Beach Blondes by Katherine Applegate

                                            Beach Blondes- Katherine Applegate


             Beach Blondes starts out with Summer Smith walking home from her high school, Bloomington High, in the freezing cold Minnesota snow, icy winds stinging her face. When she got home, she got the surprise of her life; her mom asked if she wanted to go spend the summer in the FL Keys and stay with her Aunt Mallory and cousin Diana. Flash forward to the first week of Summer; Summer Smith is on the plane off to The Keys for a few months. While on the plane, the lady next to her says she's palm reader, and she 'reads' Summer's palm and says Summer will meet three guys. One will be dangerous, one will be mysterious, and one will be the right one. Brushing it off, Summer arrives in The Keys and is waiting in the airport for Mallory and Diana, when she sees the cute guy from the plane who sat across from her, Seth. She starts chatting with him when he says he needs to take a passport picture in the airport photo booth. He gives the extra shots to her, and as shes entering and he's exiting, he kisses Summer, which makes her awestruck and surprised. Bam, that was her first kiss. By the end of her first day, she learns that her famous author aunt was leaving that afternoon for a summer book tour, and that she'd be stuck alone  for a few weeks with Diana, who doesn't particularly like Summer. Diana slyly sticks Summer into the old mildewy stilt house to stay in, while she keeps her mother's mansion to herself.

  The next morning summer wakes up to a stran sound in the stilt house, which turns out to be a guy, who is around her age and has no family and lives off of the land; definitely the mysterious one. Diver is like Summer in the sense that he has that platinum blonde hair and wouldn't hurt a fly. Summer heads to find a job that day, and she meets a new friend there; Marquez. Marquez invites her to a party at the Merrick Estate that night, which is the governor of New Hampshire's house. Summer gets asked to dance by Adam Merrick, the senator's son, when he ends up becoming her boyfriend. Seth is hired by Mallory to fix up the mildewy stilt house, so Summer begins to see him more. Finally, the truth about Adam Merrick's family gets unlocked- Diana used to date Adam, but she broke up with him because Ross Merrick, Adam's brother, tried to rape her. Summer got the police involved and took care of that, and broke up with Adam, of course. Because she was seeing Seth so much, she decides to give him a chance as a friend, and that soon leads to him being her boyfriend. So, Adam turns out to be the dangerous one, Diver is the mysterious one, and Seth… Well, Seth is the right one. The last bit of the summer chronicals through summer working, hanging out with Marquez, and just loving life. Heading back to Bloomington in the end of it all definitely is hard for Summer, but she knows she'll come back soon.




            Summer is a platinum blonde girl with slightly bronzed skin from being in the Keys, and she is 16 years old. Summer is as sweet as you can be, without even trying. Summer heads to the Keys with a hopeful outlook on the summer, because that's just her personality. Summer is polite to everyone, but she still knows how to stand her ground and have fun. The anaylsis of Summer being a sweet girl can be supported by this quote from the book: "Diana saw her cousin walking towards their car, and she instantly remembered, and was bothered, by Summer's sweet summertime-like personality." This quote from Beach Blondes shows Summer's pure sweetness. Summer interacts with others nicely, but sometimes lacks how she really feels or what she really thinks. A quote to support this analysis of Summer sometimes lacking her thoughts is this: "I wanted to ask Diana why I couldn't just stay in the house, but she seemed pretty set on not having me around." Summer is often caught in a daydream, like this one from the first page of the book: "Summer, come in my car, i'll give you a ride home. That way you don't have to walk in this cold." If only that was me he was talking to. Really, he was talking to Haylee Williams, cheer captain."' The character analysis described explains the main character of Beach Blondes, Summer Smith.


          A major theme in Beach Blondes is crushes. Crushes, from Seth to Adam, to crushes with other characters. Summer knew Seth was going to be a crush of hers from the moment she saw him in the row across from her. A quote to support this theme is this: "When I looked around, I saw a Jake Gyllenhal looking guy, about my age, sit down across from me. I looked down immediately, afraid he'd notice I was staring." This quote from Summer supports the theme of her developing crush on Seth. Summer also, within her first few days there, devolopes a crush on her soon-to-be boyfriend, Adam. A quote to support her starting crush on Adam is this one: "I was  dancing with Marquez, when I saw him. "That's Adam Merrick." Marquez whispered." That quote from Summer supports the theme of crushes in Beach Blondes. The theme of crushes described is the main theme in the book Beach Blondes.



           I would definitely recommend the book Beach Blondes to anyone looking for a great summer read. Beach Blondes is the type of book you just cant put down. Summer's whole story fully lurs you in, and this book is just very well written. I think any type of person would love this book, because its the type of life story that draws any girl in. I also think that even though its unlikely for that to happen to someone, I think it's nice to just escape reality in a fun summer read like Beach Blondes. 





Want to buy Beach Blondes? Click here: http://www.amazon.com/Beach-Blondes-Dreams-Promise-August/dp/141696133X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364798483&sr=8-1&keywords=beach+blondes

Image 1 (sums up the book/title- Fun at the beach in  the Keys!) http://thebarbadosblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/beach-girls-barbados.jpg

