108 pages • 3 hours read
Barbara Haworth-AttardTheories of Relativity
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2003A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary
Dylan waits outside the church for Twitch and Jenna. He studies the church’s architecture, finding it fascinating. Jenna shows up and asks what he’s looking at. He worries she’ll find him lame if he talks about the architecture, but he does so anyway, describing the history of gargoyles. Twitch joins them, bouncing and bumbling as usual. Dylan asks if he can take medication for his hyperactivity, and Twitch describes being on Ritalin in elementary school.
As they make their way in, Amber catches up to them. Much to Dylan’s dismay, Jenna invited Amber to join them. They line up for lasagna, Caesar salad, and fresh fruit. Dylan helps Twitch, and it reminds Dylan of helping Micha and Jordan.
Ainsley approaches Dylan and his group. She’s in her mid-20s and has scars and old track marks on her arms. She greets them, and Dylan tells her not to bother preaching because he doesn’t believe in God. She says that’s not what she’s there for; she’s just a volunteer. She recognizes Twitch and Amber and asks for Jenna’s name. Jenna introduces herself as Jewel, which reminds Dylan of the photo the police showed him. Twitch barely eats and falls into a coughing fit. Ainsley tells Twitch he needs to see a doctor. Ainsley then compliments Dylan for standing up to Lurch, but Twitch and Amber again warn Dylan to protect himself.
When Ainsley leaves the group, Dylan is overwhelmed by the weight of street life, thinking of Jenna’s photograph and Ainsley’s scars and old track marks. He wanders away, finding himself in the church sanctuary. He enjoys the silence, art, and architecture of the location, but he’s disconcerted by how much Jenna looks like the statue of Mary.
Ainsley finds Dylan and agrees that the statue looks like Jenna, expressing concern for how young Jenna appears to be. Dylan asks what Ainsley knows about the dangers of street life, and Ainsley reveals that she used to live on the streets too. Dylan tells her he’s been reading about Einstein after commenting about how Einstein didn’t believe in God. Ainsley is happy to hear Dylan reads and leads him out of the sanctuary.
Chapter 11 Summary
Dylan waits in the library for closing time. He wonders if Einstein had a theory about time’s speed in different situations, noting that it moves quickly when he’s warm and comfortable but slowly when the night is cold. Dylan has spent the last few days at the library because the punks stole his spot outside the office building. Dylan wonders if Glen talked to them too.
When the library closes, Dylan is left outside in the cold. He can’t go to Mandy’s because he’s worried about seeing Lurch or the Bandana Kids. He knows he won’t sleep tonight. He decides he doesn’t need people, that his theories will keep him company.
As he wanders past storefronts, Dylan is stopped by a cop, who asks if Dylan has somewhere to go. Dylan lies about going to Brad’s place. Dylan spends the last of his change on coffee at a fast-food restaurant. He thinks about his brothers and wonders if his grandparents are still alive. After a rowdy drunk comes through, the fast-food worker kicks Dylan out.
Dylan ruminates over things as he walks around the city. It’s snowing now. He wonders why his granddad didn’t try to find him. Soon, he encounters Amber. Her pregnant belly is beginning to poke through her coat. Dylan asks about it. She’s due in four months and is struggling to work because of her visibly pregnant body. Dylan asks if she can go somewhere, but she must work because she owes Vulture money for food and clothing. Dylan wonders if Jenna is working the streets like Amber. Amber says not yet. Dylan asks Amber to warn Jenna, but Amber refuses, citing her own safety and the safety of her unborn child.
Amber speculates that life on the streets is starting to get to Dylan and wonders how long he can maintain his drug-free, attachment-free lifestyle. Dylan shifts the conversation back to her baby and learns that this is Amber’s second child. Her first child was taken by Children’s Services, but she’s planning to get government money with this kid so she can have a real place to live outside Vulture’s control.
Later in the evening, Dylan visits a warm vent in front of the office tower and lies down. He’s exposed, but he doesn’t care because he’s warm. He wonders if his father looks like him. He considers leaving the city but acknowledges he can’t leave Micha and Jordan. He imagines escaping the streets with Jenna. To keep himself awake, he reads a bit of his Einstein book. The chapter ends on a cop shaking Dylan awake as dawn breaks.
