49 pages • 1 hour read
Natalie D. RichardsFive Total Strangers
Fiction | 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 7-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary
The SUV stops against a concrete barrier. Everyone is okay, but two other cars crash just feet from them on the left, while more cars come toward them. Behind those cars is a semi-truck sliding sideways down the hill. Brecken drives forward, forcing his way down the hill to get out of the way of the truck. The group quickly gets off the interstate and stops at a gas station where there are many other vehicles clearly damaged by the road conditions. Moments later, they notice a police car barricading the interstate onramp.
Kayla looks sick when she wakes and seems unsteady on her feet. Kayla and Josh go to the gas station, pausing briefly to speak. Brecken complains that the gas pumps don’t have card readers. Harper calls the rental company to inform them of the damage to the SUV. Mira goes into the gas station to purchase stomach medication for her nausea but can’t find any. Josh finds her, pointing out the intimate way that Brecken and Harper are speaking next to the SUV.
Chapter 8 Summary
Referencing Brecken and Harper’s closeness, Josh makes a comment about love at first sight, but Mira says she doesn’t think she believes in it. They watch Kayla come out of the bathroom and Mira expresses concern for her health, but Josh brushes it off. They see Harper try to check in with Kayla too, but Kayla ignores her. Josh goes to the car and Mira goes to the bathroom, where she overhears Harper crying. Before returning to the car, Mira stops to buy everyone a bag of chips and some water. There are two men behind the counter: a guy about Mira’s age named Corey, and an older man Corey refers to as “dad.” Mira gets an uneasy feeling from the two men, especially when she sees a sign behind the counter that says: “ATTENDANT IS ARMED AND TRAINED” (99). They tell her the gas station closes in 20 minutes and that Harper had better find her wallet to pay for the nearly $50 of gas she put in the SUV. Mira offers to pay, but she only has a few dollars in cash and the credit card reader is down.
Mira looks for Kayla and instead finds the man with the yellow hat wandering the aisles. Harper finds Mira and begs for help finding her wallet. They return to the SUV and tear it apart searching for the missing wallet, but they can’t find it. Mira suggests they pool their cash, but no one has more than a few dollars. Harper insists she had more than $200 in her wallet because Brecken paid for most of the rental with his cash. Brecken suggests they give the gas station owner what they have and promise to send the rest, but Harper doesn’t think the man will agree. Harper insists he’ll call the police and she can’t have that happen. Brecken makes the choice for them all by driving out of the parking lot.
Chapter 9 Summary
Harper and Josh yell for Brecken to stop, but he refuses even when the gas station owner jumps into his truck and follows. Brecken asks for GPS directions. Mira can’t find her phone, so she takes a paper map out of the glove box, but Brecken insists he needs GPS navigation. Josh looks up a map on his phone and begins calling out directions. Josh leads them into a campground down a county road. Brecken parks, but then he remembers their tracks. Brecken and Mira run back to the entrance of the campground and cover up their tracks moments before a truck comes up the road. It passes by. Brecken makes a comment about destiny as they head back to the SUV. Mira realizes she’s not safe and hasn’t been since she accepted the ride.
Chapter 10 Summary
Harper takes Brecken on a walk to yell at him. Josh comments that there seems to be a secret between Harper and Brecken. He then realizes that his book is missing. As Josh looks for his book, Brecken and Harper return, and Harper gets behind the wheel. Mira realizes her phone is gone. They search the SUV and get out and look in the snow. They return to the SUV and search it again but do not find her phone. Josh comments that it’s odd everyone seems to be missing something.
An anonymous letter dated April 8 encourages Mira to write back and tell the writer that she too feels the connection between them.
Chapter 11 Summary
Mira allows Harper and Josh to use a two-cord charger she brought. They use Brecken’s phone to navigate. As they drive, Harper and Brecken bicker over her driving. To distract them, Josh asks everyone what they would be doing if they were home safe. Brecken and Mira talk about watching movies while Harper says she would be writing letters. Brecken comments that girls like receiving letters, and Josh halfheartedly agrees while Kayla denies it. When asked, Mira says she’s never received a letter. The SUV suddenly slides, and they end up stuck in a pile of plowed snow.
