52 pages • 1 hour read
Bobbie PyronStay
Bobbie PyronFiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2011A 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 18-28Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 18 Summary: “They Eat First”
Meg returns the favor and watches Gabriela and her brothers while Mrs. Alvarez attends job interviews. They head to the park again, and Piper takes Baby some scrambled eggs she smuggled out. As Piper feeds Baby and refills his water bowl, Gabriela tells Piper that she and her family will be leaving soon, which saddens Piper.
Piper spots Ree and Ajax and goes over to tell Ree that she fed Baby. Gabriela makes an unthinking comment about Baby being better off with a “real family.” Angry and insulted, Ree points out all the other people who live in the park with their pets, describing how well they each take care of their animals and always put them first. They love their animals, and their animals love them back without judgment.
Meg comes over to investigate, and Ree explains she was telling the girls how “people who aren’t lucky enough to have a roof over their heads need their pets more than ever and do their best to take care of them” (84). As Piper leaves with Meg and Gabriela, she tentatively waves at Ree, who responds in kind.
Chapter 19 Summary: “Each Night”
Chapter 20 Summary: “Hope House”
Piper is thrilled when their case worker, Mr. Ryan, tells them a slot has opened at a family shelter nearby. She goes to tell Gabriela the good news but discovers the Alvarezes have already left. Gabriela didn’t even say goodbye, which disappoints Piper.
Piper is further disheartened when the Trudeaus arrive at Hope House and discover it is a motel that has been converted into a shelter. Mr. Ryan shows them around and promises to get both Piper and Dylan enrolled in school soon. At night, the Trudeaus each name three things they are grateful for. When Piper hesitates, Meg asks her whether she is “looking at the doughnut or the hole” (96). Piper finally lists three things, including the fact that Gary is back with them.
Chapter 21 Summary: “Ree”
Chapter 22 Summary: “Serendipity”
Piper hears Gary and Meg fight in whispers in the middle of the night, with Meg insisting they are not going to move again. In the morning, Piper discovers that Dylan has wet the bed, and a frazzled Meg asks her to help change the sheets. Piper loses her temper about this and about having to leave home. Meg asks Piper to take Dylan to breakfast and go to the playroom for a while afterward. An upset Piper mentally runs through the events that led her family here: Meg’s hours at the nursing home getting cut down, Gary losing his job, the hospital bills for Dylan’s asthma attacks and Grandma Bess’s ailing health, their increasing rent, and their landlord’s death that resulted in the bank seizing the house. Piper cheers up a little when she notices a flyer for a Firefly Girls meeting that Saturday and realizes it is the same one she saw on the street earlier.
On Saturday morning, Meg accompanies an excited Piper to the meeting. They meet Shirin Bailey, the troop leader of Firefly Girls Troop 423. Ten girls arrive, including Mrs. Bailey’s daughters, Katrina and Chloe. After the roll call, Piper introduces herself, and the whole group recites the pledge together. For the first time in a long time, Piper feels like she is “on solid ground” (109). The troop discusses different things on the agenda, including brownie sales: The troop that sells the most brownies in the city gets to go to Camp Cloudmont for free, and this prospect thrills Piper.
After the meeting, Meg and Piper are both in good moods. Meg even allows Piper to rush across to the park and check on Baby.
Chapter 23 Summary: “The Girl”
Baby watches Piper run toward him. These past few days, he has sensed her sorrow but today, he sees her happiness, and for the first time, Baby rushes toward her to greet her.
Chapter 24 Summary: “The Homeless Bus”
Piper rides the bus on her first day at her new school, Olympia Elementary. She is relieved to see several kids from the shelter get on, including some Firefly Girls like Karina and Sapphire. Piper relaxes as several of the other kids introduce themselves to her, and they chat and laugh on the way. However, to Piper’s confusion, Karina and some of the other kids get off at the middle school.
Sapphire explains that those children don’t want to be seen getting off this bus, as the others at school will know they live in a shelter; however, Sapphire doesn’t care about this. Piper’s new teacher, Mr. Koehler, introduces her to the rest of the class. To her dismay, she hears some of her classmates whisper “shelter kid” as she takes her seat.
Despite having some of the other kids from the shelter to sit with at lunch, Piper’s day gets progressively worse as she hears other children whisper about her. She heads straight to the park after school, desperate to see Baby, and takes half a sandwich that she saved for Baby with her.
Piper feels better after petting Baby. She also sees Ree, who has found out where Jewel is: Mercy Memorial. Ree plans to visit her there the following day and sneak Baby in. Piper suggests Ree should remove her eyebrow ring before she goes and immediately realizes she offended Ree.
Ree points out Piper’s new backpack that Hope House gave her and correctly guesses that Piper lives in a shelter. Piper tells her all about her first day, and Ree observes, “There’s all kinds of ways to brand a person” (124). Ree suggests that they go down to the Christian Center to get Piper a different backpack.
Chapter 25 Summary: “Family”
Ree smuggles Baby into the hospital in her coat pocket, warning the little dog not to make a sound. In Jewel’s room, an overjoyed Baby jumps into Jewel’s arms as she holds and strokes the little dog. However, his heart breaks again when Ree takes him back, and he realizes he will not be staying with Jewel. Remembering Jewel repeating his name over and over, Baby leaves the park again and follows her scent, determined to make it back to her.
