72 pages • 2 hours read
Rodman PhilbrickZane and the Hurricane
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2014A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 13-18Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 13 Summary: “When It Can’t Get Worse”
The companions shelter for the night in the dry, second-floor apartment of Tru’s friend Della, who is out of town. Tru promises to reunite Zane with family the following day. Tru explains he is temporarily taking care of Malvina because her mom is in the hospital. Malvina gets angry when Zane asks what is wrong with her mom and angrier when Zane apologizes.
Zane shares his own story. Tru respects Miss Trissy, and when Zane mentions Gerald, Tru admits that he “knew of him” (67). Both Zane and Malvina were born after their fathers died. Malvina wonders if New Hampshire has “processions,” or jazz funerals. These parades, which celebrate the deceased, are led by a first line of family mourners, followed by a brass band, and then a second line of dancers. The procession is solemn on the way to the cemetery and joyful on the return. Tru plays trumpet in many processions. Zane thinks the concept of dancing at a funeral is weird. As night falls, Tru and Zane bring the canoe into the apartment for safety. Zane does not understand why until he hears gunfire outside.
Chapter 14 Summary: “In the Dark of the World”
Tru thinks the gunshots are probably nothing to worry about but does not want to take a chance. Tru asks Malvina to blow out the candle she had lit so the shooters outside cannot pinpoint where they are. Tru declares they are on their own, because for whatever reason (whether they evacuated, or did not want to come to this neighborhood, or just have not arrived yet) there are no police or firefighters to help them. Malvina is confident Tru will take care of them, and Tru promises to do his best. From the windows, they watch a partially submerged house burn down. Complete darkness descends when the fire burns out. Malvina, afraid of the gunfire, sleeps on a mattress in the closet. Zane offers to help Tru keep watch, but Tru tells him to get some rest. Zane tries to comforts Bandy, then falls into confused dreams of his mom, Grammy, his father and uncle, and being in the canoe pursued by clouds.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Snake City”
Malvina wants to remain in the apartment, but Tru thinks it is unsafe. They fill the canoe with supplies and leave to find land, or at least a phone so Tru can call his cousin Belinda and see if her home is dry. Coast Guard helicopters fly overhead. They pass other survivors in boats, and wave but do not engage. Bandy sits silently in Zane’s lap, and Zane wonders if Bandy smells all the death amidst the other terrible odors. Malvina hopes to get a message to her mom. Malvina describes personal landmarks of the sunken neighborhood: a store, a hair salon, and the home of two friends. Malvina tells a string of jokes and even though they’re terrible, her delivery makes Zane laugh. Tru explains Malvina wants to be a stand-up comic. Zane compares Malvina to a sparkler: fun to play with even though the sparks burn when they land on you. A mass of snakes appears in the water, terrifying Zane. One sharp-toothed snake crawls inside the canoe, but Tru uses the paddle to toss it back into the water.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Smoke on the Water”
Although Tru reassures Zane about the snakes, Zane realizes that Tru also fears them. They approach a school building, where the water becomes shallower, and they smell the tantalizing aroma of barbeque. Tru scopes out the situation. Zane notices that Tru is limping and in pain, but Tru says he merely “bumped” his foot. Tru leads Zane and Malvina behind the school where a crowd of survivors is grilling up the cafeteria food. People welcome them and offer them plates of food. Tru learns that the phones are still out and most of the city is flooded. Tru is angry that no one fixed ever the levees. The survivors have not seen any sign of help or rescue. People give Bandy treats and take the opportunity to talk to Zane, whom they are curious about. As Malvina and Zane relax and eat, Zane realizes they have become good friends. Zane thinks things are looking up until a large, scary man wearing sunglasses and gold chains greets Malvina, and comments about her mother. Malvina is frightened.
Chapter 17 Summary: “Bad Trouble”
Zane compares Malvina’s reaction to that of a doe he surprised one day; Malvina freezes like she wishes she were invisible. Tru tells the man he is scaring Malvina. The man recognizes Tru and says he is just commenting it is too bad her mother is not there to care for her. Tru knows Malvina’s mom worked for this man, but the man says they just did favors for each other. He was wondering what happened to Malvina. Malvina is silent. Tru asks what he wants, and the man announces that he, Dylan Toomey, just wants to do them a favor and give them a dry place and look after them. Tru appears to agree, but when Toomey goes to refill his plate, Tru tells Zane and Malvina they are in “bad trouble.” Tru creates a diversion, pretending to trip and knocking over a grill, while Malvina, Bandy, and Zane rush to the canoe. Tru runs to join them. As they paddle away, Toomey appears at water’s edge, smiles, and promises he will see them again.
