58 pages • 1 hour read
Kheryn CallenderHurricane Child
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2018A 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 11-13Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 11 Summary
The streets are empty, and the rain is lashing down. It’s humid and difficult to breathe, and the rain stings Caroline’s skin. A man driving by yells to Caroline that she shouldn’t be out in this storm. Another woman drives by and asks if she needs a ride, but Caroline lies and says she’s almost home. She takes a taxi without paying, and the driver doesn’t mind. She gets on the last ferry of the day to go back to Water Island.
Nobody minds when she doesn’t pay for the ferry, and she hops off, but instead of going home, she heads for her father’s blue boat. She gets in the boat and closes her eyes and lets the boat take off into the water. She gets scared as the boat is pulled far out into the ocean, and the waves crash down. She tries to paddle with her arm but gets knocked from the boat into the dark, quiet sea. The boat is gone, and she is gasping for air. She is sure she’s going to die and feels an immense sadness come over her as she thinks of her father. Everything gets dark, and she sees the woman in black. Caroline closes her eyes and decides she must be there to take her away, and there’s nothing she can do about it.
Caroline opens her eyes, and her father is there sitting in a chair beside her. She’s in a white room, and her throat feels raw, but she’s relieved to be able to breathe again. Her father is holding his head in his hands. Caroline exhales and he looks up at her and stands. She tells him she’s sorry, and he wraps his arms around her and sobs, telling her in a low voice to never do that to him again. He asks her if she needs anything and how she’s feeling, still begging that she never do such a thing to him again. She tells him she went to see her mother, and he says he knows because she called him. She asks him why he never told her she was on Saint Thomas. He explains that he didn’t want to scare Doreen since she tried to hurt herself and needed space. He apologizes and tells Caroline he should have told her the truth from the start.
He asks Caroline how Doreen was. She tells him that she seems happy, and he tells her that it doesn’t mean she doesn’t love them—but Caroline snaps back that it means she doesn’t love him. He tells her that she doesn’t mean that and that she scared the hell out of him. She is curious about what happened, and her father explains that Mister Lochana found her washed ashore.
It’s the second time Mister Lochana rescued Caroline, and she thinks about the woman in black. Her father holds her hand and tells her that both he and her mother love her very much, and even though they’ve made mistakes, they were just trying to do the best they could. She knows this and tells him she loves him, and he smiles and kisses her head. He tells her that her mother visited her a few times, and she would like to come to the house for a visit. Caroline refuses, but he kisses her head again.
After two days in the hospital, Caroline and her father get in his blue boat, and he rows her back to Water Island where their house looks the same as always. Her father informs her that her mother called again and wants to visit. Caroline says her mother shouldn’t have left them in the first place. Caroline eats breakfast at the table with her father as he sifts through the mail. He hands her a letter addressed to her. It is the first piece of mail she has ever received, and she sees that it is from Kalinda in Barbados. Her father asks if she’s going to open it. She nods and excuses herself from the table.
In her bedroom, she reads the letter. Kalinda explains that she feels terrible for the way she left, but her own mother refuses to let her out of her sight again, and she is so happy that Caroline found her mother again, too. She says that even though Caroline is on Water Island and she is in Barbados, they were able to meet each other and fall in love and that it must be a miracle with the infinite amount of universes that exist. She asks Caroline if she will write to her, and Caroline nods and folds the letter, thinking she will have to find a lot of paper and pens.
Caroline’s father tells her at dinner that her mother wants to speak to her again because she loves her and wants her back in her life. Caroline says it’s too late, but her father already told Doreen to come over. Caroline goes to her bedroom and slams the door. She hears her mother’s voice, but she stays in her room.
Chapter 12 Summary
Caroline returns to school, and everything is the same except for Kalinda’s absence. Anise goes back to taunting Caroline and calls her the “smelly sinner” and asks Missus Wilhelmina why Caroline is allowed to go to Catholic school. Missus Wilhelmina agrees that sinners should be expelled but that it’s unfortunately not up to her to decide. Anise and her “group of hyenas” (199) are laughing, but Marie Antoinette is not. One day, Caroline asks her what’s wrong, and she doesn’t answer, but Caroline continues to catch Marie staring at her and believes she must have something to say.
