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

Symbols & Motifs

Humans Versus Nature

The overarching motif in Stranded is humans versus nature. This survival story forces four children to reckon with natural forces and the elements of nature when a storm and a coral reef violently interrupt their family sailing trip. After the shipwreck, the children become stranded on an island with no adults to guide or help them. This motif connects to the themes of Bravery as a Tool for Survival and Using Individual Strengths to Create a Team. Carter, Jane, Buzz, and Vanessa are each brave in their own way, and each has unique skills and abilities that contribute to the team’s strength.

The storm is the children’s first natural foe, and they barely survive it. It separates them from Dex and Joe and challenges their ability to stay calm in a dangerous situation. On the island, the children scale a slope, climb across a gorge, build a fire, and search for fresh water. These tasks all require that the children work with nature rather than against it to stay alive. Along with the physical threats of violent weather, starvation, dehydration, and the ocean itself, the children must endure isolation and the knowledge that they have no idea how long they’ll be stranded and when (or even if) they’ll be rescued. The ocean eventually takes the boat from them, leaving them with little supplies and less hope than before, presenting even more challenges.

The Lucky Star

The name of the sailboat, Lucky Star, is a multilayered symbol with a meaning that changes as the story’s events unfold. This symbol links to the theme of Forging a Blended Family. The sailing trip starts out as an attempted bonding experience, but the children are all more interested in their own pursuits and spend little time focusing on one another. Carter is the most enamored with the experience of being at sea and part of a crew; he gets to change the navigation bulb and feels free and fierce as he hangs above the boat, gliding with the wind.

The Lucky Star initially symbolizes excitement and adventure but later represents loss and the need to forge ahead against all odds. After the children first leave the boat, which is broken and lodged amid the rocks, “the Lucky Star looked like a broken toy sitting on a stone shelf. The sight of it brought memories of the crash flooding back into Jane’s mind, and she couldn’t help the tears that started down her cheeks” (69). For the first day and night, the boat is an important source of shelter and supplies. In the story’s dramatic cliffhanger conclusion, the boat is swept away by the rising tide, and the children must abandon it quickly, taking only the supplies they can grab at the last moment before scrambling ashore. They watch as it drifts out to sea, leaving them with few supplies and no shelter.

The Storm

A significant force in the story, the storm symbolizes danger and unpredictability, and it changes the course of the siblings’ lives, forcing them closer together. This symbol connects to the themes of Using Individual Strengths to Create a Team and Bravery as a Tool for Survival because it forces the protagonists into a situation where these behaviors are crucial. When the storm first appears, the children think little of it, aside from Buzz, who is certain that it will lead to disaster. Carter wants to steer, and Vanessa thinks about how boring it is on the sea without her cell phone.

Not until Dex orders everyone to stay below deck, his tone urgent, do the children realize they’re in danger. Rather than panicking, they each react as they need to: Carter saves Vanessa from falling off the boat, and Jane hunkers down in a small nook where she can remain stable. The storm becomes so fierce that lightning continuously strikes the boat’s mast: “Carter saw a bright flash from somewhere near the top of the mast, like an explosion of light and force. The sailboat itself twisted nearly all the way around with a violent turn” (33). Eventually, the storm becomes so strong that it pulls Dex and Joe out to sea, leaving the children to fend for themselves and work together to survive.