Summary: The Palmer family is all ready for an exciting camping vacation on an isolated island in northern California. While on a hike, their mother falls and breaks her ankle. The father heads to the nearest hospital with the mother, while twelve-year-old Jonathan stays on the island with his partially paralyzed younger sister, Abby. The family dog is there to help. When an earthquake hits the island, Jonathan is faced with many problems while trying to keep his sister safe.
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Realistic Fiction is a fictional story in which the setting, plot, dialogue, and characters seem real.
Story Skill: Plot (Conflict and Events)
A
plot is the action or series of events in a work of fiction. Sometimes
important events in a plot are changes in a character's feelings or
attitudes. Other times they are action-packed events, such as
earthquakes, space journeys, or shipwrecks. In most stories the plot
concerns one or more problems or conflicts. To keep you reading,
authors set up interesting characters and situations. Then, they give
their characters big problems or conflicts to deal with.
Plots usually follow a pattern like this one:
- Exposition - The characters, setting, and conflict, or problem, are introduced.
- Rising Action - The characters try to solve the problem. It usually gets worse.
- Climax - Action, conflict, and tension reach a critical point.
- Falling Action - The conflict gets worked out.
- Resolution - The ending tells the outcome.
