32 pages • 1 hour read
Peg KehretEscaping the Giant Wave
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2003A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaChapters 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary
Kyle leaves the hotel room to investigate where BeeBee went and discovers that the candy machine on their floor is broken. BeeBee went to the second floor to use the candy machine there, but then got stuck in the elevator. Kyle is frustrated at himself for letting BeeBee out of the room and frustrated at BeeBee for not telling him that she was going out of sight. Kyle tells the concierge about the elevator and the pizza they ordered for room service arrives. Soon, BeeBee appears in the doorway and Kyle feels “relief and anger mixed in [his] mind like two colors of paint swirling together” (44). He lectures BeeBee on the consequences of walking off alone and scares her as he claims she could have been abducted, threatening to tell their parents. As they begin to eat their pizza, the room starts to shake “as if the entire building had been placed in a large box and now a giant was shaking the box” (48). Kyle tells BeeBee to duck down, and they cover their heads while the earthquake shakes the building. When the earthquake ends, Kyle thinks about the tsunami warning sign they read on the beach earlier and wonders if he and BeeBee should leave the hotel and head for higher ground.
Chapter 5 Summary
In the aftermath of the earthquake, Kyle and BeeBee smell smoke and realize they need to leave the hotel. Kyle tries to call down to the front desk of the hotel, but the power is out. BeeBee whines about not being able to finish her milkshake and watch her favorite TV show while Kyle decides what to do next. The door to the hotel room is stuck, and when Kyle finally gets it to open, smoke billows inside the room. Kyle wets towels to help them breathe and they exit the room to make their way down the stairs. The hall is deserted and “as dark as an underground cave” and the smoke makes it difficult for Kyle and BeeBee to breathe (56).
When they reach the stairs, Kyle steps on something soft and discovers Daren passed out on the floor. Daren is alive and Kyle decides that he and BeeBee need to help save him, even though BeeBee says she doesn’t think that Daren would save them if the roles were reversed. Kyle thinks that it would be wrong to walk past Daren without saving him, regardless of how he feels about his bully. As they slowly make their way down the stairs, Daren becomes conscious and denies that he passed out. Daren realizes that there is a fire and shoves BeeBee out of the way trying to run out of the hotel.
Chapter 6 Summary
As BeeBee and Kyle run downstairs after Daren, they hear Daren shout for help. The entire hotel lobby is on fire. Kyle grabs BeeBee’s hands and they run as fast as they can together out of the hotel. For Kyle, it “felt as if [he] were in a war zone, dodging land mines” because of the flames (65). They don’t see Daren and when Kyle tries to open the door, he burns his hand on the knob. Once they are safe outside, they hear fire trucks and Kyle decides that it doesn’t make sense to go back in to search for Daren when he doesn’t know where he went. BeeBee is upset because she left her favorite stuffed bear in the hotel room.
The fire truck they heard is trying to extinguish a fire at the new hotel while the old inn collapses from the flames. Kyle notices that he can no longer see any ships in the ocean and wonders if his parents are okay. Although Kyle likes being in charge, “being in charge during an earthquake and a fire [isn’t] fun at all” (69). Daren finds them and Kyle is relieved. Kyle’s plan is to follow the tsunami warning sign’s directions and go uphill. Daren thinks that is a stupid idea and chooses to go closer to the water since fire won’t reach him there. Kyle and BeeBee part ways with Daren.
Chapters 4-6 Analysis
Chapters 4-6 show Kyle’s ability as a leader and as a survivor. Although he has never left Kansas before his family vacation to Oregon, he takes charge of BeeBee quickly when the earthquake happens and seems to know exactly what to do. He takes time to consider all options before making the decision to leave the hotel room, thinking of what his parents––the real leaders––would want him to do. His enjoyment of being in charge works well with his habit of preparation, because Kyle takes charge quickly when things unexpectedly go wrong. The author utilizes similes to describe the feeling of the earthquake for the reader: “as if the entire building had been placed in a large box and now a giant was shaking the box” (48). More comparisons are used when describing Kyle’s run through the enflamed lobby, as he describes the lobby’s atmosphere “felt as if [he] were in a war zone, dodging land mines” (65). The use of figurative language centers the reader into the action and illustrates how terrifying the earthquake and subsequent fire are for Kyle and his sister.
Kyle’s relationship with Daren evolves during the ensuing natural disasters, forcing Kyle to shift the way he responds to Daren. He saves Daren’s life, though he and his sister acknowledge that the treatment would most likely not be returned if the roles were reversed. Daren still remains the same after regaining his consciousness, as he acts ungrateful and denies that he was ever unconscious to begin with. Even Daren’s actions don’t deter Kyle from caring about his wellbeing. Kyle goes from disliking Daren to saving him multiple times. This shows Kyle’s growth in maturity and ability to know the difference between right and wrong. He knows that a life and death situation is not the time to be vengeful toward Daren.
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By Peg Kehret
