40 pages • 1 hour read
Rachel Lynn SolomonToday Tonight Tomorrow
Rachel Lynn SolomonFiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2020A 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 1-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “5:54 a.m.”
The protagonist wakes from a text from “McNightmare”—a morning ritual. The text tells her that in three hours, he, Neil McNair, will be crowned valedictorian of their high school class. Rowan’s rivalry with Neil dates back to their freshman year, when he won a school-wide essay contest. Rowan Roth has despised him since.
Rowan leaves her bedroom to greet her writer/illustrator parents, who have been working on a graphic novel all night. Her mom finds the unicorn-shaped backpack Rowan wore on her first day of kindergarten and snaps the traditional first-day-of-school photo with Rowan in the backpack.
Rowan showers and heads to school. Throughout the morning she texts McNair, who is confident that he will be named valedictorian. Rowan is determined to beat him herself.
Chapter 2 Summary: “6:37 a.m.”
The beginning of the chapter is an email Rowan receives from Delilah Park’s publicity team reminding subscribers that the bestselling author will be doing a signing at a bookstore in Seattle at 8:00 pm. Delilah is Rowan’s favorite author, and she plans to attend.
On her way to school, Rowan stops by Two Birds One Scone, where she works part time. She orders a latte from one of her coworkers and receives another email reminder about Park’s book signing.
Back in her car, Rowan daydreams about her life after high school. In her dreamy haze, she accidentally rear-ends a car, which turns out to be the car of her ex-boyfriend, Spencer. The sudden stop makes Rowan spill her coffee down her dress. They exchange information and head to school.
In the hallway at school, Rowan runs into Ms. Grable. She tells Rowan that she is a gifted student and congratulates her on her admission to Emerson.
The next part of the chapter is a detailed timeline of Rowan and McNair’s rivalry throughout the years.
Chapter 3 Summary: “7:21 a.m.”
Rowan runs into McNair at the front-office desk when she picks up a late pass; he hands her a pack of tissues, teasing that she will probably cry when the valedictorian news is announced. He refers to her by his nickname for her, “Artoo,” a reference to Star Wars’s R2-D2. They engage in their usual banter, which motivates Rowan to beat him one last time before high school ends.
Chapter 4 Summary: “8:02 a.m.”
The first part of the chapter is an email to Rowan from the library, telling her she needs to return overdue books.
Rowan hurries to homeroom and meets up with her best friends, Kirby and Mara, who are dating. She tells them about her rough morning. Later, when they are cleaning out their gym lockers, Rowan is eager to read something she had put in her backpack in the morning: a “Guide to High School Success,” which she wrote as a freshman. Talking with Kirby and Mara makes her wonder if moving away will make her grow apart from them.
Chapter 5 Summary: “9:07 a.m.”
This part of the chapter is Rowan’s “Guide to High School Success.”
Rowan attends her last high school assembly, where she and Neil give their final remarks to the school. As they wait backstage, she and Neil engage in their usual banter, this time discussing the upcoming valedictorian announcement. In the leadup to the news, Rowan grows more and more nervous. Neil is named valedictorian.
Chapter 6 Summary: “10:08 a.m.”
When the assembly is over, Rowan cannot bring herself to leave. She has not accepted that high school is officially over. Neil tells her that she has been a formidable opponent over the years and asks to sign her yearbook. Taken aback by his request, Rowan denies him.
Chapter 7 Summary: “11:14 a.m.”
The first part of the chapter is a text exchange between Rowan and Neil from the winter of their freshmen year. Though it is their first text exchange, they are already tense with one another.
Rowan gets Indian food with Kirby and Mara after the assembly. Rowan is feeling down about losing valedictorian to Neil. She also wonders how she will manage to sneak away from Howl to attend Delilah Park’s signing later that evening. At the restaurant, she runs into one of Neil’s friends, who says he had an emergency at home but will still be at Howl. Rowan decides that Howl will be her chance to defeat Neil once and for all.
Chapters 1-7 Analysis
This first section of the novel functions to establish the novel’s central characters and their relationships to one another. In particular, readers are introduced to the protagonist and narrator, Rowan, a high-achieving student, soon-to-be high school graduate, and aspiring romance novelist. As the daughter of two writers, Rowan has storytelling in her blood. This section of the novel also introduces readers to Neil McNair, Rowan’s nemesis and longtime rival. On the last day of high school, both straight-A students are eager to learn which of them has been named valedictorian, a title they feel is a testament to their ambition and drive as students. Their eagerness to learn who has beat the other out for the position also speaks to their near-constant need to one-up each other. This dynamic is established immediately in the novel, as Neil texts Rowan early in the morning to effectively taunt her and tell her that she is going to lose to him in a few short hours.
This section of the novel also works to establish Rowan’s relationships with her loved ones. From the interaction she has with her parents before going off for her last day of school, it is clear that Rowan has a healthy and loving dynamic with her parents.
That Rowan—quite literally—runs into her ex-boyfriend, Spencer, on the way to school is also important. This scene marks the first time readers can understand Rowan’s romantic history. From Rowan’s description of Spencer, it is clear that despite looking and seeming like an ideal boyfriend, Spencer was anything but that. In addition, Rowan’s reaction to rear-ending Spencer’s car indicates that their relationship did not end on good terms, as she still harbors some resentment.
At school, Rowan meets up with her best friends, Kirby and Mara, and readers are introduced to their unique friend dynamic. Though she does not state so in explicit terms in her narration, there is a tonal shift when Rowan describes her relationship to these two girls. By describing herself as closer to Kirby—who is in a romantic relationship with Mara—Rowan alludes to tension.
Perhaps most notably, Rowan contends with the fact that Neil has been named valedictorian of the graduating class. This marks an important turning point in her young life, as Rowan dreamed of being named valedictorian over Neil. Rowan then becomes determined to beat Neil in the Howl scavenger hunt, demonstrating both her ambition to be the best and her deep-seated desire to beat Neil at every opportunity. This also signals to one of the major themes of the novel, The Pressure to Live Up to Others’ Expectations. The academic rivalry between Rowan and Neil, which we see through Rowan’s perspective, demonstrates the pressure to perform well in the eyes of others. The public achievements of being named valedictorian and winning Howl are, at this point in the novel, superficial in that they are external. As the novel progresses, this theme expands to reveal the intimate details behind such pressure as a driving force. Additionally, the mere mention of Howl reads as significant. Though readers are not attuned to the details of this school tradition, Rowan places immense value on the event, which invites readers to speculate as to the significance of Howl and what it might mean for the central characters, particularly Rowan and Neil.
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