My Life as a Book

A drawing of a skeleton illustrates the word “spine” by humorously showing Derek’s spine being broken as his grandma tightly hugs him goodbye. He and his parents set off on the ferry for Martha’s Vineyard, and when they arrive, his mom seems sullen. However, after dropping Bodi off at the bed-and-breakfast, they decide to explore the island. At a bookstore, Derek looks at some picture books and narrates this moment with the disclaimer “I know I’m too old for picture books—OBVIOUSLY!—but I can’t help paging through them” (152). Derek often includes such disclaimers, indicating that he’s ashamed to still feel like a kid. The chapter ends with a cliff-hanger as Derek and his parents drive around the island and come across the building where Lauren, Susan’s friend, sells her jewelry. Derek asks his parents to stop, and as they agree to go inside, Derek wonders whether seeing Lauren will help or make everything worse.

Derek finds Lauren’s jewelry booth and walks over with Bodi. As he eyes her, noticing her dreadlocks and yoga pants, Lauren notices Bodi and calls him over. Derek is so nervous he can barely speak, and instead of telling Lauren who he is or why he’s there, he says almost nothing at all. His parents walk up and check out the display, and then he follows them out. Angry with himself for blowing his chance, he lies to his parents that he forgot a book inside and goes back for another opportunity to talk to Lauren. He draws himself with chattery teeth and a worried expression to illustrate the word “anxious.”

Going back to Lauren’s booth, Derek manages to tell her that he saw her post on the memorial page. She realizes that he must be the boy from the day Susan died and touches Derek’s hair as if he’s “an alien lifeform” (162). Lauren admits that the day Susan died was the worst day of her life. She explains to Derek that Susan was just a teenager a few years older than he is now, and she had a crush on a boy who was supposed to be at the beach that day. She remembers Susan leaving Derek alone while she went to hang out with the boy—and that Derek was “one fearless little boy” (164). Derek draws the word “fearless” with a stick figure riding a parachute. Lauren remembers playing with Derek in the sand and looking for seashells. As she relates all of this, Derek’s parents appear. When Derek introduces Lauren to them and explains who she is, his mother is in shock. They allow Lauren to continue her story, and she remembers that when Susan came back to her and Derek, Susan wanted to go for a swim. The waves were massive, but she was feeling reckless after a nice evening with a boy, and she dove in. Hearing this, Derek and his parents realize that Susan wasn’t trying to save Derek at all. Lauren confirms this, noting that Derek wasn’t even in the water at that time. He did wander into the water later, but Bodi was the one who saved him.

Lauren then explains that the reason everyone thought Susan was trying to save Derek is that Susan’s mother misunderstood Lauren in her moment of hysterical fear. Lauren was too distraught to argue or deny anything to the police, and the issue was never resolved. Derek notices “a giant wave of relief” (168) come over his mother when she hears that neither she nor her son was responsible for Susan’s death. Derek feels “bad that Susan died but in a different, less responsible way” (168). Meanwhile, Derek’s mother is angry that Susan’s mother led her to believe that her son was responsible. She cries as she says goodbye to Lauren, and Lauren gives Derek a leather necklace with shells and feathers on it. She tells him to wear it when he skateboards, and Derek takes “her words and her feathers as a kind of all-weather gear to wrap around [him] in a storm” (170). Afterward, Derek’s mother takes the family to see Madeline, Susan’s mother. While Lauren provided Derek and his mother with many of the answers they needed, Derek’s mother now feels like she has more questions for Madeline.

When the family arrives at Madeline’s house, she’s in the garden and is happy to see them. She invites them inside for lemonade and sits down to talk about Susan. A large collage of photos of Susan covers the wall in the living room, which reminds Derek of the collage at his mother’s office. When Derek’s mom mentions Susan, Mrs. James looks at her “and the earth stops spinning on its axis” (175). Derek can see that Madeline is still rife with grief and that Susan’s death is still fresh for her even though it happened a decade ago. Derek’s mother clearly notices it too, as she refrains from confronting Susan’s mother about her story and instead asks to hear about Susan’s life. Derek is proud of her mother, noting that she made a huge sacrifice by allowing this lie to live for Madeline’s sake. In the car after leaving, Derek thinks about how much he appreciates Bodi, not because Bodi saved his life but because he already loves him immensely: “I’m his Calvin and he’s my Hobbes—always has been, always will be” (177). After this experience, Derek agrees to close the case on Susan James.