Chapter 26 Summary: “Gone”
Piper wakes up to discover school is closed because of overnight snowfall. However, when she discovers it is going to be cold for a while, she begins worrying about the people in the park. She convinces Gary to go with her to check on Baby, telling him all about Jewel, Ree, Ajax, and the others who live in the park with their pets. However, when they get there, Piper is horrified to discover that both Baby and Jewel’s duffel bag is gone.
Chapter 27 Summary: “Lost”
Chapter 28 Summary: “Two Books and a Key”
Piper and Gary run into Ree, who has Jewel’s bag with her. She tells them that Baby is missing. The previous day, she visited Jewel at the hospital; Jewel has pneumonia, and the nurse claims Jewel would have died if she did not get to the hospital when she did.
Ree believes Baby has set out in search of Jewel and asks Piper and Gary to keep the duffel bag while she searches for Baby. Piper and Meg look through the contents of the bag later that day; it contains some clothes and toiletries, a toy bunny with a missing eye, a small leather Bible, another leather book, and a small silver key.
The second leather book is inscribed with a name—“Jewel Knight”—and contains phone numbers, addresses, and some journal entries. The entries seem random and unintelligible, but on the last page, Jewel scribbled two words: “Baby. World.” The book also has a loose photograph titled “Fall Recital,” with a woman at a piano surrounded by kids and Baby sitting underneath the piano. Meg wonders what happened to Jewel, and Piper asserts that they must try and help Jewel and Baby.
Chapters 18-28 Analysis
The author establishes the initial conflict early in the book, with Jewel and Baby’s separation serving as the inciting incident. Following this, the tension steadily intensifies. Piper learns how Jewel is Baby’s whole world as she looks through Jewel’s journal. She is also now personally invested in their story as she has begun to care for the little dog. Additionally, Piper empathizes with Jewel’s situation because of her own struggles, and the narrative reiterates this as she learns more about the lives of people and pets without homes from Ree. Piper increasingly cares about Jewel and Baby. The story also offers glimpses of Jewel’s background, creating a sense of mystery around Jewel’s history. The rising action slowly builds up in these chapters as the author raises the stakes and adds intrigue to the plot.
As the story progresses, it explores and displays the different dynamics between characters. Piper forms a relationship with both Baby and Ree after she meets the latter and discovers that she, too, cares about Baby. Piper’s conversations with Ree broaden her perspective on relationships between animals and humans and teach her not to judge someone by their appearance. Piper initially thinks Ree is scary, but getting to know her better dispels this illusion. The text reiterates this idea through Ree and Jewel’s interaction as well, as it becomes clear that Ree is truly concerned about and wants to help both Jewel and Baby. She empathizes with them because she is in the same situation and understands the pain of their separation. She also cares enough to help as best as she can. The interactions between the different characters in the book help broaden perspectives on both the characters and themes of the novel.
Resilience in the Face of Adversity continues to be an important theme at this point of the story. Piper remembers the events that led her family to this situation, offering a view into their past. Incidents like sudden job loss, emergency medical bills, and rising rents are among the different obstacles in the Trudeaus’ way. By showing how a cascade of events caused the family to slide into financial distress, Pyron highlights two things: first, that the Trudeaus’ situation is not exceptional, as events like these happen to a lot of people; second, that their circumstances are not due to laziness or a lack of hard work. The book dispels some of the misconceptions surrounding the adversity faced by unhoused people.
The resilience of people in adversity is highlighted as well. The Trudeaus find themselves in a continually challenging situation, even after moving into Hope House. Finances are still strained, and the stress is taking a toll on everyone, as evidenced by Meg and Gary’s fights and Piper lashing out at her mother. Despite this, the Trudeaus gather at night to recount the things in their life that they are grateful for. Meg’s reminders to look at the “doughnut” and not “the hole”—another recurring motif in the book—show how determined the Trudeaus are to persevere and rise above their difficulties. Their attempt to consciously practice gratitude in these circumstances displays a willingness to make the best of a tough situation and underlines the kind of resilience that humans are capable of amidst adversity.
The Trudeaus’ move to Hope House also underlines the theme of The Positive Impact of Community and Purpose. Although Piper did manage to make friends with Gabriela at the previous shelter, she was disappointed again when Gabriela and her family moved without even saying goodbye. Piper hoped to form a lasting bond with someone, and having this hope left unfulfilled is an unpleasant experience for her. She finds the community and companionship she so deeply desires in Hope House, a fittingly named space and an important symbol in the book. When Piper attends a meeting of the Firefly Girls Troop 423, she feels like she is back on “solid ground.” This sense of stability comes not only from having a group to belong to but also from the sense of purpose that an organization like the Firefly Girls offers. Piper and the other girls can feel useful and purposeful, putting whatever skills are at their disposal to effective use, even if it is through brownie sales. The instant difference that the Firefly Girls make to both Piper and Meg’s demeanor underlines the importance of community and purpose, especially in times of difficulty.
Equally important is The Powerful Bond Between Humans and Animals. Piper has formed a bond with Baby and is eager to check on him and take care of him now. Beyond being something that she can purposefully direct her energies toward, spending time with Baby gives Piper genuine joy and lightens her heart. She is better able to understand how this is even more important for people without homes when Ree explains it to her and Gabriela. The sense of community and belonging that Piper finds with the Firefly Girls is what pets offer their owners in situations where they feel alone and isolated. Piper sees how essential Baby and Jewel are to each other, and Baby’s constant search for Jewel further reiterates how strong and impactful the bond is both ways. The narrative explores and reiterates the strength and importance of the animal-human bond in these chapters.
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