Caroline joins Miss Joe during lunch in her office and notices her office has been tidied up a bit. Miss Joe tells Caroline she heard from her mother that Caroline visited her. Caroline is surprised that her mother and Miss Joe still speak, and Miss Joe reminds her that they speak on their birthdays and Christmas and that it was her birthday last weekend. Caroline doesn’t want to wish her a happy belated birthday, but she sighs and gives in, and Miss Joe thanks her. Miss Joe tells Caroline that her mother said it was a difficult time for the both of them, but Caroline replies that her mother wasn’t the one abandoned. Miss Joe explains that Caroline is naïve to her mother’s challenges, and she can understand why her mother did what she did. Then she asks Caroline if she can understand that, too.
Caroline thinks about this for a day and decides that she does understand, although she doesn’t agree, and she’s still angry with her mother for all that has happened. Miss Joe asks her the next day at lunch to tell her about what happened before she found her mother, and Caroline comes clean about going through her office, the journal, and the woman in black.
Miss Joe is most interested in knowing more about the woman in black and asks Caroline what she thinks of her. Caroline explains that she thought she was a demon who took her mother, but now she thinks differently. The conversation unlocks one of Caroline’s memories: The woman in black had a warm grasp when she was underwater, and she has always protected her. Miss Joe asks her if she believes in guardian angels and tells her that she is very lucky. For the first time, she is using Caroline’s first name instead of her last. Caroline takes Mister Lochana’s speedboat home and thinks about the woman in black.
At home, Caroline’s father is on the sofa holding a letter from Bernadette, which includes a photograph of her. He tells Caroline that Bernadette and her mother will be visiting every summer from now on, so they can get to know each other. Caroline realizes that she would like that very much, and she would also like to speak with her own mother again. Her father calls Doreen immediately. She arrives in a blue dress with her hair curled, and Caroline realizes she now looks older than she remembers her, but her mother has laugh lines and wrinkles around her eyes, which makes her happy, too. Her parents briefly talk before her father leaves them alone to catch up. Doreen tells Caroline that her own mother passed away seven months ago from breast cancer. She says she currently works at the post office and that Katie won’t stop asking about her.
When Doreen calls Katie sweet, Caroline says that she herself isn’t sweet at all. Doreen agrees that Caroline isn’t sweet, but she says that Caroline must have inherited that from her. Caroline is irritated by this and says she isn’t anything like Doreen because she (Caroline) wouldn’t leave her own daughter. Doreen replies, “That’s the problem with growing up, Caroline. You’re not sure what you will and won’t do anymore” (206). Caroline wants to cry from being so angry. Doreen tells her she loves her and that Caroline is frustrated because she knows it’s true.
Doreen tells Caroline that she spoke with Richard, and they would love if they could be in her life. Doreen knows it isn’t fair since they decided they wouldn’t be, but she hopes Caroline can forgive them. Caroline asks her why she loves the song “Blackbird” by Nina Simone, and her mother tells her it captured how she felt during that time in her life, but she has changed and appreciates what she’s come from. Caroline understands her mother’s perspective and welcomes her back in her life.
Chapter 13 Summary
Caroline is no longer afraid of the woman in black, and it’s been a few months since the spirit has appeared. Caroline isn’t sure if the spirit is a guardian angel or ancestor, but she believes the spirit will always be with her. Caroline is now 13 years old, in her final year at the Catholic school before starting high school. Anise moves to another island, and her “hyena” pack breaks into smaller groups of friends. Marie Antoinette is sitting alone in the cafeteria as she has for the last few lunches. Caroline asks if she can sit with her and Marie nods. Caroline asks her why she never speaks, and Marie says that no one is listening. Her voice is described as “loud and strong and powerful, like she’s a second away from beginning to yell” (210), but she smiles and points out that Caroline doesn’t talk much either.
Caroline disputes this, and Marie insists that Caroline doesn’t talk, but Marie finds it interesting that she thinks she does. Caroline retorts, “You didn’t seem to think it was so interesting when you and your friends treated me the way you did” (211), and Marie says Anise was not her friend, and she hated her the most. She tells Caroline that she let Anise torture her for a long time, but then she changed after an eventful year.
