Stranded

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2013

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapters 1-4

Chapters 5-9

Chapters 10-14

Chapter 15-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Themes

Using Individual Strengths to Create a Team

To create a cohesive, strong, and effective team, a group of people must identify and use the unique strengths of each individual to contribute to the team’s success. In this newly blended family, the children each have their own strengths and weaknesses, and they identify and agree on strategies to use their strengths to help each other survive and support one another through moments of weakness and vulnerability. Carter, Jane, Vanessa, and Buzz have no option but to put their familial conflicts and awkwardness aside to work together, encourage one another, and build on each other’s skills to make their goal of being rescued a reality.

Carter’s primary skill, which is especially useful for survival, is his physical strength and willingness to trust it when facing risk. He often leads the group, pushing them forward, keeping the pace, and jumping into action when necessary to help the others, such as when Vanessa nearly falls off the boat in the storm. Carter’s leadership abilities are born out of his strength and self-confidence, which give him the courage to speak out and take charge. Jane’s major strength comes from her mind and her ability to see things in ways that others don’t consider. For example, she suggests using the cave as a shortcut, and she figures out how to locate the island’s position with more precision by combining maps and logs. Despite being only nine, Jane’s inclination toward learning and discovery are valuable assets for a team trying to survive on a deserted island.

Vanessa’s strength comes from her technical skills and her leadership qualities, which she shares with Carter. She figures out how to work the radio and satellite phone, and she attempts to repair the solar panel after the crash. She regularly guides the group, works to keep morale high enough that the others can focus on tasks, and is protective of the others, who are all younger. While occasionally anxious about taking a leadership role, Vanessa knows it’s her responsibility. Buzz’s strength surprises everyone: He reveals that he’s a resourceful and flexible thinker, leading the group in building a signal fire and suggesting that they use the sail to collect rainwater. Each of the four children uses what they know and their areas of skill to help each other survive and bring themselves closer to being rescued, one step at a time. They thus become a coordinated team out of necessity.

Bravery as a Tool for Survival

Courage in the face of hardship or even death is one of the most useful traits one can have when trying to survive. For these four children, the journey begins with a sailing trip that only Jane seems interested in; both Vanessa and Carter are often bored, and Buzz is constantly fearful. For the first four days, the weather is forgiving, and the trip is largely uneventful, but a conflict between humans and nature quickly arises alongside a violent storm. Carter, who is naturally brave, leads the others in surviving the crash, saves Vanessa from going overboard, and models courage and altruism for his younger sister, Jane. Jane, who is just nine, takes after her brother and is eager to demonstrate her bravery to the others.

When the boat crashes and the children awake the next morning, they find themselves without any adults and totally reliant on themselves, each other, and their ability to maintain rationality and calm during a terrifying experience. Rather than panicking, the children begin working together to survive. Eleven-year-old Buzz, who is usually terrified, begins to fight through his fears by climbing across the gorge and taking a leadership position in building a fire. Vanessa is only 13 and Carter is only 11, but both take responsibility for their siblings and the others, exhibiting courage beyond their years as they teach one another how to survive. Carter, who already knows the basics of survival and has the gift of physical strength, naturally models resilience for the others, who latch onto his sense of hope.

Bravery also comes into play when the two sibling pairs are separated and must fend for themselves throughout the night, while also trusting each other to survive and make it back safely. Jane convinces herself to get through the night by telling herself to take things one step at a time, and while Carter shuts down emotionally for a while, he doesn’t break down or show his fear to Jane. Back at the boat, Buzz takes the night watch, braving the elements, the unknown darkness, and the isolation of being alone. Jane leads Carter through the cave, making a risky but courageous decision to trust her instincts and see if the cave is a useful shortcut back to the boat. Without bravery, the children may not even have survived their first day; bravery motivates them to leave the boat and explore, and bravery keeps them alive through their first harrowing night.

Forging a Blended Family

Bonding with others to forge a blended family is a difficult task that presents its own unique set of challenges, even without the additional difficulties of a survival situation. In the novel, the children are navigating both situations: Two families from different backgrounds, with different histories, are coming together to form a new unit that will carry with it both the pasts of each family and the need to become its own functioning system. The book reveals little about the backstories of the four protagonists, but the fact that they were sent on a sailing trip together speaks volumes about the nature of their family relationship. Carter and Jane’s mother and Vanessa and Buzz’s father decided to isolate their children together for several days at sea, hoping that an extreme intervention would force them to set aside their differences and learn to love and appreciate one another.

Carter and Buzz are both 11 years old, but everyone, especially Vanessa, can see how much their personalities oppose one another at first. Carter is a go-getter with a natural inclination toward leadership, adventure, and risk. He isn’t the brightest student but he has naturalistic and kinesthetic abilities that others his age don’t. Buzz, on the other hand, is studious, quiet, and anxious and tends to follow more than lead. Vanessa observes her brother and stepbrother on the boat and sees little chance of them bonding, but she’s unaware of how extreme their circumstances are about to become.

In the dramatic moment when Uncle Dex and Joe are lost at sea and the boat hurdles toward the rocky shoreline, nature itself pushes the four children into an extreme survival situation where they have no choice but to rely on one another. Carter realizes the gravity of their new situation:

A week ago, it seemed like his biggest problem was moving away from his old house, changing schools, and dealing with Vanessa’s know-it-all attitude 24/7. Now all of that seemed like a joke in comparison to being stranded in the middle of nowhere (98).

Being in survival mode puts his life into perspective, and petty issues with Vanessa and Buzz don’t matter nearly as much as working together to survive. This is the beginning of bonding. After the two sibling pairs are separated for the night and reunite the next day, Vanessa and Buzz’s relief upon finding Jane and Carter shows that they’re all developing a caring relationship with one another, even if Carter is still reluctant to admit it.