57 pages • 1 hour read
Jennifer Richard JacobsonPaper Things
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2015A 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 1-8Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 1 Summary: “Score Cards”
Content Warning: This section of the guide contains descriptions of homelessness, stigma, and discrimination against people without a home, including violence and verbal abuse. It also contains content related to childhood bullying, bereavement, and miscarriage.
Eleven-year-old Arianna Hazard (who goes by Ari) sits in her desk at school. She is distracted by the fact that, two months before, she left her guardian’s home with her 19-year-old brother, Gage. After their mother died, the siblings were sent to live with her friend, Janna. Gage did not like Janna; he felt as though Janna only cared about Ari and never about him. Ari found living there tolerable and grew to be fond of Janna but was worried about the conflict between Gage and Janna. She couldn’t bring herself to speak up about her concerns and left with Gage despite Janna’s protests. The siblings had promised their mother they would “stay together always” (4). Before leaving, Ari packed a small amount of clothes and her “paper things,” paper cutouts from catalogs that she uses as dolls.
Gage lied to both Ari and Janna about having an apartment to go to. Ari finds herself and Gage sleeping on friends’ couches or in a shelter for people without homes. Ari is in the gifted class at school and used to excel but her focus and grades have been slipping ever since leaving home.
In the present, Ari thinks about her best friend, Sasha, who won a leadership position on the patrol team when Ari did not. Ari worries that without any leadership experience, she won’t get into the prestigious middle school (Carter) that Sasha will attend. Ari is embarrassed when her teacher lectures her for not paying attention just as the principal walks in.
Chapter 2 Summary: “Manuals”
Ari meets Sasha after school, and Sasha tells her all about her new patrol leadership position and how fun and important it is. Ari feels jealous and wonders if she would have been chosen instead had she only stayed with Janna and things were different. A classmate named Linnie approaches and implies that Ari wouldn’t make a good patroller, and Sasha only half-heartedly defends Ari. Ari says an awkward goodbye and makes her way to the local Head Start preschool program where she volunteers after school.
Chapter 3 Summary: “Catalogs”
Ari is welcomed into the Head Start preschool by all the kids with hugs and happy faces. Her presence is always appreciated by the other women who work there, Carol and Fran. Ari has a special bond with two kids in particular: Omar seems to always want to be near Ari, and Juju loves cutting out catalogs with Ari. Ari started cutting catalogs and turning them into a paper family and home when her mother got sick. She and Sasha would spend hours cutting and designing rooms together. The paper family started out as just a mom with a son and daughter but has now grown to be quite large—Ari has always wanted to be part of a large family.
Chapter 4 Summary: “Library Cards”
Gage comes to pick Ari up from Head Start, and Ari says she needs to stop at the library to do some research for a school project. Gage reluctantly agrees. Along the way, Ari hopes that her favorite librarian is working since she’s the only one who lets Ari take out books without a library card. Ari lost two cards and doesn’t have the 50 cents to get another one. She saves coins she finds on the street, but she doesn’t have enough yet. She doesn’t want to ask Gage, as he doesn’t have a secure job and struggles to buy food. The librarian turns out to be someone that Ari has never seen before, so Ari tries to get some research done in the library. Ari’s project is on an American figure from the 1800s, and she has chosen Louisa May Alcott, the author of Little Women, a book that Janna used to read to Ari. In the library, Ari recognizes people from the local soup kitchen. Gage hurries Ari and gives her his library card so she can take out the book. This surprises Ari, who didn’t even know he had one. Gage feels like Ari was calling him stupid and is offended. He rushes out with the book in hand. Ari knows that Gage is under a lot of stress: Until he can find a full-time job, nobody will rent an apartment to him.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Paper Dolls”
The bus takes Ari and Gage to Gage’s girlfriend Chloe’s apartment. It is usually a nice break from either the Lighthouse youth shelter or Gage’s friend Briggs’s apartment, and they both look forward to staying there. Chloe’s apartment is in a deprived neighborhood with a reputation for criminal and antisocial activity, and Ari remembers once being threatened by a kid who wanted money from her to board the bus. At Chloe’s apartment, Ari goes inside to find Chloe’s roommate making hot pockets, which he offers to Ari. When Chloe and Gage go to the laundromat, Ari takes the opportunity to play with her paper things. She lays them all out in Chloe’s room and becomes lost in the fantastical world she has created. Ari remembers how Chloe’s roommate was shocked to find out that Ari preferred her paper dolls to video games like The Sims. Within a few minutes of playing, some unfamiliar teenagers stumble in, and one calls Ari’s dolls “freaky.” Ari feels embarrassed and comes out of the bedroom to find that several teenagers have congregated in the apartment. When Gage and Chloe return, Gage is irritated to see a party forming, knowing it isn’t safe or productive for Ari or himself. He takes Ari and leaves Chloe there. When Ari and Gage reach Briggs’s apartment, Ari realizes that the books she needs for her homework assignment are still at Chloe’s.
