102 pages • 3 hours read
April HenryA 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.
Alexis, Nick, and Ruby exemplify how friendship can exist beyond different ethnic or socioeconomic backgrounds. The three teenagers bond through shared experiences. The initial search for Bobby Balog forces them to work together, while their emotional ups and downs during the murder investigation allow them to understand each other’s strengths and weaknesses, arriving at an atmosphere of trust and support.
Once Alexis, Nick, and Ruby know they can trust each other, they are capable of much more than any of them would be alone. Ruby’s problem-solving skills would be nothing without Alexis’s ability to confirm her conjectures by talking to people face to face. Nick would not be able to prove himself a hero without having Alexis as backup. And Alexis would never get to see herself as prepared and dependable without the need to protect her new friends from the dangerous killer.
The close relationships Alexis, Nick, and Ruby form—as well as their eventual reconciliation with their parents—offers a strong contrast to the sociopathic loner Becker, whose lack of empathy and chosen isolation paint him as a truly monstrous person.
Plus, gain access to 8,450+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features:
By April Henry
Fear
View Collection
Friendship
View Collection
Mental Illness
View Collection
Mortality & Death
View Collection
Popular Study Guides
View Collection
Poverty & Homelessness
View Collection
Psychology
View Collection
Realistic Fiction (High School)
View Collection
Safety & Danger
View Collection
Sexual Harassment & Violence
View Collection
Teams & Gangs
View Collection
Trust & Doubt
View Collection
YA Horror, Thrillers, & Suspense
View Collection
YA Mystery & Crime
View Collection