The Face on the Milk Carton

It is October in suburban Connecticut. Fifteen-year-old Janie Johnson finishes writing an essay during her high school English class. She daydreams about driving a car and recalls her parents’ argument about whether Janie can get her driver’s license. She also experiments with new spellings of her name, which she believes is “too dull” (2). Janie’s teacher interrupts her thoughts by asking Janie to read her essay aloud, but the class leaves for lunch before she begins.

Janie wishes that she could drink milk at lunch, but she recently has been diagnosed with lactose intolerance. She continues to think about names, admiring those of her friends and remembering another daydream in which she had daughters named Denim and Lace. Janie sits with her close friend, Sarah-Charlotte, and other friends in the cafeteria. She notes how Sarah-Charlotte’s straight blonde hair and orderly personality contrast with her own curly red hair and dreamy demeanor. Reeve, Janie’s next-door neighbor, waves to her. He often eats dinner at Janie’s house to avoid his family, among whom he feels like an outcast because of his poor grades. Though Sarah-Charlotte hopes that Reeve and Janie will become a couple, Janie doubts that he or any other boys are interested in dating her.