34 pages • 1 hour read
Ron RoyThe Absent Author
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1997A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
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BetaChapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
The story begins in Dink Duncan’s bedroom, where he is frantically getting ready to go to a book signing at the Book Nook, a local bookstore. Dink’s full name is David Donald Duncan, but only his mother calls him that. He lives in a small town in Connecticut called Green Lawn. Dink’s best friend, Josh, is watching him get ready. Josh asks what is so important about the writer Dink is going to see. Dink tells Josh that Wallis Wallace is his favorite mystery writer and that he’s very famous. Dink tries to convince Josh to come with him because he is nervous to meet someone who is so famous. Dink has been in communication with Wallis Wallace and has invited the author to hold a book signing in Green Lawn. Josh jokes that he’ll go in exchange for Dink’s guinea pig but then agrees to go anyway.
The two boys remove 23 Wallis Wallace books from the shelf and begin placing them into Dink’s backpack so that the author can sign them. Josh notices that the back cover of one of the books, entitled The Poisoned Pond, says that Wallace lives in a castle in Maine. Both boys talk about wanting to live in a castle one day—Dink as a famous writer and Josh as a famous artist. Neither boy is sure what the author looks like, though Dink mailed Wallace a picture of himself. Josh tells Dink that he will draw Wallace at the bookstore. Dink looks at his watch and realizes that they are running behind.
The boys run next door to get their friend Ruth Rose, who also loves Wallace’s books. She has also brought along a book to have signed. The children wonder whether Wallace will read from his latest book. Dink says that Wallace’s letter mentioned doing research for his book while in Connecticut. Dink reads the letters to his friends. The letter says very little beyond thanking Dink for sending a picture. Wallace’s signature is loopy.
When the children arrive at the bookshop, they peer in the window. Dink sees a big white table with a “welcome” sign, but Wallis Wallace is nowhere to be seen.
Chapter 2 Summary
Dink runs inside with his two friends on his heels, only three minutes behind schedule. They ask a boy named Tommy Tonko where the author is, but Tommy tells them that the author has not arrived. Tommy thinks the Book Nook owner, Mr. Paskey, looks worried. Mr. Paskey announces that Wallis Wallace should be arriving soon and asks how many people want their book signed. Everyone raises their hands and cheers. Dink notices that Wallis Wallace is five minutes late. After waiting for over 15 minutes, the crowd starts to get nervous. Ruth Rose begins to read. Dink reads over his letter from Wallis Wallace. The letter says that the only thing that will stop him from coming is being kidnapped. This leads Dink to worry that the author has been kidnapped. Mr. Paskey apologizes and announces that the event is over. Ruth Rose and Josh leave the shop, but Dink reads over the letter again before joining his friends outside. He tells them his theory that Wallis Wallace has been kidnapped. Dink thinks that if Wallis Wallace was kidnapped, it is his own fault for inviting the author to his town.
Chapter 3 Summary
Ruth Rose and Josh can’t believe Dink’s kidnapping theory. Suddenly, they notice that a woman whom Dink previously saw in the Book Nook is watching them. The woman has brown hair and a neat bun with half-glasses. She wears all brown except for a red scarf and has a book with a moose on the cover under her arm. She asks if she heard correctly that Wallis Wallace has been kidnapped and introduces herself as Mavis Green. The children introduce themselves. Mavis pulls out a letter Wallis Wallace wrote to her the week prior. The children read over the letter. In it, Wallis Wallace tells Mavis that he thinks he’s being followed. He said that he looks forward to having lunch with her after the signing.
The four of them discuss why someone might want to kidnap Wallis Wallace, speculating that it could be for his wealth. At that moment, the cops walk toward them. Dink recognizes Officer Fallon, the grandfather of Jimmy, one of the boys at the book signing. Ruth suggests showing the letter to the police officer. Officer Fallon hears them talking about kidnapping and asks about it. He reads over the letters but says it’s more likely that Wallis Wallace missed his flight. Jimmy runs out and together he and Officer Fallon walk off to get ice cream.
