Across The Desert

Compare Jo’s solo progress on the quest to find Addie to her progress accomplished with Marty. How does the mood compare between these journey stages?

Jo faces external conflicts with others’ indifference to her concerns about Addie and internal conflicts regarding her mother’s secret addiction. What additional character conflicts can be inferred by the author’s mentions of school bullying directed at Jo?

How does the placement of the direct message conversations impact the reader’s knowledge and comprehension of plot events? If the author had chosen to relay all direct messages chronologically, how might the overall tone of the narrative change?