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 4-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary
As Abby cries again for her mother, Jonathan wonders if his parents will be able to return quickly, since he knows that the roads may be blocked. He tries to keep both himself and Abby calm and promises to play six games of Go Fish with Abby when they get back to the camper. This promise calms Abby. Jonathan knows which way to go based on the position of the sun, and they start to slowly make their way over fallen trees. Jonathan helps Abby over the tree trunks and lifts her over the more difficult obstacles. Their progress is slow but steady, and Jonathan feels hopeful that they will it back to the camper, reassuring Abby that they can stay there for as long as necessary until their parents return. Abby complains of fatigue, and Jonathan is feeling exhausted too. He encourages her to keep going and offers to carry her on his back but finds that he is too tired to lift her.
Chapter 5 Summary
Jonathan decides they should take a break and eat their lunch, but when they pull out their tuna sandwiches and cookies from the backpack, they find that the food is smashed. When Abby complains, Jonathan encourages her to eat by telling her she can lick the tuna from the plastic sandwich bag. Since their mother doesn’t allow Abby to lick wrappers, this feels like a forbidden pleasure, and Abby eats some tuna and cookies. Jonathan sees the oak tree they passed when they started the hike in the morning and knows they are close to reaching the camper. They finish eating, and Jonathan promises Abby lemonade and a pineapple milkshake when she complains of thirst. Even though Abby and Jonathan usually have healthy snacks, Jonathan knows that the promise of treats will help keep Abby motivated and prevent her from panicking.
Jonathan and Abby keep walking and reach a part of the trail that is blocked by the roots of a fallen tree. Jonathan goes ahead to find the best path around the roots, but he stops short when he sees their campsite. A redwood tree has fallen on the camper, which is completely flattened. Jonathan thinks about all the items inside that he was counting on accessing: food, water, a first aid kit, and fun items like games, his radio, and Abby’s dolls. Jonathan is at least able to find some humor in the situation when he realizes that his homework is also flattened in the camper. Jonathan feels the urge to simply run away with Moose and find his parents, but he knows he can’t leave Abby alone; as her older brother, she is his responsibility. He turns and makes his way back to Abby.
Chapter 6 Summary
Jonathan makes a plan as he heads back to Abby. He knows that food, water, and shelter are their main priorities at this point. He has two sandwiches and two juice packs in the backpack, and he resolves to try to save the juice for as long as possible. He wonders again if his parents made it to town before the earthquake hit and decides it is better to take action than to wait around for help. He plans to take the road to town to find his parents; if he doesn’t find them, he will assume that they made it to town. Jonathan decides to make a game of building a shelter for Abby, and to leave her while he hikes the road. She’s already tired and will likely fall asleep while he’s gone.
Jonathan breaks the news to Abby that the camper is smashed and proposes the idea of building a house in the woods to distract her from her distress that her favorite doll, Raggedy, is still in the camper. Jonathan makes Abby the boss, inviting her to make decisions about which trees to use for the shelter, and she watches while he works. Abby complains of thirst, saying she can’t nap until she has a drink, so Jonathan takes this opportunity to leave her alone. He tells her to wait at the shelter with Moose while he leaves to look for water. Jonathan encourages Abby to be brave and gives her the responsibility of looking after Moose. As he leaves to hike the road, Jonathan hopes that Abby will fall asleep. He marks his trail by leaving twigs in a V-shape so he’ll know how to get back. He eventually makes it to the bridge without seeing his parents’ car, so he knows they made it off the island. However, he finds that the bridge was snapped in two by the earthquake.
Chapter 7 Summary
Jonathan realizes quickly that his parents won’t be able to return to the island. His and Abby’s only hope for rescue will be by boat or by helicopter. He understands that they will be alone longer than he anticipated and feels helpless knowing that he must wait for help to come to them. He also worries that his parents may have been on the bridge when it collapsed, and he fights fear and panic. As he follows his trail back to Abby, he breaks the V-shaped twigs into several pieces to ensure he won’t start walking in circles by following the same twig twice. When Jonathan reaches the shelter, Abby is sleeping. Jonathan thinks of a new plan to let rescuers know they are there. At first, he thinks a fire would be a good idea but realizes that the forest is too dry to keep a fire under control. He then decides to spell out H-E-L-P on the lake shore and figures he can start a fire there as well, away from the trees. While Abby is still sleeping, he makes his way back to the lake and finds that the sandy lakeshore is now underwater, and the water level is steadily creeping across the island. Jonathan pictures the layout of Magpie Island in his mind and theorizes that the earthquake created a natural dam of fallen trees that is preventing water from leaving Magpie Lake.
