My Father's Tent Summary

Misha, a penpal, first writes to Alma when she is 12. Over the next two years, Alma tells Misha about David's death, Charlotte's grief,and Bird's strange behavior. When Alma writes the letter to Jacob Marcus pretending to be Charlotte, she tells Misha. Jacob Marcus sends a response. Alma picks through the letter for clues and writes them in code in the third volume of How to Survive in the Wild. The clues do not help, so Alma decides to read The History of Love. Alma prints the first fifteen chapters and hides them in her backpack.

Alma reads about people talking with their hands and a man who thought he was made of glass. The chapters do not solve the mystery. She muses over why David gave Charlotte the book. On the title page of Charlotte's copy, she reads...