Moo: A Novel

Fiction | Novel/Book in Verse | Middle Grade | Published in 2016

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-14

Chapters 15-30

Chapters 31-44

Chapters 45-62

Chapters 63-74

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 63-74Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 63 Summary: “Phone Call”

In the prose piece “Phone Call,” Reena’s parents receive a phone call from someone called Mr. Colley. The children are worried that they might be in trouble for something when Mr. Colley asks Reena’s parents to come to Mrs. Falala’s house and leave Reena and Luke at home.

Chapter 64 Summary: “Speculation”

“Speculation” is a mixed prose and poetry chapter. While their parents are gone, Luke and Reena discuss what might be happening at Mrs. Falala’s house and wonder who Mr. Colley is. They speculate that he might be a police officer, a doctor, a friend or family member of Mrs. Falala’s, or even something like a plumber or repairman. They worry that Mrs. Falala’s house may have burned down or something may have happened to Zora or to Mrs. Falala. They worry that they have shown some kind of disrespect they are unaware of and that Mrs. Falala will never want to see them again.

Chapter 65 Summary: “Waiting”

In the poem “Waiting,” Reena describes how slowly the time seems to pass while they are waiting for their parents. She compares the slowness of the time passing to a painfully slow dripping.

Chapter 66 Summary: “Notebook”

The poem “Notebook” describes Luke and Reena trying to occupy themselves while they wait. At first, they try to find something productive to do: They clean their rooms and try to fix a broken gate. When they run out of ideas, Luke gets his notebook and shows Reena two drawings of cows, both by Mrs. Falala. One is her very first attempt, and the other is her most recent: Reena is astonished at the progress Mrs. Falala has made. He tells Reena that Mrs. Falala can draw all kinds of things now: The animals she lives with, the barn, and the attic window are all frequent subjects. When Mrs. Falala draws the attic window, she often draws fanciful things coming out of the window, like ribbons, music, and stars. Luke explains that it is Mrs. Falala who plays the flute music Reena hears coming from the attic. She has told him that the attic is a “remembering room” and that when she is there, remembering things, sometimes the attic gets filled up, and things like music and stars fly out the window (247). Reena reflects on what a mystery Mrs. Falala is.

Chapter 67 Summary: “Dripping”

“Dripping” is another poem comparing the slow movement of time to a dripping liquid. Finally, Reena and Luke’s parents return, to the relief of both children.

Chapter 68 Summary: “Puzzled”

In the prose chapter “Puzzled,” Reena and Luke’s parents seem confused by what Mr. Colley told them: Mrs. Falala is missing. Mr. Colley, Mrs. Falala’s attorney, stopped by her place to meet with her on the previous evening, but she was not home. When she was still missing in the morning, Mr. Colley called Luke and Reena’s parents, wondering if they might know where she is. The children have no idea. The whole family returns to Mrs. Falala’s so that Reena and Luke can tend to the animals and help search for Mrs. Falala.

Chapter 69 Summary: “The Search”

The prose piece “The Search” shares what happens when the children arrive at Mrs. Falala’s. Reena recognizes Mr. Colley as a neighbor who has stopped in many times over the past few weeks to bring Mrs. Falala various things. Zep and Mr. Birch are also waiting to help search for Mrs. Falala. When Zep and Reena are in the barn checking on the agitated animals, Zep tells Reena that he wishes he had thought to check on Mrs. Falala when he dropped off the cows the night before. He puts his hand on Reena’s shoulder when he tells her that he would have told Mrs. Falala how well Reena did at the fair, and Reena has an urge to kiss him. Reena happens to look up and notice the open attic window. She suggests that they check the attic. This is where they find Mrs. Falala, lying on a cot with her hands folded around her flute. Reena touches the elderly woman’s arm and feels unbearably sad. Reena and Luke wait with Mrs. Falala’s body so she is not alone, and Zep goes to tell the others.

