Content Warning: All themes reference a school shooting; “The Power of Empathy” also contains references to ableist bullying.

When she hears on television how her community, reeling from a school shooting, struggles for closure and may find it in the upcoming trial of the shooter, Caitlin immediately heads to her dictionary. She is certain she will find help in understanding something that may help her father recover from Devon’s death: “I wonder how CLOsure can help” (66).

However, the dictionary definition—“the state of experiencing an emotional conclusion to a difficult life event such as the death of a loved one” (67)—is little help. She wonders how she can reach that state even as she hears her father crying while he showers. When she asks Mrs. Brook, her go-to mentor when the world confuses or agitates her, Mrs. Brook gives the standard answer: different people recover different ways. Some go to church, some seek professional counseling to talk through their depression or anger, and some decorate graves with pretty flowers and spend time there talking to the dead person. For some, she admits, closure never comes but over time the pain simply lessens. These explanations initially don’t resonate with Caitlin, who asks, “Do you know how to get there [to closure]?” as if it is were a physical place (72).