Chapter 18 Summary: “Come Hell and High Water”
They paddle into a hidden spot between some sunken debris and Tru tells Malvina it is time to tell Zane the truth, since he is “part of it now” (93). Malvina pets Bandy, avoiding Zane’s look, then explains her mom is an addict who was arrested and sent to rehab. Tru declares that Malvina’s mom loves her, and rehab will be successful “this time.” Malvina does not believe him. Tru explains that Toomey is a local drug lord who gave drugs to Malvina’s mom. She was arrested for possession but sent to rehab instead of prison. Toomey worries that she may give the police info on Toomey’s drug operation and name his teenage dope dealers. Zane thinks maybe Toomey was being helpful by offering them safety, but Tru says that Toomey wants to use Malvina thinking she will not talk to police if she is under his control. Malvina cries silently. Tru drily informs Zane that he “dint get rescued by no Red Cross!” (95).
Chapters 13-18 Analysis
After an initial period of being on their own, the trio and Bandy encounter other survivors, with both good and bad consequences. Philbrick introduces a new antagonist, Dylan Toomey, and we learn more about Malvina’s family background. The theme of the importance of family and its impact on the current generation continues to build in this section. Family, together with language and sense of place, are significant influences on Malvina and Zane’s self-perception. Also in these chapters, Malvina and Zane’s friendship deepens, and Philbrick begins to explore issues of racial disparity more deeply.
Family connections are important to Tru, who observes that Malvina and Zane share similar family situations: their moms are both absent and their fathers both died before they were born. Malvina and Zane greet these observations with defensive silence and shrugs. Their unwillingness to talk about absent family reveals both resentment and vulnerability. Both long for family love and connection. Zane is curious about his father despite his protestations to the contrary; he dreams of Gerald and James flying like Superman. Malvina remembers her mother taking her to the pool when she was little, but years of addiction make Malvina doubt her mother’s love. For both Zane and Malvina, fractured family has impacted their self-esteem.
Malvina’s sense of self is tied to her New Orleans roots. Paddling through the sunken neighborhood, Malvina describes locations based on her personal connections to them. She sees memories of people and friends and families in each of the submerged buildings, revealing how formative the neighborhood was to her childhood. Shared linguistic roots also contribute to Malvina’s sense of self. She and others in the neighborhood speak with the same dialect, while Malvina thinks Zane “talks funny.”
Zane is an outsider in the neighborhood. At the cookout, he is self-conscious and feels different from the other survivors. He thinks that they are “probably wondering what a light-skinned New Hampshire boy is doing in this particular neighborhood, with these particular people” (86). In addition to feeling out of place for his skin color, Zane also does not share their language or community ties, and he continues to hold his family history a distance. Zane begins to see that family ties are key to community connection. When others do not recognize his relation to Miss Trissy or Gerald, they lose interest in him.
Though Zane’s friendship with Malvina blossoms, and he opens himself emotionally to her, finding a shared understanding and sense of humor, Zane still holds back from getting too involved: He thinks that what Tru and Malvina talk about is “not my business” and envisions being home and telling his friends back home about his exciting adventures (77). Dylan Toomey’s arrival changes Zane’s relationship with Tru and Malvina; he can no longer set himself apart. Tru tells him, “You part of it now, like or not” (93).
While Zane finds Toomey pleasant and potentially helpful, Tru, Malvina and the others at the cookout know better. Toomey asks Tru, “You awares who I am, old man?” making sure Tru is aware of his wealth, physical power, and his reputation (90) Toomey calls Tru “old” and “the trumpety man,” belittling Tru and subtly asserting his dominance (91). The others at the cookout carefully avoid offending Toomey. The conflict between Toomey and the friends will continue to build as the story continues.
Even though she knows Toomey is a “gangsta,” Malvina insists that her mother would never “snitch” and give information about him to the police. She would be loyal to Toomey and the neighborhood rather than the police authority. Malvina’s comment reflects the economically challenged neighborhood’s attitude of mistrust towards police and those in power. This trust appears to be well-founded based on the lack of response to the natural disaster. Tru suggests that one reason no help has arrived may be that the police do not want to go into their neighborhood, and the reader may infer the police are fearful, racially biased, or both. Survivors at the school agree that no help is coming. Their attitude reveals the underlying belief that those in power cannot be trusted to help or protect them.
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