The Next Move of the "Admirer"

Summary 

Sawyer and her best friend, Chloe, arrive to a party at night, and after being there for a while, Chloe is hit on the corner of the eye by someone who was trying to cut the brakes of her car. The next morning, after not sleeping during the night, Sawyer run around her neighborhood and feels as if someone is following her. She decides to forget what happened and she goes with Chloe to a football game. The day after that, at school, Sawyer is told that Mr. Hanson, her Spanish teacher, died of an allergic reaction to peanuts. She is called to the principal's office where a detective asked her some questions and when she is about to leave, she receives a bouquet of flowers with a note attached and a bag of 100% Cold-Pressed Gourmet Peanut Oil which she assumes is from the "admirer" that gave her the other note.  


Quote 1

"Well, when you're eleven, whatever makes you not the same as all the other girls is tragic. I told Chloe I didn't care, but she was so terrified someone would find out. They moved into this crappy trailer park, sold their car. Maggie found out from her gossipy mom or something, and she pronounced. Chloe's new status went viral overnight. People made fun of her, called her trailer trash or ghetto girl." Sawyer shook her head, remembering. "She was crushed."
"But you stood by your friend."
"Of course." Sawyer smiled faintly. "She's my best friend." (p.71) 


This tells us a big part of Sawyer´s personality: she's kind and never leaves her friends behind or make them feel bad. On my daily life, I always try to make my friends feel happy when they´re sad. I also have many friends that do the same for me and I really appreciate it.

 

 

Quote 2

"The slide show continued the whole length of the song, and Sawyer watched, strangely riveted, her emotions rising and crashing with every other picture. As the photos got closer to the end of Kevin's life, Sawyer felt her heart start to pound; she felt sticky and hot underneath her thin Hornets T-shirt." (p. 89)


When I read this, I noticed that even though a lot of time has passed, Sawyer is still sad because of Kevin's death and she misses him. She still tries to move on, but it´s hard for her.


Conclusion 

I think that the person that killed Kevin, Mr. Hanson and hurt Chloe is the same person and that he or she is the one sending notes to Sawyer. My prediction for the next chapters is that Sawyer is going to be questioned again because she found the missing shoe the detective was looking after. I also think that she is going to continue receiving notes and she is going to tell Chloe about them. To conclude, I hope that the "admirer" will give some clues to Sawyer about who he/she is.

You're Welcome

Hi! For my next blogs, I'm going to write about the book: “TRULY, MADLY, DEADLY" by Hannah Jayne.


Summary

The book begins in the Anderson's home, where Sawyer Dodd, a very intelligent and athletic high school student, and some other people, are saying goodbye to Kevin Anderson who died in a car accident. Sawyer, Kevin’s girlfriend, is devastated because of her loss but she decides to return to school, and once there, she finds a strange note in her locker that says:

 

The note puzzles her for the rest of the day and she thinks about possible meanings of the note and people that could have sent it. When she arrives home after school, she meets a detective who asks her some questions about the night Kevin died and wants to see a specific pair of shoes that were found on, what the detective explains as: the murder scene. Sawyer goes upstairs to her bedroom but can’t find the pair of shoes that the detective describes.

Quote 1

“Heat, like a wire, raced down Sawyer’s spine. The note was signed, “an admirer,” and that word, admire, clawed at her. Her fingers started to shake, and she flicked the note back into her locker and slammed the door shut, pressing her forehead against the cool metal.” (p. 15)

What this quote shows to me is that Sawyer is very scared of the note she received, not only because someone placed it in her locker, but also because maybe, that “admirer” is someone she knows and might have killed Kevin. She tries to avoid the note and forget it which I think is a good idea so she doesn’t panic, but in my opinion, she should tell somebody about the note so they can help her to find the person who sent the note. As it comes to the writing, the author uses a simile in this quote and also uses many details to show Sawyer’s emotions or reaction towards the note.

