Reader's Journal #14- Violet Lights: A Short Story by Joshua Scribner

#14                             Readers Journal                            11/28/11

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            Since this week’s reader’s journal is free choice, I decided to read a short story called Violet Lights: A Short Story by Joshua Scribner. I have already read a short story by this author so I thought it would be interesting to compare them to one another and find out if this author has a motif.

            A passage that stood out to me was:

            “He rolled toward her. ‘Crystal,’ he whispered.

She didn’t respond.

‘Crystal,’ he said, this time louder. 

            She still didn’t respond, which was strange. Crystal usually responded to his voice when he spoke at night. 

            He reached over her to switch on the lamp. Then, when he moved back to his side of the bed, he saw that she was awake, eyes wide open, big round circles, face pale, scared out of her wits. 

            ‘You saw the shadow and the lights?’ Dennis asked.

She nodded her head slightly.

‘Did you feel the child?’ 

She nodded again.”

(Kindle 42% - Location 73 of 199)

I chose this passage because it was the first thing that really sparked my interest. It made me very interested in finishing the book and finding out what happens next. It is significant to the story because it explains that both characters experienced the horrors of the “shadow”.

Before, during, and after reading I used many strategies. Before reading, I noticed that I read another book by this author; so, I read my previous reader’s journal about the other book by this author, Sidewalks: A Short Story, to review what I knew about the author and his style of writing, and to see if I had enjoyed his other book. I also set a purpose for reading. My purpose for reading this book was for my reader’s journal, to compare the two books by this author, and to see if this author has a certain motif. While reading, I took notes on my Kindle. I highlighted all the figurative language, the different characters, and any other literary elements I could find. I also made predictions while reading. I predicted that the main characters, Dennis and Crystal, would somehow defeat the shadow that haunted them and get rid of the mysterious girl that crept up in their bed at night, only when the lights were off, but would disappear the moment the lights would turn on. After reading, I checked to see if my predictions were correct; however, they weren’t.  What really happened was the complete opposite of what I had predicted. Also after reading, I reviewed all my notes and highlights and thought about the strategies I used and the literary elements of this book to write my reader’s journal.

The genre of this book is short story because it focuses on one main conflict and one main plot, it is shorter than a regular novel, and it was read in one sitting. The protagonists were Dennis and Crystal Harkum. They were a married couple that had moved to a new city for a year because Crystal had gotten an internship in that town. They are both round and dynamic because they are described very well and go through characterization. Dennis, in the beginning of the book, trusts everything his wife says; then, towards the end, he wants to leave her because he believes she’s wrong. Crystal, on the other hand, starts off not believing that Dennis had really seen a shadow and a child and believes it’s all stress-related. Then, she actually sees the shadow and the child and feels that she needs to protect the child. The antagonist is the shadow because it haunts Dennis and Crystal. It is round and dynamic because it is described very well and goes through characterization. It starts off just haunting Dennis and Crystal, but by the book, it kills them. The foil character is the child that crept up into Dennis and Crystal’s bed at night. It is flat because all you know about it is that it is small. You are not told if this child is even male or female. This child, however, is dynamic because it goes through characterization. In the beginning of the book it protects Dennis and Crystal from the shadow, but in the end, it leaves them and stops caring for them.

Most of the setting isn’t clearly stated in the book. It takes place in a new town from where the characters lived before the book. The house they lived in can be described by this passage: “He liked the house they were renting. It had two bedrooms, one of which they’d make into an office, and a nice little yard to take care of. It wasn’t luxurious, but it better than the college housing they were used to. “ Although it is not stated, I can infer that the book takes place in modern times. The weather conditions are not stated at all. One social condition is stated in the book: “’A family was murdered in this house ten years ago. A man. A woman. Their little girl.’ ‘My God! Did they catch who did it?’ She shook her head. ‘No. And it wasn’t one of those murder suicides either. They were all cut up pretty good, none of them like a person could do to their self.’”                                    

The plot of this book was very good and it got to the action pretty fast. The exposition was when the author introduced some of the setting and the main characters. The rising action was when Dennis told his wife about the weird shadow he had seen and the mysterious child he had felt. The climax was when Crystal also saw the shadow and felt the child. The falling action was when Dennis and Crystal got into a fight. Also, when Dennis upset the child who was only trying to protect him and his wife from the shadow. The resolution was when the shadow attacks Dennis and Crystal.

