54 pages • 1 hour read
Claire SwinarskiWhat Happened To Rachel Riley?
Nonfiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2023A 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 10-14Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary
On November 4, Kaylee and Jordan write notes to each other, with the former apologizing again and the latter accepting. Jordan wants to just pretend that the whole “game” didn’t exist.
On November 5, Rachel writes her personal statement for her application to Moorland Academy of the Arts. She plays the violin and is hoping to attend the prestigious music school the following academic year.
On November 6, Anna looks up an old local news article that reports how one in four middle school students experience some form of sexual harassment on school campuses and how parents and teachers need to lead more conversations with children about healthy boundaries.
On the run-the-mile day in gym class, Chelsea, one of the eighth graders, panics because she forgot her sports bra. Jordan offers to check Kaylee’s locker to see if she has a spare; there isn’t one, but Anna is surprised to see a bunch of hall passes in it. She takes them with her when no one is looking. Defeated, Chelsea decides to run in her regular bra, but the blue bra is visible through her white gym T-shirt.
Anna manages to finish the mile somehow. While the girls relax at the end of the class, Carlos Agnelli, one of the boys in Blake’s group, comes running up to Chelsea and snaps her bra strap. He runs back to the boys. Blake fist-bumps him, and the boys agree that Carlos deserves five points “because it’s Chelsea” (188).
Shocked, Anna watches Chelsea run to the locker room, on the verge of tears. She confronts Jordan, who saw it too, about doing something, but Jordan angrily brushes it off. She states that it is the boys’ “stupid game” and asserts that Chelsea will be fine. Anna reflects on how Chelsea has no other option because no one is doing the alternative, which is asking the boys to stop. She knows that what happened to Chelsea was not because of her blue bra and white T-shirt: “It was because Carlos wanted, so Carlos took” (191).
Chapter 11 Summary
Elizabeth puts up a flyer advertising the Global Leaders club.
On November 9, Anna does a voice recording for social issues stating that Mimi Miller is someone she admires and is a world changer and that Ms. O’Dell is someone she admires within the local community. She likes that Ms. O’Dell lets everyone talk and cares about all their opinions, even when they disagree.
Rachel agrees to record an interview with Anna after seeing Blake snap Kaylee’s bra strap in school that day. Rachel describes how she hated the game last year and she hates it now. Despite what the others say, all the other girls hate it too; however, she says that getting angry about it makes you a target, which is what happened with her. She describes how the first time it happened to her, she told Blake to stop. However, he just laughed and told her to stop being dramatic, after which points doubled for her and everyone targeted her.
Rachel describes how Jordan was targeted a lot because she is pretty and nice and would never say anything to the boys: “[Jordan’s] got it bad because she did nothing. [Rachel] got it bad because [she] did something” (198). However, Rachel never told the teachers because they have been unhelpful in the past. In the sixth grade, she told a teacher about a boy who had a crush on her and kept trying to hold her hand, and the teacher chided her for not being kind. Another teacher once saw Riz slap Chelsea’s behind and just laughed. However, Rachel clams up when Anna asks why Rachel left a note in Blake’s locker and threatened to tell on them despite it being pointless. Anna wonders if Rachel was the one who left the note.
The East Middle School handbook spells out a brief policy regarding sexual harassment, simply stating that it is prohibited and will not be tolerated and that the school will take necessary steps to stop it for anyone in school or at school-sponsored activities.
On Saturday, Jamie and Maja head out for the day while Anna and Nik stay in. As they make pancakes together, Nik reveals that Bronson is beginning to annoy her with his constant texting. Anna, in turn, tells Nik that the “game” is back, with an iteration of snapping bra straps this time. An indignant Nik urges Anna to tell someone, saying that they cannot wait around for people to stop doing bad things. Angry that it is always on the girls and women to tell boys and men to stop, Anna storms away and falls asleep. She feels better after she wakes up and reconciles with Nik. The sisters reflect on how things like this can make a person feel powerless.
Chapter 12 Summary
On November 13, Anna emails Babcia, reflecting on how the other people in her family are so confident and sure of themselves. She wonders when she will feel the same way. She ponders how the choices one makes contribute to who they are and wonders what happens if one makes the wrong choices. She also thanks Babcia for her fact about how penguins’ colors help them camouflage, wishing that she could do the same throughout eighth grade.
