62 pages • 2 hours read
Ben PhilippeField Guide to the North American Teenager
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2019A 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: “Austin”
Norris’s field guide entry details Austin’s landscape of food trucks, strip malls, and large buildings. It also mentions Austin’s heat and Norris’s suspicion that the people of Austin are prideful to mask their insecurity.
Teenager Norris Kaplan and his mother, Judith, arrive in Austin, Texas. They have just moved from Quebec to Austin permanently for Judith’s new job in academia. Norris feels himself standing out, as a Black French Canadian in a hockey jersey that no one in Austin recognizes. Norris has seen enough American movies and television to know that he may not be liked as a Black teen or a French-Canadian immigrant. Norris already dislikes Austin for its heat and culture, and he forms harsh judgments about the people of Austin.
Norris complains to Judith, but he understands this is a rare job opportunity for her. In the cab, Norris observes the large highways, buildings, and high school football fields of his new city. Norris misses the snowy weather in Canada. He looks forward to flying back to Canada for spring break to go on a ski trip with his best friend, Eric. Eric recently came out as gay and has only told a few people. Norris feels bad for immediately leaving the country just as they’d settled back into their groove. Norris has also left his dad behind in Canada. He asks Judith if they can call his dad once they’re settled in.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Guidance Counselors”
Norris’s field guide entry mentions the counselor’s fashion choices and caffeine intake.
Judith drops Norris off for his first day at his new school, Anderson High. Norris knows this is permanent, as his dad is busy with a new wife and baby and has no room for a teenager. Judith offers to let Norris miss the first day, but Norris wants to get it over with. Judith explains to Norris that if he gives Austin his best try and still hates it, they will have a conversation about alternatives, but Norris must really try. She warns him to watch his mouth.
Norris meets the guidance counselor, Mrs. Kolb, who wrongfully assumes Norris doesn’t speak English. Norris corrects her and makes snarky comments in French that she doesn’t catch. Mrs. Kolb gives Norris a stack of pamphlets and a journal. The school wants students to keep diaries this year. Norris isn’t interested, but she encourages him to journal from his unique perspective as an immigrant in Austin.
Norris considers all the American movies and television shows he’s seen portraying the American high school experience, complete with cliques and social hierarchies. He knows he won’t fit in. Norris feels his best way to survive is to pass the time until he leaves this school forever.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Jocks and Cheerleaders”
Norris’s field guide entry describes the physique and social habits of jocks and cheerleaders.
In his first week at Anderson High, Norris observes the social dynamics of the school. He eavesdrops on the jocks, complaining about their Advanced Chemistry class. Norris accidentally makes eye contact. Later, Norris corrects a misspelling of “moose” and gets mocked for being Canadian. When the jocks talk about or mock something, the rest of the school follows.
Norris wanders the halls during his lunch break. He enjoys the empty halls and rarely gets questioned about where he’s going. As Norris passes the dance studio, he notices a bust of Stephen Fuller Austin, an early Anglo-American settler who is known as the “Father of Texas.” He curses the bust and pulls out his phone to take a photo of it to send to Judith. The door to the dance studio opens and hits him, knocking him to the ground. The cheerleaders emerging are unpleasant to Norris and accuse him of spying on them and taking pictures. When Norris can’t reason with them, he begins to mock them, associating them with stereotypes and calling them all by the name Madison. He asserts that someone there must be Madison, and one of the girls comes forward, amused by the joke.
A camera flashes, and a girl emerges. From her interactions with the cheerleaders, Norris gleans that there is a preexisting tension between the cheer squad and this girl, named Aarti. Aarti has had an entanglement with one of the girl’s boyfriends, Ian, and she navigates the cheerleaders’ derogatory comments with snark.