As Jonathan goes back to Abby, his priorities shift, and he turns his attention to making a plan for what to do when the water level by the shelter starts to rise. He wishes he could talk to someone else for advice and worries about the tidal waves that he learned can sometimes follow an earthquake. Jonathan returns to Abby, who is now awake, and gives her a juice pack when she complains of thirst. He was hoping to save them but feels the desperation of their situation setting in, and he wants to keep Abby calm. Abby can’t swim, and the water is coming; he needs to make a new plan quickly.
Chapters 4-7 Analysis
Kehret creates intensity and excitement in the narrative as several plot events contribute to the rising action and circumstances go from bad to worse for Jonathan and Abby. In addition to creating an engaging plot, the author also takes the opportunity to provide young readers with an educational moment on the basics of survival strategies. By emphasizing the immediate need for the protagonists to secure food, water, and shelter, Kehret demonstrates Jonathan’s problem-solving skills and simulates a real-world situation that readers may be able to draw upon if they ever find themselves in similarly dire circumstances. For example, both Jonathan and Abby face fatigue and thirst after the process of making their way back to the camper on the trail, and aftershocks from the earthquake hit from time to time. Furthermore, when Jonathan discovers that the camper is crushed and realizes that he won’t be able to access the supplies, he shows his ingenuity in brainstorming alternative solutions. He must think just as quickly when he finds that the bridge is destroyed and the island is flooding, devising solutions to keep Abby safe despite her not being able to swim and demonstrating the importance of Overcoming Fear and Uncertainty in Survival Situations. All of these events happen in just a few chapters, creating an exciting narrative that keeps readers on the edge of their seats while providing a wealth of practical information.
In this way, Kehret deepens her characterization of Jonathan in this section, unveiling several of his key personality traits through his perceptive thoughts and decisive actions. Despite the intense situation, Jonathan demonstrates his intelligence when he manages to think clearly and make several wise decisions on the spur of the moment. For instance, he uses the sun to determine which direction the camper lies, and he marks his trail when he walks toward the bridge to ensure that he will be able to find his way back to his sister. He also pretends his parents are with him when making decisions, trying to think as they would and see things from their perspective. Furthermore, he demonstrates his ability to put himself into his sister’s shoes and anticipate what she will need to keep calm. To this end, he turns important tasks like building the temporary shelter into a game and gives her a sense of control over the situation by putting her in charge of which branches to use. His creative approach to caring for Abby and explaining their situation to her shows him to be a mature and intelligent older brother. Another of Jonathan’s character traits is persistence. His progress back to the camper with Abby in tow is slow and requires a great deal of work on his part. Despite the multi-step process of helping her over fallen trees and clearing a path for her, he remains patient and determined. Finally, Kehret characterizes Jonathan as being action-oriented. Unwilling to sit and wait for rescuers to come, he feels the need to do something to help his and Abby’s situation. He therefore takes immediate action by temporarily leaving Abby to look for their parents’ car, and he later makes the plan to create a signal for rescuers to see from the air. These examples demonstrate his willingness to take charge and his dislike of remaining passive in such a volatile situation.
Along with her characterization of Jonathan, Kehret highlights the coming-of-age process he goes through due to the emergency survival situation in which he finds himself. This relates to the theme of Self-Reliance in the Coming-of-Age Journey. Although Jonathan does not want the responsibility of taking care of his sister during this emergency, he knows he has no choice. He therefore accepts his role calmly and thinks of small ways to keep Abby from panicking, like telling her she can lick the tuna from the sandwich bag in order to encourage her to eat what little food is available and keep herself strong and healthy. When he finds the camper crushed, he does have a brief moment of weakness in which he wishes he could run away with Moose and leave behind his sister. While this initial response may be understandable, Jonathan shows his maturity by choosing instead to return to Abby and faithfully take care of her. In this way, Kehret shows that one’s actions, rather than one’s feelings, determine one’s character and maturity. She also shows that being responsible for someone else forces a person to mature quickly to meet the needs of the situation despite any inner fears that may arise. This is true for Jonathan as he takes care of Abby, and it’s true for Abby when Jonathan leaves her in charge of Moose. By having the dog to take care of, Abby herself experiences the burden of a leadership position and must shift her focus from self-pity to conscientiousness for the sake of others.
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