Book Three Review

What happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen is about a teenage girl named Mclean who moves around a lot because of her dad’s job. Gus’ job is to fix and renovate restaurants that are failing; at every new town that they arrive at, Mclean changes her name along with her personality. She does this because she hasn’t felt like the real Mclean since her parents got divorced. Her mom remarried a famous basketball player –while hurting her dad in the process- and since then she has cut her mom out of her life. Her mom desperately wants to be a part of it and continues to reach out to her. The genre of this book is realistic fiction. Sarah Dessen is New York Times number one bestselling author and has written eleven books.

The main character Mclean is a very strong character. She proves this by picking up everything she has and just leaving her friends when her dad needs her to. ”I hadn't said goodbye. It had been easier, like always, to just disappear, sparing myself the messy details of another farewell.” Another main character is Dave, which is her neighbor and becomes her boyfriend later in the book. “‘Pretend to be a delinquent?’ I said, clarifying. ‘You can do it,’ Dave advised me. ‘Just don’t smile, and try to look like you’re considering stealing something.’” This quote shows that Dave adds humor and light to the book; while also helping Mclean figure out what’s going on in her life.

Something that I didn’t like about this book is there was no big explosion with Mclean and her mom. Mclean was mad at her mom for many different reasons; the biggest one is that she divorced her dad for someone else. But it wasn’t just anyone; it was a basketball player from the Defriese basketball team. Defriese basketball was a big part of Gus’ life and Mclean is actually named after the head coach. A second reason why Mclean was mad at her mom was that she threw away everything from her old life. Her mom went from Katie Sweet who was a restaurant manager who took road trips with her daughter to Katherine Hamilton stay at home mom with a glamorous mansion. A third reason why Mclean was mad at her mom is that, she wanted Mclean to come live with her and fit into her perfect little family and to forget the past; which Mclean did not want to do. “She had no interest in discussing our previous lives or the part she may or may not have played in the fact that they no longer existed. No, I was supposed to just fold myself seamlessly with her new life, and never look back.” But even after all of those reasons they never had a huge fight to relieve all of the tension.

One of the themes in this novel is family. Something that shows this theme is that Mclean’s parents keep pulling her from one family to the other. When she is with her mom and her step siblings, Mclean doesn’t feel like she belongs. At the beginning of the novel Mclean doesn’t feel like she belongs with her dad at the restaurant either. But as the story goes on, she finds some friends like Dave, Riley, Heather and Deb who make her feel more at home. Another theme is this novel is finding your identity. Mclean didn’t feel like herself after her parents’ divorce and that made her change her name and personality every time she moved. But when she got to Lakeview she ended up being Mclean Sweet, the girl with the divorced parents and basketball scandal.

  I would give this book a five out of five. One reason why I would do this is because when you’re done reading it, you learn a lesson. That lesson is to be yourself and do what makes you happy instead of what other people want you to do. A second reason why I would do this is because it shows you that even a strong character like Mclean has flaws and falls sometimes. A third reason why I would do this is the story is relatable and many young girls can connect with it.

Book Talk

Book two trailer

Don't make it up

I believe that a book has to be one hundred percent true to be a memoir. If you say that only part of the book is untrue then how are we supposed to believe the other part of the book? We can't trust that the entire story or plot is real in the first place. No I don't think half-truths are okay either because who would want to read a story that is supposed to be true and find out that it's not? There is a big difference between knowing someone who died in a car crash and actually killing someone in a car crash.  You should write a book because you love to write and want to share your story, not to get attention or pity. Even if you don't want attention and you just want to write a good story then you should write a fantasy novel or something other than a book that is supposed to be true. Yes, I think that we do need to label things fiction and non-fiction because then you show the reader what they are reading before they even start. If you lie in a book and publish it then you should expect that people are going to be mad and want their money back; because you said that everything in that book happened even though it didn't. Readers don't appreciate being lied to or fooled. They bought your book because they wanted to read a memoir, not something made up in your head. You also shouldn't write a book about helping another part of the world and then ask people to donate money then keep it all to yourself. If you want to dance around the truth then you should write a different book.

Adapting your book

Something that they would have to keep in the movie version of Perks of being a wallflower would be when Charlie becomes friends with Sam and Patrick. In this part of the book Charlie meets Patrick (nicknamed Nothing) and his friend Sam at a football game. It's his first time going to a football game since his friend died. Charlie sits down next to Patrick and they introduce themselves and then Patrick introduces him to Sam. They would have to keep this part of the book in the movie because Sam and Patrick are main characters, they later help Charlie deal with his depression and Charlie is secretly in love with Sam who says that she is way too old for him.

A second part of the book that they would have to keep in the movie version is when Charlie's friend Michael commited suicide. They would have to keep this because it's what starts out the book and it's one of the causes of Charlie's depression. Michael commited suicide because he didn't have a poisitive home life and he felt like no one was there for him to talk to. This messed Charlie up because Michael was his best friend and he thought it was his fault. He blamed himself for not talking to Michael more or asking him what it was like at home. When Michael commited suicide  he left a note which Charlie later uses in the story as a gift to Patrick during Christmas.

A third part of the book that they would have to keep in the movie version is talking about Aunt Helen. They would have to keep this because it's another cause of Charlie's depression and he often breaks down in a panic attack because of it. Charlie and Aunt Helen were very close and they acted more like best friends then family. She always used to get Charlie more then one present for his birthday or Christmas. She was heading out to the store on a snowy night to go get it and Charlie was the last one to see her. A police officer knocked on their door the next morning saying that she had died in a car accident.

