The School Story

Chapters 13 through 15 focus primarily on the process by which the girls get Natalie’s manuscript in front of Hannah’s eyes without Hannah catching onto their identities. Through the difficulties and anxieties experienced by both the girls and Hannah, the narrative continues to develop its main symbols and themes as well as characterize the key players in the plan. 

Natalie and Zoe have been established to have complementary skillsets. While Natalie is a proficient writer, Zoe knows how to speak to people in a way that gets what she wants. She states, “when you want a person to agree with you, never ask a question they can answer by saying no” (94), showing that Zoe has a plan for how to approach her conversations. However, with the anxiety of having a phone conversation with Hannah looming, Zoe and Natalie work together to make sure it doesn’t have to be that way. While Natalie occupies her mother’s phone line with a casual after school call, Zoe calls under her agent name and leaves a message about sending over a manuscript.

The teamwork of the girls ensures that they are able to enact their plan later that afternoon without the risk of getting caught before their plan can be set in motion. Once Zoe’s talking skills have done their job, it is up to Natalie’s writing skills to do the rest. In Chapter 14, Natalie’s mother excitedly praises Natalie’s writing to her, unaware that she is praising her own daughter’s work. The combined efforts of Zoe and Natalie get Natalie’s manuscript read and considered, which is a large step forward in the girls’ plan. 

However, their plan is not without some drawbacks. In Chapter 14, before she has heard from her mother about the book, Natalie begins to feel nervous and guilty about the success of their plan. Natalie worries about “[h]er own mom [...] comparing Natalie’s story to all the other manuscripts she had read during the past five years” (105). Natalie recalls the slush pile and wonders about “[t]hose people [...] out there tonight, sleeping in hundreds of different beds in hundreds of different towns” whose work has gone unread in the slush pile (106). Natalie feels guilty because “[h]er envelope wasn’t in a heap somewhere in a dark office” (107). Natalie’s guilt and anxiety about her manuscript being delivered to her mother’s hands while many other authors lie awake wondering if their work will be read contributes both to the symbolism of the slush pile and the overarching theme of Honesty Versus Deceit.

Natalie’s concerns about the other authors shows how the slush pile represents the challenges of publishing. Because Natalie managed to avoid the slush pile, she feels as though she has cheated in some way, expressing that she feels “like the girl in my book. I feel like I’m a cheater too” (108). Natalie’s guilt helps develop the theme of honesty versus deceit because she understands that she and Zoe used deception to get her manuscript to the advantageous position it’s in. 

However, Zoe uses her talking skills to turn Natalie’s attitude around, once again emphasizing The Power of Positive Thinking and Perseverance theme. Zoe assures Natalie by asking, “Didn’t you have to work hard to write your book—just as hard as those other writers did?” and continues by saying Natalie’s book will be looked at “because you are who you are, and your mom is who she is, and you worked hard to write a great book” (108). After this, Zoe converts to her agent voice and addresses Cassandra Day, reassuring her that she’s in good hands, telling her to “hang up now and get a good night’s sleep” (109). Zoe’s ability with words and optimism about their plan helps to bring Natalie comfort, leading to the restoration of Natalie’s confidence. By addressing Cassandra, Zoe acknowledges that Cassandra symbolizes Natalie’s confidence, and Zoe does what she can to help Natalie feel confident in their plan, even when she’s feeling anxious and guilty. 

Natalie’s book as a motif for The Effects of Loss gains a new facet in Chapter 14 when Hannah Nelson reads the book. Hannah is excited about the book and wants to share it with Natalie, but she worries “[b]ecause the strongest section of the book was the part about this girl and her dad” (111). She regrets telling Natalie about it because she doesn’t want Natalie to feel sad about the loss of her own father. Hannah’s perspective on the book’s main character’s relationship with her father helps solidify the book as a motif for the effects of loss theme and communicates how the loss of Natalie’s dad has affected the way Hannah worries about Natalie. 

Finally, these chapters continue to build Letha Springfield up as an antagonist. In Chapter 15, Hannah takes the manuscript to Letha’s office to explain the value she’s found in it. Hannah acknowledges that “[t]alking with Letha was dangerous” (119). Letha’s cutthroat attitude makes Hannah uneasy about giving her the manuscript, showing the influence that Letha has over Hannah. Letha’s foreboding presence hints at a larger antagonistic role in the chapters to come.