Across The Desert

Jo faces external conflicts with others’ indifference to her concerns about Addie and internal conflicts regarding her mother’s secret addiction. What additional character conflicts can be inferred by the author’s mentions of school bullying directed at Jo?

How does the placement of the direct message conversations impact the reader’s knowledge and comprehension of plot events? If the author had chosen to relay all direct messages chronologically, how might the overall tone of the narrative change?

Choose one of the women adventurers Jo names to research. How do this woman’s accomplishments demonstrate that she is a fitting explorer to reference in the moment? How does the collective group of named adventurers befit the themes or mood of the novel?

Chart the narrative’s major plot points according to the days and times of days. What narrative devices are used to indicate that time has passed? How does a novel like Across the Desert compare to a novel that takes place over a longer time?

How does skill play a role in Jo’s progress along her quest? How does luck play a role? List accomplishments along Jo’s journey and attribute each to skill or luck. How do these plot points compare in number? What might be inferred by their location in the narrative?

In what ways does the novel’s setting contribute to the conflict? Rank setting components in terms of difficulty presented to the characters (e.g., temperature, landscape, environmental dangers).

Jo and Addie are quite different in background, socioeconomic conditions, living environments, and goals. In what areas are they similar?

The direct message conversations merge with the story’s real-time narrative in the last section. How do the last direct message conversations help to wrap up falling action loose ends?