The Miracle of Dog Poo Park

The Bean Trees By: Barbara Kingsolver
(pg. 146-175)

Taylor gets a phone message from Lou Ann. While Taylor was out he mom had called to tell Taylor she was getting married. Lou Ann and Taylor go together to Roosevelt Park and Taylor tells her of how it got its name, from when Eleanor Roosevelt stopped and gave a speech. Now the park was mostly dirt and very ugly. There was one part of the park that Lou Ann called the arbor that sure enough come March out of that dry dirt came flowers, a miracle in Dog Poo Park.

When they returned from the park the neighbor informed Lou Ann that Angel was in town and had stopped by when she wasn't there.. Angel did eventually come back nut it was just to tell Lou Ann that he was gone for good. Taylor had gone to a doctor's appointment for Turtle. When she got there she didn't know what to do about the forms and everyone was suspicious until they asked of Turtle was adopted and then they didn't seem to mind what information Taylor put down. After everything checking out to be healthy with Turtle Taylor decided to tell the doctor about Turtles condition when she got he. The doctor took some x-rays and the results were worse than Taylor thought. Turtle had many signs of healed bone fracture and deep bruising and the doctor explained that this kind of trauma could cause the child's physical and social growth to be stunted. That even though Turtle was growing now at some point when people stopped taking care of her she stopped developing meaning that despite how old they thought Turtle was the doctor was sure that she was about three, not two.
After this Taylor met up with Lou Ann and Dwayne Ray at the zoo. They were watching the ducks and sitting across from the Turtles. These two ladies on the bench across were listening into their conversation. While they were talking it soon cam to Lou Ann's attention that whenever Turtle heard the name April she looked up. They were able to figure out that April was Turtle's birth name.

Now Taylor is learning more about Turtle's past. Now that she knows more about Turtle's actual age I wonder if she will treat her differently since she is not so much of a baby as she thought. If Lou Ann goes back to Angel what will happen to Taylor and Turtle?