If Only Chapter 36 Summary

Bad News

  • Corinna finds out that the mother of someone she went to preschool with, a kid named David who now goes to private school, died of cancer.
  • Even worse, his dad died of cancer a few years ago.
  • It's her worst fear come to life.
  • At school, some of the other kids have heard about it. The ones who aren't too absorbed in their own lives talk about how awful it must be, and how they hope he has someone to live with.
  • The other kids talk about stupid stuff, like what they brought for lunch.
  • Corinna asks her dad whom she'd live with if he died; he says she'd live with Aunt Jennifer.
  • Corinna goes through the condolence letters people sent her after her mom died—since they made her feel better, she writes one to David.
  • She resolves that she'll always write to people she knows whose parents die.