On November 14, Malika replies to an email that Anna sent stating that their club focuses on global issues and doesn’t tackle things like “Blake Wyatt being annoying” (212).
Malika’s email irritates Anna. She wonders why the club wouldn’t do anything about an issue in which they could make a difference right away, such as the school’s sexual harassment policy. Anna takes the long way home after school, wanting time to think, and ends up passing by Lee’s Dairy Emporium. She spots Rachel and Cody at a table together; Rachel tells Cody something before getting up and walking away.
Rachel and Cody both see Anna, and after Rachel leaves, Anna confronts Cody about lying. He reveals that Rachel is the one who wanted to keep their friendship a secret; however, it doesn’t matter anyway, as she just ended their friendship. She is angry with Cody about something that he won’t discuss. Cody also reveals that Rachel only has to deal with the hate for another year; she is applying to Moorland, an art school, to focus on her violin. As he leaves, Cody asks Anna not to say anything about Rachel and him to the others at school. Anna orders a scoop of ice cream and receives a gift certificate because she is the store’s 100th customer that week.
Chapter 13 Summary
Anna’s fall semester report card sports a mix of As, Bs, B–s, and an A+ in social issues.
On November 16, Cody and a still-unnamed person, who the narrative hints is Rachel, exchange text messages. Rachel brings up an old memory of making construction paper turkeys together for Thanksgiving. Cody asks her to stop bringing up old memories if they are not going to be friends anymore.
Lana emails Maja a list of tasks and responsibilities for each of them for the Winter Ball.
On November 17, Jordan and Kaylee exchange notes about their dresses for the dance. They discuss who they would like to dance with. Jordan doesn’t want to dance with any of their classmates; she can’t wait for high school, where the boys will be more mature.
On November 18, Anna records the new questions she has for her podcast: who left Blake the note, who has been leaving her notes, whether the hall passes in Kaylee’s locker are connected to all this, and why Rachel doesn’t want to be Cody’s friend anymore.
Anna messages Kaylee, asking her about the hall passes. Although initially indignant that Anna took those, Kaylee reveals that she stole them from their art teacher for Jordan, who had something to do in the library one day. All she missed was a career day assembly, where Cory’s mother talked about her work.
Nik receives a handwritten envelope in the mail. She pales as she reads its contents, and after Maja and Anna’s questioning, she reveals that it is from Bronson. Maja demands to read it and is equally shocked. She sends Anna away to have a private conversation with Nik. Anna is annoyed that she isn’t a part of the conversation but also nervous that her “tough, brave sister could be sent creepy letters by boys she knew” (235).
Anna eventually falls asleep but wakes up with a brainwave: Rachel was always planning on going to Moorland and didn’t think that complaining about what the boys were doing would have any effect. Thus, Anna doesn’t think that Rachel would have burned down the barn or left Blake a note. She believes that someone else is responsible and that Rachel is covering for them.
Chapter 14 Summary
On November 21, Principal Howe emails the eighth graders’ parents, officially apologizing for the “Winter Ball fiasco” (238). She recounts how one female student made an announcement using the DJ’s equipment to make claims about sexual harassment. In response, one of the boys named retaliated by leading a chant with a derogatory word toward the girl. Another female student poured a bowl of punch over the boy’s head, and he tripped over a power cord, plunging the space into darkness and further chaos. After the lights were restored, the rest of the dance was canceled, and the students were sent home. Principal Howe promises disciplinary action toward students who resort to violence, including “dousing classmates in beverages,” henceforth (241).
On November 22, Lana emails Maja, indignant about the principal’s claims that the two of them didn’t do a good enough job as co-chairs. In response, Maja asserts that if this gets her out of further volunteering, she is glad.
Bee texts Anna, asking if she got grounded for throwing punch on Blake. Anna is still amazed by Rachel promising to dox all the boys on social media if she saw anyone snap a bra strap again after Blake did so to Bee at the dance. Bee retorts that she can stand up for herself and doesn’t want to be “dramatic” like Rachel. She lets slip that before Rachel “messed everything” (247), she was possibly going to get the Rose Award at the dance last year, which is for the kindest student. When Anna asks who got it instead, Bee asserts that no one did, as the dance got canceled.
