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.