Airplane

One of the novel’s two parallel narratives centers on the airplane that eventually crashes. The flight is going from Newark Airport to Los Angeles, and the flight number is 2977. Passengers on the flight include the Adler family, Crispin Cox, Mark Lassio, Linda Stollen, Florida, and Benjamin Stillman, among others. The plane crashes in Colorado due to a miscommunication between the pilot and copilot. Edward is the sole survivor. As noted in the book’s acknowledgements section, this flight is based on two real-world plane crashes.

West Milford

After the plane crash, Edward is sent to West Milford, New Jersey to live with his aunt and uncle. West Milford is a real town, and it has a population of about 25,000 people. Edward quickly befriends Shay, a girl who lives next door and who is the same age as him. Edward and Shay attend the same public school in...