44 pages 1 hour read

Laurie Halse Anderson

Ashes

Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2016

A 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 1-14

Chapter 1 Summary: “Monday, June 25, 1781”

Isabel, the narrator, and Curzon are two teenagers on the run during the Revolutionary War. They’re hiding in the bushes, waiting for British soldiers to move on so they can get a look at a nearby milestone. They’re searching for Isabel’s little sister, Ruth, and Isabel is sure that the sign she’s looking for will point them to the city where they’ll find her: Charleston, South Carolina. Isabel recounts the story of her and Curzon’s travels. The pair have been on the road for five years. They’re starving and exhausted, and despite their former friendship, they’ve fallen out. Curzon wants to rejoin the Patriot army, and has only agreed to stay with Isabel until they find Ruth: “Time and hard travel,” Isabel says, “had much changed us both” (15-16). Curzon makes a plan to approach the British soldiers pretending to be a slave fleeing from a bad master and ask them for protection and directions. As Isabel waits for him to carry this plan out, she is startled by a sound in the bushes: A rattlesnake has crept up on her.

Related Titles

By Laurie Halse Anderson

Study Guide

logo

Catalyst

Laurie Halse Anderson

Catalyst

Laurie Halse Anderson

Study Guide

logo

Forge

Laurie Halse Anderson

Forge

Laurie Halse Anderson

Study Guide

logo

Shout

Laurie Halse Anderson

Shout

Laurie Halse Anderson

Study Guide

logo

The Impossible Knife of Memory

Laurie Halse Anderson

The Impossible Knife of Memory

Laurie Halse Anderson

Study Guide

logo

Twisted

Laurie Halse Anderson

Twisted

Laurie Halse Anderson

Study Guide

logo

Wintergirls

Laurie Halse Anderson

Wintergirls

Laurie Halse Anderson