Quote 2

“Maggie paused, seeming to choke on the next name. “Sawyer Dodd.” She said it with a curled lip, no attempt to mask the disdain in her voice. “Two flowers.” (p. 36)

Maggie, who was Kevin’s girlfriend before Sawyer, shows to be somehow jealous of Sawyer in this quote. This puts her in the suspect list of Kevin’s killer because maybe Kevin left her to be with Sawyer and their relationship was much better, causing Maggie to want revenge.  

Conclusion

I think someone is trying to make Sawyer look guilty of Kevin's death because of the event with the shoes. This book reminds me of "Pretty Little Liars," because there is a murder and someone tries to make someone innocent look as the killer. Also because someone is sending strange notes to make the other person feel scared. I predict that in the next chapters, Sawyer is going to receive new notes that are going to make her close to finding Kevin’s killer. I’m very excited to keep reading and I look forward to discover who killed Sawyer’s boyfriend and why.

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).  

Sydney, Where are you?

Summary

 During the past days, I continued to read the book and something surprising happened. One day, when Frankie is in the bus, he notices that Sydney isn’t in her bus stop and she is never late. A little girl tells Frankie that she saw Sydney arguing with her mother and then they left in a Porsche. At school, Frankie is very worried about Sydney because of what the girl said had happened and because it’s her birthday so he asks Mr. A for help. When school is over, Frankie heads to Sydney’s house but couldn’t find it. Suddenly Sydney appears and he hands her a birthday present. She avoids the present and starts to cry.

Quote 1

“He’d handed in his work experience project and crawled through Dictionary. Today’s words seemed blessedly without heavy significance. Normally panspermia: pan-sper-mi-a, n, a theory of biogenetics that states that the universe is full of spores that germinate when they find a favorable environment would have struck him as a gloriously funny word, perfect for a rude cartoon dart about the Kearney twins.” (p. 127)

In my opinion, it’s interesting and positive that the author includes peculiar words and their definition when she writes because the reader can learn new words and how to use them. Almost always the author makes the new word fit into the event that is happening in that momento of the book. On the contrary, when it comes to the situation in the book, I can notice that Frankie’s temperament has changed because of Sydney’s sudden disappearance.  

Quote 2

“And quite unexpectedly Sydney slumped down on the driveway. She seemed just to subside, like the side of a hill in a TV avalanche. The she buried her face in her knees and stayed that way, unmoving. She made no sound but Frankie knew she was crying.” (p. 141)

 

When someone receives a present, they usually react with joy and gratefulness, but in this case, Sydney replied the opposite way. She could have been crying because she was happy or because of sadness. I think she reacted this way because maybe Frankie was the first friend she ever had that gave her a birthday present. On the other hand, this event could have reminded her of something unhappy that happened in her life.

Conclusion

I think that in the last chapter I read, I finally discovered the 10 p.m. question which was: “Do you think I’m normal?” This is another question that demonstrates one of Frankie’s many worries. I predict that in one of the next two chapter Frankie’s mom is going to say why she never leaves the house. I also think that Sydney is going to stay in town and that Frankie and Gigs are going to have a fight. I hope that you are liking my blogs so far and that you continue to read them.

Avoiding with Stories

Summary

In the chapter I began to read during this week, Sydney and Frankie are waiting for Gigs, and in the meantime, Sydney asks questions to Frankie. These questions could lead to further questions that Frankie doesn´t want to answer so, to avoid them, he talks about his aunties and what he used to do with them. Frankie currently worries about a camp that his class is going to go to because he doesn´t want to leave his mom if he decides to go. Mr. A, Frankie´s teacher, has his students go to work with their relatives one day so they can see how their workplaces are and what they do while they are there. Frankie decides to complete this day with his brother Louie who works in a company named De Souza. After some time, they decide to a break in a restaurant, and there, they begin to see what type of birds their family and friends would be if they were a bird. When Frankie asks Louie what type of bird his mom would be, Louie tries to avoid the question. He then realizes that he had never talked about his mom nor his family with Louie.