The conflict is man vs. supernatural because the antagonist, who is a supernatural character, is against the protagonists. This type of conflict is external. The tone of this book is mysterious and the mood is curious. I am not sure, but I think the theme of this book is ghosts or evil creatures. The author’s motif is writing short stories about ghosts and mysterious topics. There is no moral in this book because no life lesson was taught. The point-of-view is third person limited because the narrator speaks about what he can only see and hear, but knows what one character, Dennis, thinks and feels. The author’s purpose is to entertain readers with a mysterious and exciting short story. Since the point-of-view is third person limited, the author’s perspective is biased to whoever or whatever Dennis does and doesn’t like.

Since this book was a short story I wasn’t able to identify that many figurative language. “Her hands felt as small as a newborns.” This is a simile comparing Crystal’s hands to a newborn’s hands. A hyperbole is “In an instant, the few violet lights coming from the shadow turned into millions.” This exaggerated the amount of lights coming from the shadow.

(#39) Although this was a short story, I wish that the author had given more details to describe the setting and the child because it would’ve been clearer to the readers.

(#44) I couldn’t believe both protagonists were killed by the shadow because I thought that the child would protect them.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this short story. I would recommend it to anyone in the mood for a quick, mysterious, and exciting read. I rate it a 9 out of 10 stars because although it was better than the author’s other book, I would have liked to see a little bit more detail to help me better visualize the story.

Your Student,

                                                                        Bailey Levy 802

Reader's Journal #13- Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid by Lawrence Fisher and Tanya Nicole Kach

#13                         Reader’s Journal                         11/21/11

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            This week I finished the book, Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid, by Tanya Nicole Kach and Lawrence Fisher.

A passage that stood at to me the most was:

“When Tom Hose was informed that Krimm had been found dead, he did not seem surprised and said, ‘You knew that was coming.’ This stuck me as an unusually strange and cold reaction to learning about a death. Tom Hose hated Kimberlie Krimm because of all of her problems at Cornell and because of my troublesome interactions with her sister. One evening, after he had been drinking, Tom Hose even described to me the configuration of Krimm’s dead body as it was discovered in the cemetery. These details were especially disturbing, because no details had been reported at the time. He claimed that Krimm’s lifeless body was found propped up on a hillside amidst overgrown grass and shrubbery. He further claimed that Krimm was slouched over her knees, which were bent inward and up against her chest. He went on to describe Krimm’s panties being drawn down to her ankles. According to official reports, the manner and time of Krimm’s death were undetermined because her body was so badly decomposed when she was discovered by authorities.” (KINDLE)

I chose this passage because it made me realize what type of a person Tom Hose really was. Before reading this I believed he was crazy for abducting Tanya, but this made me realize he was an insane and disgusting monster! It is significant to the book because it shows just one of the many horrid things Tom Hose did in his life.

I used various before, during, and after reading strategies. Before reading I reviewed my last reader’s journal and made sure I understood everything up to where I was in the book. I also made predictions. I predicted that Tanya would be discovered or run away for Tom Hose. While reading I wrote down any new vocabulary I found in the book. I also checked if I could confirm my prediction however it was mentioned in the last few chapters; therefore, one after reading strategy I used was to confirm my predictions and I was correct. I also though about if any of the nonfiction elements had changed but realized they hadn’t.

The genre of this book is memoir because it is a true story about a “memory” of someone’s life. The main idea is a girl named Tanya Nicole Kach was abducted when she was fourteen for over a decade. This main idea is implied because it is not clearly stated in the book and you must read between the lines to figure it out. If I had to rename the book, I would call it The Abduction of Tanya Nicole Kach because it is the main idea of the story. Some details that support the main idea are, “When she was found dead, Anna Marie Callahan had been the same age as I was when Tom Hose abducted me, she resembled my appearance, and she had been subject to the authority of Tom Hose because he worked at Cornell.” is factual, “Hiding me in his bedroom closet allowed Tom Hose to open his usually locked bedroom door.” Is factual, and “For the entire time of my captivity, I never dared to watch television or listen to the radio…” is factual. The essential message is that a young girl, Tanya Nicole, was abducted by a man name Thomas John Hose. A cause and effect from the story was that Tanya Nicole ran away from her home, so the effect was her ten years of captivity.  One thing Tanya compared and contrasted throughout the book was how she felt with her dad and step-mom, which was useless and unloved, to how she felt with Tom Hose, which was cared about and adored.

