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 15-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 15 Summary
A National Guard helicopter leaves at daybreak to search for Abby and Jonathan over the Tuscan River. The pilot and medics aboard have little hope for finding the children, but they know they have to at least tell Mr. Palmer that they tried. They pass Beaverville and the abandoned fishing cabin but do not see any signs of the children. On the ground, Abby wakes to hear the helicopter approaching overhead. She knows the helicopter could bring her back to her parents, but she cannot move fast enough to reach the open, where the people on board would be able to see her. She crawls around the cabin toward the river as quickly as she can, but the helicopter passes over without seeing her. Abby cries and laments the unfairness of her accident. However, she soon realizes that the helicopter may come back and comforts herself by singing as she waits for it.
The helicopter soon approaches Kendra, and one of the medics sees a form on the sand below. He soon realizes that it is a dog, and when the dog stands up, the rescuers can see a child lying motionless on the sand. Jonathan struggles to open his eyes as the helicopter touches down nearby. His head is throbbing, and he can’t think straight as the medics put him on a stretcher and ask him questions. The medics airlift both Jonathan and Moose to the hospital in Kendra, and on the way, they ask Jonathan about his sister. Jonathan is exhausted and muddled by his head injury and falls asleep before he can remember where Abby is or that she needs help.
Chapter 16 Summary
Four hours later, Jonathan awakens in the hospital and starts to remember his swim to shore. He recalls how he wanted to give up, but the knowledge that Moose saved his life helped him to take one stroke after another until he reached the sand. A nurse comes in to check on Jonathan and informs him that his mother is in the same hospital; she had ankle surgery that morning. Jonathan’s father is in Beaverville at the search headquarters, hoping for news about Abby.
As the nurse starts to leave, Jonathan suddenly remembers what happened to Abby. He calls his father at the National Guard station and explains that Abby’s tree got stuck shortly after they passed Beaverville. Mr. Palmer and the lead National Guardsman check a map and see the old fishing pier, and they direct rescuers to this location by radio. Mr. Palmer reassures Jonathan that Moose is safe with him and is being treated like a hero by everyone at the rescue headquarters. Nurses and doctors come in periodically to check on Jonathan and bring him food, but Jonathan can’t stop worrying about Abby. He feels guilty for the many times he complained about having to wait for her and realizes that he can’t imagine life without her. When the phone rings, Mr. Palmer shares the good news that the rescuers found Abby and that she is being airlifted to the Kendra hospital. A few hours later, Abby arrives with only a few cuts and mild hypothermia. Mrs. Palmer joins her children in their hospital room when she wakes up after her surgery, and Mr. Palmer arrives shortly after that. Abby requests her chocolate cupcake and pineapple milkshakes, and Jonathan smiles, realizing that he is looking forward to the six games of Go Fish he promised her.
Chapters 15-16 Analysis
In this section of the novel, Kehret continues to shift the perspective of the story strategically from character to character in order to illustrate the many different aspects of the complex emergency situation. From the conversations of the rescuers in the helicopter to Abby’s struggle next to the cabin and Jonathan’s rescue and recovery, each shift allows Kehret to highlight different themes and aspects of character development. For example, she highlights The Power of Nature as the medics observe the earthquake’s destruction from the air in the helicopter. She also employs similes to intensify her descriptions of the damage, comparing the scattered train cars to “helpless turtles” (117) and describing the zigzag appearance of the cracked streets “like somebody opened a giant zipper” (121). Additional details such as the homes washed away by the flooded river and toppled cars littering the streets show how widespread and varied the damage truly is. Similarly, showing the point of view of those in the helicopter allows Kehret to describe the details of the destruction more extensively, further illustrating the Power of Nature. Finally, by shifting to Abby’s perspective as she sits behind the cabin as the helicopter passes by, Kehret can more fully examine the many ways that Abby psychologically and physically maneuvers with her disability and embraces the transformation of her character. As the girl works to regulate her own emotions in the recognition that crying will not help her, it is clear that despite being only six years old, Abby understands that she does not have anyone to depend on for survival in this moment. Thus, Kehret’s shift to Abby’s point of view in this scene allows the author to fully develop the many significant changes in Abby as a dynamic character.
In addition to exploring the psychological landscape of each of her protagonists, Kehret also regulates the pace of the narrative and maintains the dramatic tension until the denouement in the final few pages of the novel. She even delays reassuring readers that Jonathan is safe, for when the rescuers first spot him from the helicopter, she describes him as an unmoving form, which raises the question of whether or not he has survived his ordeal and extends the suspense of the novel as a whole. Furthermore, she makes Abby’s own rescue seem far from certain as Jonathan struggles against the pain of his injuries to remember his sister and her location. Finally, however, the resolution falls swiftly into place as Jonathan remembers Abby and helps rescuers pinpoint her location, and the Palmer family ultimately enjoys a well-earned family reunion in the hospital. To defuse the tension that permeates most of the narrative up to this point, Kehret incorporates humor into this final scene as Abby remembers Jonathan’s promises of a chocolate cupcake and pineapple milkshakes. Kehret also uses this final scene to highlight Jonathan’s character transformation. He is now thankful for his sister’s presence and has learned not to take her for granted or be frustrated by her disability. He looks forward to playing the games of Go Fish that he promised, showing that he now values spending time with Abby, even if it means doing activities that are not his favorite.
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