Madison breaks up the tension and ushers the cheerleaders away. Aarti gives Norris a hard time about the things he said, but she ultimately holds the same animosity toward cheerleaders that he does. Aarti and Norris bond over their immigrant parents—Aarti’s are Indian and Norris’s are Haitian. Norris wants to ask about Aarti’s conflict with the cheerleaders, but he leaves it alone. When they part, Norris feels Aarti is the most interesting person he's met in Texas.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Loners”
Norris’s field guide entry mentions headphones, sad eyes, and basement-level lockers.
Norris settles in at Anderson High. He classifies himself as a loner, and he likes to spend time wandering the hallways. Norris hopes to run into Aarti again, but he hasn’t seen her since the cheerleader encounter.
One day, a softspoken boy named Liam approaches Norris. Liam asks if Norris is the rude Canadian kid—a label assigned by the cheerleaders. Liam seems to be interested in something from Norris, but Norris is confused until Liam produces a flier that he found on the college campus. The flier features a picture of Norris and advertises his need for friends interested in hockey in the area. Norris is mortified, and he knows immediately that Judith posted it. Norris crumples the paper and walks away, angry. Liam tries to follow, still interested in learning to ice skate and play hockey, but Norris is too angry to care.
At home, Norris confronts Judith about the flier. Judith posted it because she’s worried that Norris isn’t trying. He’s made no friends and joined no extracurriculars.
Norris chats with Eric online about how terrible Texas is. Norris goes to sleep thinking about how hard it is to make friends in America. He considers Liam’s offer, but ultimately, he just wants to pass the time and get out of there.
Chapter 5 Summary: “The Part-Time Job”
Norris’s field guide entry mentions demeaning work and sticky floors.
Norris wants a part-time job so he can afford any unexpected spring break expenses. He applies to a local barbecue restaurant called the Bone Yard. Norris makes it clear that he wants an interview on the spot. The hostess says the manager is busy, but upon Norris’s insistence, she checks if he’s available.
Norris finds the manager, Jim McElwee, babysitting his infant twin grandsons. Jim interviews Norris. He likes Norris but explains that he prefers to hire college students. The cheerleader named Madison interrupts the meeting. She is Jim’s daughter and the only high schooler on staff. Jim asks Madison, who he calls Maddie, to weigh in on the idea of hiring Norris. To Norris’s surprise, Madison advocates for him, and Norris lands the job. When Jim leaves, Norris thanks Madison for the help and apologizes for what he said to the cheerleaders. Madison explains that they really need help and offers to show Norris around.
Chapter 6 Summary: “Bullies”
Norris’s field guide entry equates bullies and their victims to predator and prey. He predicts a bleak future for them.
Norris still doesn’t like Anderson High. One of his routes between classes is disrupted by painting, resulting in a bottleneck for students using the stairs. As Norris waits in unmoving foot traffic, several football players plow through the crowd, pushing people aside as they make their way. Norris loudly equates the jocks to cavemen. A jock with hairy armpits shoves Norris into the wet paint, getting it all over Norris’s shirt and hair.
Liam approaches Norris, having seen what happened. He says Patrick—the hairy armpits jock—is not a bad guy, just sensitive about his growth spurt. Norris is surprised to hear Liam advocating for Patrick. Liam suggests that Norris and Liam be friends as they’re both lonely, and Norris agrees to hang out.
Chapter 7 Summary: “The Beta Cheerleader”
Norris’s field guide entry describes the beta cheerleader with judgments about her place in support positions or as second best.
During Norris’s first shift at the Bone Yard, Madison asks Norris why he’s signed up for so many shifts. Norris mentions his spring break plans in Canada and asks about Madison’s plans. Madison has a cheer competition and will be busy traveling and rehearsing. Norris tells her about his ski trip with Eric. Madison assumes they’ll be chasing girls, but Norris clarifies that Eric is gay. Norris expects a negative reaction from Madison, but she jokes that he thinks everyone in Texas is a “backwoods homophobe.” Madison points out that Austin is one of the most progressive places in Texas.
