51 pages 1 hour read

The Sea in Winter

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2021

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Chapters 21-30Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 21 Summary: “Ice Machine: February 17”

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death.

At night, Maisie lies awake because her knee is aching. She gets up, finds a plastic bag, and retrieves ice from an ice machine in the walkway. When she returns to the room, Jack has woken up. He asks her how she is, and they sit together in the dark. Jack detects the smell of popcorn from the other room and suggests that they could eat some without Connor and her mother knowing. Jack leaves the room and returns with a bag of popcorn. They share it, and Maisie sees that Jack understands her pain. She thinks to herself that Jack was always like a father to her.

Chapter 22 Summary: “Oblivious II: February 18”

As the family has breakfast in the motel, Maisie watches her family eating and feels nervous again. Jack puts some sausages on her plate, suggesting that she needs to eat. Maisie feels that Jack is oblivious to her “discomfort” because she does not want to eat the sausages. Angie says that she and Connor will go to the store for shoes but that Maisie can stay with Jack. Maisie understands that her mother wants her to rest before their hike.

Chapter 23 Summary: “Changing Weather: February 18”

Maisie receives a text from Eva, who says that Hattie was accepted into a dance school in New York. Maisie feels guilty and thinks that her friendship with Hattie must be over because Hattie did not text her the news.

Jack watches the weather, saying that it might snow. He notes that February is “unpredictable” and says that the weather can change quickly. He suggests that they might miss their hike, and Maisie believes he is saying this for her benefit. However, Jack still looks forward to their visit to Elwha River and wishes that his grandfather had witnessed the removal of the dams. Jack distracts Maisie from her thoughts. She asks him more about the dams. Jack emphasizes that “the health of the river reflected the health of the community” and explains that after the dam was built (128), the people could not fish, and the ecosystem changed. In 2011, the deconstruction of the dams began; it was finished by 2014, and the river was revitalized. Maisie sees another text from Eva but ignores it.

Chapter 24 Summary: “What Am I Doing?: February 18”

Maisie is sleepless again that night and watches the falling snow. She has sent a text to Hattie, but there is no response. In the text, she congratulated Hattie and apologized for not responding to her texts. She also said that she is proud of Hattie and misses her.

Maisie rises from the bed and, without realizing it, starts making ballet moves. She feels that her body is “suddenly bigger.” She turns to the window and continues her dance moves.

Chapter 25 Summary: “An Empty Stomach: February 19”

The next morning, Maisie sees that the storm has passed. Her body feels “twitchy” and her mind is “buzzing” as the family prepares for the hike. Connor wakes up and declares that the day will be great. He makes Maisie’s heart feel “lighter,” and she reflects that he is “the human version of a ray of sunshine” (138). She hopes that he will not become a “human storm cloud” like her (138).

The family drives to Cape Alava Trail for their hike. Maisie’s parents are listening to another political podcast, and Maisie is exasperated. She wants to hear anything but this. However, she says nothing, thinking that they will reprimand her for not paying attention to important matters.

Chapter 26 Summary: “Nursery Stump: February 19”

As Maisie and her family go hiking in the woods, she notices the ground changing and understands that they are approaching the ocean. Her mother shows her a stump, which reminds Maisie of resin and of the trays of resin used in ballet studios for the pointe shoes. Angie says that the stump is called a “nursery stump” because other plants grow out of it. She tells Maisie to listen to the noise of the waves in the distance and then explains that when a mudslide occurred in the area centuries ago, many Makah families were lost. She notes that an earthquake probably caused the mudslide; although the people then did not have the technology that exists today, the story was passed on through the generations.

Chapter 27 Summary: “Petroglyphs: February 19”

The family arrives at the beach. Maisie watches the gray waters and the waves. While Jack and Connor are playing a game, Maisie follows her mother along the shore and observes the beach landscape, taking cautious steps to protect her knee. She sees that her phone has no service.

Maisie and Angie find a big boulder with markings on it. Maisie is impressed by the image of a face with a large torso, as well as other shapes. Angie says that she used to visit this place when she was a child; she used to love searching for rocks with drawings and messages. She reveals that she once wanted to become an archaeologist. Maisie is nervous because she knows her mother’s story. Maisie’s parents were married young, and her father was killed in action before Maisie’s first birthday. Angie could not return to school because she had to work in order to raise Maisie. Now, however, she emphasizes to Maisie that “dreams change” and so do people (149). Connor calls to them from a distance, pointing to a whale in the ocean. The family glimpses it for a brief moment.

Chapter 28 Summary: “Sea Cliffs: February 19”

The family drives North to Neah Bay and reaches the trail at Cape Flattery. Maisie observes the snowy landscape and sees that her mother is taking photos again. Maisie’s shoes slide as they hike, and her knee aches for a moment, but she continues onward, insisting that her leg is fine. They all climb a sea cliff to reach the main viewpoint. The trail leads them to a “balcony” overlooking the ocean, and the area reminds Maisie of a “set piece” from Romeo and Juliet. She feels a “familiar energy” in her toes as she closes her eyes and feels the air. She moves a little farther away in order to be alone and then raises her head to the sky and “daydreams” about dancing again. Suddenly, her foot catches on a root, and she feels pain.

