45 pages 1 hour read

Ashley Rhodes-Courter

Three Little Words

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | YA | Published in 2008

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapters 11-13Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 11 Summary: “What Do I Have to Do?”

Insecure about her placement, Ashley keeps “wondering what I [will] have to do wrong for the Courters to send me back” (208). Luke does not have to wonder as, having been cruel to his prospective adoptive family’s dog, he is sent back to the Children’s Home. Other children are also returned from their “forever” families, confirming Ashley’s belief that “[w]e [are] boomerang kids. No matter how far we were thrown, we ended up back at our place of origin” (209).

While the family is visiting Washington, DC, Ashley is separated from Phil and Gay at the subway station. Phil is furious and shouts, “‘How did you slip away from us?’” as though Ashley “had done it to defy him” (211). Later, Gay reassures Ashley that “‘[t]his hasn’t been the best day, but it’s something we went through together. Now it’s woven into the fabric of our story’” before telling her, for the first time, “‘I love you, sweetie’” (212). Ashley refuses to let herself love Gay back, out of fear of being abandoned. She thinks of her mother and decides she will “keep my promise to her even if she had not kept any of hers to me, and I [will] never love anyone else” (214).

blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
blurred text
Unlock IconUnlock all 45 pages of this Study Guide
Plus, gain access to 8,650+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
+ Mobile App
+ Printable PDF
+ Literary AI Tools