We'll Always Have Summer- Jenny Han Book Review

           We'll Always Have Summer- Jenny Han

     We'll Always Have Summer, the third and final book following The Summer I Turned Pretty, and It's Not Summer Without You, starts off with  eighteen year old Belly, her longtime best friend,Taylor,and her new college roommate, Anika,studying for their last final of their freshman year at Fitch University. Her boyfriend of two years has been Jeremiah Fisher, the brother of Conrad, Belly's first love (and first heartbreak), and the son of Susannah, who passed away of cancer two years before. The Fisher's are Belly's summer family that she had spent every summer with in Cousins Beach, up until college, at their summer house.Since Conrad and Belly's winter romance fizzed off two years ago and Conrad went off to college, Belly has been dating Jeremiah, her lifelong best friend. Shortly after the last final, Belly heads to Jeremiah's fraternity's party, in celebration of the end of the school year. Belly isn't exactly comfortable there, as everyone is drinking or already drunk, and the only person she knows well is, of course, Jeremiah. After the party goes on, Belly is walking to the bathrooms when she hears this girl she barely knows, Lacie, and a few others gossiping in the girls' bathroom. After confronting Jeremiah up in his dorm room, Belly learns that not only did Lacie and Jeremiah hook up over their one week breakup, but that he also had sex with her. After Belly slapped Jeremiah, she begin to sob over the realization that Lacie had experienced things with Jeremiah that she had never experienced before with anyone. After a few depressing days sitting in bed alone, Jeremiah, seemingly caught in a moment of desperation, proposed to Belly. After a few minutes of being still angry and shocked, Belly agreed to marry Jeremiah. In a few days, at their families' reunion in Cousins Beach, Jeremiah and Belly announced their engagement. Everyone was in shock, and their parents only strongly disapproved, trying to convince them to not. Conrad left right after the lunch, seemingly upset and angry. Due to her mom not supporting the marriage at this age whatsoever, Taylor was who Belly had to do wedding planning and shopping with. Belly felt through all this planning this empty feeling, knowing in the back of her mind that wedding stuff is something you're supposed to be doing with your supportive mother, not your best friend. To clear her head from her disapproving mother and the stress that came with her, Belly headed off to stay the family summer house in Cousins Beach; the one place where she felt at home. The day she gets there she finds something out- Conrad is spending the summer there, too. Belly convinces herself that she'll be too busy planning the wedding to hardly even see Conrad, allowing herself to stay. The wedding planning gets more and more stressful, and the more Belly, deep,deep, inside realizes that it isn't the right thing to do. Though as the wedding stress comes to the surface of her, so does her ever-present, yet pushed to the very back feelings for Conrad that she's had her whole life. A few days before the wedding, Conrad knows that it's now or never before he confronts Belly with the fact that he's in love with her, but when he does, she only tells him that it's too late; his chances are over and he's not who he wants, though somewhere deep inside knows that that's all a lie and that she is completely in love with him. However, on the morning of their wedding day, Jeremiah finally asks Belly what he's known all along; the fact that she's still in love with Conrad, and always will be. Though Belly at first denies this, she finally admits it. The wedding is canceled after Belly realized that this whole wedding wasn't right. It was a moment of panic in Jeremiah, and it didn't feel right from the start, but however, she knew that if she wanted to, Jeremiah would've married her that day, but she knew that wasn't what she truly wanted. The book ends on a note of the future; Belly and Conrad, who had known each other forever and through it all been in love, were together for infinity.

     Belly is tall, brown-haired girl with ever deep brown eyes, who has gotten herself into one of those situations where she knew all along it didn't feel all the way right. Belly has a soft spot for Jeremiah in the beginning, but she has always been in love with Conrad, though many times she's tried to convince herself otherwise. A quote from Belly to support this analysis that she's always been in love with Conrad  but denies it is this one: "When I saw his face turning to look at me, I felt a rush of love coming to me, but had brushed it off as fast as it had come."  This quote shows how Belly is in love with Conrad, yet tries to push the feeling away. When Belly finds out Jeremiah hooked up with Lacie, she drops to the lowest point of sadness and and anger, all within seconds, showing her feeling betrayed. A quote to support this analysis of Belly being betrayed  is this one: "The fact that she (Lacie) knew him in a way that I didn't yet, had experienced something with him that I hadn't; that felt like the biggest betrayal of all." This quote supports my analysis of Belly feeling betrayed as she was left in complete, utter shock of being so deeply hurt by the boy who she thought of as so innocent; he couldn't hurt a fly, much less have sex over their one week breakup. After a few depressing days leaving bed no more than once or twice, feeling more betrayed than ever, Belly was given the shock of her life; she was proposed to by Jeremiah. Belly,throughout this trilogy, has frequently thought things were right in the moment. From dating Cam to push away Conrad, to making out with Jeremiah in his car, to even taking Conrad to prom, despite knowing he wasn't doing it because he wanted to. A quote from Belly to describe this analysis of her having a situation feel right in the moment is this one, written a few minutes after Jeremiah proposed: "He put his arms around me, and we held onto each other, clinging like we were each other's safe harbor. All I could think was, if we could just get through this storm, we will make it. He'd made mistakes, I had too. But we loved each other, and that was what mattered." This quote shows how Belly's personality leads her to feel like things are right in the moment.


    Onto the rest of the summary, when Belly decided to return to Cousins Beach to work on wedding plans, her finding out Conrad was staying there resurfaced a  kaleidoscope of old feelings and memories. A quote to support this analysis of old feelings resurfacing in Belly is this: "As I walked up the familiar wooden porch and saw Conrad watching TV through the blinds, old forgotten feelings and memories flooded me,and as I worked to push them all away." This quote from Belly portrays her feelings and memories of Conrad all coming back. Belly knew she couldn't hold onto them, she knew that that chapter of her life was over,and she knew she desperately needed to get rid of these memories and feelings that Conrad and Cousins Beach seemed to automatically resurface. Finally, the morning before the wedding, Belly knew she had to accept the knowing that this wedding wasn't right. No one could replace Conrad, and she knew she had to accept that. A quote from Belly is this one she said right after Jeremiah asked her if she still had feelings for Conrad: "I wanted to tell him no. I opened my mouth. Why wouldn't the words come out? Why couldn't I just say what he needed to hear? It would be so easy to just say it. One word and this would all go away. He wanted to forgive me and forget it all. I could see it in his face: All he needed was for me to say no. He would still marry me if I would just say the word. One word." This quote from Belly supports my analysis that she knows it isn't right, because she replied "Yes" after thinking that. As in yes, she still loved Conrad. Belly, after finishing out college and studying abroad, ends up with Conrad, her lifelong love. The description, feelings, quotes, and interactions with others described explain a complete character analysis of the main character, Belly Conklin.