Chapter 29 Summary: “End of the Road II: February 19”

Maisie’s parents run to her as she cries out in pain. Maisie wonders why the pain is so intense and suddenly feels that all her recent recovery and physical therapy have been “erased.” Jack carries her as they return to their car, and Connor is scared. Maisie cannot speak, and her mind “races.” She believes that she will never recover from this latest injury. She thinks of her hard work in ballet, as well as her previous conviction that she had found her vocation. Now, she feels that her dream is ruined.

Chapter 30 Summary: “An Eternity: February 19”

As they reach the top of the trail again, Maisie feels that an “eternity” has passed. Her knee is aching, and she is sure that she will have to return to crutches and more therapy sessions. The prospect of dancing again soon now seems impossible. Maisie feels that she has “ruined” everything: her family’s vacation, her midwinter break, and her own dreams. Maisie tries to calm down as they reach the car, but she cannot. Her mother tries to reassure her that “everything will be ok” (168), but Maisie’s doubts persist.

Chapters 21-30 Analysis

This section of the novel presents new obstacles to Maisie’s efforts at Overcoming Trauma and Loss, for although she finds a measure of spiritual healing in the natural landscape, she must also struggle with the news that her peers have been accepted into dance school, and she feels guilty about breaking contact with her friends and continues to ignore her pain. Her stubborn refusal to contend with unpleasant realities is reflected in her repeated statements: “My knee is fine. Because it is fine. It needs to be fine. I need to be ready for the auditions later this spring. I can’t lose any more time” (128). Maisie still feels like a “human storm cloud” and is unable to control her anguish over being kept from her beloved ballet classes (138). Her isolation and self-blame intensify her anxiety as she grapples with her intensifying distress. However, Day injects a note of hope amid Maisie’s frustration, and as she connects with Jack and becomes more open to her brother’s joy, she understands that her reconnection to her family will provide her with a support system and help her to heal.

As Maisie develops her understanding of Indigenous history and culture, she must also contend with Navigating the Complexities of Indigenous Identity Amid Social Injustice, and much of this struggle takes place in her mind as she recalls her parents’ tragic history. The novel also conveys the hereditary nature of life’s struggles when Maisie feels guilty over the fact that her own presence made her mother’s life more difficult after Maisie’s father was killed in action. As Maisie entertains this misguided sense of guilt, the narrative implies that she, too, is wounded by her father’s death. However, this family trauma is lessened when Maisie finds solace in Jack’s lessons about Indigenous history. His talk about the Elwha River distracts her from her inner distress and sparks her interest, and his descriptions of the dams’ devastating impact on the well-being of Indigenous tribes also conveys the many injustices that her people have had to overcome. As Jack’s grandfather taught him, “the health of the river reflected the health of the community” (128), and when Jack emphasizes that the dam removal brought the river “back to life” (129), this image foreshadows Maisie’s own healing, which is inextricably connected to her rich and complex Indigenous heritage. While trauma shapes Maisie and her family, Day emphasizes the inherent power of the Indigenous traditions that her family embraces; these stories of her ancestors’ resilience and survival also contribute to Maisie’s own personal character.

As Maisie considers these issues, the natural world influences her mental state, and she finds new connections to the landscape of her mother’s homeland. As Maisie and her family continue their trip to the Olympic Peninsula, she carefully observes the environment, grounding herself on the land. As she states,

I make it across the stream and keep following my parents and Connor down the path, deeper into the woods. Closer to the ocean. The ground is soft and marshy, cluttered in the soggy brown muck of decayed leaves, squishy lumps of moss. Everything in this forest is drenched in a cold sweat: the stiff pine needles, the skinny twigs, the leafy ferns (141).

This moment-by-moment description establishes Maisie’s spiritual connection to nature, and her ballet memories reemerge when Angie’s observations about the tree stump remind Maisie of the “resin” used in ballet studios. As she ascends the cliff overlooking the ocean, Maisie compares the experience to a dance piece, feeling revitalized and energized by the “familiar restless energy in [her] toes” (157). Maisie’s feelings indicate that nature can be a source of restoration and renewal. Day also uses this scene to emphasize the crucial role of the natural world within the context of Maisie’s multifaceted Indigenous heritage, suggesting that the protagonist draws energy from these spiritual connections to counteract her inner traumas.

The road trip constitutes a turning point in Maisie’s life by forcing her to confront her trauma, and she also reconnects with her family and finds solace in the natural world. These experiences are designed to offer the girl a foundation of support that will help her overcome the sudden setback of a new, more devastating knee injury that adds new challenges to her healing journey. As her physical pain intensifies, her feelings of hopelessness reach a crescendo, and she believes that her hope of recovery has been “erased” altogether. While Maisie initially finds herself immersed in a new sense of grief and loss, Day uses this second injury to underscore the significance of Embracing New Visions of the Future. During the coming struggles, Maisie must come to terms with the fact that, as her mother says, “Dreams change. […] Realities change. People change” (149). This assertion illustrates the final stage of Maisie’s healing, and although Maisie currently doubts her future, she must ultimately find a new way to maintain hope and overcome adversity.

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