 

 

Quote 1

“He would feel nauseous with anxiety about Ma. (Who would do her errands? Who would keep her company? Who would chat to her at night when Uncle G was working and Gordana was doing as she pleased? Who would keep a constant and careful – though carefully nonchalant – eye on her? Who would hold her hand when she was feeling a little wobbly?)” (p. 80)

As said before, Frankie doesn’t want to go to the camp because of his mother and the many reasons why he doesn’t want to leave her. When I read this quote, I recognized how much Frankie loves Ma and how he wants to protect her, but maybe, he is a being a little over reactive because the camp is not going to last a very long time and, if he goes, Ma is going to be with Uncle George and Gordana. I have also realized that Frankie is very jealous when it comes to other people being with his mom because he gave Sydney a couple of rules when she was going to be with Ma.

Quote 2

“And then it came to Frankie what Louie reminded him of. Himself, him, Franke. Himself babbling away to Sydney, going on and on and on about the Aunties that day, trying desperately to fill the air between them with words, any words, to summon up a cloud of words so big, it shut out the intensity of her focus, deflected her questions about his times with the Aunties’ house, her inevitable questions about Ma.” (p. 108)

What happened in this quote is something that is related to the real world because sometimes we try to avert certain questions or situations by changing the topic of conversation or trying to do something else. When Louie did this, it didn’t work because he ended up answering Frankie’s question about what type of bird Ma would be is she was a bird. On the other hand, trying to avoid Sydney’s questions by extending his story about the Aunties did work for Frankie. I think it’s something that people do because they maybe feel uncomfortable about the answer to a question or for many other reasons too.

Conclusion

On the next chapters, I would like to figure out why Frankie’s mom never leaves the house and why Frankie doesn’t want to talk about it with other people. And as I said in the last blog post I would also like to know what the 10 p.m. question is. Something interesting about the book is that every night, Frankie asks a question to his mom and most of the time, they are related to some disease or issue that Frankie thinks he has. I believe that this is part of his personality, of his constant worries. On this book, the author makes sure that people’s personality are shown like Frankie’s is and Sydney’s, for example, that is curious and, unlike Frankie, free of worries.

Sudden Changes

Summary

Hi! For my next blogs I’m going to talk about the book “The 10 p.m. Question” by Kate De Goldi. The main character, Frankie, starts his day as usual, walking towards the bus stop with his best friend Gigs while they complete little rituals that they have done since they were little. They reach the bus stop and jump in the bus heading for school. But everything changes when a girl named Sydney walks in to the bus and starts to talk to Frankie. Once in school Frankie and Sydney are assigned together for a project and they agree to meet someday to start it. Days pass and Frankie’s brother Louie’s birthday arrives. With all the family reunited in his house, Frankie receives a call from Sydney and they decide to meet the next day in his house to start the project.

Quote 1

“Gigs didn’t worry about his household, his parents, his health, his safety, his future, the probability of earthquakes, terrorism, global warming, or McDonald’s taking over the world.” (p. 15)

Frankie is a very worried boy who has to take care of his family and help around the house unlike Gigs that doesn’t care about any of the problems that Frankie suggest. But despite their differences, they are friends and still agree in certain things and work well together.

Quote 2

“’Night, then,” said Frankie. “You really think it won’t happen soon?” he said from the doorway.

“I really think it won’t happen soon,” said Ma.” (p. 28)  

 

When I read this quote, I realized that Frankie is very concerned about many things and has to be assured that they are what they are or they won’t happen, to stay calm. His personality is that way and I think it’s very nice of his mother to comfort him the way she does.  Many people can be nervous and worried as Frankie but people have to support them and make them feel good.

Conclusion

My prediction for the next chapters is that Frankie and Sydney are going to become close friends and share questions they have with each other. I also think that Gigs is going to feel left out because of Frankie’s new friendship and is going to have a fight with Frankie. I want to know what the 10 p.m. question will be, if there is one, and who will ask it and who will answer it. I look forward to keep reading the book and see if my predictions are right. I hope you enjoyed my first blog about this book and that you want to continue reading my next blogs.