46 pages • 1 hour read
Peg KehretEarthquake Terror
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1996A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
As 12-year-old Jonathan Palmer and his golden retriever Moose walk along a trail toward a lake on Magpie Island in Northern California, Jonathan notices how eerily quiet the woods feel. Jonathan’s parents, Mr. Palmer and Mrs. Palmer, and his younger sister Abby Palmer are not far behind and they call for Jonathan to wait. As Jonathan stops with some annoyance, he reasons that it must be so quiet since it’s a Tuesday in October, and the Magpie Campground where he’s staying with his family is busiest in the summer and on weekends. Jonathan’s family loves to hike and camp, but their outdoor adventures have changed significantly in the last few years. Four years ago, when Abby was two years old, she had an accident that caused her to have partial paralysis in her legs. Now Abby uses either a walker or crawls to get around. Mr. and Mrs. Palmer don’t let Abby use a wheelchair because they want her to build strength in her legs. With Abby’s disability, the Palmers’ outdoor activities are slightly different and slower paced than they used to be; the hike from their campsite to the lake, for example, takes more than an hour. The Palmers also now use a camper trailer rather than sleeping in tents so Abby can sleep more comfortably.
Jonathan struggles to be patient as he waits for Abby, reminding himself that she cannot control her pace. When Jonathan reaches Magpie Lake, he wades in to play fetch with Moose. Abby and Jonathan’s parents soon arrive at the lake as well, and Abby urges Jonathan to be careful because she is afraid of water despite Mr. and Mrs. Palmer’s best efforts to help her feel comfortable in their community pool. Jonathan calls to his mom to join him in the water, joking that the icy lake feels “like a warm bath” (5). When Mrs. Palmer wades into the water, she turns her ankle and falls. The ankle swells immediately. Mrs. Palmer suspects it may be broken and needs to see a doctor as quickly as possible. Jonathan offers to walk back to the camper with Abby while Mr. Palmer carries Mrs. Palmer to the car. Even though they don’t like the idea of leaving their children, Mr. and Mrs. Palmer agree that this is their best option and start down the trail together. Jonathan is glad his parents are leaving to get help, but he can’t help but feel apprehensive about being alone and responsible for Abby without any phone, electricity, or people nearby.
Chapter 2 Summary
To distract Abby from her worry, Jonathan suggests playing sink-the-ships, a game they invented in which they float large leaves onto the lake and throw pebbles to try to sink them. Abby plays happily, and Jonathan lets her sink most of the leaves. When they sit down to have lunch, Moose starts barking and sniffing the ground. It seems like Moose is trying to warn them, but Jonathan doesn’t see or hear anything nearby. Abby decides she’s too hot to eat lunch, so they start back toward their camper. On the way, Jonathan wonders how long it has been since their parents left and notices again the strange quietness surrounding them. Moose barks again, and moments later, Jonathan starts to hear a rumbling in the distance that grows louder. Soon, the earth starts moving beneath his feet, and Abby screams as the noise intensifies. Jonathan realizes that they are experiencing an intense earthquake. Abby falls, and her walker is flung aside. In school, Jonathan practiced earthquake drills, but his training is completely irrelevant here. There are no desks or tables to crawl under, and Jonathan wonders what to do. He tells Abby to cover her head and stumbles toward her as the earth continues to shake and sway.
Chapter 3 Summary
Jonathan falls hard, and the earth tosses him and drops him like a ragdoll. He notices a giant redwood trembling nearby and crawls to get out of its way as it falls. The tree narrowly misses him, and he finally reaches Abby and holds her, reassuring her. Jonathan pulls Abby to the fallen redwood tree, and they shelter beneath the trunk as the earthquake continues and more trees fall around them. Moose follows him, and the earthquake finally ends. The eerie quiet returns as the roaring of the earthquake subsides, and Jonathan wonders if his parents felt the earthquake. He knows that earthquakes can be confined to small areas and thinks it’s possible they didn’t feel it if they made it to the nearest town of Beaverville.
Jonathan is thankful for Moose’s comforting presence and reassures Abby that they are both safe and the earthquake is over. Upon looking for Abby’s walker, Jonathan discovers that the trail has completely disappeared, and downed trees are everywhere. Soon, an aftershock hits. It doesn’t last long, but it’s enough to scare Abby and Jonathan. When Jonathan finds the walker, it’s no longer usable. Abby starts to cry, asking for their mother, and Jonathan feels compassion for her. He thinks about what life must be like for her and the dependence she has on her walker, and he goes to comfort her as another aftershock hits.
Chapters 1-3 Analysis
As the novel begins, Kehret creates an ominous mood of foreboding through her use of diction and through Jonathan’s perceptions of his too-quiet surroundings. The use of words like “eerie” and “unnatural” to describe the quietness of the woods suggests that some kind of unseen threat lurks in the forest. Jonathan also notes the emptiness of the campground, which creates a sense of isolation. Kehret continues to set the stage for disaster as Jonathan notes the exceptional quiet just before the earthquake hits, as if nature is holding its breath before the moment of impact. Moose’s warning barks and odd behavior also alert the reader that something dangerous is coming. Tension and suspense build as the earthquake begins, and Kehret waits to reveal what is happening in order to increase the suspense. Instead of stating quickly that an earthquake has struck, Kehret uses Jonathan’s rapidly shifting perceptions to convey the confusion and uncertainty of the moment. The boy first thinks that hunters are shooting, then that a bomb is exploding, and finally realizes that an earthquake is hitting. With the strategic placement of these descriptions, Kehret also contrasts the noise of the earthquake with the silence that precedes and follows it.
Kehret uses sensory imagery when describing the earthquake to help readers understand sensations that may be foreign to them. She employs both simile and metaphor to describe the earthquake’s impact. For instance, she compares the earthquake to riding a roller coaster while standing up and compares the noise it causes to being surrounded by kettledrums. These descriptions help place the reader beside Jonathan and Abby and increase the moment’s excitement. Kehret also draws out the duration of the earthquake between the end of Chapter 2 and the beginning of Chapter 3 to provide the feeling that the earthquake lasts for several minutes. The drama of the giant redwood falling shows the sheer power of the earthquake and reveals the danger that Abby and Jonathan are facing, as they have no way to escape. Kehret’s description of the earthquake creates drama in the narrative and provides a realistic account of experiencing an earthquake while establishing The Power of Nature.
The opening chapters also begin to develop Jonathan and Abby’s brother-sister relationship. Kehret characterizes Abby as young and immature through the questions Abby asks and the way she quickly jumps from one emotion to another. The author also explains Abby’s partial paralysis, highlighting how Abby moves with her disability. Along with this, Kehret shows Jonathan’s inner conflict between his frustration with Abby’s movement and the compassion he feels for her. While Jonathan knows that Abby cannot move quickly because of her disability, he remembers what family camping trips used to be like before Abby’s accident and cannot help but wish for similar experiences. By the end of Chapter 3, however, Jonathan is already starting to change in his perspective toward Abby. He feels empathy for her and tries to understand how it feels for her to need her walker or that she does not move at the same pace as him. Kehret also highlights Jonathan’s creativity and wisdom as he watches his sister and comforts her after the earthquake. Although Jonathan is only 12 years old, Kehret characterizes him as being a capable and mature older brother.
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