   There are many themes in We'll Always Have Summer, but there is two main, extremely strong themes. Over and over in this book, Belly lies about things, convincing herself of her answers that she knows in the back of her mind aren't true. However, the main thing that Belly lies to herself about was Jeremiah being the right guy. A quote from the book to support the theme of Belly lying to herself about who her true love was is this quote: "There was this moment between us then, of us just looking at each other, holding each other's gaze. If I leaned forward just a bit, we would be kissing. I knew I should move away, but I couldn't". Following with the soon after quote, "Everything did go back to normal. I was normal, Conrad was normal: it was like nothing happened. Because nothing did happen. If he didn't have a bandage on his leg, I'd have thought I dreamed the whole thing." These quotes combined show the theme of Belly lying to herself about who she really loves, because even though yes, she loves Jeremiah, the one who she truly, truly, loves is Conrad. This quote really best describes this one of the two main themes. The second theme is memories coming back. Throughout We'll Always Have Summer, Belly has many memories come back, mainly ones with Conrad and her short-lived relationship with him. A quote to support this theme is this one, from Belly: "We spent the night lying there on the couch like kids that winter, and remembering that suddenly made my stomach flip." Belly remembers these memories all too well. If Conrad was just "some guy", she wouldn't have so vividly remembered everything. The themes described are the main themes in We'll Always Have Summer.


     I would one hundred percent recommend the book We'll Always Have Summer. It's the perfect raw story of a girl who's with the wrong guy. From being proposed to within days after finding out a huge secret, to her mother and father's zero support and complete disapproval, to feelings for Conrad coming back, she knows it's not write but pushes through it anyway, telling herself it's right. Though I am into some fantasy, I don't like a fantasy love story, so the fact that this book is so real makes me love it. In fact, this trilogy of The Summer I Turned Pretty, It's Not Summer Without You, and We'll Always Have Summer is my favorite trilogy. That being said, I would absolutely recommend the entire series, including this book.





*I chose the image 1 because it symbolizes Belly knowing the wedding not being quite right. Image 2 is of course The Notebook movie cover, because the story line of that movie kind of described Belly and Conrad's relationship with each other.*

Want to purchase We'll Always Have Summer ? Click here: http://www.amazon.com/Well-Always-Have-Summer-Jenny/dp/1416995595/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362108210&sr=8-1&keywords=well+always+have+summer

Want to check out the author Jenny Han? Click here: http://dearjennyhan.com/

IMAGE 1: http://hollywoodlife.com/interstitial/?ref=http%3A%2F%2Fhollywoodlife.com%2F2011%2F11%2F17%2Fbella-wedding-dress-replica-breaking-dawn-where-to-buy%2F
IMAGE 2:http://www.teen.com/2012/02/26/movies/classic-teen-movies-clueless-mean-girls-dirty-dancing/
     

It's Not Summer Without You- Ellies book review #4

It's Not Summer Without You- Jenny Han

            It's Not Summer Without You, the second book in a trilogy including the first book, The Summer I Turned Pretty, starts out with Belly, the main girl, daydreaming about her summers spent in Cousins Beach as if she'd gone as planned. She'd still be with Conrad, her mom and brother, Steven would be there, and Conrad and his brother, Jeremiah's, mom, Susannah, would be there, happy as ever. However, as she heard her best friend Taylor calling her name, Belly snapped back into reality; Susannah had passed away two months ago with cancer, and Conrad wasn't her boyfriend anymore, since their short lived winter romance fizzed out. Belly was home, five hours from Boston, MA.This summer was the first summer Belly wasn't going to Cousins Beach, like every single year of her life before, and it was killing her. Taylor continually tries to help Belly have fun back at home with her, but it's hopeless- Belly can't stop think about Jere, Con, Susannah, and Cousins Beach. However, within three days of Taylor failing to make Belly happy, Belly gets a call from Jeremiah. Conrad is missing- He left summer school and is no where to be found. After lying to her mom saying she's staying a Taylor's, the search finally leads to the summer house in Cousins, where Conrad is. Belly immediately has a flashback of her and Conrad's short lived winter romance, where they drove all the way to their empty Cousins house without telling her mom. At the summer house they kissed and made hot cocoa, and just lied in each  other's arms, before her mom called and demanded she come home. After  the flashback chapter, when Jeremiah and Belly arrive in Cousins, they stay for three days to figure out that Conrad left because his dad was going to sell the house; he was trying to save it.Throughout these three days, Conrad is very closed off towards Belly, having only few brief moments with Belly, where by the time she realizes their happening, they're over. Belly gets drunk for the first (and last) time on their last night there, accidentally calling her mom to come get her as she fell asleep. Her mom came, upset with Belly. However, after learning why they were all there, she invited Mr. Fisher, Conrad and Jeremiah's dad, over for breakfast and is successful in getting him to not sell the house- under one condition. Conrad  needs to get back to summer school by Monday to take his exams. While waiting in the car for Conrad to finish his last exam, Jeremiah out of the blue starts kissing Belly, and at that moment, nothing has ever felt so right in her life- until Conrad sees them. Then moment is over as Conrad tells Belly he doesn't want her now and never did. Later that night, in a motel on the way home, Conrad whispers to Belly while Jere sleeps, not receiving a response, "Earlier, when I said I never wanted you, I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it. Goodnight, Belly." The next morning, as Conrad was closed-off like nothing ever happened, Belly realized something- whatever they ever had that winter, it was all over now. He just couldn't be the guy she needed him to be. On an end note for It's Not Summer Without You, Jeremiah drives Belly  the rest of the way home that morning, hand in hand in with her in almost complete silence.

