The Boxcar Children - Surprise Island — Chapter 4

About This Passage

This passage shows the exact moment Joe's quiet trick works. Benny — who would not get into the cold water for anyone — is now standing in the ocean without noticing he is in it, because he is chasing something he wants. Notice the careful order Warner gives the sentence: Benny stands up, then he looks into the waves, then he does not feel the water, then he goes after the seaweed, then he shouts. Each tiny step happens in order, and each one is part of how a little boy gets pulled into the cold water without ever deciding to. The sentence is worth copying because it teaches a writer can move a character past a fear without making the character notice the fear is gone. Satisfies criteria B (the unbroken sequence of small actions), C (the gentle dramatic irony of Benny not noticing the water), and D (the theme of how desire can override fear).

Narration Prompt

In your own words, tell the story of this chapter. What were the most important moments? What made them important — and how do you know?

Discussion Questions

1. Benny refuses to go all the way into the cold water for Jesse, Henry, and Violet. Joe gets him in by talking about seaweed. Compare these two approaches. What did Joe understand about Benny that the others did not?
2. Henry recognizes the squirt of water on the beach as a sign of clams within a single sentence. The chapter does not explain how he knows. What does it mean about a writer that she trusts the reader to accept Henry's expertise without explanation? Connect this back to chapter 3.

+ 3 more questions in the complete study guide