 I identified five text features in this book. The text features I indentified were title, subtitle, illustration, headings, and subheadings. The title, Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid, helped me understand what the book would be about. The subtitle, A Tanya Nicole Kach Story, helped me identify whom the story would be about. The illustration on the cover, which was spilled milk, to me, represented how crazy Tanya’s life was. The headings, which were the chapter numbers, helped me know what chapter I was on and finally, the subheadings, which were the names of the chapters, helped me predict what each chapter would be about.

The pattern of organization in this book is chronological/time order because it is written in the order of which things occurred in Tanya’s life. The author’s purpose was to inform the readers about the harsh experiences Tanya encountered before and during her abduction. The author’s perspective is subjective to whoever or whatever Tanya does and doesn’t like because the book is written in first person point of view.

            I identified many types of figurative language in this book. The tone is informative and showing sympathy. The mood is sympathetic. I found the following sentence to be an understatement. “It was scary to be in that closet.” I would think it would be horrifying, depressing, terrifying… not “scary”. “When he finally let me out, I felt as free as a dog.” This is a simile because it is comparing how Tanya felt to the freedom of a dog using the word “as”. “‘Do I look stupid, Tanya?’” This is a rhetorical question because Tom Hose said this to Tanya to make a point. It is a question people do not answer but is just said to prove something.

To check the validity and accuracy I went to three sources. Two sources were the websites, http://www.zimbio.com/Tanya+Nicole+Kach and http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/24/national/24missing.html. They each showed different articles, however both stating exactly what it said in the book. The last source I went to was my father. I asked him if he had ever heard of Tanya Nicole Kach and he had. He told me all about her abduction from which he had heard on the news when it took place. By checking all these sources I was able to conclude that the book was accurate and Tanya Nicole’s story was true.

Some new words I encountered while reading this book were pacified, meticulous, deviation, inextricably, and alien. To find out what all these words meant, I used context clues while reading the sentences they were in. For example, “The risk was limited to a few hours, and it pacified me.” I replaced pacified with excited and frightened. Since these two words are almost opposites I looked in the dictionary to find the exact meaning. The word pacified means to put a stop to anger, agitation, and excitement. “Hose was meticulous in this endeavor.” I replaced meticulous with worried, smart, careful. The correct definition of meticulous is, showing great attention to detail; careful and precise. “The slight deviation that allowed me out of the closet on Christmas Eve 2000 was as astonishing as it was baffling.” I replaced deviation with the word surprise; however, I was completely wrong. The definition of deviation is, the action of departing from an established course. “And survival, for me, was inextricably linked to Tom Hose with
deep psychological chains that it would take many more years for me to break.” It was extremely hard for me to replace this word but the definition is, impossible to separate. “This all the more depicts how alien the experience was for me.” Although I know what an alien is, I could tell that the author wasn’t talking about a green space creature in this sentence. I replaced alien with the words new and foreign, because the noun alien, is from out of this world and is considered foreign. The exact definition is, belonging to a foreign country or nation.

 I made text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world connections while reading this book. A text-to-self connection is that like Tanya Nicole, I am an only child. I can relate this book to Jaycee Lee Duggard’s book, A Stolen Life, because they are both about young girls who were abducted for a long period of time. This book reminds me of the world because abductions take place almost every day and kids mistreated by their families.

Although I am sorry for Tanya, I am having a hard time understanding why she didn’t try to escape earlier in her abduction. However, I admire Tanya for her braveness and for her strong willed personality that is shown throughout the book.

All in all, I really enjoyed reading this book! I think most teenagers and anyone older would like this book, as well. The writing of this book got better as I read but I still rate it a 9 out of 10 stars because the book wasn’t as well written as other books I have read, but I enjoyed reading Tanya’s story.