Derek realizes that there is still “a missing frame in the life of Susan James” (179): They must visit the beach where she died. He reflects on what he learned over the summer, not only about Susan but about stories, and realizes that he now sees stories the same way he sees movies. The family reaches the beach and stands there, looking out at the ocean, thinking about Susan and everything they learned on the trip and over the summer. Derek observes that “the ocean view is infinite” (181) and draws a depiction of this moment as he takes “a deep breath and [says] goodbye to Susan James” (181). Just then, Derek’s mom gets a phone call from Carly’s mom: The hedgehog died that morning. Carly is distraught and feels responsible. Derek shows a new side of himself when he empathizes with Carly (as he felt the same way about Susan) and asks to speak to her on the phone. He tells Carly that she did nothing wrong and listens to her cry as he feels the tug of the riptide on his legs, “the same undertow that pulled Susan James away from her life” (183).

For the last few days of the vacation, the family relaxes after the stress of a long-held mystery leaves their minds. Derek notices that his mother seems lighter and more easygoing, even allowing him to take Bodi off leash when they go to Lambert Cove to see the sunset. He and his parents feel as if the place is magical because it’s so full of beauty and majesty. Derek sees “droplets of water on a spiderweb between two shrubs” (186). He and Bodi run off down the beach and find a man cooking hamburgers. He offers one to Derek, who happily obliges. The sunset brightens as pinks and oranges fill the sky. Derek finds it breathtaking and enjoys the perfect moment, however fleeting it might be: “Anyone who expects perfect to stick around is a moron” (188). Leaving the beach, Derek sees no garbage cans, so he puts a bag of Bodi’s poop in the trunk of the car. On the ferry ride back, the man ushering the cars in calls Derek’s mom “lady,” which she finds offensive. Derek decides to leave the bag of poop in a garbage can in the man’s office as a prank, and even his parents laugh. Derek thinks “it’s almost another perfect moment” (191).

Matt comes over soon after Derek arrives home. Derek illustrates Matt’s arrival with a figure walking up a flight of stairs toward a door. The two of them skateboard to the beach and watch the surfers. Derek decides to take Matt over to Carly’s house and help her plant some daisies for the hedgehog. Matt is surprised to hear that Derek likes Carly now but agrees to go, and after a while, he too realizes that Carly is not only nice but fun. They plant the flowers, say a few words for Ginger the hedgehog, and then spend the afternoon playing in Carly’s diamond heist maze. Matt and Derek plan to return the next weekend to create a new one. Derek has clearly made a new friend in Carly.

Derek’s last week of Learning Camp is loose and easy. He spends the time reading the book with Ms. Williams’ notes in it, and in doing so earns him the company of Margot and several other kids. When he finishes a chapter, Margot asks him questions about what he visualized. Derek wonders whether the other kids envision something different or the same. As camp ends, Margot tells Derek, “That imagination of yours can really help you. Make sure you use it” (198).

When camp is over, Derek spends a day with Michael and Pedro animating his drawings. Michael burns them onto a DVD for Derek so that he can show his dad. Afterward, Michael shows Derek a video of Pedro while he was training to be a helper. In learning how to flick a light switch on and off, Pedro makes several mistakes but eventually gets it right. The same is true when Pedro learns how to turn on a DVD player. Michael comments that monkeys are highly adaptable, and Derek finds himself cheering on the young Pedro, knowing he’ll soon master each task. Metaphorically seeing himself in Pedro, Derek concludes that “maybe evolving is what we’re all supposed to do—all of us, all the time” (201). He’s renewed and filled with a sense of hope that he too can learn, and this is a completely different attitude toward learning than he had when summer began.

Derek spends the last week of summer building a new maze with Carly and Matt, skateboarding, learning animation with his dad, and walking dogs with his mom. The time goes by fast, and soon summer is almost over. Derek and his parents go to a Japanese restaurant and enjoy their evening out despite Derek’s usual mischievous antics. Derek says he wishes the summer would never end and realizes that he has yet to finish the book from Ms. Williams.

The “Day of Torture” (206), or Derek’s first day of school, arrives. He says goodbye to Bodi and continues to wear the necklace that Lauren gave him. Derek notices that many of his classmates look different and finds himself warming up to Ms. Williams more: “I guess things could be worse than having a teacher who plays softball, loves dogs, and appreciates rock and roll” (207). Finally, it’s time for Derek to present his book report from the summer. He goes to the front of the room, and when he’s asked if he read three books, he admits that he only read one. He’s proud to reveal an animation that he drew and that he and his father then animated together. The animation explains the book Derek read, one about a boy and his pet dog. When Ms. Williams quizzes Derek on literary features like characterization, plot, and setting, Derek knows every answer. Ms. Williams is impressed. Derek then tells the class how he realizes now “that even if reading is hard, everyone needs stories” (209). He feels as if stories surrounded him all summer long, including those of Pedro, Susan, and Lauren. He reveals that he “even met a woman who told herself a story about why her daughter died […] to help her deal with the pain” (210). Derek realizes the importance of learning and feels that it’s part of human nature to want to learn. He feels proud of his project until the next classmate ironically outperforms him with a presentation that includes her own music, a slideshow, and a hand-sewn dress. The novel concludes with this final moment of humor.