Chapter 6 Summary: “Books”
Briggs is Gage’s oldest friend. He has a studio apartment, which means that Ari sleeps on the floor on some sofa cushions. She wrote a poem about this called “Ode to Seat Cushions” (48). Ari likes Briggs because he’s nice to her, but she finds his apartment cramped and small. She falls asleep that night worrying about Sasha finding out that she has no home, about Chloe and Gage, and about her homework and forgotten books. When Chloe shows up the next morning holding them, Ari thanks her and dashes off so that Gage and Chloe can reconcile. Briggs, who works at a party store, gives Ari a funny hat to wear at school for April Fools, but Ari laments that the new principal recently banned all school traditions that don’t relate directly to the curriculum. Later that day in computer class, Ari tries to secretly finish her Alcott bibliography without the teacher noticing. A classmate named Daniel reaches over and helps Ari finish it quickly, showing her a copying tip in the computer. He helps Ari again by minimizing her project when the teacher walks by. Ari wonders why he bothered to help her.
Chapter 7 Summary: “Hall Passes”
Ari convinces Sasha to break the rules and sneak into the computer lab to print off her bibliography before social studies class. They get to the lab, but Sasha backs out, worried about getting caught, and Ari enters alone. She gets to her computer but finds that the document is gone and the computer teacher, Ms. Finch, is standing behind her with a printed copy. Ms. Finch lectures Ari on doing other teachers’ assignments during her class and tells her to get back to the lunchroom. Ari leaves in tears, feeling like nothing ever goes right anymore. She gets to social studies class and approaches her teacher, Mr. O, to tell him she doesn’t have her assignment. Ari is surprised to find that Mr. O is already holding a copy of it. He seems intrigued by her chosen topic: Alcott’s activism. Ari is sure that Daniel is the one who handed it in for her.
Chapter 8 Summary: “Price Tags”
Ari offers to help Sasha study for an upcoming math test and wonders if she should stay the night at Sasha’s, hoping to give Gage a break and looking forward to a nice clean bed. Sasha suggests staying at Janna’s, and Ari makes up excuses about why they can’t. Sasha seems irritated that Ari always has to stay at her place but agrees to ask her mother anyway. Ari can only think about having a good place to sleep. On the way to Head Start after school, Ari comes across a man she recognizes from the soup kitchen who makes paper airplanes for the kids there. She approaches him and his dog and asks to pet the dog who is very friendly. The man mentions that his dog is hungry, and Ari gives up the 14 cents she has saved to help him afford dog food. At Head Start, Ari is asked to put up a bulletin board of pussywillow paintings that the kids have made. This reminds her of the crafts that Janna used to do with her. Omar gives Ari his painting personally, and Ari loves it.
Chapters 1-8 Analysis
From its opening, Paper Things is a rare glimpse into a world that is frequently hidden and cast as something “other”: the experience of living without a home, drifting from place to place, and never knowing where the day will end up. In this way, the book tackles the theme of The Connection Between Homelessness and Shame. The idea of this is upsetting, and therefore people with homes often prefer not to imagine what this would be like. Paper Things obliges the reader to consider this difficult experience closely and to identify with it through the perspective of Ari’s intimate first-person narrative. The mundane, relatable details of Ari’s normal school life are juxtaposed with the frightening and (for many readers) shocking things she must consider and endure as a child without a home. For a reader who has experienced homelessness, the book may be an inclusive work, exploring the perspectives of people without a home with compassion and individual focus. Ari recounts her experiences with simplicity and honesty, in such a way that her humiliations, fears, and hopes are transparent to the reader. She copes with far more than any 11-year-old should: school, her relationship with her brother, finding money, where she will sleep, her friendships, and her health.
The beginning of Paper Things also introduces the theme of The Weight of Decisions that can transform a person’s life, whether big or small, especially when life is already precarious or when young people rely on the kindness of non-parents. Ari and her brother, Gage, are in a position where there are no biological family members left to turn to, which is what initially led to their situation. Although Janna is a caring and attentive guardian, she allows a past jealousy to affect her relationship with Gage, which leads to conflict. Ari, who sees Gage as her last living connection to her parents and past, clings to him desperately. This is compounded by their promise to their mother, which leads her to leave a comfortable home to be with Gage. Ari is able to choose but feels compelled to follow Gage, showing the importance of family connection and her natural instinct to see him as her protector. Gage is a loving brother but is unable to provide for Ari and is irresponsible for putting her in this position. In this way, Paper Things explores the weight of Gage’s decision and Ari’s. Her decision is one that a child should never have to make.
