Character Sketches
- Kara (The Protagonist):
- Personality: Defiant, passionate, and deeply protective of her family. She has a strong temper when provoked, especially when her father is insulted. She feels isolated and uses her imagination (e.g., imagining she is sailing) to escape her troubles.
- Key Detail: She likely has dyslexia or a similar learning difficulty, as the boys mock her for being unable to read or spell well. This is the source of her “Kara-two-planks” nickname.
- Motivation: She is desperately upset about her family’s struggles: the potential loss of their boat (the Moana) and her father’s job at the Merry Mermaid.
- Jake (The Main Antagonist/Bully):
- Personality: Arrogant, smug, and cruel. He takes pleasure in Kara’s misfortune and enjoys having power over her. He is boastful about his father’s wealth and plans.
- Key Detail: His family are fishermen who plan to use destructive dredging methods, putting him in direct conflict with Kara’s family’s likely more traditional and caring relationship with the sea.
- Motivation: To assert dominance, humiliate Kara, and showcase his family’s superior financial and social position.
- Ethan (The Follower):
- Personality: He is Jake’s sidekick. He joins in on the bullying and laughs at Jake’s jokes but is mostly a follower, not the instigator.
- Key Detail: He reinforces Jake’s taunts but doesn’t come up with the main insults himself.
- Motivation: To fit in with Jake and be part of the “winning” side.
- Kara’s Dad (Mentioned, not present):
- Personality: Based on the taunts, he is portrayed as a kind but struggling man.
- Key Detail: He is a chef at the Merry Mermaid café, which is closing down. The boys claim he is illiterate, but this is presented as a cruel rumor.
- Motivation: To provide for his family, which is becoming increasingly difficult.
- Mrs. Carter (The Authority Figure):
- Personality: Stern and responsible.
- Key Detail: She is the teacher who sees the conflict and tries to intervene but is too late to stop it.
- Motivation: To maintain order and discipline after Kara destroys school property (the Bible) and hurts Jake.
Key Events
- Kara’s Defiant Act: The chapter opens with Kara, high up on a wall, ripping thin, gold-edged pages out of a Bible. She lets them flutter away in the wind like birds.
- The Bullies Arrive: Two boys, Jake and Ethan, call up to her from below. They try to pull her down but can’t reach because the wall is too high.
- The First Taunt – Dad’s Job: Jake reveals he knows Kara’s dad is about to lose his job as a chef at a café called the “Merry Mermaid” when it closes at the summer’s end. He cruelly suggests her dad could work for his father on his fishing trawlers.
- Jake’s Father’s Plan: Jake brags that his dad is excited for a dredging ban to lift so he can use new gear to aggressively rake the seabed for shellfish.
- The Major News: Jake reveals his big, jubilant news: their family’s boat, the Moana, is up for sale. Kara is in shock and calls him a liar.
- The Worst Insult: When Kara tries to ignore them, Jake delivers the cruelest blow: his dad plans to buy the Moana just to chop it up for firewood.
- Kara’s Reaction: Overwhelmed with anger, Kara throws the heavy Bible at Jake. It hits him in the nose, and he falls to the ground, bleeding.
- The Escape: With a teacher, Mrs. Carter, running towards them, Kara jumps down from the wall and runs away from the scene.
- The Reason for the Bullying: Earlier, the boys had been mocking Kara. They called her “Kara-two-planks” (meaning very stupid) and made fun of her for likely having dyslexia (she can’t read the signs, can’t spell her name).
- The Attack on Her Father: The bullying escalated when Jake and Ethan started mocking Kara’s dad, claiming he lost his job because he couldn’t write his own name and that Kara’s mother had to do it for him. This is what truly pushed Kara over the edge and led to her throwing the book.
. Protagonist
- Easy Meaning: The main character in a story.
- Simple Explanation: The story is mostly about this person. They are usually the one trying to solve a problem or achieve a goal. You follow their journey from beginning to end.
- In the chapter: Kara is the protagonist. The story is told from her point of view, and all the events happen to her.
2. Defiant
- Easy Meaning: Refusing to obey or showing that you are unwilling to accept rules or someone’s authority.
- Simple Explanation: When you are defiant, you stand up against something you don’t like, even if you get in trouble. It’s like when you say “No, I won’t!” and mean it.
- In the chapter: Kara is defiant when she rips pages from the school’s Bible, ignores the boys at first, and finally throws the book at Jake instead of backing down.
3. Smug
- Easy Meaning: Being too proud of yourself in an annoying way because you think you are better or know more than someone else.