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 9-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 9 Summary: “Shakedown in the Lunchroom”
Lan is confused for the entire three-hour morning class. When it ends, the teacher apologizes for what happened earlier and says that while many Zhuri believe humans are violent, some also think humans can be peaceful; his demeanor suggests he is not supposed to be talking about this. The teacher asks Lan to make a presentation about humans to show that the species isn’t violent, and Lan agrees. After class, Lan goes to lunch and meets up with Ila, who’s had an equally bad morning.
A Krik and the only Ororo at the school come to their table and try to take Ila’s translator screen. Hooree and Iruu arrive just in time, yelling for the Ororo and Krik “criminals” to leave. The Zhuri explain that the Ororo is a terrible criminal and that her Krik partner must also be; Krik normally eat Ororo, so there’s no reason for the two to spend time together otherwise. Ila panics. Lan tells her everything will be okay, though Lan themself doubts this.
Chapter 10 Summary: “Invasion of the Screen Snatchers”
The rest of the day isn’t much better, and Lan and Ila return home struggling to stay hopeful. That afternoon, the Ororo and Krik from lunch come to Lan’s house. They barge inside and take Lan’s communication screen, fixing it so it can understand the Krik and Ororo languages.
The Ororo’s name is Marf, and the Krik is Ezger. Unlike the Zhuri, Marf and Ezger make jokes. Lan is confused because the Zhuri said they don’t like jokes on Choom, but Marf explains that it’s only the Zhuri government that dislikes jokes.
Marf asks to borrow Ila’s communication screen, promising to give it back the next day. Lan says no, and Marf says she wishes Lan would trust her; she isn’t a criminal like Hooree and Iruu said, and she adds that she trusted Lan even though the television says all humans are violent. Lan asks where they can get a television so they can see what it says about humans, and Ezger reveals there’s one on the wall. Marf and Ezger leave so Lan can watch television. Their entire visit left Lan feeling shocked, but this is nothing compared to what Lan feels after turning on the television.
Chapter 11 Summary: “News, Weather, and Hate”
Lan flips through the four channels, including weather and a Krik cooking station, to the news. After segments on manufacturing, a report about Lan’s dad comes on; it says he was violent and led away from work by guards. Lan and Ila use Lan’s screen to frantically message their parents, as Marf took Ila’s. A half hour later, their mom responds that they’ll be home soon. When they arrive, Lan’s dad has bandages on the left side of his body: His Zhuri supervisor attacked him, and the Krik stood up for him. Leeni accompanied Lan’s parents home, and he assures the family that the supervisor will be reprimanded and relocated.
After rewatching the news segment on humans, Lan’s mom begs Leeni to help them. The media isn’t accurately representing humans, and she’s sure they can change Zhuri minds if they’re just allowed to show their true selves. Leeni says the Executive Division of the government has made up its mind about how to portray humans; he hesitates over saying something more and then leaves. Lan’s mom tells the family about her coworker, who said nice things about humans when no one was around, and Lan describes the similar behavior of their teacher. Lan goes to bed feeling more upbeat. In the middle of the night, Lan gets out of bed and hears their mom crying in the bathroom. Lan rushes back to bed, disturbed by her helplessness.
Chapter 12 Summary: “The Mysterious Smell of Doughnuts”
The next day, Lan’s dad stays home from work and Ila stays home from school, claiming she’s going to take care of their father but actually just seeming depressed. At school, Hooree is insulted that Ila stayed home, and Lan tries to stay upbeat to avoid offending the Zhuri even more. Hooree flits to class so fast that Lan has to run to keep up, and Lan then crashes into the Zhuri in the classroom, falling down. The Zhuri whisper about Lan’s fall, and Lan smells a sweet smell like doughnuts. Lan wonders if the sweet smell means the Zhuri are laughing, even though they aren’t supposed to like jokes; Lan realizes, “[T]here was so much I didn’t know” (121).
At lunch, Marf and Ezger are waiting for Lan, and Marf returns Ila’s screen. Marf makes a joke, which upsets Hooree, who flit-stalks off. Desperate not to lose a guide, Lan starts to run after Hooree, but Ezger and Marf convince Lan to stay; Ezger is in Lan’s class and can be a guide instead. Lan is reluctant until Marf and Ezger ask about the videos on Ila’s screen. Ezger enjoyed Ila’s singing, and Marf found the animated cartoons from Earth amusing. Marf asks to come to Lan’s house after school to discuss the cartoons. Lan agrees, feeling hopeful because the Ororo and Krik like things from Earth.
Chapters 9-12 Analysis
The expressions of smell/emotion from the Zhuri students show that a ban on something does not mean it won’t happen. The Zhuri government has banned emotions for about 20 years, but despite reminders that the Zhuri are not supposed to make smell, they continue to experience and show emotion. Furthermore, if some Zhuri echo government messaging despite its obvious untruth, others consciously question Zhuri policy and belief. Since the arrival of the humans in Choom’s orbit, the Zhuri government has been showing violent images of humans in order to turn the Zhuri against the humans, but the behavior of Lan’s teacher shows that even control of the media does not guarantee that people will accept government propaganda. Nevertheless, the hushed, uncertain way Lan’s teacher implies that humans may not be violent suggests the danger of challenging the government’s enforced beliefs.
Marf and Ezger represent the minority opinions on Choom, and because they are not Zhuri, they have an easier time acknowledging their beliefs (at least to themselves, as well as anyone they feel they can speak safely and honestly with). While the Zhuri have largely embraced the idea that emotions are bad and that humans create emotions, the Ororo and Krik do not adhere to these beliefs. Rather, both species enjoy jokes, and Marf sells illegal videos to those seeking entertainment—something that gets the group in trouble in later chapters. The fact that these very different species can coexist peacefully and even find shared ground also indirectly comments on the novel’s real-world parallels. If an Ororo can befriend a Krik despite the Krik’s history of eating Ororo, the barriers to harmony among different groups of humans seem less daunting.
The news segment about Lan’s dad differs dramatically from what actually happened, which shows the power the media has to shape beliefs. In reality, the supervisor attacked Lan’s dad out of prejudice against humans—a prejudice that the news’s antihuman bias encouraged and perhaps created. Despite bearing some responsibility for the attack, the Zhuri news then uses a false version of events to prejudice the Zhuri even more against humans.
This section ends with an important moment of character development for Lan: hearing their mother crying. Lan is young and looks to their parents for comfort and guidance, so realizing that their mother feels helpless disturbs them intensely. Nevertheless, it lays the groundwork for Lan’s actions later in the story, when they become more proactive about addressing their family’s (and humanity’s) struggles on Choom; part of growing up is learning that one can’t always rely on others to do what is necessary.
