Clean Getaway

This final part of the book moves through its falling action and offers closure. Scoob, notably, realizes how much he has been transformed by his journey with his grandmother. He has been missing his father, and so he runs into his arms as soon as he sees him. This is very different from the Scoob at the beginning of the novel who wanted to flee after being grounded by James. Additionally, James reveals that he too has had a transformative experience, with the last several days having been the worst of his life without Scoob. The difference in their relationship is apparent in two ways. The first is in James’s offer to introduce Scoob to his mom and in Scoob’s decision to wait before speaking with her. For Scoob, “[i]t’s the truest thing he’s said in days” (23). This moment demonstrates how the communication between Scoob, and James has changed so drastically just over the course of the novel. The second way that their relationship is different is in that James let Scoob take the lead, trusting him along their trip in retracing his and G’ma’s steps. In turn, Scoob makes it so that “Dad can see all Scoob and G’ma got up to on their adventuring” (221). By making this trip again, Scoob shows James too how he has learned that history is alive and close, illustrating the lesson apparent in the theme: that the past is always at play in our lives. Racism is still present; it may have changed forms (though not in all cases) but learning about the history also informs one’s present.

Additionally, in this section of the book, Scoob learns to reconcile the truth of his grandmother’s secret life with who she was to him, especially after she left him her treasure chest. In it, he finds both the memories of G’pop and jewelry that she stole, a summation of her whole life. He even chooses an urn that matches the wood of the box. When he and James drive out to Mexico, he buries the box in the final destination on her map, making it so that she too can have a “clean getaway”—a fresh start (223). In doing so, he fulfills her goal of finally completing the trip she and G’pop set out on decades earlier. The closure that Scoob receives from doing this also brings the theme of not judging a book by its cover to its conclusion. G’ma’s actions were more than black or white; it wasn’t a question of whether she was a good or bad person. Rather, Scoob understands that everyone is complex. His G’ma was both a thief and his best friend. His father loves him and can be hard on him. Both exist at the same time.