46 pages • 1 hour read
Tillie ColeA Thousand Boy Kisses
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2016A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 10-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary: “Clasped Hands and Awakened Dreams”
Poppy’s father knocks on Poppy’s door, and Rune leaves through the window, seeing Poppy fill out two hearts. Rune’s father tells him that he and Poppy’s father think Rune should stay away from Poppy. Rune storms out and finds Poppy, Ida, and Savannah. Poppy tells Rune to spend more time with Alton, noting how Alton idolizes Rune. Rune and Poppy greet their friends. Everyone but Avery is excited about Rune and Poppy’s relationship. Rune plans to watch Poppy practice cello at lunch, and they repeat their vows of “forever always” and “for infinity.”
A week later, Poppy comes to take Rune on a date. Rune enjoys listening to Poppy sing on the drive. They go to the beach and reminisce about kiss 75 when they were nine years old. Poppy tells Rune how she started to feel tired after Rune moved to Oslo. At first everyone thought she was brokenhearted, but then her family took her to a doctor in Atlanta. For two years, Poppy’s family lived with her aunt, DeeDee, in Atlanta while Poppy received treatment. When the treatment proved ineffective, the family moved back to Blossom Grove. Rune explains that he grew consistently angrier in Oslo, gradually befriending other angry people, drinking, and smoking.
Poppy falls asleep, and Rune finds his old camera in her bag. Rune vowed to never take another picture when Poppy cut contact. Poppy wakes up and explains that Rune’s father fixed the camera after Rune threw it away. They kiss, number 434, and Poppy plays in the water while Rune takes pictures. Poppy tells Rune a religious story about footsteps in the sand.
Poppy is tired, but she hates sleep because it cuts into the time she has left. Rune tells her to sleep so they can have more fun together. Rune then drives Poppy home, carrying her to her room. Poppy’s mother kisses her forehead, and Rune tells Poppy he loves her when he puts her in bed. Before Rune leaves, Poppy’s father tells Rune that Poppy loves Rune too. At home, Rune finds his dark room set up like it was two years ago, and he develops the photos from the day. His father visits, and Rune thanks him for repairing the camera. Rune sits and watches TV with Alton but goes to Poppy’s room to sleep.
Chapter 11 Summary: “Soaring Wings and Fading Stars”
Aunt DeeDee wakes Poppy up and tells her they need to leave. She will not tell Poppy where they are going, but she says it is an adventure. Poppy has been in bed for weeks because her white blood cell count is low, meaning she is at risk of infection. She has also felt tired. Poppy’s father argues with Aunt DeeDee and Poppy’s mother about the trip, but Rune stands up for her, and Poppy says she needs to enjoy the time she has left. Aunt DeeDee drives Rune and Poppy to the airport for a plane ride to New York. Aunt DeeDee works for the airline, and she secures first-class seats for Rune and Poppy. On the plane, Rune and Poppy share kiss 808.
In New York, Rune, Poppy, and Aunt DeeDee stay in a hotel owned by DeeDee’s boyfriend. Aunt DeeDee tells Poppy that Rune planned the whole trip, and she adds that Rune and Poppy’s love is greater than any she has seen.
Rune tells Poppy to take a bath, and he orders food. Rune says he has a whole day planned for tomorrow, and Poppy asks if she can take Rune somewhere too. He accepts, but Poppy does not say where they will go. They eat and then sleep together.
Chapter 12 Summary: “Heart Songs and Beauty Found”
Rune and Poppy spend the following day going to tourist attractions in New York City, and Poppy relishes each kiss from Rune in new places. Between Rune’s scheduled activities, Poppy brings him to Tisch as a surprise. The exhibition is filled with historically significant photos, and Rune recognizes some of them, telling Poppy about their meaning. Rune explains how a photo of a child and a vulture brought worldwide attention to a famine in Africa. Another photo is of Esther Rubenstein, who the guidebook reveals was the wife of the exhibition owner. Esther died of cancer at 26 years old, and the exhibition owner never remarried. Esther’s photo makes Rune and Poppy sad, and they leave.