Caroline smiles at Marie Antoinette and can’t wait to hear about the eventful year she had.
Chapters 11-13 Analysis
When Caroline gets back to Water Island, she says, “[M]y boat is right where I left it […] waiting for me, ready for the journey” (187), and this is the first time the boat is described as hers rather than her father’s. This symbolizes her journey coming to completion. Now she believes nowhere wants her, and the lyrics from “Blackbird” inserted here reiterate this tone: “You ain’t got no one to hold you […] You ain’t got no one to care” (187). Caroline sees the woman in black after she falls overboard and can’t resurface under the waves. The spirit seems to be waiting for Caroline, like she’s going to take her away, and Caroline gives in. Her last thought before seeing the woman in black is about the sadness she feels leaving her father behind. This is a turning point for Caroline, who was truly afraid she had died.
Caroline’s understanding of her parents has come a long way. When her father tells her he loves her in the hospital room and says he and Doreen did their best despite making mistakes, Caroline says she knows: “I’ve learned now that this is what human beings are always destined to do. Including me” (193). For the first time, she acknowledges that it’s okay that her parents made mistakes, and she gives herself permission to make mistakes, too. This is a big sign of maturity for Caroline.
The battered, post-hurricane island parallels Caroline’s exhaustion. She isn’t ready to speak with her mother yet because the pain is still too raw. The theme of invisibility comes up again when Caroline describes how their house is still standing and that “maybe the storm couldn’t see us here on Water Island either” (194). Caroline and her father share a moment just like they used to: opening mail during breakfast. This is falling action, as the story is beginning to come full circle. The letter from Kalinda helps Caroline draw conclusions about their shared experiences. They have both reconnected with their mothers, they hope to be with each other once again someday, and they recognize that in terms of infinite universes, it is miraculous that they met and fell in love.
Several plot points wrap up in Chapter 12. Marie Antoinette is watching Caroline, and this foreshadows their future friendship. Caroline tells Miss Joe about everything that’s happened, and Miss Joe’s interest in Caroline’s ability to see the Woman in Black provides Caroline with a space to explore what exactly this spirit may be. When Miss Joe suggests that perhaps the spirit is a guardian angel, the idea sticks with Caroline, and the fact that this conversation triggers a memory of warmth and protection shifts her perspective of the spirit entirely. This realization parallels another: Miss Joe helps Caroline understand her mother’s struggles and perhaps why she left Caroline. Caroline says that even though she is still angry, she can understand why Doreen did what she did. This is the growth Caroline requires to finally make amends with her mother and move forward.
Caroline struggles with seemingly contradictory emotions: She understands her mother now, and she knows her mother loves her, but she struggles with frustration when she thinks about how her mother chose to leave and that it wasn’t about Caroline at all. Doreen would never want to hurt Caroline, and, while Caroline knows this, it was impossible not to be heartbroken over the abandonment. When Caroline and Doreen discuss “Blackbird,” Caroline understands her mother’s point of view in a way that parallels her own experiences; she knows what it’s like to come from a dark place and appreciate all it taught her, but to no longer feel that darkness. This moment of empathic understanding is a major lesson for Caroline, and it propels her character development to completion: She welcomes her mother back into her life, and she feels happy to think of a future with Bernadette and her father on Water Island. She is also happy to think of spending time with Katie and Richard with her mother on Saint Thomas. The story ends with reunion, community, and love.
It is symbolic that Caroline hasn’t seen the Woman in Black in months. Caroline views her life in a new light. She is 13 now, Anise has moved away, and she has a budding friendship with Marie Antoinette. When Marie tells Caroline that Anise was never her friend and that she let Anise bully her, Caroline instantly relates. She recognizes that she was so absorbed in her own chaotic year that she could never have known what Marie was dealing with. Marie says, “But then I changed. I had a pretty eventful year, you know” (211), and Caroline smiles because she knows that this is a fresh start for both of them. Caroline ultimately realizes that change, while scary and frustrating, is good. Change has led her to conquer many fears about herself and her life, and this gives her a brighter perspective for her future.