         Belly is a tall girl with wavy, light brown hair, and deep brown eyes. She is sixteen during early summer, but turns seventeen in July. Belly, in this second book of the series, is coming to realization that her precious summers spent at Cousins Beach were over, which makes her feel complete melancholy throughout quite a bit of the book.  A quote from Belly to support this analysis is this: "We drove through town, by all the old places, the mini golf course, the crab shack, and Jeremiah drove as fast as he could, whistling. I wish he would slow down, make the drive last forever, because I knew it might be my last. But it wouldn't last forever, of course. We were almost there." This quote from Belly supports my analysis of her really coming to full realization that the way she'd she spent every summer of her life wouldn't be perpetual- her summers in Cousins Beach were ending right before her eyes. Another feeling Belly is feeling is her yearning for Conrad, her lifelong love, who she knows she may never have. A quote from Belly to support the analysis of her wanting Conrad is this that she says after her best friend, Taylor, tells her she needs to forget Conrad: "But Conrad wasn't just my first love. He wasn't some rite of passage. He was so much more than that. If I forgot Conrad, if I evicted him from my heart, pretending like he was never there, it would be like doing those things to Susannah. And that, I couldn't do." This quote supports my analysis of Belly wanting Conrad, her first love, more than ever. As far as Belly's actions, she is willing to do absolutely anything for family, especially Conrad and Jeremiah, who are family to her, and feels it so intensely if any of them are in trouble. A quote to support my analysis of Belly doing anything for people she loves, like caring intensely, is this that she says after Jeremiah calls about Conrad going missing: "I tried to make my voice sound calm and reasonable, like I wasn't scared out of my mind, due to the thought of Conrad being gone. It wasn't so much that I thought he was in trouble. It was that if he left, really left, he might never come back. And that scared me more than I could say." This quote from Belly supports my analysis of her willing to do anything for family, and being scared for them, because right after she thought that, she left with Jeremiah to go find Conrad.

         As far as Belly's interactions with others, she is very prone to keeping things inside. Belly isn't the type of girl to spill everything on her mind, or tell how she really feels about something. A quote from Belly to support this analysis is this: "If I was very brave or very honest, I would tell him. I would say it, so he would know it and I would know it, and I could never take it back. But I wasn't that brave or honest, so all I did was look at him." This quote supports my analysis of Belly almost always keeping everything inside when interacting with others. Everything described in my character analysis of Belly, the main character, is how she interacts, feels, acts, and looks in It's Not Summer Without You. 

         A major theme in It's Not Summer Without You is melancholy. This is a major theme because Belly, and most of the other characters, are completely upset, feeling melancholy, throughout the whole book. A quote to support this melancholy is this flashback quote, from Jeremiah, as a few of the chapters have his point of view instead of Belly's: "My gut just twisted. I felt like somebody had drop kicked me in the stomach. I was completely upset with Conrad, and felt like crying, though I was still jealous, crazy jealous. I watched him and her walk away and I felt sick inside." This quote from Jeremiah completely shows a theme of melancholy, or sadness, in It's Not Summer Without You. A quote from Belly to support this melancholy is this one, where she realizes she needs to let Conrad go: "We stood there, looking at each other, saying nothing. But it was the kind of nothing that meant everything. In his eyes, there was no trace of what happened between us earlier, and I could feel something inside me break. So that was that. We were finally over." Due to this being such a major event in the book, I decided to include another quote backing it up, which is this one: "I looked at him, and I felt so sad, because this occurred to me: I will never look at you the same way ever again. I will never be that girl again. The girl who comes running back every time you push her away; the girl who loves you anyway." Those two quotes support my analysis of Belly feeling really upset with her realization that she needed to be done with Conrad; to stop chasing after him. I can relate well to the theme of melancholy; everyone can, because everyone has sad points in their lives. I've personally never have felt melancholy due to a boy, but I can relate it to my life because I've felt sadness over many things like: drifting friends, rumors, hormonal sadness, and many other common things. The theme of melancholy described is backed up by the quotes from Jeremiah and Belly, and can be related to my life in many common ways.

          It's Not Summer Without You is a book that I really enjoyed reading, and have read twice now. Its   very realistic, but not cliche', plot makes me feel like I'm there in the story, experiencing everything that happens. Not only that, but It's Not Summer Without You made me actually feel the emotions within the story line. it's such a raw, realistic, real-life seeming book, so I easily was left with the lingering emotions of Belly, Jeremiah,  and other characters for a while after each time I finished a reading session. That being said, I would completely recommend It's Not Summer Without You to anyone who is interested in a real, raw romance book. Though I'd definitely say I'd only recommend it to someone who also has the understanding that love is unexpected, and won't always turn out 'perfectly',  making for a book that may make you feel some sort of sadness. It's Not Summer Without You is very hard to put down, like the other two books in the trilogy, because it's a realistic plot that draws people in and leaves them wanting to know the whole story.