 Sincerely,

Bailey Levy 802

Reader's Journal #12- Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid by Lawrence Fisher and Tanya Nicole Kach

#12                                   Reader’s Journal                                     11/14/11

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            This week I started the book, Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid by Tanya Nicole Kach and Lawrence Fisher. A passage that really stood out to me was:

            “My first memory of life is one of light. The closed door to my bedroom made me feel caged, imprisoned. I pulled myself up in my crib and cried. Then, one of my parents must have opened the door, and I glimpsed a crack of light that both fascinated and comforted me. In a way, that first memory is a metaphor for what kept me alive for the ten dark years of captivity I endured. Despite my abductor’s repeated message that no one cared about me, despite the threats of what would happen if I tried to escape, that glimmer of hope within me never died. It was the divine lifeboat I clung to at my most desperate moments. One day I will leave here, I promised myself. One day, I will tell my story. “

I chose this passage because, from the beginning, I could tell that Tanya’s life was hard but she was strong-willed; this passage shows it. I was able to picture her life from this very paragraph. It is significant to the story because it shows the readers that even when she was a baby, her life was difficult.

I used many before, during, and after reading strategies. Before reading I thought of why I had picked this book and set a purpose. The title of this book was very similar to another book I read, The Face on the Milk Carton, so my purpose was to read this book was to compare it to The Face on the Milk Carton and for my reader’s journal. I also read the synopsis and reviews to see if this book would be entertaining.  One review I found interesting was, “My heart ached while I read this. As a survivor of child abuse, this girl's actions and reactions made perfect sense to me. This is a must read for parents and all people who are thinking of becoming parents. God bless you Tanya - your healing will take a lifetime but will be well worth it!” After reading this I wondered if this book wouldn’t be good for me but decided to give it a chance anyways.  While reading I took notes for my readers journal on my Kindle. I also made predictions. Because I never of heard Tanya’s story, I predicted that her abductor was her neighbor, Kevin Churchfield. I felt that way because he was portrayed as a creep. After reading the section, I saw if my prediction was right; however, it wasn’t. Her abductor was a security guard in her school named Thomas John Hose. Another after reading strategy I used was to look over all my notes and highlights to write my reader’s journal. 

The genre of this book is memoir because it is a true story about a “memory” of someone’s life. The main idea is a girl named Tanya Nicole Kach was abducted when she was fourteen for over a decade. This main idea is implied because it is not clearly stated in the book and you must read between the lines to figure it out. If I had to rename the book, I would call it The Abduction of Tanya Nicole Kach because it is the main idea of the story. Some details that support the main idea are, “When she was found dead, Anna Marie Callahan had been the same age as I was when Tom Hose abducted me, she resembled my appearance, and she had been subject to the authority of Tom Hose because he worked at Cornell.
“ is factual, “Hiding me in his bedroom closet allowed Tom Hose to open his usually locked bedroom door.” Is factual, and “For the entire time of my captivity, I never dared to watch television or listen to the radio…” is factual. The essential message is that a young girl, Tanya Nicole, was abducted by a man name Thomas John Hose. A cause and effect from the story was that Tanya Nicole ran away from her home, so the effect was her ten years of captivity.  One thing Tanya compared and contrasted throughout the book was how she felt with her dad and step-mom, which was useless and unloved, to how she felt with Tom Hose, which was cared about and adored.

 I identified five text features in this book. The text features I indentified were title, subtitle, illustration, headings, and subheadings. The title, Memoir of a Milk Carton Kid, helped me understand what the book would be about. The subtitle, A Tanya Nicole Kach Story, helped me identify whom the story would be about. The illustration on the cover, which was spilled milk, to me, represented how crazy Tanya’s life was. The headings, which were the chapter numbers, helped me know what chapter I was on and finally, the subheadings, which were the names of the chapters, helped me predict what each chapter would be about.

The pattern of organization in this book is chronological/time order because it is written in the order of which things occurred in Tanya’s life. The author’s purpose was to inform the readers about the harsh experiences Tanya encountered before and during her abduction. The author’s perspective is subjective to whoever or whatever Tanya does and doesn’t like because the book is written in first person point of view.

