63 pages 2 hours read

Jeanine Cummins

American Dirt

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Chapter 30-Epilogue

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 30 Summary

El Chacal returns to the apartment to collect the migrants, warning them they must heed his instructions during the three-night trek through the desert. They drive to a checkpoint where the coyote pays off immigration officials. The migrants begin their walk in the darkness loaded with heavy jugs of water. El Chacal warns them that if they get caught and identify him as the coyote, they risk retaliation from the cartel for interrupting an income stream. They start north at a rapid pace, but soon encounter a drone. Lydia understands they crossed the US-Mexico border without her realizing. The group takes shelter under a rocky outcrop to avoid prime border patrolling hours and pray silently in the dark. 

Chapter 31 Summary

The migrants resume their trek at two o’clock in the morning. They encounter vigilantes blocking the trail El Chacal normally uses. The coyote instructs the migrants to rest while they wait for the Americans to leave. The sun is up by the time they drive away. The migrants resume their walk at an even faster pace, battling heat and exposure. The coyote takes them over a steep hill. When they reach the top, they see nothing but more hills in the distance.

Related Titles

By Jeanine Cummins