Patina is frantic until she learns that Maddy is not injured. On Thursday, Emily has a wreck while taking Maddy to meet Maddy's class for a field trip. She felt the education there was superior, even though she hated the social aspect of the school. Emily reveals that her mother was a janitor at Chester, which is why Emily was able to attend there for a few years. One evening Patina insists on helping with the dishes. Patina can tell that Emily is often tired by that point.

In the evenings, she cooks, cleans, and takes care of the girls' daily needs. Each day, she drives Patina and Maddy to school, then takes Patina to track and helps Maddy with homework. Three days each week, Emily takes Bev to dialysis. She picks them up later, returning Bev home. Emily then drives Patina and Maddy to Bev's house and the three of them to church. Patina spends every Sunday morning braiding Maddy's hair because Emily does not know how to cope with hair like Maddy's. Patina and the members of her family are Black, with the exception of Emily. However, she is struggling to make friends with others at Chester where most students are from wealthy families. Since she was already friends with a couple of members of the track team, she quickly settles into making more friends within the team. Patina and Maddy are now attending a charter school, Chester Academy, and Patina is a member of a track club.

Patina was largely responsible for Maddy when they were young, but the family eventually made the decision for Ronnie's brother and his wife, Tony and Emily, to adopt Patina and Maddy. Bev began baking all of Ronnie's favorite recipes, and her diabetes spiraled out of control to the point that she had both legs amputated and needed dialysis three times each week. Ronnie and Patina had pretended to eat cupcakes one evening, a frequent, fun tradition, and Ronnie died during the night. He had put himself through culinary school and loved his family, including his wife Bev and their unborn daughter Maddy. Patina Jones was six years old when her father, Ronnie, died. Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing, New York, New York, 2017.

The following version of the book was used to create this study guide: Reynolds, Jason.

Patina by jason reynolds