There were many different types of figurative language throughout the book. One was, “The apple does not fall far from the tree.” This is a cliché because it is an overused expression. Tanya wrote this when describing Justin, her abductor’s son. The tone of this book was sympathy because Tanya’s word choice was sad and seemed like she was hopeless at many points. My mood while reading was sympathetic because it was painful to hear all the horrifying things Tanya went through. Another figurative language is a metaphor, “Although he was not the most handsome, he had a heart of gold.” This was how Tanya describes Tom Hose before her abduction. The last figurative language I found was irony. I found it very ironic that Tom’s parents had conveniently fallen asleep just before police arrived at their house to question him about Tanya.

To check the validity and accuracy I went to three sources. Two sources were the websites, http://www.zimbio.com/Tanya+Nicole+Kach and http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/24/national/24missing.html. They each showed different articles, however both stating exactly what it said in the book. The last source I went to was my father. I asked him if he had ever heard of Tanya Nicole Kach and he had. He told me all about her abduction from which he had heard on the news when it took place. By checking all these sources I was able to conclude that the book was accurate and Tanya Nicole’s story was true.

While reading, I encountered five new vocabulary words, magistrate, mundane, cremated, repugnant, and seclusion. I was able to infer what magistrate meant by reading this sentence, “My father called the police. In the insanity that ensued, my mom lied to a
magistrate and secured a court order that briefly allowed her back that night with my father and me in Monongahela.”  I knew that this word was a noun because of the tense it was in and thought of words that I could replace it with. I replaced magistrate with officer, police, and official. When I look up the definition, I was correct, magistrate is an official officer. I inferred what the word mundane was by reading this sentence, “I was allowed out of the Soles Street residence on orchestrated, cloaked, and rare occasions to shop for clothing or for other reasons that would seem mundane

to most people.” I replaced mundane with ordinary and usual because I knew that Tom Hose would not what Tanya doing anything unusual that anyone could suspect him for Tanya’s abduction. The definition of mundane is not interesting or dull. The word cremated, found in the following sentence, reminded me of the word cemetery, which I know is underground, so I inferred that it meant to be buried. “I wanted to make sure that, if my body was found, I would not be cremated.” Cremated means to get rid of something (a dead body) usually by burning it. Repugnant was found in the following sentence. “Even though I found Justin’s advances repugnant, he had been the only human being with whom I could interact, other than his father, for those first four years.” This word reminded me of the word pungent, which I know means sour or bitter so I inferred that the definition of repugnant was close to the definition of pungent. Repugnant means something that is extremely unacceptable. The following sentence helped me infer what seclusion meant. “From March 1996 through about June of 2000, I was in total seclusion at the Hose residence, during which time I did not leave the house.” I inferred that seclusion meant being away from the world because it says that she didn’t leave the house. Seclusion really means in a state of being private and away from other people.

While reading this book, I was able to make text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world connections. This book reminded me of myself because I am now the same age as Tanya was when she was abducted. This book reminds me of another book I read called The Face on the Milk Carton because they both share stories on missing and abducted children; although, The Face on the Milk Carton is fiction and this book is nonfiction. This book reminds me of the world because abductions take place almost every day. This book especially reminds me of the story of Jaycee Lee Duggard who was also abducted for a long period of time.

Although I feel very sorry for Tanya, I don’t think I would want to be her friend. She was the type of person that would never do the right thing. She would smoke at age thirteen, get into fights, and run away from home.

If I could give Tanya advice now, I would probably tell her to stay strong and that although it might seem hard, she will get through her abduction and live a perfectly normal life.

Overall, this book was very interesting although, it was poorly written. Some of the author’s sentences seemed childish and repetitive. However, the story itself was very entertaining and at some points, I couldn’t put it down. Therefore, I rate it a 9 out of 10 stars.

I would recommend this book to mostly all girls and boys in middle school and up because anyone younger would not fully understand this story.

                                                                        Your Student,

                                                                        Bailey Levy 802

Current Events Journal #2

11/12/11

Bailey Levy 802

Current Events Journal #2

Title: A legacy of service: Three generations of Pines family have served in military

Author: Perry Stein

Source: The Miami Herald

Topic: The topic of this article is involvement in the military.

