84 pages • 2 hours read
Katherine ApplegateCrenshaw
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2015A 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 32-36Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 32 Summary
Jackson considers Crenshaw’s return to be a sign that “the moving, the craziness,” and “even the homelessness” might be coming back (145). He tries to convince himself to “make the best of it” but can’t help thinking about everything he will miss if the family is uprooted again (145). His school principal has called Jackson an “old soul,” and Jackson reflects that he often feels like “the most grown-up” person in his family, which is why he feels his parents should be honest with him (147).
Jackson recalls an incident the previous fall when a raccoon entered their apartment through an open window in the middle of the night. Aretha had begun barking, and the family ran into the kitchen to find a raccoon eating the dog’s food. Sara frantically called 9-1-1. Robin brought out her doll’s baby carriage, “in case the raccoon wanted to go for a ride,” eliciting alarm from Sara (147). Tom tried to scare the raccoon away by playing an “earsplitting screechy sound” on his electric guitar (148). Finally, Jackson took charge, whistling to get his family’s attention then ordering them to sit on the couch. He opened the front door, and the raccoon eventually ambled out the door. Jackson notes that he has recently been feeling the need “to be on alert for the next raccoon invasion” (149).
Chapter 33 Summary
On Saturday morning, Jackson wakes up to his father making pancakes and bacon for breakfast. Robin informs Jackson that their father has sold the family’s TV to Marisol’s father, who wanted to watch the Giants baseball game but whose TV was broken. Jackson wonders how he and Tom will watch the game, and Tom replies that they will “Best Buy it” (152). Robin complains that Aretha enjoyed watching Curious George. Tom explains that the show began as a book, then adds that the family “needs to spend more quality time together,” adding that “[t]oo much TV rots your brain” (153).
When Tom asks Jackson why his friends have not come around lately, Jackson explains that they are doing soccer camp. Tom apologizes for not being able to swing the cost, and Jackson replies that he is “kind of growing out of soccer” anyway (154). He looks down at the pancakes he has been aggressively slicing and notices the pieces spell Crenshaw’s name. Unsure if he is imagining it, he quickly gulps them down “before anyone could notice” (155).
Chapter 34 Summary
Before going to Best Buy, Jackson and his father stop at the bank, where Jackson grabs two free lollipops, one for himself and one for Robin. He reflects that he is lucky to live in Northern California because it’s beautiful and has many places to find free food—farmers’ markets, grocery stores, even the hardware store, which gives out free small bags of popcorn on Saturdays. He notes that it’s easier to be hungry in winter than summer, since school provides free breakfast and lunch and sometimes snacks. Summer school was cancelled due to lack of funding, which means going without breakfast and lunch when school is out. Free food is also available at the community center. Jackson’s father does not like to go there, claiming he “doesn’t want to take food from people who really need it,” though Jackson suspects he does like to see the “tired and sad” people on line (159).
At Best Buy, they watch the game on “two long rows of TVs,” all of which are tuned in to the Giants came (159). Many others, clerks included, watch along with Jackson and his father. In the fourth inning, Jackson sees that one of the announcers on his screen is Crenshaw. He looks at the other screens, but they all have two human announcers. He asks his father if he noticed a giant cat, standing on its head, and his father thinks Jackson is joking. He ruffles Jackson’s hair, then looks at him closely and asks if he is feeling okay with everything “being a little crazy lately” (162). Jackson assures him everything is fine.
Chapter 35 Summary
After the game, Tom drives them to a pet store to pick up food for Aretha. He sends Jackson into the store, reminding him to buy the cheapest, smallest bag. Walking through the store, Jackson comes across a dog cookie display and impulsively pockets a cookie shaped like a cat. Further down the aisle, a clerk is cleaning a puddle made by a customer’s puppy. Unsure whether the clerk saw him take the cookie, Jackson stops to chat and share dog facts. He forces himself to make eye contact with the clerk and asks where to find dog chow. As he talks with the little boy with the puppy, Jackson puts his hand in his pocket and feels the cookie. His eyes burn and blur as he heads for the dog chow.
Chapter 36 Summary
Jackson explains that other than an incident with a yo-yo when he was 5, he had never stolen until the previous spring and was surprised to discover that he was good at it. The dog cookie was his fourth time shoplifting. His first time was stealing food for Robin. The family had stopped at a Safeway grocery store so Robin could use the restroom. She wanted to eat, but Sara told her to wait until later. While they went to the restroom, Jackson strolled the aisles. When he saw the Gerber baby food section, he pocketed two jars of chicken and rice, which Robin liked, despite being 5 years old. At home, he “pretended to find the jars in the back of the cupboard,” to Robin and Sara’s delight (171).
He feels bad for stealing but even more so for lying. At the same time, he reasons that he has solved a problem. Robin eats the food so quickly that she throws it up on one of Jackson’s books, which he suspects “was [his] punishment (172).
Chapters 32-36 Analysis
Part 3 begins with Chapter 32. These chapters explore the strain poverty exerts on Jackson, and on the family dynamics. Part of Jackson’s anxiety stems from his inability to talk about his family’s financial problems. He fears that talking about it will somehow cause it to recur. In an effort to minimize anxiety, his parents—and especially Tom—tend to downplay the issues, which ends up having the opposite effect. Jackson is reading the signs but not receiving validation for understanding what is happening, which increases his anxiety. He fears that Crenshaw’s reappearance is a harbinger of financial hardships, and it is, in the sense that his reemergence results from Jackson recognizing the signs that preceded their previous experience being homeless. As his anxiety increases, Jackson needs the comfort that Crenshaw’s presence provides.
Jackson’s sense of himself as rooted in facts and truth makes him feel like the most grown-up person in his family. His evidence also lies in his experience solving the problem of the raccoon. While his father took dramatic action, trying to scare the raccoon away, and his mother called for help, Jackson simply opened the door, allowing the raccoon to escape. Jackson says that he fears more raccoon invasions, meaning more problems that only he can solve. This reflects his fear that his parents are failing him, that there is something else they should be doing, that only he can save his family. This, in turn, compels him to shoplift. Though he believes it’s wrong and feels guilty for lying, he also feels that he has solved the problem of Robin’s hunger.
Jackson’s impression that his parents are failing him is not reasonable in that the family’s financial problems result from a confluence of unpredictable events—his father’s MS diagnosis, his mother being laid off, Aretha’s veterinary bills. Even when Jackson can accept the complications involved, he still wants to feel safe. His father’s shame stems from feeling that he cannot provide that safety for his family, despite his best efforts and through no fault of his own.
The narrative makes clear that there are no easy solutions. Tom and Sara try to shield their children as Jackson tries to shield Robin, but eventually, the situation must be confronted. It’s not fair, but it is their reality. Knowing their situation could be worse—they could live in a cold climate, they could have been homeless for years—does not change that their situation is difficult for them. Similarly, telling themselves that their personal effects are just things that can be replaced does not change that it hurts to lose those things. Both story and fact can at times be comforting and at times be painful.
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