Across The Desert

Addie is a 12-year-old girl from Alamo Lake, a rural region of desert a few hours’ drive from Phoenix. She lives with her mother; her father died in the year before the novel opens. Addie’s father taught her to fly their ultralight plane; the two would often fly together. Addie misses her father very much and feels a closeness to him when she flies; this motivates her actions even though she does not have her mother’s permission to fly. Addie can see that she has only one viewer—Jolene—as she livestreams her flights; in keeping with internet safety, she never reveals her location, causing Jolene to take on what is for her an enjoyable challenge in guessing and mapping the region based on the streamed flights.

Addie is a voice of optimism and a good friend to Jo via their direct message chats. She cheers Jo on when Jo pessimistically insists they will never travel together and when Jo worries about attending college due to socioeconomic concerns. Addie remains an optimist even after the crash; one of the first things she says is that she does not need legs to fly. She is also instrumental in their survival in the desert, as she reveals the best path for returning to the café. Addie is a dynamic character in that she realizes and regrets the danger she promoted in keeping her flights secret. Her more significant role, however, is a catalyst for change in Jo: Addie’s rash actions and bad luck compel Jo to save her, and Jo’s character arc develops drastically toward confidence and positivity as a result. Addie remains a strong influence and good friend to Jo through the end of the story, evidenced in her sincere happiness when Jo experiences flight with Joanie Cash.

Marty is a 17-year-old girl who meets Jolene at the Greyhound bus station and offers to board and travel with her. Marty quickly grows concerned about Jo’s travel plans, starting with Jo’s intention to travel unaccompanied; Marty’s kindness and concern are genuine, and she asks consistent questions of Jo, digging in until she gets real answers. With Marty’s questions throughout the bus journey, the author implies that Marty realizes Jo is hiding her mother’s condition. Marty shows a stubborn streak and tenacity that rivals Jo’s own when she, an unlicensed driver, takes her grandfather’s car to catch up with Jo after Jo sneaks out of the grandfather’s house. This action also reveals Marty’s growing realization that she may be the only one who is willing to help Jo, and that to save Jo, she will have to become increasingly involved in her quest.

Accompanying Jo on the bus, providing a place to stay, and finding Jo to offer her a ride are archetypal ally actions. With her subtle guidance, questions, and authority, however, Marty also serves in a mentor role throughout the novel’s first three sections. Though she allows Jo to steer the course, Marty supervises her for safety and sense, often interjecting ideas (such as calling the police in Alamo Lake) and conditions (such as drawing the “turn back” line on the water jug). In the novel’s fourth section, once Jo finds Addie where she said she would, Marty’s ability to mentor Jo wavers. She assumes an ally role and helps and participates in the collective goal of getting out of the desert safely; she no longer leads or guides. She demonstrates a more refined respect for Jo’s ideas and allows the key decision (one of them goes for help, or they all go together) to be Jo’s.

Marty continues as a strong ally to Jo once Addie is safely sent to the hospital. Marty’s intention now shifts to helping Jo with her internal conflict. To do this, she weathers her own mother’s reprimands calmly and patiently, demonstrating maturity and poise until she has the chance to share her concerns with her parents. She then convinces her mother to tell Jo about losing Lucy, which serves as the lynchpin for Jo’s finally admitting the truth. By the novel’s end, Marty has returned to the mentor role, helping Jo start school, providing her with a t-shirt, and interacting with Jo as an older sister. Marty’s traits are steady throughout the novel, but her respect for Jo increases in the desert and impacts her decisions; for this reason, Marty is a dynamic character.

Jo’s mother is a dynamic character, changing from a “fun mom” who bakes car cookies and gets McDonald’s for dinner in the backstory to a mother struggling with addiction throughout most of the novel to a woman in treatment by the story’s end. Her love for Jo never wavers, however; this is evident when Jo returns home after her two days away to discover her mother awake and weeping, Jo’s letter in hand.

Jo’s mother plays an indirect role for much of the book, as Jo’s quest necessarily takes place on the road and in the desert. The thought of her mother in Jo’s mind, however, keeps Madeline’s character central to the story, and though she fulfills no character archetype, her character function is crucial in the plot: Jo cannot, for example, accept the help she needs from authorities due to her fear that she will be removed from her mother’s care, which drives Jo’s decisions to rash alternatives like using false names, running away, and stealing a bike she cannot operate. Ironically, Jo must separate from her mother at the end of the novel while Madeline attends addiction treatment, but Madeline knows that Jo deserves a reward for her courage and consequently arranges the flight with Joanie Cash.