The main character Heidi shares her views on truth and knowledge in this first brief chapter. She believes that despite countless illustrations of green dinosaurs, the outer color of their skin is not a known fact. The actual color of their skin is unchanged by the lack of this knowledge: “The truth is, whether you know something or not doesn’t change what was” (4). Heidi reveals that she is not yet 13 when she realizes this truth about the dinosaurs, and she comes to understand it when sitting in a sheriff’s squad car.

Heidi shares that next-door neighbor Bernadette is a great teacher to both Heidi and Heidi’s mama, who has a “bum brain.” Bernadette teaches Mama how to open cans with an electric can opener and tries to teach her other activities by rote. Heidi reveals many nuances of her life with Mama and Bernadette living near Reno, Nevada. Bernadette, whom Heidi calls Bernie, suffers from agoraphobia. She orders clothing and supplies for all of them via catalogues and delivery services. Bernie has a love for reading and shares good books with Heidi; Heidi learned to read at age five thanks to Bernie. Heidi’s continued reading instruction from Bernie includes everything from children’s classics like Charlotte’s Web to unusual choices for a young girl, like philosophy and a Gandhi biography.