The nature of Ari’s dilemma and the ongoing conflict it causes her are key parts of the novel’s emotional action. Paper Things shows that Ari feels responsible for her decision and that this adds to her stress and inner conflict. Since moving out of Janna’s home, Ari has been struggling in school and with her friendships, and she wonders if she would be having these problems if not for this decision: “For the millionth time, I wonder if things would have been different if I’d stayed with Janna” (13). Ari trusts her brother completely even though he lied to her about having a place to live. While Gage does try his best, he has no experience at being a parent and fails to provide for Ari adequately. Gage’s guilt over this is not voiced openly and instead comes out in the form of frustration and anger. Paper Things views Gage sympathetically, however, emphasizing that he is also a young person without a home. His mistakes of poor judgment and irresponsibility are relatable as the sort that many teenagers might make; the impacts of these mistakes are disproportionate because Gage lacks the guidance and security that more privileged teenagers benefit from. The book also shows that Ari is highly sensitive to Gage’s situation and feelings, even though he tries to hide them, and that she makes allowances for them. She also hides her own fears and regrets to protect Gage. The combination of mutual protectiveness, pride, and sadness in the sibling relationship adds significantly to the novel’s pathos and its holistic exploration of homelessness and its impacts.
Ari also has difficulty speaking up for herself, often feels invisible, and focuses on being near her brother and being “shiny once again” in the eyes of her teachers (10). Ari’s choice of words shows how closely her sense of identity is allied to her scholastic achievements and the sense that she is tarnished by her circumstances. It also connotes the pejorative association of homelessness with shame, low value, or uncleanliness. The opening chapters expose the sad irony that Ari’s means to improve her future situation through educational excellence is slipping away from her just as it becomes more imperative. In this way, Paper Things closely examines the multiple impacts of being without a home as a child and the sense of failure this can engender.
The longer that Ari lives without a home, the more desperate she becomes for necessities like food and a good night’s sleep. This makes it impossible for her to maintain the façade of normal childhood. She oversteps the boundaries of her friendship with Sasha by inviting herself over too many times. She also lies to Sasha about the reasons for this, never telling Sasha that her life is in trouble. This is the result of the connection between homelessness and shame, as Ari is embarrassed about her situation and doesn’t want even her best friend to know what is happening to her. Although Ari tells herself that she and her brother aren’t like the other people they see on the street, in some sense, Ari knows that she is in a similar predicament. Sasha’s character is ambiguous in this first section. Externally, Sasha appears to lack the emotional empathy and compassion that characterizes Ari’s interactions with others. Rather than perceiving her friend’s distress and supporting her, Sasha distances herself from Ari. Paper Things does not demonize Sasha, however, presenting her as a “normal” child who reflects prevalent social taboos that she doesn’t understand. Like Gage, her responses are recognizable as typical for a young person in her situation. Sasha’s withdrawal is juxtaposed by Ari’s growing friendship with Daniel. Here, the novel sets up an ongoing comparison between Sasha and Daniel that will explore the nature of true friendship and shared values.
Two things become of utmost importance to Ari during her time without a home: The Necessity of Community and The Power of Hope. The necessity of community is dramatically evident in Ari’s and Gage’s lives, and it is clear that they would suffer much more without the help of friends, local community members, and some charitable provision in the community. Ari inherently understands the importance of community in a person’s life, shown both through her love of traditions and her love of her paper things. Ari started creating them when her mother got sick to imagine a continued family life. She wanted a big family because “you’re likely to have someone watching out for you always” (22). Ari’s feeling speaks to her sense of insecurity without a nuclear family. Her wish to build a family is enacted in real life, too. Ari finds connection with the staff and kids at Head Start, as well as with people like Briggs, Reggie, and Daniel who are understanding and kind to her. Paper Things introduces a varied community of individuals without homes or who are negotiating precarious work, housing, or relationship situations. This emphasizes the value of individuals who are often stigmatized and the insecure nature of life for many people that can result in homelessness.
The power of hope is clear in the way that Ari continuously presses forward in her life, schoolwork, and goal of attending Carter despite all the challenges she faces. Ari is also deeply intelligent, and Paper Things showcases her ability to write poems and clever letters, her pride in her vocabulary and editing abilities, her resilience, and the tenacity of her hopefulness. By any measure, Ari is a remarkable young person: By emphasizing her individual talents and potential, the novel raises the pathos, suspense, and emotional connection of the narrative.
