The novel is filled with complicated parent-child relationships. Some are clearly abusive, as is the case with Sarah and her father. It is insinuated that Dale Thornton’s father is abusive to him as well. At the very start of the novel, Eric spends some time thinking about his absent father, who left before Eric was born. While Eric mentions wanting a father figure to talk about relationships with, he clearly resents his father’s abandonment of his mother and has no interest in connecting with or finding his father. It is not a happy fantasy that he carries around with him, unlike Sarah, who clings to a lasting hope that her mother will return and rescue her. Eric does end up with a surrogate father of sorts, though, when his mother’s boyfriend, Carter, decides to confide in Eric about his own troubled childhood. Carter also takes it upon himself to get involved in the situations in Eric’s life. Sarah does not get rescued by her mother, but she does find a surrogate parent when Ms. Lemry decides to adopt her.