Goodbye Stranger

Bridge is the novel’s protagonist, a middle-school student who struggles with friendships, family relationships, and coming-of-age issues throughout the novel. Bridge’s main support system is her friend “set,” Tab and Em, with whom she has been best friends since elementary school. When Bridge was eight, she was hit by a car while roller skating with Tab. The accident caused lasting physical and emotional trauma that make it even more difficult for Bridge to navigate the changes that are taking place in her life.

Since her accident, Bridget has felt different, even amending her name from Bridget to “Bridge” to mark the change. In the novel, Bridge dons a pair of cat ears to help her feel grounded, but she begins the school year feeling uncertain about herself and her friendships. As she navigates the conventional struggles of a middle schooler, she must also deal with the residual effects of her accident: Nightmares, muscle spasms, and extreme sensitivity to loud sounds are constant reminders to Bridge that she is different; she has made peace with her divergence, but she can’t figure out her purpose in life. After the accident, her nurse said, “You must have been put on this earth for a reason, little girl, to have survived” (3), and ever since that moment, Bridge has based her entire personality on living for a reason though she cannot determine what her purpose is.