Mosquitoland

Mim describes herself as an anomaly because she enjoys contradictory things—for example, she hates country music but loves Elvis and Johnny Cash, two of her mom’s favorites. She decides not to turn in Poncho Man because she’s worried that by doing so she won’t make it to her mom in Cleveland. She feels guilty about her decision, though, because now he’s free to potentially hurt someone else.

In a letter to Isabel, Mim recalls Reggie, a homeless man whom her mom had a fondness for. She frequently gave him money. One day, Mim’s dad was in the car, too. When Eve stopped to give Reggie money, Mim’s dad was disapproving of the gesture. 

Mim wanders around Nashville for the remainder of their pit-stop break. Her favorite shop is the record store because her mom instilled in her a love of vinyl.

Mim writes to Isabel to tell her about one of her favorite memories of her mom. She used to wake up Mim every morning by saying, “Have a vision, Mary, unclouded by fear” (100). The saying was an old Cherokee proverb. Mim’s ancestry is a small percentage Cherokee, but she used to lie about being mostly Cherokee because she was so proud of her heritage.