*I chose the first image (the one of the boy and girl) because it portrays Belly's memories of her summers at Cousins Beach, playing in the water with the boys*

*I chose the second image because a LOT changes this summer, and that quote really just sums it up- all Belly knew  was that everything had changed- some for the better, some for the worst.*

IMAGE 1: http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-cute-little-boy-girl-playing-wave-beach-image20986509

IMAGE 2: http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/taylor%20swift%20everything%20has%20changed

Want to purchase It's Not Summer Without You? Click here- http://www.amazon.com/Its-Not-Summer-Without-You/dp/B00AK3OY6S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1359530622&sr=8-1&keywords=its+not+summer+without+you

Want to learn more about author Jenny Han? Click here to visit her website- http://www.dearjennyhan.com/

Dreamland- By Sarah Dessen (Ellie's book report #3)

Dreamland-Sarah Dessen

 Ever since the morning Caitlin’s eighteen year old sister took off with her boyfriend, Adam, leaving only so much as a note, Caitlin has fallen into what seems to be a semiconscious dreamland type state. Her best friend, Rina, just a few days after Cass left, convinced Caitlin to try out for cheerleading, which happens so fast Caitlin isn't even quite sure it did. Her mom, the second  Caitlin tells her, becomes completely involved and practically obsessed with Caitlin’s cheerleading. Her mother had always been planning out Cass’ life and watching so carefully over it that when Cass is leaves and doesn't want to be in contact, Caitlian is who she turns to. At a cheerleading party that Caitlin is drug to by Rina, she sees him for the first time: Rogerson Biscoe. Rogerson is dark, with deep, compelling eyes. He’s magnetic, intriguing, mysterious, and someone who you can’t help but get drawn to, even when you know they’re someone you shouldn't be falling for. He hasn't said one word to her and she can already tell just from taking him in that he’s trouble. Caitlin, seemingly wonderstruck, gets into Rogerson’s car after just saying “Hi” and being offered a ride home. After making out and going all the way to 2^nd base in his car by her driveway, Caitlin, as if being held back by a daydream, heads into her house as to not break curfew. The more Caitlin got deeper into her relationship with Rogerson, the more she slipped out of reality. Her school grades skyrocketed downward, and so did her cheerleading effort, though her parents didn't notice, as her mom moved onto home decorating to keep busy, while her dad was working a full time job. It wasn't long until she saw it. Rogerson’s dad beat him hard, just for being a few minutes late. It was only a day or two later when Rogerson hit Caitlin for the first time, coming as such a shock to her, the only way she knew it wasn't just a dream was the increasing pain from her cheek to her temple. As the hitting grew more frequent, Caitlin pushed everyone out of her life more and more, only focusing on not being late to meet Rogerson or not doing something to set him off. People wondered, but they never asked. Caitlin’s life was heading down a downward spiral. She was drowning deeper and deeper into Rogerson, which brought her deeper and deeper out of reality; out of careful watch withdrawn mother and missing sister. 

It wasn't until Rina forced Caitlin to spend a day with her, since she hadn't in ages, literally dragging her down to the beach. By the time Caitlin got home, Rogerson had been waiting an hour in her driveaway. He immediately started swearing and yelling things like “Where the hell were you? I've been waiting for an HOUR.” Before Caitlin could respond, Rogerson grabbed her, hit her just about everywhere, and threw her to the ground multiple times. It wasn't until Caitlin’s mother heard and ran outside, calling 911 as Rogerson disappeared into the woods. Caitlin, basically out cold, was taken to the Evergreen Treatment center where she recovered for a few months. She spent her days under structured schedule, having nightmares and flashbacks of Rogerson and his beatings on her. When she finally got to go home, she felt as if she was waking up for the first time since Cass had gone missing. Almost as if she had been so deep underwater, but was now so close to resurfacing.

Sixteen year-old Caitlin has deep brunette hair and light, enchanting hazel eyes. Caitlin lets life take her wherever it wants to once her sister leaves and her parents become distant, which leads her straight to someone who changes her life in the worst but best way; Rogerson Biscoe. Caitlin sparingly interacts with her parents, afraid they will be able to tell that something is wrong. A quote from Caitlin to support this analysis is this one: “Lying to my parents had become easy. I just answered their minimal questions at the dinner table, and used cheerleading as an excuse when I was really going to meet Rogerson.” Caitlin’s minimal interaction includes saying just things like the usual Caitlin is even too afraid to talk to her sister, Cass on the phone when she calls, because she knows that Cass knows her too well, and will know that something is very wrong with her. A quote to support this analysis is this one from Caitlin: “I opened my mouth but no words came. I wanted to talk to Cass so bad, but I was afraid if I did she could immediately tell somehow that something was wrong.” Caitlin’s interactions with Rogerson, however, include asking him the answers to her homework, because she seems to always be dozing off in school, quickly failing. Rogerson he seems to know absolutely EVERYTHING when Caitlin asks, which can be supported by when he says “I watch a lot of Jeopardy”. Caitlin begins to worry about what she says to Rogerson once he starts to hit her, afraid she will say something to set him off. This can be supported by this quote from Caitlin: “I wanted to tell him how horrible my day was, how I had to work with Mike Evans for a project and how upset Rina was when I said I couldn’t hangout, but I just couldn’t. I was too afraid I’d say the wrong thing and set him off, so I answered with the simple “It was okay.”’ Caitlin slowly loses interaction with Rina as Rogerson begins to take up more and more of her time. A quote from Caitlin to support this analysis is this one: “I felt bad for telling Rina I couldn’t hangout, again, but the guilt didn’t last long, as I ran to meet Rogerson before I was late.” This character analysis described the main character in Dreamland, Caitlin, and her interactions with others.

The main theme in Dreamland is forgiving someone for something they don’t deserve to be forgiven for. Caitlin is always forgiving Rogerson for hitting her, and always just letting it go, even though she knows he doesn’t deserve to be forgiven. An example from the text to support this theme is this quote from Caitlin: “Each day after he’d hit me I could tell he felt horrible. However, instead of directly apologizing he would bring me a soda, or hold me a little bit closer. By not bringing it up he knew I had forgiven him, even though he never deserved it.” The first time after Rogerson hit her, he’d said “I love you Caitlin. Never forget that, alright? I love you.” Caitlin, of course, forgave him, even though he entirely didn’t deserve it. Caitlin over and over, every time, forgave Rogerson. Never did she bring a hit up after it had happened, never did she say a word about it to him, or to anyone. The examples shown describe the main theme of forgiving someone who doesn’t deserve it, and the quotes from the text support the theme.  

