Willodeen

The fire in these chapters represents our worst fears. Willodeen has nightmares about and bad memories of the fire that killed her family, and smelling smoke of any kind in the past brought back the trauma of that night. Here, she smells smoke outside and sees fire, but instead of cowering in fear, she springs into action to protect her loved ones. Since finding and caring for Quinby, Willodeen opened herself up to Mae and Birdie as her new family. They will never replace her parents and brother, but the women are an irrevocable part of Willodeen’s life now. Willodeen’s certainty about her love for her new family during this crisis reinforces the value of found families and the different relationships that can create meaning in our lives.

The fire also symbolizes what brings people together. Though there have been disagreements and blaming since the hummingbears vanished, the villagers don’t hesitate to band together to protect their town from the fire. Even as the night wears on and exhaustion runs through their ranks, they keep fighting to preserve their homes and families. The fire damages part of the village but not nearly as much as it could have if people hadn’t worked together to contain it. Rather than a disaster, the fire is a problem that the villagers recover from because they didn’t let their differences get in the way of what needed to be done. Their reaction shows how many disagreements are ultimately meaningless. People will find things to argue about when things feel like they are going badly, but when something truly bad happens, those arguments are reduced to nothing as people do what must be done to survive. Here, Applegate alludes to the type of solidarity and teamwork necessary to combat real-world crises, including the climate crisis.

Quinby’s disappearance in these chapters symbolizes that Willodeen has completed her character arc. For the last several chapters, Willodeen put much of her effort toward making sure Quinby had what she needed to survive. Once the fire starts, Willodeen’s efforts need to go toward protecting her home. While Quinby’s disappearance is nerve-wracking, Willodeen focuses on the things that urgently need saving. Applegate also establishes that Quinby is self-sufficient; she can find her own food and in developing a fiercer demeanor is better suited to protect herself. Successfully nurturing Quinby creates greater emotional awareness in Willodeen; she tells Mae and Birdie she loves them for the first time in these chapters, showing she no longer feels like a stranger in their house. Willodeen remade her family, which allows her to spend the book’s final chapters helping her village rebuild.