Capture The Flag

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2012

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-6

Chapters 7-12

Chapters 13-19

Chapters 20-24

Chapters 25-28

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

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Discussion Questions

Chapters 25-28Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 25 Summary

As Henry waits for Anna and Sinan, the conveyor belt brings them into the boarding area. They see Snake-Arm and hide behind a cart, then trip him as he approaches. As he lies on the floor moaning, Anna realizes he’s saying something—the letters BTV—and then notices he has a silver jaguar ring. When she exclaims, “[Y]ou’re with us!” he says he’s with the flag (192). The snake tattoo on his arm doesn’t indicate his membership in the Serpentine Princes, it depicts a symbol of the Virginia Society of Amateur Herpetologists, and José realizes that Snake-Arm is the man in George Malbut’s story. Anna apologizes for hurting him, and he says they have to get the flag back. In pain, he hides under a baggage cart to rest.

Anna, Henry, and Sinan climb into the cart and go back down the conveyor belt. While hiding among the luggage, Henry tells Anna he tried to play the video but her camera is broken. Before he can explain that he used his game console to record Snickerbottom, they hear people searching the luggage. Just as Snickerbottom is about to find them, José drops his backpack full of books on the senator from a higher belt. Distracted and angry, he tells his aides they need to get back to the gate for their flight.

Snake-Arm gives Henry his orange vest and a key to a Unit Loading Device, a vehicle that will take them to the BVT luggage in time to get on their flight. With the other kids and Hammurabi hidden in the back, Henry drives toward the tarmac.

Chapter 26 Summary

On the tarmac, they are discovered by George Malbut, the guard José distracted earlier. José explains that their parents are on the plane and they need to talk to them. Anna is upset that they don’t have any evidence for the police since her camera was broken, but Henry reveals the recording from his console, in which Snickerbottom explicitly says he stole the flag. Anna is ecstatic.

They can see Snickerbottom on the plane, clearly shouting. George says he’s been “all in a snit” since he found out his luggage was damaged—the shampoo and hairspray Anna and José used to defend themselves belonged to him (205). Police cars arrive, and Anna and José’s fathers get out. The kids announce that they know where the flag is and who stole it.

Chapter 27 Summary

While the passengers wait patiently, police board the plane and arrest Senator Snickerbottom and Earl. They search the luggage until they find a speaker case that belonged to Sounds for a Small Planet, which went missing before the flight. Inside they find the flag with one piece missing but otherwise unharmed.

Still on the plane, passengers watch a news report explaining that Earl is cooperating with police; he tells them his brother planned the theft so he could recover the flag himself and look like a hero to the American people, like he did when he saved the boy and his puppy from the well. The report plays a video of Erma Emma Jones, the Museum Director, who explains how the flag was stolen: Snickerbottom arranged for five men to go into the flag chamber, even though the checklist for their visit said there were four; he had someone create a distraction by dropping a mouse into a display case in another room, which caused their original guide to be called away and replaced by a guard who didn’t know five men, not four, had gone into the room.

On the runway, another reporter interviews Anna, Henry, José, and Sinan. They describe their efforts but are careful not to mention the Silver Jaguar Society or Snake-Arm, saying only that they had help from Hammurabi. When they board the plane, the passengers cheer.

Chapter 28 Summary

On the plane, Anna interrupts Henry’s video-gaming to ask if he’s going to find out more about his Aunt Lucinda and the Silver Jaguar Society. But Henry has reverted to his earlier aloof self, remembering that soon he’ll be moving to Boston with his dad and his new wife. Anna focuses on her father instead, suggesting that maybe she, José, and Henry can all be Society members now since they’ve solved an actual crime. He tells her she needs to talk to her mom.

