Riley's parents expect a lot from her. When Dad gets a new job, Riley's forced to leave behind everything and everyone she knows, from her house and school to her friends and teammates. Riley's forced to adapt—a lot—and change is hard. (Yeah, you probably knew that already.)
For Riley, the difficulty level is nudged even higher by the fact that she's still just a kid. That means she's not great at controlling her emotions just yet, and that makes it hard to practice good decision-making. (Hello, stolen credit card.)
The change doesn't stop there, though: Riley's perception of the world around her changes when she moves to San Francisco and experiences loss for the first time—and we don't just mean the loss of good pizza or her pal Meg. The Andersens will find a sweet pizza parlor and Meg can always come visit.
No, we're talking about the loss of Riley's childhood. Realizing that the halcyon days of iCarly and stuffed animals are ending is the biggest change that a pre-teen has to undertake, and having to do it in a new city doesn't help.
Questions about Change
- Which of the changes that Riley's forced to make do you think is the hardest?
- Have you ever been forced to adapt to some new situation or surroundings like Riley is? How did you react?
- How does Joy change? What about Sadness?
Chew on This
No wonder Riley is angry and resentful: she didn't ask for this huge change in her life.
Stuffing her emotions just makes all the life changes harder for Riley. Let loose, girl.