One part that they would have to cut out of the movie would be when Charlie's brother throws a party while their parents are out of town. Charlie was in his room trying to read when a couple came in and asked if he minded that they used it. He said no. The boy kept on taking the girl's clothes off and she kept on saying no. The boy had raped her and Charlie found out what that meant when he was talking to Sam and Patrick. They would have to cut that out of the movie because it is inapporite. A second part that they would have to cut out of the movie would be when Patrick, Sam, and Charlie are putting on a play called Rocky. They would have to cut this part out because Sam's character runs around topless and Charlie's character wears swim shorts. The play is inapporite and there is nudity.

Paper Towns Revenge

This experience will make you feel daring and brave just like Margo and Q are. This package will include many different maps, blue spray paint, a six pack of mountain dew, shaving cream (Veet), Vaseline, a dead fish,  a poetry book and you will need to provide a side kick.

In the middle of Paper Towns Margo gets mad at her friends for spreading rumors about her and one of them went out with her boyfriend while they were dating, so she seeks revenge. She does this many different ways and each person gets their own dose of revenge. The revenge will have to be done in one night, you can’t get caught and you have to be back at home before the sun rises, those are the rules. Once you have completed a part of your revenge you can show them who did it by using the blue spray pain. “Margo leaned over the desk and calmly shook the spray pain. In an elegant motion she spray-painted the letter M onto the wall above the desk.” Each of the items above can be used to formulate your revenge except for the mountain dew and poetry book, those are just for energy and entertainment.

At one part of the revenge your sidekick should be pick out their own victim just as Q did. He chose someone who bullied him all through high school. When you do this prank you must be as quiet as possible. You should get into the victims house and put the Vaseline on all of the door knobs inside and out. Make sure you lather the door or window with it too, whichever one you want to escape out of. Then you go back to the victim and rub the Veet onto one of their eyebrows and wait a few seconds then take your finger and wipe it off. If you have waited long enough then all of the hair should come off of their face. “I wrapped my hand in my T-shirt, as she’d told me to do, leaned forward, and-as softly as I could- pressed my finger against his forehead and then quickly wiped away the Veet. With it came every last hair that had been Chuck Parson’s right eyebrow.”

                Another revenge that you can do requires the dead fish or something else that smells just as bad. Once you have the dead fish and the spray paint, decide where you want to put the fish, good places include their house or their car. You should bring some sort of pickpocketing device in case the car is locked; if you are going to go through the victim’s window then you don’t need one. “Together we pulled the backseat up. Margo slipped the fish underneath it, and then she counted to three, in one motion we slammed the seat down on the fish. I heard the disgusting sound of catfish guts exploding.” When you go to the victim’s home make sure they are asleep before you enter through their window or door. You should hide the fish somewhere the victim would look at every day but not in plain sight. “Margo hid the fish between folded pair of shorts in Beca’s closet.” Once you have placed the fish in the hiding spot you can leave a note, this is optional and it would relieve your identity. “A message from Margo Roth Spiegelman: Your friendship with her-it sleeps with the fishes.”

                This package will let fans of the book experience the same thrill and excitement that Q and Margo felt as they were getting revenge. I think this will attract attention to the book because it sparks the interest of people and they will want to find out what other prank Margo and Q pulled besides the ones listed here.

What is a book?

A book is a world that you enter as soon as you flip to the first page and start reading. Books were made to be read, to change people’s lives and help them through troubling times. You get satisfaction from holding a book in your hands, feeling its weight, flipping the pages, smelling the ink and carrying it around with you proudly, showing the world what you’re reading. But when you carry an iPad or a kindle you don’t feel the weight, you can’t feel the pages as you flip them, you can’t spell the ink and the world doesn’t know what you’re reading unless you tell them. I think that there is something magical about a book and the story inside. That’s what makes you read, the story, but the physical book is just a bonus. You can point to your bookshelf and say look there’s my favorite book or look that’s the first book I’ve ever read. A bookshelf is like a trophy case, you put it out there to show everyone what you like to read and how many books you’ve read. When you have a book you also see the cover every time you close the book, you memorize it. When you go into a bookstore and you buy a brand new book and you carry it to the car, you feel certain happiness. You start reading it right away; everywhere you go you carry that book. Also, when you drop a book it doesn’t break but when you drop a kindle or an iPad. You fall in love with the story, you cry and laugh and smile at certain parts. You can also hug a book and feel the weight in your arms, you feel less lonely when you feel it in your bag. A book becomes your best friend and you shouldn’t have to share your best friend with other best friends all jumbled together on a piece of metal with a screen. The book should be yours, all yours. You can also put bookmarks into books. I love when people use torn up pieces of paper or napkins for bookmarks. You can also pass a book down to your children and they can pass it onto their children. It’s a cycle that will never end unless we let it. Book stores are closing, a place where people go to escape reality maybe grab a cup of coffee and then forgetting to drink it because you’re so into the book. The great thing about books is that you never have to charge them, they don’t need to be plugged in you can just pick it up and go. Yes, of course technology is wonderful and useful but we shouldn’t let it run our lives. Books should be a way to escape from all of the technology and the real world.