47 pages • 1 hour read
Across The Desert
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Chapters 22-27Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 22 Summary
This chapter begins with direct messages from “3 Days Ago” (204). Addie says she flies to feel closer to her father since it was an interest they shared. Jo says she sometimes feels her mother is not able to care about topics she discusses. Addie tells Jo she (Addie) will be there for her anytime.
Jo sees Addie’s ultralight as soon as she crests the rise. Addie crashed into a boulder; she is trapped in the seat. Her legs are crushed and numb, but she says they hurt when she first crashed, so Marty does not think she is paralyzed. Addie is out of water and badly sunburned on her face and neck. Addie tells them her real name: Adelaide Chapman. Marty calls 911, but the cell phone dies. Addie’s phone is smashed, so they cannot use it. Jo gives Addie water and introduces herself.
Chapter 23 Summary
Jo and Marty pull the ultralight away from the boulder as Addie screams in pain. She is wearing jeans, and the fabric is bloodied. Addie is too weak to hold on to Marty when Marty tries to carry her, so Jo and Marty push her in the ultralight to a nearby mine entrance. This takes so long that Jo realizes pushing Addie back to the café in the plane would be unrealistic and dangerous.
Marty and Jo carry Addie into the mine, and though Addie is light, Jo realizes they cannot carry her back either. They plot how to proceed once inside the shade of the mine entryway. Addie draws a new route on Jo’s map that is level and writes down her mother’s name and phone number in case she loses consciousness. Addie tries to eat a prune and drink Ensure but vomits. Jo has the idea to use the ultralight’s fabric and wheels to make a stretcher “like one of those roller suitcases” (223) they can use for Addie.
Chapter 24 Summary
Marty and Jo take the fabric wings from the ultralight; they use Addie’s tool kit from the pilot’s seat to unbolt the frame; Marty uses a shovel from inside the mine to beat apart the wing bars. They fashion a stretcher with the plane’s fabric and bars, then use the wheels from under the seat to support the end of the stretcher. Recalling her mother’s rescue from the car after the accident, Jo has the idea of adding straps to keep Addie from sliding painfully when they elevate the stretcher. Waiting for dark, they play two truths and lie. Marty soon asks Addie why she takes the plane up alone. Addie says it is a way to still feel close to her father. Jo bolsters their spirits by mentioning Ynéz Mexía, a botanist who traveled to remote places like South America. They try to rest.
Chapter 25 Summary
This chapter begins with direct messages from “2 Days Ago” (236). The girls discuss the qualities of good friends. Jo explains that she doesn’t see her best friend anymore (Benjamin) and that if she had a best friend, she (Jo) would be highly dependable.
When Jo wakes, it is dark. Addie is feverish and non-responsive; Marty says Addie may have an infection along with heatstroke. They consider one staying with Addie and one trekking out for help, but Jo thinks it is too risky. Marty is filled with doubts and voices them, but Jo reminds Marty that she (Jo) walked all night, avoided rattlesnakes and coyotes, and found Addie; she is confident they can maneuver out of the desert with Addie.
Chapter 26 Summary
They set out, stopping for Jo to check the map trail occasionally in the moonlight. Birds scare them; Marty backs into a cactus, getting a cholla ball stuck in her calf. Jolene uses her sock to grasp it and pull it out. Concerning questions creep into Jo’s mind: “What if our stretcher falls apart? What if we run out of water?” (245). She realizes that true explorers face similar doubts; this motivates her to continue. After several hours of slow progress, Marty sees lights in the distance.
Chapter 27 Summary
On the porch of Flipside Café, Jo charges the cell phone using an outside receptacle. She calls Addie’s mother; frantic, Mrs. Chapman calls for an ambulance. Marty calls her parents next. An ambulance arrives, waking people in the RV park nearby, and takes Addie, leaving Jo and Marty behind. Addie reaches out to Jolene as the paramedics pull her away. Jo tells Addie to be brave.
Chapters 22-27 Analysis
In this section, Jo’s external conflict comes to a close. The highest point of suspense with Jo’s mission regarding Addie—and the culmination of the quest to find and save her—occurs as Jo and Marty pull her to safety through the dangerous, dark desert. As the narrative approaches this first climax, a significant shift in Jo’s character arc occurs. Whereas Marty served increasingly as a mentor up to the moment Jo finds Addie, Marty’s strength (emotionally, psychologically, and physically) ebbs once they arrive at the mine. Consequently, Jo steps up as an optimist and leader—markedly new roles for her. Jo recognizes that Marty may be experiencing doubts due to their circumstances: “‘I don’t know,’ says Marty, appearing on the verge of tears. She’s never seemed so anxious. She usually seems so in control” (223). Jo becomes both more stubbornly insistent and more optimistic about their chances for success, enumerating the dangers and obstacles she faced in the last 24 hours before boldly and flatly proclaiming “I can do this” (240).
In these pivotal moments, Jo also tells Marty and Addie about Ynéz Mexía, another strong female adventurer who inspires her; Jo’s choice to share one of her inspirations in attempting to boost the girls’ spirits demonstrates positivity and her ability to lead, furthering her Personal Growth Through Adversity. Additionally, Jo shows that she is growing to trust others in these chapters, sharing more about her background and fears with Addie and Marty. Her choices in the two truths and a lie game, for example, show that she trusts the other girls with deeply personal thoughts about herself: She would love braces to fix her crooked teeth, and she wants to write or illustrate for a travel publication as a career. Her admissions demonstrate a more positive outlook on the future as well as greater trust in others.
Jo’s actions and words after saving Addie echo her earlier bursts of forward momentum in developing the theme of Believing in Oneself Despite Others’ Doubts. Unlike earlier actions, however, Jo’s self-awareness and self-assurance are now discernible, as she no longer acts on blind faith in her suspicion but on a defined plan and path, commenting to herself in interior monologue: “This feels impossible now, but you never know what’s truly possible until you do it” (224). This renewed belief in herself foreshadows Jo’s actions regarding her mother in the last chapter section, as she feels incapable of helping her mother up to this point but will return home and manage the “impossible” task of revealing the secret addiction.
Though Addie’s personality and background were introduced throughout direct messages heading certain chapters, her characterization is more evident and impactful in Jo’s presence once she enters the real-time narrative. Addie is grateful for Marty and Jo and penitent that her impulsive actions caused a threat to her and others’ survival. Addie’s presence immediately changes the dynamics between Marty and Jo as well; the two table their discussion about Jo’s mother since the priority is Addie’s survival. When Jo next turns her attention to that conflict, she will have benefitted from meeting Addie and saving her.
The theme of The Impact of Technology on Modern Quests is also prevalent in the lead-up to this climax; Jo finds Addie, but the cell phone they relied on to call for help promptly dies. Without technology, the girls must all work together spontaneously and use “old-fashioned” tools and brainstorming to save themselves. Addie’s knowledge of the area and confidence regarding an unmarked trail is invaluable in planning the route back to the cafe; Jo’s map and flow of good ideas—many, ironically, inspired by memories of her mother’s care from first responders after the car crash—provide the path and the stretcher; Marty’s continued selflessness and endurance help Jo carry Addie to safety. Once back at the Flipside Café and within reach of other people, the cell phone is strictly a communication tool, not a lifeline to survival. The girls themselves prove more valuable than technology.
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