58 pages • 1 hour read
Philip BeardDear Zoe
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2004A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 23-25Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 23 Summary: “Skycoaster”
As summer vacation begins, Tess spends more time with Jimmy. He builds a lightweight chute that they can hoist between their windows so Tess can climb down to his room, where they get stoned, talk, and kiss. Jimmy tells Tess his mom and dad had five kids by the time his mother was 27. She got pregnant with Jimmy when she was 40 and developed cancer 10 years later. Jimmy reveals she sang to him every night and that his father blamed him for his mother’s death. When Jimmy started to get in trouble, his father sent him away, as if he didn’t care. Tess argues with Jimmy on this point, and after, she feels Jimmy begins to treat her more as an equal.
Jimmy gets Tess a job working at Thelma’s Lemonade Stand at the Kennywood amusement park, where Jimmy also works, operating the Skycoaster. Tess’s coworker Vicky often leaves in the middle of the day to hook up with people who buy lemonade, but Tess doesn’t mind because she gets to eat lunch with Jimmy most days. Her dad picks her up at the end of the day and does a few deliveries, and Tess falls asleep with Frank.
Tess begins to stay late with Jimmy at the park, sometimes smoking weed. After two weeks, Tess tells Jimmy she wants to ride the Skycoaster with him. At the top of the ride, Jimmy tells Tess he loves her, and Tess says, “Me too.”
Chapter 24 Summary: “Mom”
At David’s request, Tess begins to call her mother at least twice a week, which is hard because Tess is starting to feel better, but her mother seems the same. The calls are short and strained, and they never talk about Zoe.
A few weeks before Tess’s 16th birthday, Tess’s mom suggests that Tess come home for a birthday and they can have a party. Tess isn’t sure, and her mom says she can’t lose both Tess and Zoe. She tells Tess nothing happened with Justin; he was just someone to laugh with and it felt good not to feel guilty for a few moments. Tess thinks of Jimmy and understands. Her mom says Tess was her best friend: “You were the only important thing, the one thing I could never lose, and now I’m losing you” (132). Tess promises her mother she’s not losing her. Tess says in her letter it’s the closest they came to talking about Zoe, but they don’t actually talk about her, which makes Tess relieved.
Chapter 25 Summary: “You & Em”
Tess remembers the first therapist she saw, Miss Soothing, kept trying to make Tess admit that she was jealous of Em and Zoe because they were full sisters, but Tess says she never felt that way. Sometimes she was jealous because she wanted her mother to herself, but her sisters were always her sisters. When she was little, she accompanied her mother everywhere, and David realized that Tess and her mom were a package deal. Later, when she was older, she didn’t resent Zoe, but she resented that her mom didn’t choose to spend any of her free time with her, spending it with David instead. She remembers her mom being pregnant with Em and seeing the sonogram with David and her mom and feeling excited to be part of a family.
Chapters 23-25 Analysis
Tess and Jimmy—in particular the physical elements of their relationship— become an escape for both of them: “Jimmy’s kisses created this little force field around us that kept everything else away” (120). Tess’s exploration of her sexuality is natural, though it also serves the dual purpose of becoming a coping mechanism, helping her to repress memories about Zoe. Interestingly, Jimmy opens up to Tess about his past trauma, telling her the story of his mother’s death and his complicated relationship with his father, one night in lieu of kissing. Significantly, Tess envies Jimmy’s ability to open up to her, suggesting that some part of her longs to be honest with Jimmy about how Zoe died.
Amusement parks become a motif throughout the book (Tess’s father takes her to Disney World; Tess compares her and her mother’s relationship to riding a rollercoaster). At Kennywood, the Skycoaster in particular takes on metaphoric weight, coming to symbolize Tess’s relationship with Jimmy. At first, Tess is afraid to ride the Skycoaster, but when she finally drums up the courage, it becomes the site of her and Jimmy’s first “I love you.” Much like the ride, Tess’s relationship with Jimmy is exhilarating but also frightening for Tess, especially as they deepen their bond. Their increased level of intimacy feels dangerous to Tess, as the closer they get, the more Tess will have to reveal about herself, including Zoe’s story, which she’d rather keep hidden.
As Tess and Jimmy grow closer in these chapters, Tess and her mother grow closer as well, albeit in a much different way. Tess’s mother opens up to Tess on a phone call, explaining that Justin was an escape, someone she could feel good with for a few moments. Thanks to her new relationship with Jimmy, Tess understands her mother’s explanation and is able to empathize with her and her need for escapism. Tess’s mother also confesses how afraid she is that she might lose Tess and reiterates how important their relationship is to her. It’s the first time in the novel Tess’s mother verbalizes and affirms the importance of their relationship, and it’s a crucial moment of connection for Tess, who has felt responsible for Zoe’s death and, subsequently, like there’s no space for her in the family.
Tess’s mother’s confession prompts Tess to remember her early relationship with her mother and reflect on just how close they were. While Tess denies ever having been jealous of her sisters, she admits that she was jealous of their mom not spending her free time with Tess. Tess’s isolated position in her family predates Zoe’s death; she goes from being an only daughter and her mother’s mascot to being a de facto babysitter and a third parent. At her father’s, Tess can act like a teenager, including experimenting with sex and drugs. Nevertheless, Tess’s memory of her mother’s ultrasound underscores how much Tess’s family means to her and how much being a member of a family has shaped her life.
