88 pages • 2 hours read
Geoff RodkeyWe're Not from Here
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | 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. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 25-27Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 25 Summary: “Can Sweet Sounds Soothe a Savage Swarm”
As they approach the spaceport, the television shows the swarm breaking through the electric fence. When Ila starts to sing, the swarm slows its attack and begins to sway, the honeysuckle smell competing with the gasoline anger smell. The television stops showing live footage of the swarm, and Lan starts to hope that the government is scared. Lan and Ila share a smile right before the spaceport’s weapons strike them and their ship plummets.
Chapter 26 Summary: “Dying Onstage”
Ila is hurt in the fall. The swarm turns violent again, attacking the fence Marf managed to put up around the ship. Lan and Marf make up slapstick comedy, but it only affects a small portion of the Zhuri. Marf gets too close to the fence and is thrown backward to land on top of Lan, who falls unconscious from being squished. Singing brings Marf and Lan back to consciousness. Ila, still bleeding from her fall, has the ship’s microphone and belts out song after song, calming the swarm. Lan and Ila reunite with their parents, and later, they hear an announcement that “the humans and their music [are] welcome to stay on Planet Choom” (244).
Chapter 27 Summary: “Programming Transcript Choom Television Channel Five Day 162 AHA (After Human Arrival)”
It is 162 days after the government decided the humans could stay, and Lan and Naya have an afternoon comedy show where they play episodes from Earth shows to which Marf, Ezger, and Iruu react. After the comedy, they report on the news, which features open enrollment for new classes in comedy, music, and animation, as well as a call for someone to test what is hopefully a working oboe. The biggest news item is that Ila’s new album is complete and that she’ll be hosting a free concert at the Nug Memorial Concert Grounds. Lan reminds people to get there early and save the front rows for the Krik since they’re so short. Ezger thanks Lan for the reminder, to which Lan says, “[W]e’re all in this together” (249).
Chapters 25-27 Analysis
Chapters 25 and 26 feature the climactic sequence of Lan, Ila, and Marf using whatever form of art is at their disposal to fend off the swarming Zhuri. The ending of the book shows that positive emotions are ultimately stronger than negative ones. The swarm thrives on anger; continuous rage keeps the Zhuri afraid and desperate to rid Choom of the humans. The emotion that corresponds with the honeysuckle smell is never stated, but based on the Zhuri’s body language, it may be a feeling of inspiration or joy. Either way, it proves stronger than fear and hate.
The news diverting attention from the swarm is the government’s final act of defiance and also a sign that they know they’ve lost. The contents of the broadcast are not shown, but it may be a last-ditch attempt by a reporter to convince viewers that the humans are responsible for the Zhuri anger. Even more, cutting the feed of the swarm after it settles down is a tacit admission that positive emotions can be constructive and a force for good; the government does not want to show the Zhuri calming in response to comedy and music.
Chapter 27 shows how art and entertainment bring very different people together. Lan and Naya’s show relies on an interspecies cast for jokes, conversation, and different perspectives on things. This chapter makes it clear that the various species of Choom are, by and large, living in peace alongside one another. It does not suggest that there are no arguments, as is evidenced by the fact that the Krik had a problem getting good seats at the previous concert, but it suggests that groups can work together to solve problems. Opening lines of communication is far more effective than the former emotion ban. The inclusion of the show also brings the novel full circle, as it opened with Lan and Naya’s comedy show on Mars. By concluding with a similar scene, the novel invites readers to consider what has changed and what has remained the same.
