Theme I think the theme of the 1st half of the book was overcoming obstacles. Some examples of obstacles Ruth had to overcome were in chapters 3, 5, and 6. Ruth had to move to different houses. She also was separated from family members and had to make new friends at school. The theme of the second half of the book was friendship. During all of the moving to different locations, the one thing that helped her forget about everything happening was her friends. For most of the second part of the book, Ruth was in an orphanage with Emmy. It was very important that she had a friend there to talk and relate too, and someone who could help her work through her problems. Character Interactions Page 36-Ruth didn’t recognize her father