Main Idea (Implied/Stated): The main idea of this article is stated, “A legacy of service: Three generations of Pines family have served in military.”

Author’s Purpose: The author’s purpose for writing this article is to inform reader’s with a brave mans military experience and his family’s involvement in the military.

Author’s Perspective: The author’s perspective in this article is objective because he is not in favor of anyone or anything and does not take sides.

Pattern of Organization: The pattern of organization of the article is flashback because the author starts in the present then “flashes back” to another time and event.

-The reason the author chose this pattern for the article is to help the readers better understand and visualize Bolivar’s experiences in the military.

Text Features: The texts features included in this article are title, picture, and caption. The title helps by giving the readers a little hint on what the article is about, the picture helps by giving the readers a visual of whom the article is talking about, and the caption underneath the picture helps by explaining the picture.

Summary (in your own words): The article is about a man named Bolivar Perez-Rios and his experiences in the military. The article tells about how this Puerto Rican man inspired his son, grandson, and even his great-grandson to join the military and fight for their country.

Importance: The significance of this article is the dedication one man had for his country and how he inspired his family to join the military.

What I Learned: What I learned from this article is how quickly you must get ready for battle in the military. “On Dec. 7, 1941, the then-22-year-old was on duty listening to a baseball game in Fort Buchanan, the U.S. base in Puerto Rico, when a transmission interrupted the game reporting the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Perez-Rios sounded the alert at the base, and immediately began training for the frontlines.”

What I Liked: What I liked about this article was the way the author described Bolivar’s experience in the military.

What I Disliked: What I did not like about this article was that there wasn’t more information on the son and grandson’s experiences.

Recommendations: I believe anyone should read this book because it shows true devotion of a family to their country.

Text-to-Self Connections: This article reminded me of how my father served the military in Israel.

Text-to-Text Connections: This article reminded me of many articles in the newspaper about veterans because it is Veterans Day.

Text-to-World Connections: This article reminded me of the wars going on right now and the troops helping fight for our country.

Vocabulary:

Word	Context Clues	Meaning
1. Indoctrinated	Context Clue #5 Inference- Reread sentence and filled in words that could fit. “I was indoctrinated to love and respect our nation from a young age.”	Taught to accept a set of beliefs
2. Memorabilia	Context Clue #5 Inference- “Memor”-Memory	Objects kept or collected because of their importance associated with memorable people or events.
3. Memento	Context Clue #5 Inference- “Memento”- memory	An object kept as a reminder or souvenir of a person or event

Reader's Journal #11- Sidewalks: A Short Story by Joshua Scribner

#11                                                Readers Journal                                             11/7/11

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

            This week I completed the story Sidewalks: A Short Story by Joshua Scribner. I enjoy reading short stories, so I was happy to hear that we were required to read one this week.

            A passage that stood out to me while I was reading was:

            “’Don’t go off to graduate school. Come work with me. I’ll cut you in. We’ll get rich.

Mark had declined. Even though Dave’s plan sounded fun, and it did tempt Mark, there was no way he was going to give up what he’d already earned. His high GPA and entrance exam scores had earned him a hefty cash scholarship here.

Dave was persistent. He even sent Mark bus tickets, knowing Mark hated to fly. Mark had torn them up and left for South Carolina the next day.“ (KINDLE)

            This passage is significant to the story because it describes Dave, Marks cousin’s, personality. I chose it because it reminded me of my family’s personalities, especially my dad’s. When he wants something he doesn’t care about anything and will try his hardest to get it, just like how Dave wanted Mark to move to California with him and tried to get him to come.

            Throughout reading the book I used many different before, during, and after reading strategies. Before reading I read the reviews on my Kindle to see if others had enjoyed it. The reviews were all positive. Another strategy was that I set a purpose for reading. My main purpose was for my reader’s journal, but since I like short stories, my purpose for reading was also for my own entertainment. While reading I took notes on all the figurative language I could find and any literary elements. I also made predictions. One prediction I made was while reading these passages:

           

“The sidewalk ended on Miracle Drive…”

           

“’Come on, buddy,’ Dave’s relentless voice said. ‘I know you can find your way to me. I’ll be waiting right here.’”

