Fern and Zinnia grow closer as Zinnia’s pregnancy sickness keeps her up all night and makes cleaning duties miserable. Dr. Vincent dismisses Zinnia’s nausea as psychological, reinforcing Fern’s sense that the staff see the girls as defective rather than in need of care.

To break the monotony, Fern proposes that she, Zinnia, and Holly each check out a book from the arriving bookmobile and share them; Rose agrees to help after Zinnia flatters her into it. The plan gives Fern something to look forward to for the first time in weeks.

When the bookmobile finally arrives, Zinnia is too sick to get in line, Holly is distracted, and Rose has to be dragged away from the Cong. Fern hustles them outside just as other girls finish, and the bright, carnival-painted library bus briefly makes Fern feel like her old self again.

Inside, a librarian named Miss Parcae offers help, but Mrs. Deckle rejects the books Fern tries to borrow as inappropriate or too mature. With time running out, Miss Parcae steers them toward “safe” classics that Fern has already read, leaving Fern feeling trapped and desperate for something that might actually help.

On impulse, Fern asks for nonfiction about having a baby, only to learn such information would not be allowed. As Fern struggles with urgent bladder pressure, Miss Parcae surprises Fern by placing her hands on Fern’s belly and physically shifting the baby off Fern’s bladder, calling it a simple midwife skill. Miss Parcae then gives Fern a thin, secret paperback “for girls like you,” correctly intuiting that “Fern” is not Fern’s real name and that no one has taught Fern what she needs to know; alone in the powder room, Fern begins reading and feels something deep inside her awaken.