Cody texts Rachel to check in on her after the Winter Ball. Rachel reveals that her mother is proud of her; she is not in trouble. Cody wishes that they were still friends; Rachel wishes that Cody would make the other boys stop.
The Hunts discuss the dance over Thanksgiving dinner. Despite Jamie’s protests that Anna used violence, Maja asserts that they should not ground Anna and should instead give her an award for what she did. Maja and Anna go for a walk after dinner, and Anna brings up the pressure that she has been feeling from her parents to make friends and fit in. Maja apologizes for making her feel this way; she remembers how she felt growing up as an immigrant in school who didn’t fit in, but she doesn’t want Anna to not be herself, either. Maja reassures Anna that she is just fine the way she is and asks her to speak up if the boys at school ever do anything to make her uncomfortable.
Chapters 10-14 Analysis
The author further fleshes out the theme of The Complexity of Holding Boundaries and Exerting Bodily Agency in these chapters. Explicitly, the text explores sexual harassment on school grounds as Anna begins to witness it happening again; the “game” is back in a different iteration. Once again, none of the girls do anything about it. Jordan refuses to engage even when Anna calls her out after she witnesses Carlos snapping Chelsea’s bra strap. However, like Rachel, Anna is certain that what is happening is not innocent or fun. She sees it as stemming from the boys’ belief that they can take what they want, especially from a girl, without consequence. The story explores the different forms that this “taking” can present. While Anna deals with the resurgence of the “game” at school, Nik has a boy who is hounding her with text messages and notes, refusing to leave her alone despite her repeatedly expressing no romantic interest. Through what is happening both in school and with Nik, Anna begins to see the different ways in which a girl or woman’s lack of agency can play out due to the actions of boys or men around them.
In the context of this theme, the story also explores how societal structures and adults in a child’s world perpetuate these experiences, directly or unknowingly. Rachel tells Anna that she didn’t tell the teachers because she doesn’t trust them to help. She recounts her past experiences with a boy who refused to leave her alone and how a teacher witnessed an instance of the “game” and simply laughed. Children take cues from the adults around them, especially those in positions of authority who are meant to be responsible for their safety. These adults dismissing Rachel’s discomfort or excusing her harassment in the name of “kindness” toward her perpetrator fuel her sense of disempowerment. This is what prevents her and many other girls in the school from feeling like they can exert agency over their bodies and speak out against sexual harassment.
As Anna learns more of Rachel’s story, The Pursuit of Justice and Truth in the Face of Social Resistance becomes increasingly important. In an assignment, Anna describes how and why she admires Mimi Miller and Ms. O’Dell. Both are women who talk about and give importance to people’s stories, experiences, and opinions. Ms. O’Dell is an important figure in the context of this story, as she is an adult who gives weight to children’s voices, unlike many of the other adults at school. It is Anna’s admiration for both Mimi and Ms. O’Dell that sets her on the path of investigating Rachel’s story in the first place. However, truth seeking in the face of constant social resistance is also exhausting: When Nik suggests that Anna tell someone about the “game,” Anna lashes out, tired of girls having to carry the onus of drawing boundaries rather than the boys respecting the girls and acknowledging their wrongdoings. This stems from a form of social resistance where the status quo requires those who experience harassment to justify and prove their hurt. Even then, they often experience shame, doubt, disbelief, and other forms of resistance. The text explores the weight and exhaustion that people who experience harassment face in the pursuit of truth and justice.
Anna’s evolving experience with The Interaction of Social Pressure and Identity Formation in Middle School compounds her frustration. She describes to Babcia how everyone else in her family is more self-assured and confident and how she misses her old, equally sure self. A lot of this uncertainty comes from her being in a new environment. She watches her mother and Nik take to and enjoy their new lives in Madison, and she wonders why she cannot do the same. Her exchanges with her grandmother further develop the motifs of emails to Babcia and penguins as she seeks reassurance from her and expresses a desire to camouflage like some penguins can in eighth grade. Anna’s lack of confidence is not unique to her; it manifests in different ways for the girls in her class too. Bee explains that she doesn’t want to make a big deal about getting her bra snapped because she doesn’t want people to perceive her as “dramatic.” As the narrative shows, there is pressure on young girls to present a certain kind of social image to the point where they stifle how they feel about certain things, even if it makes them uncomfortable. The author explores how social pressure influences identity formation in these chapters.
