The quotations that open each chapter of the novel serve as clues to what the chapter has in store and help us understand how important these experiences are to the girls. For example, chapter 5 begins with a proverb that says “Love is war: easy to begin, hard to end.” In that chapter, Lena meets Kostos and is disappointed by him as she is by every boy, and Bridget falls hard for Eric. Both girls get their first taste of romantic love. Although these tentative beginnings are hardly warlike, they are important to the girls. Lena feels disappointed by Kostos and discouraged by love in general, while Bridget pursues Eric with her characteristic enthusiasm. Love isn’t war—not yet, at least—but the quotation adds a layer of significance to the girls’ encounters. The fact that some quotations are by the girls themselves—or, in the case of Duncan Howe’s quotation in chapter 6, by people in the girls’ lives—suggests that ordinary people are just as capable of wisdom as writers, actors, and philosophers. Duncan’s silly rules about customers hint at a lesson Tibby will learn from her Wallman’s work this summer, even though, at this point, his words seem like more evidence that he is as ridiculous that Tibby believes him to be.
