Summary

The Summer People chapter begins with Martin Maple, who is nine, and his father in their cabin on the island, which Martin has never left. The so-called “summer people” arrive each year during the summertime, and Martin meets one of them, a nine-year-old boy named George (6). He tells Martin stories about what life is like outside of the island, and George is confused as to why Martin has never left. George promises to come back next year when he leaves in the autumn. Martin and his father work on a machine whose purpose Martin does not know. Apparently, the machine is the result of a blueprint that Martin’s father found when he worked at the circus, promising “hope” (10). He moved to the island in order to work on the machine in peace. Later, his father leaves for a while to find...