Chapter 12 Summary
Josh grabs his leg, his knee causing him pain again. Mira asks what she can do to help, but Josh tells her there’s nothing to do. Mira gets out of the SUV with Harper and Brecken. They retrieve a shovel from the back, and Brecken begins digging out the tires. Mira borrows Brecken’s phone and moves a few feet away to call her father. She explains the weather and the detour they had to take and expresses some uneasiness with the trip. Her father tells her that if she becomes too frightened, she can find a safe place to wait and he’ll arrange to come get her. She promises to keep that plan in mind. Mira then asks if her father knew about her mother and Daniel’s separation, and she is upset when it’s clear he did. Mira’s father tries to assure her that her mother is fine, but Mira doesn’t believe him. Mira’s father tells her to trust her instincts and be careful.
Mira returns the phone to Brecken. The group has uncovered the tires and Brecken is attempting to push the SUV while Harper reverses. Mira joins in and they manage to free the SUV. Brecken goes to the back of the car to retrieve his backup phone battery, but he can’t find it.
Chapters 7-12 Analysis
The tone of danger ramps up when the SUV slides on ice, hits the guardrail, and then is nearly hit by a sliding semi-truck. There is relief in the avoidance of an accident, but the sense of danger continues to hang over the five strangers.
The theme of dishonesty and mistrust’s impact is further developed when Mira and Josh observe Harper and Brecken having what appears to be an intimate conversation by the SUV. Mira assumes that Harper and Brecken have a relationship that they are refusing to reveal to the others for reasons she doesn’t understand, and Josh encourages this suspicion. The exchange illustrates how Mira allows others to influence her thinking and how secrecy and lack of communication create space for manipulation to occur. Mira also observes Kayla and Josh speaking and notes that Kayla appears to be unwell, foreshadowing Kayla’s drug addiction and hinting that Kayla and Josh’s relationship is more complex than it appears. Here, Richards again isolates Mira; in this group of five, she is the one on the outside, and the novel encourages readers to identify with Mira’s feeling of fear and isolation.
Harper’s wallet goes missing just as she needs it to pay for a tank of gas, which seems to be just an inconvenience that could happen to anyone. However, the fact that no one can come up with a working payment method makes the missing wallet another source of tension in the novel. With limited options, Brecken decides to drive off without paying, further upping the ante. As the characters become more desperate and susceptible to Josh’s manipulative and dishonest actions, they get themselves into greater danger. This moment also foreshadows Brecken’s future questionable actions and the growing sense of distrust between him and the others in the SUV. His impulsive and dishonest behavior is a red herring pointing the reader in the direction of thinking he may be the letter writer. Meanwhile, Josh is one of the first to object to driving away without paying, but he also directs Brecken to a campground where they can hide from the gas station owner. This moment shows the differences in Brecken and Josh’s characters. Brecken, as the impulsive one, is not the true danger. Josh is calculated, and Mira cannot see that that trait makes him more threatening.
As other objects go missing—Josh’s book, Mira’s phone, Brecken’s backup battery—the narrative tension continues to grow. These missing items appear random, but Mira’s missing phone and Brecken’s missing battery limit their access to a working phone, adding to the sense of isolation. These narrative choices both create the sense that Mira is in danger and push the characters toward more desperate actions, making their reckless choices believable as they become increasingly frightened and confused.
Richards uses dramatic irony through the characters’ casual discussion of letter writing. Dramatic irony is a tool that creates suspense by giving the reader more information than the characters. The reader knows Mira has been the subject of anonymous letters that show the writer’s obsession, but Mira does not yet know that, and it is unclear which (if any) of the characters in the car knows of the letters. As the conversation occurs, Richards invites the reader to look for clues regarding the letter writer’s identity. Mira claims to have never received a personal letter, indicating that she has never seen the letters that end each chapter. Harper and Brecken both enjoy writing letters—additional red herrings suggesting one or both of them could be in on the plot. Josh voices little opinion, and Kayla quickly dismisses the idea of girls appreciating personal letters. The reader might also notice that both Josh and Brecken make comments to Mira that echo words and ideas from the anonymous letters, such as Josh talking about love at first sight and Brecken discussing the idea of destiny. Such remarks create suspicion and imply that any of the characters could be the letter writer.
