The Lovely Bones Chapter 2 Summary
How It All Goes Down
- When Susie gets to heaven she thinks that everybody in heaven is surrounded by high schools like she is. She soon learns that this is her personal heaven, just like all the other people up there.
- The people she sees in her heaven have desires that overlap with hers, making their heavens similar.
- Susie and her future roommate Holly meet on their fourth day in heaven.
- Neither one of them like heaven, but they realize that they've "been given […] their simplest dreams" (2.17), like school, but no teachers and magazines for textbooks.
- A woman named Franny is Susie's "intake counselor" (2.19) becomes a mommy figure to them, because, naturally, they miss their mommies.
- On the fifth day, Susie and Holly are bored.
- Franny gives them Kool-Aid, and tells them the secret to life in heaven, "All you have to do is desire it, and understand why […] it will come" (2.25). So, their heavens get bigger.
- December 9: Detective Fenerman calls Susie's mom and dad and tells him they've found Susie's elbow. Susie watches her parents in bed afterwards, unable to talk. It begins to storm.
- The next morning, Mr. Salmon breaks the news of the elbow to his other daughter, Lindsey, who's thirteen, and extremely gifted and talented. After she hears the news, she throws up.
- Later that day the police search try digging up the cornfield, even though the snow/rain, etc. screwed up their crime scene.
- They do find a copy of To Kill A Mockingbird and establish that it's Susie's.
- On the 12th they find her notes from school, including a love letter from Ray Singh. Ray has a perfect alibi, but the rumors wreak havoc on his school life.
- Susie watches with frustration as Mr. Harvey calmly goes on with his life. She takes comfort in watching the family dog, Holiday.
- On the 15th, Fenerman tells the Salmon's that they think Susie's dead. The lab results are in. The dirt from the cornfield is full of blood.
- Susie's mom doesn't believe she's dead until Fenerman shows her Susie's jingly pompom hat, and tells her it was used to gag Susie. Meanwhile Susie fills her heaven with dogs for comfort.
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