Bye-Bye, Sydney!

Summary

During the final two chapters of the book, Frankie decides to talk to his great aunt, Alma, of all the current thoughts that have been haunting him but majorly, Sydney’s departure. A couple of days after his talk with Alma, Frankie asks his mom why she never leaves the house and she said it’s because she doesn’t want to. After this moment, Frankie begins to feel better and changes his attitude. Finally, the second-to-last-night before Sydney leaving, Frankie is going to stay the night at Sydney’s house.

Quote 1

“For the seventh night in a row, his head swam with words – it was rolling with conversations, dictionary definitions, song lyrics, old nursery rhymes, and lists, endless lists: lists of cakes, of school projects, of book titles, of birds, of four-legged animals, spots stats, batting shots, bowling actions, Chilun vocab, flowers, trees, cathedrals, paint colors – anything that would stop his mind from straying into uncontrollable territory and his body bolting down the hall.” (p. 201)

What this quote displays is how desperate Frankie is to stop all the worries he has and the thoughts that are haunting him. I think that trying to block all the bad thoughts with more thoughts is only going to be overwhelming and is not going to help Frankie to find a way to solve his problems and answer his questions.

Quote 2

“A ratty voice saying everything that I’m afraid of. Which is just about everything in the world now. It can get so loud. But if I talk to Ma, it always goes away . . . It’s so stupid. I get into bed and the voice starts up, so I go and talk to Ma. There’s always something I’m worried about, afraid of. I’m just always afraid . . .” (p. 221)

This quote, demonstrates characterization because it shows Frankie’s thoughts, feelings, and speech. To begin with, I can tell that Frankie thinks he always feels afraid because of the statement given in the quote above. To add, I can also infer that he also feels safe or more comfortable when his mother tells him everything is going to be alright. All this leads to determine Frankie’s personality: a boy who worries too much.  

Conclusion

To conclude, I think this book has been very entertaining and interesting book and I definitely recommended it. The author, Kate De Golgi, has a good form of writing that uses new words and includes their definition within the story. She also incorporates flashbacks and characterization in the book which helps the reader better understand the book.  I hope you have enjoyed my blogs and look forward to reading the summaries and responses to the next book.

Startling Decisions

Summary

A couple of days after the event with Sydney, Frankie is in Gordana’s and he recalls why Sydney suddenly began to cry the day of her birthday. She had been crying because her mother, Freya, had spent the money that was supposed to be used to send Sydney to camp. Frankie told Gigs this and they thought of possible solutions to Freya’s outrageous behavior. Vacation week starts and Frankie arrives at Sydney’s house to finish their book project. When they finally decide the ending to their book, Sydney’s mother enters the house and announces that they are going to move.  

Quote #1

“But that’s . . . mean,” said Gigs. “That’s taking money from a child.” He sounded like a child himself, his face screwed up, as if someone had just swiped his sweets. They looked at each other, both imagining the same thing, Frankie knew – the awfulness of such a parent.” (p. 157)

 

After hearing the reason why Sydney was crying, Gigs response was the quote above. I think that it was unfair that Freya took Sydney’s money and stopped her from going to camp, as Gigs and Frankie thought. This quote showed me the affection that Gigs and Frankie have for Sydney and the will they have to help her.  

Quote #2

“But, Frankie reflected as he waited at the bus stop, things had been minutely better with Gordana in the last couple of weeks. Frankie felt sure he could detect the very faintest softening in her exchange with him. Merely having an exchange was softening in itself, in Frankie’s view.” (p. 177)

Leaving all the problems with Sydney aside, Frankie’s private life has changed because of Gordana’s behavior. First, I think it’s surprising that Frankie reached out to Gordana to help him with a conflict, but it’s even more surprising that Gordana’s was willing to help him. I think her attitude towards Frankie changed because maybe she could see that Frankie’s problems were really affecting him.

Conclusion

As I near the end, I’m excited to know what is going to happen with Sydney and her family as well as Frankie’s reaction to this event. I predict that in this final part of the book, I’m going to discover why Frankie’s mom never leaves the house. I also think that Sydney and her family are not going to leave town. Finally, I anticipate that the book will have three different endings so the reader can decide which one to choose because this is what Sydney did when she wrote the ending of their book (Frankie’s and Sydney’s book).