Hollyleaf's Story - Summary

First, a quick update. Amazon finally sent me the second book in The Broken Code series, The Silent Thaw. I will read, and write a summary essay on that in about a year. Patrons may get early access. 

In my senior year of high school, I did Advanced English. During that year, we had to look at the concept of ‘belonging’ in texts. 

The two given texts were Frankenstein (the novel) and Blade Runner (the director’s cut). We also had to choose two of our own. 

At this time Hollyleaf’s Story had only recently come out. I’d just read it for the first time and loved it. Hollyleaf was my favourite character in Warriors at the time.

I thought it would be perfect as one of my chosen texts and proudly told my English teacher about it. She decided to look into it herself. 

After reading it, or looking at reviews, a synopsis, and the like, she got back to me and said it did sound like a perfect text for an essay on ‘belonging’. However, she also told me that she didn’t want me to use it, as it was part of a series. 

She said that a lot of students who write essays using a text from a series end up letting the rest of the series influence their essay, accidentally referencing things that happen in other books.

I was terribly disappointed, especially knowing and having confirmation from someone else, how good this text would be for our concept. 

Not only that but at this time Hollyleaf’s Story was only available as an e-book. 

Our teacher had told our class to think carefully about our texts. The HSC markers will see lots of essays looking at the same concept. Using unique texts, especially if it’s in an uncommon format, means they would be more engaged, and probably take more time to give you a good mark. 

And now I couldn’t use such a perfect, unlikely to be used by other students this year, and in a unique format text!

Today I’m going to set that right!

Below is the summary essay for the first novella in The Untold Stories collection, Hollyleaf’s Story!

Oh, and if you were wondering, the texts I used in year 12 for my HSC were Avatar and A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

The main theme in Hollyleaf’s Story is belonging. The novella looks a the idea that where a person thinks they belong, may not be where they actually belong. At first, Hollyleaf is plagued by memories and thoughts of her clan, which she tries to shut out. When leading a fox cub out of the tunnels she says it belongs outside, but she belongs in the tunnels. When she finds herself drawn to the outside, she tries living in the forest beyond the clans’ borders. She finds that she does not belong on her own. After returning to the tunnels, she misses her clan even more and eventually realises that is where she belongs.

There are two main characters in the story. The first, as in any piece of literature, is the protagonist, who the audience follows in reading the text. In this novella, that is Hollyleaf. The other main character is her only friend in her temporary home of the tunnels, Fallen Leaves. All the other characters and character group’s that appear in Hollyleaf’s story are minor or incidental.

The main situations in the story are listed here: When Hollyleaf is injured in the opening chapter, Fallen Leaves cares for her. He then teaches her how to live in the tunnels. Hollyleaf starts hunting outside the tunnels. Later, she leads a fox cub out of the tunnels. Afterwards, she tries living alone in the woods. She misses Fallen Leaves and learns he missed her too when she returns. Hollyleaf visits her clan in secret but feels bad that she is neglecting Fallen Leaves. Both cats realise Hollyleaf belongs back in ThunderClan. The novella ends with Hollyleaf making the decision to return to her clan.

If this summary essay was interesting to you, please let me know by commenting below.

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Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and I hope I can give you a present in January!

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