Epigraphs are like little appetizers to the great entrée of a story. They illuminate important aspects of the story, and they get us headed in the right direction.
Break away from
what you've known
You are not a lone
We can build
a brand new home
You are not alone
- Ben Lee, "Families Cheating at Board Games"
What's up with the epigraph?
The epigraph of What Happened to Goodbye is all about breaking away and building a new home, which is especially relevant to Mclean because she's always moving from place to place with her dad. In most of these places, they never really settle in and make it a home—in fact, Mclean's convinced that she doesn't even have a home anymore following her parents' nasty divorce. She thinks she'll be a drifter forever.
But when she lands in Lakeview, she discovers that you can have second chances. While there, she and her dad finally manage to build themselves a new home—no matter how makeshift—and Mclean knows for the first time in a long time that she isn't alone.