I can relate Dreamland to my own life not due to being beaten or hit, because I haven’t, but because of a couple other reasons. First of all, I can relate to the main theme, forgiving someone for something you know they don’t deserve to be forgiven for. I have many times forgiven people, knowing they don’t deserve it. I usually do it because I don’t want to cause drama by making a big deal of it or bringing it up, or because I tell myself they won’t do it again, so why bring it up. I think everyone, at least once in their life, has forgiven someone for something they don’t deserve to be forgiven for. Another occurring part of the book I can relate to is the semi-theme of making up an excuse as to not have to talk about something. quite a bit throughout the book. I can relate to making up excuses to not talk about something because sometimes I just don’t want to talk about something so I make up the excuse of “I’m tired” or “I’m fine”, because I’m not always ready at every second to get into a full discussion about something. I feel like everyone, multiple times in their life, has made up an excuse to not talk about something. Doing this is just a very common thing among humans because we can tend to keep things inside or not feel like having to tell someone something every time you are asked to. The examples shown are how I can relate to the book Dreamland.

I would definitely recommend Dreamland to any teenager, because I feel like it’s too mature of a book for younger kids. I would recommend Dreamland because it brings up the very important topic of abusive relationships, which are so common nowadays, and really shows the early signs of an abusive relationship. Dreamland really gives off the message that it’s not a good idea at all to stay in an abusive relationship, and that it is important to tell someone, or you could end up as just as bad, or worse, than Caitlin did in the long run. Besides that, Dreamland never gets boring to read and will definitely keep you wanting to read to the end of Caitlin’s long, seemingly endless journey through her abusive relationship with Rogerson Biscoe. Dreamland appealed to be because of how raw and true of a book it is, and how abusive relationships can completely change whole life in the worst way. The reason described are why I would recommend the book Dreamland to any teenager looking for a really extraordinary read for this winter season, or any other time of the year. 

            

            

*I chose the first image because the song "I Knew You Were Trouble" By Taylor Swift really describes this relationship Caitlin is in with Rogerson. She knew he was trouble the moment she saw him, but she went into the relationship anyway. I chose image two because it shows a depressed girl wearing long pants and a long sleeve shirt, not wanting to show her bruises, just like Caitlin.*

Link to "I Knew You Were Trouble" music video, which  100% describes Caitlin's relationship with Rogerson :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNoKguSdy4Y

Want to learn more about the author, Sarah Dessen? Click here to visit her official website: http://sarahdessen.com/books/

Want to purchase Dreamland? Click here: http://www.amazon.com/Dreamland-ebook/dp/B0023SDQBW/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1355808725&sr=8-4&keywords=dreamland+sarah+dessen

Image 1:http://musicselects.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/112_9_4_95529906.jpg

Image 2: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgONpRQfHf6XdRkCJUc_aXVN9fkDIbVJiNxlp2fgF2MptWbKbpzAGzYn2LJivz8ctGH2Ol_T8Prs2zHDab3b_Zm_sjZT91kk14wvEuxP2GZN3s2QfM4kW9TfvxxppwLCy-9PaCiBvpiEsxE/s1600/depressed_girl.jpg

The Summer I Turned Pretty- Book Review

The Summer I Turned Pretty-Jenny Han

    Isabel, who has been called Belly as long as she can remember, practically lives for the summers she spends in Cousins Beach with her mom Laurel’s lifelong best friend, Susannah, who has breast cancer and has to rest a lot, and her sons Conrad and Jeremiah. The last person who came was Belly’s brother Steven. Belly has always been looked at as “Steven’s little sister” during the long, hot summer days spent in their families’ beach house. Belly has always been chasing Conrad, the older brother, who was eighteen. Jeremiah has always been a best friend to her since day one, being very nice and kind to her. Belly desperately hopes and believes that this summer will be the summer things change. After a long drive, that Belly feels like was about seven thousand hours (really about seven hours), her mom, brother, and her pull up to the driveway in Cousins Beach. Belly immediately ran to hug Conrad and Jeremiah, who both told her she looked different this summer, and in a few hours the first night ended with their traditional first day dinner of pot roast. As the summer went on, Belly was getting mixed messages from Conrad. Sometimes he smiled and joked around with her, and others he ignored her  or gave her irritated looks. Feeling betrayed, Belly tried to push it all away by beginning to go out with a boy the same age as her and Jeremiah, which was sixteen. The boy’s name was Cam, and he was half Japanese and half French, and very into school. While going out with Cam, Conrad and Jeremiah seem to be acting almost jealous. This makes Belly confused, and during this confusion, she realizes dating Cam was a mistake and was just to forget about being hurt my Conrad.  Jeremiah, the night Belly basically breaks up with Cam, tells Belly he’s in love with her, thinking she was over Conrad when she really wasn't. About mid-summer, there’s a flashback to a previous summer, when Belly was 13. In this flashback chapter, Belly’s beautiful best friend Taylor Jewel comes to visit, and ends up hooking up with Jeremiah, though Jeremiah is still sending Belly lingering looks. When it goes back to the current summer, the boys, without their mother knowing, find out their parents are divorcing, likely due to their dad never being around. By now it is the end of the summer, and very depressingly Belly, Steven, and Laurel head back home. It has always been Belly’s dream to see the boys (Jere and Con)  in their winter clothes with rosy cheeks and scarves, so she is in complete shock when Conrad calls asking if he can see her after he  droves all the way from his hometown of Boston, Massachusetts to where she lives, which is left unknown. Belly, in utter shock, runs outside to see Conrad, and then the book is left on a note of her and Conrad  going for a drive, forgetting everyone like everyone was just the two of them.