At the hotel, Rune puts on fancy clothes, and a stylist prepares Poppy for their next adventure. Rune then brings Poppy to Carnegie Hall. The venue is empty, but a lone cello sits on the stage, and Rune tells Poppy to play. Poppy plays multiple pieces, ending with “The Swan” from Carnival of the Animals. She sees the performance as a farewell to the music that enriched her life. Rune takes a picture of Poppy finishing the last piece. He cries and apologizes that there was no audience other than him.
They return to the hotel, and Poppy undresses. They have sex, and Poppy savors every moment, knowing it may be the last time she gets to be with Rune this way. However, she is glad Rune is not repulsed by her scars. Afterward, they share kiss 820.
Some time later, Poppy hears the terrace door open, and she finds Rune collapsed in tears on the hotel balcony. She embraces him, and he explains how the trip to New York City made Poppy’s illness real for him. Poppy explains her spiritual belief in “home,” or heaven, saying that dreams are visits to heaven. Poppy knows she and Rune will be together “for infinity” in heaven, and she will be 17 years old forever. Her wish is to die while kissing Rune.
Chapters 10-12 Analysis
At the beach, Poppy and Rune discuss their years apart, revealing the darker side of The Intensity of Young Love. When Rune left, Poppy felt “tired,” and she assumed, like her family, that she was grieving Rune’s departure. The intensity of their love resulted in an equally intense breakup, which obscured the actual disease Poppy was beginning to experience. Rune, meanwhile, suffered emotionally, withdrawing from his family and falling in with a crowd as angry as he was. Even in the present, Rune notes the “ever-present unwound coil of anger that wait[s] to strike” (197). This anger is the other side of Rune’s love for Poppy, aggravated by his father’s decision to move, Poppy’s decision to cut contact, and the discovery that he only has months left to spend with Poppy. Rune’s anger and desperation are extreme because they come from such an extreme love.
Poppy’s wishes regarding her death foreshadow further turmoil for Rune. Poppy notes, “[D]eath, for the sick, is not so hard to endure. For us, eventually, our pain ends, we go to a better place. But for those left behind, their pain only magnifies” (206). However, she also tells Rune that she wants to die with Rune kissing her, asking Rune to set aside his own feelings of grief to comfort her in her final moment. This request, like Rune and Poppy’s love, is double-sided: Rune will presumably want to enjoy his last moment with Poppy, but it is inevitably going to be difficult for him to reconcile his anger, sadness, and love.
Knowing that Rune is going to have a hard time dealing with her death, Poppy begins trying to repair Rune’s relationship with his family, reflecting the need for Emotional Resilience in the Face of Loss and Mortality. When Rune goes back to his darkroom, set up by his father when they returned, he thinks about his camera: “Poppy recognized that I needed this in my life, when I was too blinded by the past to see it” (221). Though Rune’s camera has great significance in and of itself (particularly given the novel’s emphasis on preserving memories), Poppy’s role in giving it back to Rune also reflects her efforts to give him back a relationship with his father and brother. Poppy highlights the efforts Rune’s family members have made to reach out to him, telling Rune that his father repaired his camera and set up the dark room and alerting Rune to Alton’s desperation to capture Rune’s attention. Rune takes Poppy’s advice, watching TV with Alton for a short while. Rune’s mother affirms the positive effect Rune’s relationship with Poppy has on their family, smiling as Rune sits with Alton. These connections are needed to help Rune grieve Poppy’s death, and Poppy is repairing them in advance.
The trip to New York City highlights the mutualistic nature of Poppy and Rune’s relationship—Rune is trying to fulfill Poppy’s dreams as much as Poppy is trying to fulfill Rune’s—and furthers the theme of The Fleeting Nature of Life and the Importance of Memory. Rune brings Poppy to New York so she can explore the city, experience tourist attractions, and, as the highlight of the trip, perform at her dream venue of Carnegie Hall. Poppy realizes: “He understood me. He understood my truth. He understood it was the final time I would play. And I could see, with crystal clarity, the mixture of sorrow and pride set in his eyes” (255). Rune takes a picture of Poppy at the end of her performance, which recalls the photo of Esther Rubenstein they saw at Tisch. Beyond being a fun and exciting way for Poppy to enjoy the life she has left, the trip is a culmination of the love and understanding Poppy and Rune share. The performance is fleeting, but Rune’s photo commits that fleeting moment to memory, creating a physical representation of their love and passion.