Chapter 70 Summary: “Portraits”

The prose chapter “Portraits” describes the pictures Mrs. Falala has drawn and fixed to the attic walls. There are dozens of them, apparently posted in the order they were drawn—pictures of the animals, of the barn and house, and pictures of Luke and Reena. Her final two sketches are still in her drawing pad. One is of Reena and Zora at the fair, surrounded by blue ribbons. The other is of both Reena and Luke, pedaling away from the farm on their bikes, trailed by all of Mrs. Falala’s animals. They are watched by a tiny figure of Mrs. Falala, who is waving goodbye.

Chapter 71 Summary: “Mrs. Falala’s Gifts”

In the prose piece “Mrs. Falala’s Gifts,” Mr. Colley reveals that he was helping Mrs. Falala get her affairs in order because her health was declining. Mrs. Falala was worried about what would happen to her animals after her death, but after she met Reena’s family, she stopped worrying. She left them the animals in her will. When Reena’s father points out that they do not have a farm and cannot take care of the animals, Reena cries. Mr. Colley suggests that they buy Mrs. Falala’s place and keep the animals there, but Reena’s father explains that he is still looking for work in Maine, and the family cannot afford to buy the place.

Chapter 72 Summary: “More Dripping”

“More Dripping” is a mixed prose and poetry piece that describes the family’s return home: Reena and Luke’s eyes are dripping with tears, and the sky is dripping with rain. Suddenly, Reena realizes how to solve the problem of how to take care of Mrs. Falala’s animals.

Chapter 73 Summary: “The Proposal”

In the prose piece “The Proposal,” Reena and Luke head back to Mrs. Falala’s to offer her solution to Mr. Colley. Since Mr. Colley owns the adjoining property, Reena suggests that he buy Mrs. Falala’s house. She explains the rest of her plan to him, and he calls Reena’s father to make a proposal.

Chapter 74 Summary: “Six Months Later”

The mixed prose and poetry piece “Six Months Later” brings the action into the narrative present, when Reena is telling the story. It has been six months since Mrs. Falala’s death, and for the past five months, Reena and her family have been living in Mrs. Falala’s old house, which Mr. Colley now owns. Her father is working as the property manager. Zep visits Yolanda daily, although Reena’s father suggests that he might really be there to see Reena. Reena intends to keep training Zora and become better at showing her, maybe even making Zora a Grand Champion someday. She does not want Zora to change so much that she is not herself, however. Luke draws a portrait of Mrs. Falala and hangs it in the barn for the animals. The two children have preserved the attic as Mrs. Falala left it, and they sometimes go there to remember her.

Chapters 63-74 Analysis

With Mrs. Falala’s death and its aftermath, this section resolves the final piece of the book’s central conflict of the difficulty of perceiving Mrs. Falala’s feelings. Although Reena will no longer have the chance to directly interact with Mrs. Falala, the intentions that Reena expresses for Zora in the book’s final chapter can be read as her more developed understanding of and respect for Mrs. Falala, and difficult temperaments in general. The story ends with Reena’s reflections on the months she has spent in Maine, reaffirming how much she has grown in her appreciation for The Rewards of Rural Life and how important The Value of Companionship has been to that growth.

When this section of the book begins, Reena is still struggling to handle Mrs. Falala’s sometimes difficult temperament. The children’s reaction to Mr. Colley’s phone call and to the painfully slow wait for their parents shows that they are both tremendously emotionally invested in Mrs. Falala and Zora, but still not completely confident around their elderly friend’s feelings towards them. Reena and Luke are miserable at the idea that something might have happened to either Zora or Mrs. Falala, because the two children have come to love both of them. Reena even writes two poems, “Dripping” and “Waiting,” about how slowly the time seems to move before they know for sure what is going on: She uses a simile to repeatedly compare the passing time to a slowly dripping liquid. Reena and Luke are also worried, however, that they may have unintentionally done something to offend Mrs. Falala, and they even guess that if this is the case, Mrs. Falala might ban them from ever seeing her or Zora again. This demonstrates how prickly and mercurial Mrs. Falala still seems to Luke and Reena, as well as showing their uncertainty around her.

