The Bakers' Yard

Were you as sad as we were when Bryce insults Juli's yard? Or when Mr. Loski says the Bakers' place is a dump? And were you feeling giddy like us when Juli's grass finally starts to grow? Sheesh—a front yard can be such a controversial place.

After Bryce tells Juli her yard looks like a pigsty, that girl gets right to work fixing it up. And she works super hard on it—she prunes bushes and digs up weeds, she plants grass, and even learns to build a fence with help from Granddad Chet.

All this hard work makes the yard a symbol of persistence. Juli isn't about to let anything make her give up on this yard… or her chicks… or Bryce (okay, she does give up on him for a bit, but it seems like she's circling back by the end of the book).

But the Bakers' yard isn't just about hard work either—it's all about teamwork, too. After all, Juli gets tons of help with the yard from her friendly neighbor, Chet Duncan:

The last thing in the world I expected was to become friends with Bryce's grandfather. But by dinnertime I knew so much about him and his wife and the adventures they'd had together that it seemed like I'd know him for a very long time. Plus, all his stories made the work seem easy. (8.98)

It's super nice of Granddad Chet to help Juli with the yard, and their teamwork really makes a difference. Just check out how Juli says their chit chat has the work feeling easy. This teamwork business sounds pretty magical, right?

And here's the extra cool thing about this teamwork: it's all about two families coming together. When Chet starts helping Juli, she and Bryce still have lots of issues—in fact, the families don't interact much. But that doesn't stop the Loskis and the Bakers—or representatives from each family—from working together on Juli's yard anyway. Go team.