64 pages • 2 hours read
Marieke NijkampThis Is Where It Ends
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 1-3Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary
Chapter 1 follows the four different perspectives of high schoolers Claire, Tomas, Autumn, and Sylv, who each narrate parts of This Is Where It Ends. The chapter traces each character from 10:00-10:01 a.m., as Principal Trenton concludes her “long and arduous start-of-semester speech” (1) to students at Opportunity High.
Claire, a senior, is at track practice. Autumn, who deeply misses her deceased mother, is with her girlfriend, Sylv, and they lament the corny assembly. Sylv’s twin brother, Tomas, the self-recognized school bad-boy, is breaking into Trenton’s office, with his friend Fareed, to steal student records, in the name of protecting Sylv. Footsteps approach the principal’s office, scaring the boys, but move on. “It is another Monday” Sylv thinks to herself, “life goes on” (7). The chapter concludes with a series of tweets between Claire and a student who cut school.
Chapter 2 Summary
Chapter 2 follows the four narrators from 10:02-10:04 a.m. in the minutes following Trenton’s speech. As students make their way towards the doors, Autumn and Sylv get into a discussion with another girl, Asha, who Autumn thinks “isn’t one of us” (16). The girls talk, and reminisce, about Autumn’s mother, principal ballerina for the Royal Ballet. Autumn announces she’s applying to Juilliard for dance, prompting Sylv’s guilt. Sylv has been accepted to Brown University and lies when Autumn asks her about it.
In this chapter, Nijkamp develops tension between Sylv and Autumn, while at the same time introducing the arc of their relationship. Sylv reflects on how for months she has sent out audition applications for Autumn, characterizing the tenderness and care the girls show for one another.
Claire continues running at track practice, working to improve her strategy. As she runs, she talks with Chris. Their interactions suggest Claire likes Chris as a potential boyfriend, but she remains caught up on her ex, Tyler.
Meanwhile, Tomas discovers that Tyler Browne, the student whose files Tomas is after, scored a 2140 on his SAT. Here, Nijkamp creates suspense and mystery around why Tomas is searching for Tyler’s records.
Chapter 3 Summary
This brief chapter covers 10:04-10:05 a.m., when the students realize they are locked in the auditorium and a gunman opens fire. Sylv sees “blond locks peek out from under a black knit cap” (30). Then she sees someone's raised arm and notices a gun. The figure addresses Principal Trenton, then “points the weapon at her, and his finger curls around the trigger. Then he fires” (30).
Chapters 1-3 Analysis
Spanning five minutes, the first three chapters introduce the four different characters that narrate This Is Where It Ends. Chapter 1 opens as Principal Trenton’s start of the semester speech begins and Chapter 3 concludes with a gunman opening fire on students and teachers locked in the crowded auditorium.
In addition to establishing the episodic fast pace of the book, Nijkamp establishes tension and individual character arcs, creating suspension and raising questions the book will explore. Claire misses her ex. Tomas is the rebellious caring type whose bad behavior presents a position where he is not in the auditorium during the shooting, raising questions about how he will react. Autumn suffers deep longing, and Nijkamp develops tension around this longing by creating a situation where Sylv, her girlfriend, lies to Autumn in order to protect Autumn. Sylv has been accepted to Brown University, and wonders, in regard to Autumn, “what can I tell her […] [t]hat I have the ticket out of town she’s been longing for?” (22).