The children will have no further opportunity to spend time with Mrs. Falala and grow in their understanding of how to deal with her because, although they do not yet know it, she has passed away. In the wake of her death, Mrs. Falala’s drawings and her attic window become important sources of insight for Reena. These two symbols of Mrs. Falala’s interior life show Reena how much of the elderly woman has been hidden away: her past, her dreams, and her struggles. This increases Reena’s empathy for her elderly friend. Reena marvels at how much progress Mrs. Falala made in learning to draw; since she knows the challenges of mastering a completely new skill from her own experience with Zora, this increases her respect for Mrs. Falala. Additionally, Reena noticing the open window at a moment that could’ve been a romantic climax for her and Zep highlights her love for Mrs. Falala. She alone knows where to find her deceased friend, and the strong emotion she feels in seeing her lying peacefully on the bed, holding her flute, demonstrates the deep, unspoken understanding between the two. Mrs. Falala’s drawings suggest that she knew that she would die very soon, perhaps even on the day of the fair, and she used art to express her mutual love for Reena and Luke. Mrs. Falala often had the wrong words in life, but through drawing, she shows Reena and Zora decorated in blue ribbons, as well as herself waving goodbye to Luke and Reena when they leave the farm, with the animals—her “family”—trailing behind the children. Mrs. Falala may not have spoken her wishes or affections aloud to the children, but her hopes for Reena, Luke, and her animals are clear through her drawings and her communications with Mr. Colley. Mrs. Falala knew almost instantly that these seemingly out-of-place city kids were the perfect fit for her farm, and she chose to spend her last days learning from and teaching the children. Mrs. Falala’s death in her attic, or room of remembering, suggests some awareness of death, lying back with the flute in her hands, demonstrating peace and acceptance. As such, Mrs. Falala’s character demonstrates the great importance of non-verbal communication, which echoes through the text in the form of animal and human communication.

As Zora has been both implicitly and explicitly equated with Mrs. Falala throughout the story, Reena’s thoughts about Zora in the book’s final chapter can be understood as equally applying to her new understanding of Mrs. Falala: Reena does not want Zora to change too much, because she loves Zora exactly as she is. It can be inferred that she now understands that, although Mrs. Falala was unpredictable and sometimes mean, loving and respecting Mrs. Falala means accepting these qualities, too. That both Reena and Luke cherish their memories of Mrs. Falala is demonstrated in the book’s final chapter, when the two children spend time together in the attic room, remembering Mrs. Falala among her mementos and drawings.

The last chapter in the book, “Six Months Later,” functions as an epilogue, summing up the changes Reena has experienced since moving to Maine. Reena and her family are now the happy caretakers of Mrs. Falala’s home and animals. They have spent many months in Maine, enjoying The Rewards of Rural Life, making new friends, and Growing Into a New Life. Reena begins the chapter with an image of the family comfortably tucked up “at home in the house on Twitch Street, with a blizzard raging outside and a fire roaring in the fireplace, and animals warm in the barn” (273). When the family first announced their move to Maine, people warned them that Maine is a cold place: Here, Reena shows that the sometimes-harsh environment of Maine can be not only endured but enjoyed if it is understood and respected. It is clearly even more enjoyable in the company of loved ones, reaffirming The Value of Companionship. Reena reinforces this theme by listing the animals whose company they now enjoy, thanks to Mrs. Falala, and by explaining that Zep comes to visit daily—partly to see Yolanda and partly to see her. She ends the chapter with a tribute to Zora that brings the novel full circle. The novel’s first chapter is a poem complaining about Zora’s temperament, and now, Reena’s final words show how much has changed: In language that mimics the diction of that first poem, she describes living with “animals we love…. most especially/ with/ that/ Zora:/ That cow!/ Moooooooo” (278).