           

“There was a pause. Then Dave’s voice was serious. ‘You locked yourself away, man. Now you the one who has to decide if he wants to be in the real world or-‘

‘Yeah Dave your right,’ Mark said, cutting his cousin off. ‘And I don’t want to be in the real world yet. I have to finish up my education first.’

‘All right’, Dave responded in a sad voice. ‘I guess you’ll come here when you’re ready.’”

While reading these passages I predicted that Dave wasn’t asking Mark to come to California. It was too coincidental that he drove down “Miracle Drive” every day, and normal people usually don’t say, “You’ll find your way to me.” People usually say that to their pets, but not their cousins. I wasn’t exactly sure, but after reading I was able to confirm my prediction with the following passage:

“Mark got off the bike and walked into the light.

‘Death is a hard thing to accept,’ Dave said to him.

They were in the sky, looking down through the ceiling and one of the hospital floors. There were people in blue scrubs trying to revive Mark’s body. The machine, which Mark now knew had been the source of the beeping, showed a flat line.

            ‘For me, it was your impending death that was hard to accept. I felt responsible. That’s why I killed myself, while you were still in that stupid

coma.’

            Mark looked at his cousin. Dave had the same ratty look here that he’d had on Earth.

Dave said, ‘For you, it was also your impending death that was impossible to accept. In the real world, your body clung futilely to life, as you created a world in your mind where you had never gotten on that bus. In this false world, you weren’t there when that bus crashed. You’d stuck to your original plan.’

 ‘Why then?’ Mark asked. ‘Why didn’t you just let me stay in my head?’

Dave nodded as if acknowledging that it was a good question. ‘You would have eventually figured it out. False realities have holes in them. They never last.’

Mark nodded. ‘All right. So what do we do now?’ Dave looked around. ‘You’ll see. There’s a lot to do here.’ He smiled. ‘This place ain’t so bad.’”

This confirmed my prediction that Dave wasn’t actually asking Mark to come to California, but that he was trying to get him out of his false reality. Also, after reading I used all my notes and highlights on my Kindle to help me write my readers journal.

The genre of this book is short story because it was shorter than a novel and focuses on one main character and plot line, and it was read in one sitting. The main character is Mark Waller. He is a protagonist and is round and dynamic because he goes through some sort of characterization. He starts out believing he is living in a world he made up but figures out that he was only living in a false reality. One foil character is the “old man in the red vest” who sold Mark a bike in the beginning of the book. He is flat and static because little is known about him and he does not go through any characterization. Another foil character is Dave, Mark’s cousin. He is round but static because the author describes him well, but he does not go through any characterization and is not the main character. The setting is in South Carolina in modern times. The weather was “generally warm” throughout the book. A social condition is that Mark was living in a false reality.

The plot structure was very short because it was a short story. The exposition explained who Mark and Dave were, and introduced the setting. The rising action was when Dave would constantly call Mark about him moving to California with him. The climax was when Mark was driving down Miracle Drive and stopped when he saw a white light. The falling action was when Dave explained to Mark what had happened to him. Finally, the resolution was when Mark accepted the fact that he had been living in a false reality and agreed to live with Dave in heaven.

The conflict was Man vs. Self. This type of conflict is internal. Mark conflict was with himself because he didn’t know he was living in a made up world. The tone was entertaining and the tone was entertained. This book didn’t have a theme or moral and since I haven’t read any other books by this author, I couldn’t identify a motif. The point of view was third person limited and the pattern of organization was climatic order. The author’s purpose for writing this was to entertain. The author’s perspective was unbiased or objective because he was not on anyone’s side.

I wasn’t about to identify a lot of figurative language because this book was a short story. I did identify, “And now, having forced them to peddle all the way up here again, they felt like jelly.” This is a simile because it compares how Mark’s legs felt after riding his bike to jelly. 

I enjoyed the part where Mark finally realizes that he belongs with his cousin Dave.

Overall, this book was an easy read and I enjoyed it. I would rate it an 8 out of 10 because although I liked reading it, I have read better books. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading an easy to read short story.

                                                                        Your Student,

                                                                        Bailey Levy 802