Chapter one

● Gene returns to Devon school in New Hampshire

● Fifteen years was how long he had been graduated from the school
● He went to school during WWII
● Shifts to Gene’s days with phineas as they attempt to jump out of the tree
● Gene breaks rules while around finny that he doesn’t normally break

Chapter 2
● Finny’s personality explained as an anomaly as he is a likeable rule breaker that is also
a good athlete
● Finny uses his necktie as a belt and is able to get out of trouble by talking
● The super suicide society of the summer session is started by gene and finny, to join you
have to jump from the tree
● Finny stops gene from falling while on the branch and gene realizes finny saved his life

Chapter 3
● The club meets every night to conduct meetings and add members
● Finny creates blitzball which he excels at
● Finny breaks school swim record but refuses to do it again so that it can count
● Finny convinces gene to go to the beach even though he has a math test the following
morning
● Finny says gene is his best friend and gene doesn’t know how to react
● They stay the night at the beach and gene flunks the test

Chapter 4
● Finny pokes fun at gene’s scholarly success which makes gene believe he is trying to
get ahead of him
● Finny is the best at sports and gene wants to be the best academically so he tries to
compete with him in that way
● Leper is supposed to jump out of the tree and finny tells gene that he has to study as he
thinks finny is trying to sabotage him
● While they are at tree they decide they should jump together but once they get on the
branch gene jostles the branch causing finny to fall and break his leg
Chapter 5
● Gene now learns that the fall caused finny to break his leg and feels bad about what he
did
● Gene visits Finny and learns that finny is no longer allowed to play sports
● Finny is sent home before gene has the chance to tell him the truth about what he did
● Summer session ends and gene goes home only to return back to devon
● On the way back gene stops and sees finny and tells him the truth but finny does not
believe him

Chapter 6
● Gene is back at Devon with the same room but not a new roommate
● Gene goes to a crew practice and meets quackenbush who is the crew captain
● They end up in a fight and they both go into the water and gene quits the crew
● Finny calls gene and is worried he replaced him but is glad to hear that he has not
● Finny also tells gene that he needs to be playing sports for him so gene decides he
should grant this request

Chapter 7
● Brinker Hadley accuses Gene of sabotaging finny so he can get a room to himself
● Gene plays along at first but is deeply troubled by this accusation
● Some time passes and it is now winter and Gene and others spend time doing work and
doing things like shoveling snow at the railroad yard
● Gene wants to enlist as there is no reason to stay at Devon
● Finny comes back and surprises gene in their room and now gene doesn’t want to enlist

Chapter 8
● Gene is happy finny is back but he still feels really bad about what he did
● Brinker tries to again say gene did it on purpose but finny again denies
● Finny doesn’t want gene to enlist as finny can’t enlist
● Finny goes on a rant about many different things about the war and why gene isn’t doing
sports
● Finny trains gene for the olympics even though gene knows there won’t be one because
of the war and gene slowly gets better and better at sports

Chapter 9
● Leper sees a skiing video and is convinced that he must enlist
● Leper is now a symbol of war for them and he is at every major conflict in the war
● Finny tries to get away from the war secretly because he is angry that he can no longer
be a part of it and brings gene with him
● Finny organizes a winter carnival with different games and prizes
● Leper sends a telegram and gene and finny are confused by its meaning and they must
now find him

Chapter 10
● Gene goes to Vermont so that he can see Leper
● Leper says he left because they were discharging him for mental issues
● Leper accuses gene of finny’s accident causing gene to lash out at him
● Gene notices that something really did happen to leper and that he is acting crazy
● Gene can’t take anymore of his craziness and runs away from leper

Chapter 11
● Gene gets back to school and shortly is in a snowball fight
● Brinker pries the information from gene on what happened to leper
● Finny says he is done with his fake war fantasies
● Brinker confronts gene and finny about the accident but gene stops it
● That night brinker drags them out of their beds to hold a sort of court on what had
happened with the incident
● They somehow find leper and bring him in to tell the true story of what happened
● When gene learns that finny did push him and cause the accident he is distressed and
runs off but trips and rebreaks his leg
Chapter 12
● Finny is rushed to the infirmary by the doctor
● Gene tries to talk to finny but finny is so mad that he falls out of bed while trying to go at
him
● Gene walks around in a sort of daze trying to understand things
● Gene gets some of finny’s things and finny asks him if he caused the accident on
purpose
● Gene says he didn’t and finny believes him
● Finny dies during the surgery to fix his leg and gene no longer knows what to do as he
feels like he died with him
Chapter 13
● Troops come into devon as they use a part of it for the war effort
● Gene still blames himself for what happened to finny although no one else does
● Gene is introduced to brinkers dad who thinks that the military is everything and you
must do everything you can to have a good report
● Gene talks deeply about finny and their relationship
● He speaks on how he adopted many of his attitudes and rebellious nature and he is
finally able to make peace with him