77 pages • 2 hours read
April HenryGirl, Stolen
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2010A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 29-32Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 29 Summary: “The Hardest Thing in the World”
Cheyenne had heard the gunshot 30 minutes ago and is crouching behind a tree. She hears a car engine, so she knows she is near the road. A voice tells her “Freeze! Police!” (190). She runs toward the voice, shouting that she is Cheyenne Wilder. She hears the man, who is Roy disguising his voice, seemingly make a call letting people know she has been found, and they walk toward the road to his car. When he asks whether she had any help in escaping, she tells him about Griffin and explains he is in the woods and needs help. She gets into the front passenger seat of the car, but her feet brush against what she thinks are tools, and she notices that the man smells of peppermint and tobacco, just as Roy does.
Chapter 30 Summary: “Nothing Like a Toy”
Cheyenne realizes that the policeman is Roy and that he is going to kill her. She feels around the seat for a phone; instead, she finds a gun and points it toward Roy. He tries to grab it, and she pulls the trigger. He is shot, but she doesn’t know how badly, and she orders him out of the car. Cheyenne locks herself in, and Roy bangs on the windows with a rock. She threatens to shoot him again, but he warns her the bullet will ricochet.
Chapter 31 Summary: “Driving Blind”
Remembering how her mother let her drive once, Cheyenne puts the car into gear. As it moves forward, and she listens to the gravel at the side of the road to help her steer. She can no longer hear Roy’s footsteps behind her when she hears the ring of a cell phone. She stops the car, finds the phone, and dials 9-1-1. She convinces the dispatcher that she is Cheyenne Wilder, and they dispatch police. They home in on her location by having the police cars turn off their sirens one by one to determine which car is closest. Roy breaks the window and starts to choke her. She accelerates the car and runs him over. A policeman arrives and orders Roy to stop. Cheyenne insists on feeling his badge, stating that she someone has tricked her once before.
Chapter 32 Summary: “Just a Friend?”
It is two weeks after the kidnapping, and Cheyenne has been having trouble sleeping. She gets a phone call from Griffin wishing her a happy new year. He is Chicago with his aunt Debby, his mom’s sister. Cheyenne asks whether he has talked to Roy, who has been charged with kidnapping, assault, and second-degree murder. TJ has also been charged with a number of crimes, including murder. Griffin replies that he is not allowed contact with his father, and no one knows he is calling her. They both agree that people would “freak out” if they knew they were talking (211).
Cheyenne tells Griffin that her family has found Duke and that they have hired a dog trainer for him. Griffin shares that he relates to Duke. He will be going to an alternative school and plans on getting some of the audiobooks that Cheyenne mentioned. When he asks about her New Year resolutions, she has just one: to always take Phantom with her. “Everything would have been completely different if you had had your dog,” he says (212). He asks her whether he can call her again, and she takes “a deep breath” and thinks “about her answer” (213).
Chapters 29-32 Analysis
These chapters emphasize Cheyenne’s resilience and her ability to use her senses effectively. She recognizes Roy through smell and is able to find both a phone and a gun without sight. Under duress, she devises a plan for how the police will be able to locate her using her sense of hearing.
That she escapes by driving blind is deeply symbolic. A driving accident led to the death of her mother and her blindness. In this chapters, driving—which Cheyenne remembers how to do because of an experience with her mother—saves her. The implication is that she has triumphed over the things that have held her back: her enemies, her disability.
The final chapter title, “Just a Friend?”, is a question that indicates the novel ends with some uncertainty. In this case, the question involves whether Griffin and Cheyenne will stay in contact. Notice, however, that the title hints at more. The question is not whether they will be friends but whether Griffin will be “just” a friend, hinting at a future romance between the two. The novel supports the suggestion of romance with two additional pieces of evidence. First, when Griffin remarks that things would have turned out completely different if Phantom had been with her in the car, Cheyenne reflects on how much he must have learned about himself despite their ordeal. She agrees that things would have been different, but that “maybe that’s okay” that they didn’t (213). Her response indicates that she can view the outcome of the kidnapping in a positive way. Second, her demand that her family find Duke to rehabilitate and rescue him indicates her belief in redemption. The interconnectedness of Duke and Griffin’s fates is made explicit by Griffin himself, who tells Cheyenne, “I kind of feel like Duke” (212). This suggests that Griffin, too, will find healing and support, in no small part due to Cheyenne and their growing relationship.
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