Chapter 12 Summary
The cops wake Dylan and another man sleeping on the vents. While the other man shuffles away, the cops hold Dylan back, asking for his age and ID. Dylan jokes about pulling out his platinum MasterCard. Before he can get himself in too much trouble, Glen steps in, offering to take Dylan to breakfast and get him out of the cops’ hair. When the cops refer to Dylan as “littering up the street” (103), Glen becomes visibly angry but composes himself.
As they walk away, Dylan nearly forgets his backpack, but Glen reminds him. They go for breakfast at a diner. Glen orders Dylan a large plate of food, a glass of milk, and some coffee. Dylan is freezing and can barely speak without chattering his teeth. Glen tells Dylan he can take a hot shower at the youth center. After eating, Dylan feels significantly better and is able to hold a conversation with Glen.
Glen warns Dylan he’ll die on the streets. Glen can tell Dylan is clean and sober but worries it won’t last. He asks if Dylan can go home or if Dylan has any family he can stay with. Dylan mentions his grandparents, but he isn’t sure where they live or if they’re alive. Glen offers to help Dylan find out. Before they part, Glen assures Dylan that he isn’t litter.
At the youth center, Dylan spots Ainsley setting out soup bowls. It’s mostly empty this early in the morning. He asks Ainsley if he can shower, and she shows him where their facilities are, giving him a bar of soap. Before they part, she gives Dylan a doctor’s appointment slip for Twitch. Dylan showers, feeling much better until he pulls on his dirty underwear.
When Dylan comes back out, he finds Jenna and Twitch sitting together. Both look unwell: Jenna is run-down and exhausted, while Twitch is sickly and feverish. Dylan gives the appointment information to Twitch. Twitch walks away to see if the soup is ready, leaving Dylan alone with Jenna. He worries Jenna will have to start working the streets now that Amber is pregnant. Lurch appears in the doorway, and Jenna panics because she didn’t make much money at the church that morning. Dylan tries to convince Jenna to go home, but she screams at him, saying he doesn’t know anything about her home life.
Chapters 10-12 Analysis
The harsh winter season becomes an overarching menace in these chapters. Combined with the threats of people like the Bandana Kids, Lurch, and Vulture, Dylan is realizing he has very few places to go. His spot in front of the office building has been taken, and his money is running dry. He can’t duck into his usual places like Mandy’s or the youth center because he fears running into Vulture and Lurch. Twitch serves to personify the dangers of the weather. His coughing fits grow in number and intensity, and he is noticeably sicker. Ainsley is so worried that she makes him a doctor’s appointment. With the weather getting more cold and harsh, Twitch’s chances for wellness dwindle by the day.
Characters like Ainsley and Glen are developed more in these chapters. Both are fighting the uphill battle against the dangers of street life, and though Glen hasn’t discussed his personal history, both have indicated they have close ties to the street and understand the dangers of the lifestyle. Ainsley’s self-harm scars and track marks serve as evidence of her time on the street and possibly the struggles that got her there. Her concern for Dylan, Jenna, and Twitch comes from a place of wisdom. Glen also shows his knowledge of street life when he takes Dylan to breakfast. Glen knows about the youth center and advises Dylan to shower there. That Glen can tell Dylan is clean and sober just by looking at him suggests Glen has past experience with drugs.
Amber is another character who gets more development. Particularly during her conversation with Dylan in Chapter 12, Amber is shown to be more than just a foul-mouthed, street-hardened sex worker. Though she has resigned herself to working the streets until the baby comes, Amber sees the baby not as a consequence of her life but as a symbol of hope that her situation can improve. She expects government assistance money will be enough to get her off the streets so she can start a new life with her baby. Aside from financial help, Amber also seeks to fulfil her emotional needs through the unborn child, saying “It’ll be someone for me to love and someone to love me” (98). The revelation that this isn’t her first-born shows the devastating reality of women on the streets. Though she doesn’t say it, Amber’s premature attachment to her unborn child hints at the pain she endured when she was forced to give up her first child.
Chapter 12 stresses the theme of time through its pacing and format. Dylan brings up time right at the beginning as he anticipates the library’s closing, wondering if Einstein had theories regarding the speed at which time passes. Once he is out on the street, the chapter is broken down into segments of time. Each new segment begins with an italicized timestamp before delving into Dylan’s whereabouts or his current thoughts. As time passes, the streets grow colder and Dylan’s situation, struggling for warmth and consciousness, grows more dire. This structure slows the narrative down, allowing readers to experience Dylan’s long, cold struggle at the same pace as Dylan.