Madison says she’s trying to make head cheerleader while juggling all her school, work, and family obligations. She needs more time to balance all these things, so she asks Norris to take on some of her work responsibilities. In return, Madison offers to help him with Aarti. Madison can tell Norris likes her. After Norris agrees to the deal, Madison has Norris cover her shift on Monday in exchange for an invitation to a cheerleader-hosted party that she’s sure Aarti will attend.
Chapters 1-7 Analysis
The first seven chapters of The Field Guide to the North American Teenager establish the humorous tone of the novel and introduce the teen media tropes through which Norris understands his place in the high school landscape. As a Black French-Canadian teen, Norris feels like an outsider in his new high school. His knowledge of American high school comes entirely from American teen media. He bases his expectations of Americans “on sitcom jokes” and teen media like “10 Things I Hate About You, Mean Girls, Napoleon Dynamite […] Freaks and Geeks” (3, 20). These movies and television shows focus heavily on interpersonal drama between high schoolers, their social groups, and their love interests. They highlight the social hierarchy of the American high school experience and emphasize the difference between fitting in and being an outcast. Norris’s perception of Anderson High is colored by his experiences with this media, and his observations about his peers are influenced by his preconceived notions of them. In Chapter 2, Norris begins applying these tropes to himself. The narrator notes that the media Norris has seen “mostly amount[s] to one thing: in versus out. And Norris Kaplan—black French Canadian Norris Kaplan—[has] no delusion about where he would fall in that demarcation” (21). Norris doesn’t feel he meets the criteria necessary to fit in at Anderson High, immediately sorting himself into the role of outsider. Norris’s opinions of himself and others based on what he’s seen in media develop the theme of The Influence of Stereotypes on Judgment.
Norris’s struggle to control what he says is a motif for the theme of The Impact of Words as Norris continuously earns himself animosity and enemies through his irreverent and sometimes mean-spirited commentary. In Chapter 2, Judith warns Norris about this very pattern. Before letting Norris leave the car, Judith warns, “This is a new school, and these people don’t know you yet. So watch what you say to them” (15). In the first few chapters, voicing his cheeky observations creates issues between Norris and the cheerleaders and jocks. In the novel’s early chapters, Norris’s comical but often inconsiderate commentary primarily brings negative consequences to Norris himself—like getting shoved into wet paint—but as the novel continues, Norris will learn how his words can harm others, too.
Despite the animosity Norris garners through his impudence, he becomes acquainted with three characters who will have significant impacts on his character arc: Liam, Madison, and Aarti. Each of these characters is introduced as an archetypical teen media trope—the loner, the cheerleader, and the artsy photographer—but their characterizations become more complex as Norris gets to know them beyond their stereotypical facades. Despite their awkward, flier-induced introduction, Norris and Liam agree to hang out at the end of Chapter 6. Though Norris describes Liam as a loner, he is ironically the only person in Austin to extend friendship to Norris, adding complexity to Norris’s initial assessment of him and developing the theme of the Influence of Stereotypes on Judgment. Maddie, too, moves beyond the stereotype of the mean, popular cheerleader by finding Norris’s critique of the cheer squad amusing. She becomes another one of Norris’s most important connections in Austin when she helps him land a job at the Bone Yard and makes a deal to help him woo Aarti—another reference to a common teen movie trope, in which characters make a deal regarding one character’s social advancement. These chapters set up Maddie to be an instrumental part of Norris’s success in establishing a life in Austin.
The novel’s take on high school media tropes through Norris’s jaded lens allows for the perspective of an outsider looking in with only American media as a reference point. Additionally, Norris’s perspective as both a Black teenager and an immigrant brings idiosyncratic observations, judgments, and experiences to the novel’s exploration of established tropes. For example, Norris and Aarti establish common ground in Chapter 3 when both reveal that their parents are immigrants. Norris also makes jokes about being a Black immigrant, like in Chapter 2, when he tells Judith, “We’re black foreigners in a rental car […] They probably already assume we live in this Toyota” (13). Norris’s awareness of how his race and his status as an immigrant impact how he’s perceived influences his opinions of Austin and his situational awareness as he interacts with people throughout the novel.