Dink, still worried about his culpability for the author’s disappearance, suggests looking for Wallis Wallace in the Book Nook. Mavis asks to join them. Mr. Paskey looks nervous when they go back inside. They tell him their theory, and he tells them not to jump to conclusions. Dink tells him about the two letters. Mr. Paskey shows the children Wallace’s itinerary: Wallace was to fly in at seven o’clock at night, meet a driver from Lawrence Taxi Service, go to the Hotel Shangri-la, sign books at 11 o’clock the next morning, have lunch, and then leave on a 4:30 pm flight. Mr. Paskey lets Dink keep the itinerary. Dink draws circles around the words “airport,” “taxi,” “hotel,” and “Book Nook” and tells his friends that he plans to search the route along which Wallis Wallace disappeared.
Chapters 1-3 Analysis
The opening chapters provide exposition regarding Dink, his friends, and the small town of Green Lawn in which they live. The story is told from a third-person limited perspective, meaning that the narrator is not one of the characters but knows Dink’s thoughts and feelings. This is important to Roy’s goal of modeling the investigative thought process for readers who are unfamiliar with mystery stories. Dink himself is presented as a mystery novel enthusiast, establishing his credentials in this respect. By contrast, Josh is his mischievous best friend who goes to the book signing because Dink is nervous. Roy uses this relationship to explore The Importance of Teamwork in Overcoming Challenges. Another friend, Ruth Rose, is brave and intelligent and also loves to read. Roy therefore conveys The Value of Reading both through the plot of his story and the personalities of the characters. These characters model not only how to apply knowledge gained from reading to solve a mystery but also how to engage with texts in an inquisitive way.
The nervous excitement the characters begin with is heightened at the Book Nook when the author doesn’t arrive, which sets the stage for the mystery. Dink blames himself for the author’s disappearance, prompting readers to question whether he bears responsibility for whatever happened to the author: “Dink felt guilty. If he hadn’t invited Wallis Wallace to Green Lawn, his favorite author would be safe at home in his castle in Maine. But Dink couldn’t help feeling excited too. He felt like a detective from one of Wallis Wallace’s books!” (31). Dink senses that his relationship with Wallace is the reason for the author’s mysterious disappearance, which turns out to be correct, though not in the way Dink initially suspects. This assumption of responsibility encourages Dink to undertake the investigation. Author Wallis Wallace uses Dink’s love for mystery novels to create a new, more immersive mystery, just as Roy gives his readers the tools to solve the mysteries in his books.
There are several examples of foreshadowing throughout the story. Foreshadowing is a common device in the mystery genre in which the author hints at something that is going to happen in the future. The first major instance of foreshadowing comes when Dink is going over his letter from Wallace before setting out for the Book Nook. He notices that the author mentions that if he doesn’t arrive, he might have been kidnapped. The detail suggests that something nefarious is about to happen. Another staple of the mystery genre occurs when Dink’s friends are distracted by a mysterious character, Mavis, who shows up with her own letter. This is an example of a common mystery trope in which one character is disguised as another character, though the children (and reader) do not know it at the time.
In a mystery, every description and observation of the characters may be important. Mr. Paskey continues to wipe sweat from his head and seems increasingly nervous, which invites both the characters and readers to doubt his honesty. This atmosphere of suspicion is an important aspect of mystery stories. Ron Roy includes details about each character that are meant to direct this suspicion in various channels. Some prove significant while others serve as misdirection, but through the inclusion of these details, Roy highlights The Value of Observation in Problem-Solving. The details also associate each character with a few key traits, such as Mavis’s all-brown outfit, red scarf, and moose backpack. There are several characters in this section of the book that never come up again in the story, but by creating a memorable sketch of each figure, Roy suggests each one might be important, widening the pool of suspects.
