96 pages • 3 hours read
Matthew QuickBoy21
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2012A 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.
Chapters 29–32Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 29 Summary
Mr. Allen takes the boys to the emergency room, and Finley pukes. Wes lies and tells the nurse that Finley is Erin’s brother. Finley goes to see Erin, who is covered in braces and bruises and “looks ruined” (175). Erin is hysterical, saying that she’ll never play basketball again. She explains that she was purposely hit by a car. Finley is silent. Erin asks Finley to be her boyfriend again, and Finley nods, and then tells her about Russ’s CD to distract her.
Erin loses it, yelling at her mother and Finley to stop touching her, and then is taken away for a brain scan. Finley watches TV in the waiting room. Russ, Wes, and Mr. Allen go home, and Finley starts “to remember things I don’t want to remember” (179). Erin emerges with a morphine drip.
Chapter 30 Summary
Erin’s and Finley’s coaches show up, and the Quinns explain the situation. Coach takes Finley home, explaining to Finley’s grandfather about the hit-and-run. Finley puts his grandfather to bed, and his grandfather suggests that Erin’s injuries were not an accident.
Confused, Finley asks Coach if the hit-and-run was done on purpose. Coach tells Finley not to ask such questions, then explains that Finley doesn’t have to keep Russ’s secret any more, that college recruiters are already calling about Russ. Finley does not think that this conversation is appropriate, given the circumstances. Coach says not to worry and leaves. Finley falls asleep on the couch until his dad comes home and then tells his father what happened, asking his father if it was an accident. His father merely says that he hopes Finley and Erin will leave Bellmont soon.
Chapter 31 Summary
The next day, at school, Russ is back to wearing normal clothes, and offers his condolences to Finley about Erin. They talk about basketball, and Finley realizes that Russ has already led the life of a basketball prodigy. Russ surprises Finley by saying that he needs to be in Bellmont to be Finley’s friend. All day, students at school ask questions about Erin, but Finley remains silent, worrying about her health.
Finley goes to see Mr. Gore, and angrily starts venting about Bellmont. Mr. Gore asks about Erin, and Finley clams up, so Mr. Gore switches tactics and tells him that he played basketball in high school, but that basketball isn’t everything. Mr. Gore says that Finley doesn’t owe Coach anything and then offers to let Finley sleep in his office. Finley leaves school “before Russ or anyone else can find” him (190).
Chapter 32 Summary
Finley wanders around Bellmont before returning to the high school to watch the JV team play. Terrell asks about Finley’s “lil baby” (191), and Finley yells at him. Russ and Wes try to talk to Finley, but Finley doesn’t want to talk. Finley floats through practice, making every shot, but his mind is elsewhere and he still doesn’t get a starting position. Time collapses and Finley is at the game against Brixton, sitting on the benches. He realizes he cares more about Erin than about basketball and leaves the bench to go ask his father to take him to Erin. Coach warns him that he is giving up his spot on the team, but Finley leaves anyway, essentially quitting the team. Finley’s dad and grandfather support his decision.
At the hospital, Finley watches Erin sleep, but a nurse tells him to leave her alone because she needs rest. Finley leaves Erin a note, going to sit in the waiting room instead of with the Quinns.
Chapters 29–32 Analysis
These chapters explore the effects of violence, both the immediate and the lingering. The immediate effects of violence lead Finley to remember a surge of traumatic and unwanted memories; he cannot seem to escape the violence of his past. Similarly, Finley cannot escape the symbol of his future, Erin, who has been “ruined” as a result of violence. To cope with trauma, Finley alternates between silence and almost violent outbursts of speech, indicating a change in his personality. With Erin as his catalyst, Finley finally stands up to Terrell and decides that Erin is more important than basketball, realizing that using the sport to attempt to escape either his past or future is futile.
These chapters also explore the tenuous nature of authority figures and role models in a maturing life. As Finley matures and becomes an adult, he realizes that the things and people who held importance in his life throughout high school are no longer important. Finley witnesses Coach’s true personality come forward, and he is disgusted by Coach’s lack of empathy and inability to maintain interpersonal relationships that do not benefit him. In contrast, Mr. Gore, whom Finley had disliked for childish reasons, begins to take over Coach’s position as a role model for the maturing Finley. The less important basketball becomes, the less Finley cares what Coach thinks, and the more he pays attention to the attitudes and beliefs of Mr. Gore. In this way, Mr. Gore usurps Coach’s position as Finley’s spiritual and psychological guru.
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