me she was not better at talking to Ginny and getting to the core issues. That was her job and, in my opinion, she failed Ginny.

Because there was no evidence that Gloria had another child it was not terribly surprising that everyone assumed Ginny’s babydoll was a babydoll. It was frustrating that no one was really listening to what Ginny was saying. My limited experience was autism has shown to stop and listen carefully to what the person is saying.

I was not surprised because all of Ginny,s fussing about the baby and then her adamant attitude about the need for the new baby needing cows milk was something she would not have known if she had not dealt with a baby before. I think it was certainly not an intentional oversight on but a sort of slipping thru the cracks and a long experience of the so called authorities with dealing with autistic kids that made them sort of over look the fact that baby doll may not have been a doll.

I agree with ScribblingScribe that it was frustrating that more direct questions weren't asked. It seemed that no one picked up on that if they asked more than one question, she didn't answer at all. In some ways Ginny was mature and in other ways people treated her like she couldn't possibly be speaking the truth.

I wasn't the least bit surprised. I only wondered, as did others, why it took them so long.

I was very surprised that they did not take her more seriously. I find it a bit incredulous that the child could have been concealed from authorities for so long.

The fact that Ginny always referred to her baby doll as an "it" and not a "she" was the reason the adults in her life did not believe it was a real baby. It also made it believable that there wasn't a real baby when the police went back and searched for the suitcase with the baby doll in it and when the authorities checked the birth records to see if Gloria had any other children with no results. Ginny also called other people by their correct pronoun so that didn't help solve the baby doll obsession also. Ginny also obsessed over Michael Jackson so it was reasonable to assume she was just doing the same with her "doll".
I was not surprised by their realization because Ginny finally said the name of her baby doll. I understood why the Moons and Patrice dismissed the idea earlier, but since Ginny was so insistent, and with her history of abuse, they should have known to keep asking questions.

This was a frustration when reading the novel. It is a brave piece of work on the part of the author, I felt, and I thought it well done with this exception - the adults here did not seem to take Ginny seriously or search for deeper meaning in her obsession. They did not seem adequately prepared for their undertaking. They seemed to lack insight with regard to her baby doll, or if not insight then curiosity or perseverance to discover the truth. But then again, perhaps these characters were created this way to show a more realistic approach to this sort of similar situation when it truly occurs today. I am not familiar with autistic studies or dealing with autistic individuals on a personal level - perhaps this is precisely how these situations develop. Nevertheless, I felt genuine frustration with the parents and counselor. I wanted them to get their act together and dig deeper.

As several respondents have said, Maura, Brian, and Patrice should have been asking better questions. This was a major fixation of Ginny's and I can't imagine why they hadn't asked more questions as they realized Ginny was getting more worked up about it rather than less.

I did enjoy how the author dropped clues for us readers to realize, almost from page 1, that her Baby Doll was real.

My heart was breaking for Ginny when I realized before the reveal that she WAS referring to a real baby. I think the point being made was that foster children fall through the cracks and their true feelings-their true realities are not investigated completely. My experience with child services is that they are so overwhelmed with the number of children in need that they tend to stereotype all fosters. That said I could not get my mind around the 5 year gap. That is a long time to worry about someone with no recourse and no closure.

I was surprised by the reveal related to the "baby doll". I was not connecting with Ginny as a narrator up until that point and that reveal tapped a little place in my heart and spurred on my curiosity to discover more. Unfortunately, that curiosity did not last and the last third of the book left me wanting more.

I was not surprised, she knew too much about taking care of an infant, therapists etc did not take the time to explore more with Ginny. Ginny could handle only so much at one time.

I was not surprised that the babydoll was a real baby. There was some foreshadowing, what with the death of the cat in the suitcase, which I assume was the basis for Ginny's concern about the condition of her babydoll. The dismissal of Ginny's concerns was intolerable for me. Her persistent behavior should have at least seemed pathological and worthy of further investigation.

I agree with deeh that I thought it likely the baby doll was a real baby, but thought she'd gone the same way as the cat.

I was surprised that no one had figured out why Ginny was so concerned over her "baby doll." Given the chaos of her life with Gloria and the persistence and detail she used in discussing her "baby doll," it seems obvious that she was concerned for something beyond a toy. Both the Moons and Patrice were aware of the way Ginny used words, and this did not seem like a difficult assumption given her verbal patterns.

I had suspected something about the "baby doll" but had been concerned that it had died. I didn't think of it as a sister, but as someone's child or pet. I was actually relieved to discover it was a sister and that she was alive.

I was relieved! I was so angry! I wondered what took them so long! i completely agree with ScribblingScribe and how utterly disturbing the lack of helpful questioning or even follow through with regard to Ginny's constant talk about Baby Doll was. It was obvious this was important to Ginny, yet the caring adults in her life blew her off. Ginny's concern was causing her to act in ways she usually didn't. That, in my option, warrants investigating. Unfortunately, Maura was locked in the bedroom and couldn't be bothered! Patrice was pontificating. And Brian was possibly looking to pawn Ginny off on her birth father so he could get a little break. once again, Ginny found herself in the position of being the only one looking out for her little sister.

I was puzzled why they hadn’t figured it out, because I would have asked more questions: first of all, why did Ginny refer to her aunt as “Crystal with a C.” The fact that Ginny referred to her aunt that way every time was certainly odd, but it’s not until page 182 that find out that there’s a real live “Krystal with a K,” and that that person is the Baby Doll. I think the reason Ginny is so shocked by the fact that her Baby Doll has aged is precisely because she refers to “it” as her Baby Doll throughout most of the book, and not as “Krystal with a K.” The Baby Doll is a thing, and things don’t age.

I thought that might be the case but I wasn’t surprised that no one really listened to her or took her seriously.

Yes I was surprised. I didn't know how to feel. I can understand that they thought she was talking about a doll as opposed to a baby. I think Ginny lived in her own vision of reality and did things in a way that she felt
Solved the "problem". i.e. Stealing a cell phone when she felt she needed one or putting a baby in a suitcase
to keep from hearing it cry. She did not see these actions as wrong since they seemed to solve her problem
And she did not see there being any consequences to her actions.