    Belly has dark brown hair and brown eyes, with light freckles on her face. She’s fifteen at the beginning of the summer, but turns sixteen in July. Belly has been in love with Conrad since she was ten, as she said about it: “Over his shoulder, Conrad said, “Goodnight, Belly.” And that was it. I was in love”’. Though she tells people, like Taylor Jewel, that “Nah, they’re just like brothers. I’m just like a little sister to them.” Jeremiah, Conrad’s brother, is Belly’s best friend, even after he confesses he’s in love with her when she doesn't feel the same way. A quote from Belly to support this analysis would be this one: “ I could barely look at him. Because I didn't. I didn't see him that way. There was only one person. For me that person was Conrad.” As far as immediate family,  Belly interacts like the average teenager with her brother and her mom. However, Susannah to Belly is almost like a big sister. Belly’s mom is a lot less of a “cool mom” and is more distant, while Susannah is fun and will talk about teen things with Belly.  This analysis can be supported with this quote from Belly: “I could say no to my mother or anyone else, but with Susannah, I could never say no, so I agree to have Cam over for dinner.”  Another quote to support this analysis is:  “Susannah loved to talk about anything girly; she said I was the only person she could talk to about these kinds of things. My mother certainly wouldn't, and neither would Conrad or Jeremiah. Only me, her pretend daughter.” This character analysis describes the main character, Belly, and how she interacts with others.

    A major theme in The Summer I Turned Pretty is chasing after someone you've always loved. The whole book is based off of this teenage girl’s life every summer with her “summer family”, where she spends the summer crushing on Conrad, who’s never looked at her more than you would your friends little sister.  An example to support this theme is this one: “My heart was beating so loudly I could hear it. Everything was the same but not. They [Conrad and Jeremiah] had looked at me like I was a real girl, not just somebody’s little sister.” Also, her best friend Jeremiah, the other boy in her “summer family”, so hopefully tells Belly he’s in love with her, by saying this: “You've always been my best friend. But now it’s more. I see you as more than that. You’re cooler than any other girl I've ever met, and you’re there for me. You've always been there for me. I can count on you, and you can count on me, but you know that.” Jeremiah saying this is him showing the theme of chasing after someone he loves. These examples show  the theme of chasing after someone you love in The Summer I Turned Pretty.

     As far as inferring it and relating it to my life, I think anyone can relate to the theme of chasing after someone they've always loved, because it’s something everyone does at some point in their life, because everyone will, no doubt, fall in love during their life. Whether it lasts or not, it happens to everyone. I can’t 100% relate to it, because it hasn't happened to me yet. Sure I have had crushes come and go, which is the one way I can relate to it, However, it definitely happens to everyone at some point, whether it’s one time or five times. The reasons stated explain how I, and anyone, can relate The Summer I Turned Pretty.

  I would one absolutely recommend The Summer I Turned Pretty, as well as the other two books in the series, It’s Not Summer Without You, and We’ll Always Have Summer, to anyone looking for a good, real, raw quality book. Belly’s story is so real, that it can instantly be related to anyone out there who has ever loved someone (Or at least thought they did). The story line is so intriguing that you’ll want to finish it all in one day, like I did. The story of Belly and her summer family will be sure to capture the heart of any reader. These reasons I explained are why I would recommend The Summer I Turned Pretty to anybody looking for a nice summer read.

*The images above relate because a common lie in the  book is" i'm fine", and in that image the word LIES is spelled out in pink within the phrase "Im perfectly fine, trust me", and image 2 just sums up the whole series*

Want to purchase The Summer I Turned Pretty? Click here!- http://www.amazon.com/The-Summer-I-Turned-Pretty/dp/1416968296/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354503448&sr=8-1&keywords=the+summer+i+turned+pretty

Want to purchase the second book in the series, It's Not Summer Without You? Click here!:http://www.amazon.com/Its-Not-Summer-Without-You/dp/1416995560/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354503456&sr=8-2&keywords=the+summer+i+turned+pretty

Want to purchase the third and final book in the series, We'll Always Have Summer? Click here!: http://www.amazon.com/Well-Always-Have-Summer-Novels/dp/1416995595/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1354503456&sr=8-3&keywords=the+summer+i+turned+pretty

Want to learn more about the author and check out more of her books? Click here!: http://www.dearjennyhan.com/

So Much Closer- Book Review

                                                  SO MUCH CLOSER- By Susane Colastani 

     Brooke Greene has been crushing on Scott Abrams for as long as she can remember. However, when Brooke finally is just about to ask Scott out, she finds out that he’s moving to New York City. In just a short week Brooke convinced her mom to let her move to New York City for her senior year of high school, where her dad lives, saying the schools there will challenge her at the right level. So, Brooke packs up her life in South New Jersey after three short months of summer break, and heads on down to New York City. On the first day of school Brooke gets sucked into being a tutor for a fellow senior student with special needs.  Her genius IQ is shown not at all shown from her school grades, but from her testing scores. However, by the end of the day she found Scott and begins to try to become friends with him. Later that afternoon she begins as a general tutor for a boy named John with  the high-functioning mental disorder of dysgraphia. After becoming good friends with Scott, Brooke stumbles upon him with his girlfriend, Leslie, whom she had no idea about. Brooke begins hanging out more with the girl who persuaded her to tutor, Sadie, after finding out this news. Soon after, though, Brooke decides to keep being good friends with Scott, hoping he’ll soon break up with Leslie, his girlfriend who always looks like she just stepped out of Teen Vogue. 