At the airport, Anna’s dad tells her mom that she met “one of your Silver Jaguar friends” (219). Anna hurries to say Claude—the descendant of Mary Pickersgill, previously known to Anna only as Snake-Arm—was nice once they figured out he was on their side. She insists she’s ready to be a member of the Society. Her mother tells her not to be in such a hurry to grow up and reiterates how dangerous the Serpentine Princes can be. Anna says she knows all that and knows Vincent Goosen used to be part of the Society. Her mother explains that Vincent started loving art so much he wanted to possess it, rather than protect it, and turned into a thief. And now, since Anna and the others have been on the news, Goosen and the other Princes will know who they are.

The kids meet at baggage claim while their parents talk. Henry has learned he’s related to Grace Wisher, an indentured African American woman who helped Mary Pickersgill sew the flag. He says her portrait should be in the museum too, and Anna offers to help him write a letter to the Smithsonian about it. Sinan and Hammurabi come to say goodbye, and the kids give him a number of idioms to draw in his notebook. When it comes time for Anna, Henry, and José to say goodbye to each other, their parents say they’ve decided to let them become junior members of the Silver Jaguar Society. They’ll be allowed to go on trips only when it’s safe to do so, and “even when you turn eighteen, you won’t get any special gifts—only extra responsibility” (230). The kids say goodbye, feeling the weight of this responsibility but also hopeful about seeing each other again.

Chapters 25-28 Analysis

Before the climactic race to the tarmac, Messner provides a final revelation, identifying Snake-Arm as one of the “good guys” who has been trying to protect the flag, emphasizing The Danger of Prejudices and Assumptions. José’s additional realization that it was Snake-Arm who rescued a fellow baggage handler from a snake confirms the conclusion that he looks out for others, forcing Anna to confront and apologize for the unfairness of her assumptions. Though they’ve injured him badly in their efforts to escape, Snake-Arm remains dedicated to saving the flag; his determination provides the kids with the means to get to the tarmac and emphasizes The Need to Protect Artifacts that Shape Understanding of the Past.

The protagonists’ shared victory in the novel’s resolution cements the novel’s thematic interest in The Value of Teamwork and Diverse Perspectives. After the pivotal moment when Henry reveals Snickerbottom’s confession on his game console and the kids are safe, the novel’s resolution continues to emphasize the importance of protecting artifacts like the flag. Though they’ve been waiting more than 24 hours for their flight, the passengers don’t object to another delay because they’ve also “watched the news updates all through the day and night, including the ones that reflected on the significance of that American flag” (207). The novel suggests that given the chance to learn about an artifact’s history, people feel a sense of shared identity that encourages them to embrace a common cause. The reporter’s praise for the “brave kids and a brave dog” and the applause of the passengers when they finally board the plane create a swelling sense of victory and unity (214).

The swift denouement provides space in the final two chapters for Messner to hone the novel’s themes and set the stage for the next installment in the Silver Jaguar Society Mysteries series. The conclusion of Anna, José, and Henry’s character arcs each illustrates the story’s thematic emphasis on The Development of Civic Responsibility. After his heroic moment, Henry’s detachment returns when he remembers he is going home to a new stepmom and a move to Boston, which Anna thinks is “probably enough family drama without worrying about which ancestor left you in charge of his or her artifacts” (217). Despite this, he demonstrates his growth and newfound appreciation for artifacts in his wish to write a letter urging the Smithsonian to include Grace Wisher in its flag exhibit. Messner uses Henry’s idea as a reminder that part of civic responsibility is taking action, even in small ways. José’s arc also moves him from inaction to action as he confronts the idea of civic responsibility. He demonstrates his newfound way of thinking about courage by quoting Dumbledore: “The universe does not give us situations that we are not equipped to handle” (231). He feels prepared to step up and face larger problems now that he has realized he can handle more than he thought. Anna, humbled by discovering all she has yet to learn about the Silver Jaguar Society, has begun to realize the seriousness of the work they do. Her enthusiasm has sharpened into a stronger sense of duty, suggesting she will also continue to grow through her upcoming experiences. As junior members of the Silver Jaguar Society, all three characters are prepared for their next adventure.