    Problems arise when Brooke's dad is always out working, and if he is home, he’s on his laptop, talking to her about as much as you talk to that shy kid in class.  In the back of her mind Brooke knows that moving to New York was a huge mistake, but convinces herself it will all pay off when Scott falls in love with her. Fortunately for Brooke, Scott ends things with Leslie and Brooke decides to tell him what she’s been hiding all along- the fact that she moved to New York City just to be with him. He’s completely awestruck, and gives Brooke the most wonderful kiss she’s ever had. Later that evening, Brooke is still in a complete state of wonder-struck over finally being able to be with the boy she’s loved forever. John, the boy she tutors, begins acting out  once he finds out about Brooke and Scott, while Brooke is completely oblivious to him being in love with her. Brooke, however, soon comes to the conclusion after about a month that Scott is just in this relationship for physical things, and may think that making out will fix things verses talking about them. Brooke then does the hardest thing she’s ever done: she breaks up with the boy she’s always dreamed of. Shortly after this breakup Brooke realizes something. If someone makes you feel comfortable and is nothing but sweet to you, never let them go, therefore, she ends up with John, the boy who’s been fully in love with her since day one.

     Brooke is a girl of average height at 5’ 6’’ with golden, flowing light brown hair and deep, intense brown eyes. Brooke is an extremely intelligent seventeen year old who doesn't  put forth any effort into school and her grades. Her test scores skyrocket up, but her grades are very, very low, basically at a failing level. A quote from the book supporting this analysis is when Brooke is thinking: “Is this the part where I’m supposed to be surprised? Because I've heard it all before. I still don’t care.” This thought occurs to her after  her calculus teacher, Mr. Peterson, says from her IQ test score that she excels in all subjects by a lot. This quote supports my analysis because it portrays how Brooke doesn't care or put effort into school work when she can easily highly excel at it, if she wants to.  Brooke lived in South New Jersey, then moved to New York City when she found out her crush was moving there.

     Brooke can be quite oblivious at times, such as during the four months John, the boy she tutored, was completely in love with her, before she realized over the winter. Brooke is definitely a dreamer, constantly daydreaming about her crush, Scott Abrams, just about all the time. Brooke is also a hopeless romantic; when she begins going out with Scott, she is just hopelessly in love, and never ever imagines that it could someday end. This analysis can be supported by this quote from Brooke: “That’s how I know Scott and I are meant to be together. I've never been so sure of anything in my entire life.” However, being that Brooke is a very intelligent girl, she’s smart enough to come to the sad, unfortunate realization that Scott is only in it for physical things and never made her feel fully comfortable; she always felt overwhelmed whenever she was around him, likely due to crushing on him for so long before and not entirely being able to believe that they’re a couple. A quote to support this analysis is when Brooke is thinking to herself after Scott asks if they can just keep things fun:  “It’s so tempting to say yes, to be with him however he wants me to be. But I've been playing this whole time. I desperately want to be that girl who can have fun city nights with a boy she loves and not want anything more. Ever since Scott kissed me, I've been trying to be that girl. I’m just not her. If Scott and I can’t be together the way I know we should be in my heart, then I can’t do this anymore.” Another quote to support how overwhelmed she feels is this one, from Brooke: “Scott’s room has a powerful effect on me. Just going inside triggers this overwhelming anticipation. Every time I come over here, It’s like I still can’t believe I’m finally here.” These quotes support my analysis because Brooke is always overwhelmed around Scott, and has always been desperately trying to be someone she’s just truly not.

       A major theme in So Much Closer is the fact that sometimes the thing you wish for so badly doesn't always turn out and can disappoint you once you get it. An example supporting this theme is the blatant fact that Brooke moved to an entirely new city, receiving an entirely different life, just for one boy that turned out to disappoint her once she ‘had him’. An example from the book that supports this theme of things not always being what they seem to be, is this quote from Brooke: “What I’m craving even more is a home-cooked meal. Missing Mom’s cooking is the last thing I expected to be doing, but there you go. Takeout was fun for a while. Now it’s sort of sad.” This quote from Brooke portrays the theme of things not always being what they seem because this quote describes how Brooke thought having takeout all the time would be so fun and awesome, but she later realizes she misses what she had before, and is disappointed with what she has now. Another quote from Brooke portraying this theme is this one:  I can’t remember the last time he talked about anything serious. But it’s not like we’re going to break up. I didn't move all the way here for things to not work out. I've loved Scott for so long. We just can’t go on like this.” This quote portrays the major theme of things not always being as great as they may seem because Brooke picked up and moved to New York thinking everything would just be perfect, and her and Scott would fall in love. However, she’s now beginning to realize that Scott may not be how she always dreamed he’d be, before she was dating him. These examples portray the theme of everything not always being exactly what it seems.

   I can really relate the theme of things not always being what they seem to my own life in many ways. It’s a very true, realistic theme that everyone is guilty of experiencing. An example of a time I've experienced it is when I was going into 7^th grade, I thought private school would be so amazing and perfect and way better than public school. I tried it out for half the school year and realized it wasn't what it seemed at all. There were only five students and the education wasn't as good as I thought it would be, which of course disappointed me. The example shown explains one way I can relate the theme of everything not always being quite what it seems to my life.

    This book greatly appealed to me because of how true and raw it is. Although it’s a fictional book, it could easily be the story of a real nonfiction person, because it’s not some totally unrealistic, fantasy story that could never actually happen. I enjoy reading books about real life things, rather than unrealistic stories that are so far from real life. I would recommend it to people who like reading about life lessons and  topics that can easily be related to, because this book is full of them. Another reason I’d recommend So much Closer is because it’s an easy read- it’s not hard to follow, and you don’t get bored with the story line. These reasons are why the book So Much Closer appealed to me and why I’d recommend it to others.       

Want to find out more about the author, Susane Colastani? Click this link!- http://www.susanecolasanti.com/books.html

Want to purchase this book? Click here!- http://www.amazon.com/So-Much-Closer-Susane-Colasanti/dp/0142421146/ref=la_B001JSE5XA_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1353995578&sr=1-4