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5/20/18: Lock and Key
Summary: In this week’s reading, when Ruby comes home after skipping school and going to her old friends house to drink and smoke, she expects Cora to be very angry with her. To her surprise, Cora isn’t mad but Jamie is furious, he does not speak to her for a while. Cora tells her that he’s mad because they gave everything that they could to get her out of the horrible situation that she was in and this was how she repaid them. Later, Ruby and Nate run some errands together and they seemed to start getting friendlier with each other.
Reflection: I liked this weeks reading because Ruby starts to be nicer to Nate after he ‘saved her life’ when he brought her home after he found her passed out in the woods. I feel like they are going to date because Ruby is going to realize that he has been there for her when she did not have any other friends and he has saved her two times already. One part that shocked me was when Jamie wa yelling at Ruby and Cora was being the nice one when it is usually the other way around. Ruby and Nate’s relationship reminds me of things seen in movies. It is always neighbors that fall in love after disliking each other for awhile and then they are going to date and Ruby’s life is going to get so much better. I feel like she is finally going to get the happiness that she deserves.
Literary Device: “ ‘And that’s what the key represents. An open door, a chance, You know?’ ” (page 272). This quote shows symbolism because to Ruby, her necklace was just the key to her old house full of horrors but to someone else it meant more, another chance at trying.
Vocabulary: The word I chose was dormant from page 253 which means in or as if in deep sleep. A sentence using that word is “After the dog was ran over, he seemed dormant.”
Quotes: “I told her that if I found out she ever hit you, I would call the police . And that I was coming back for you as soon as I could, to get you out of there” (page 259).
I chose this quote because it shows how much Cora really cares about Ruby, and how their mom tried to hide these things from Ruby so that it would make Cora look bad for leaving them. I find it very upsetting that their mom wanted to make Cora seem like the evil one when in reality she was the evil one for all the bad decisions that she made without ever thinking about Ruby. Cora was more of a mother figure than their mom to Ruby because Cora always looked out for her and everything she did was for Ruby, never to hurt her little sister.
“ Or catch that glimpse of my mother’s face, distorted with mine, staring back from the mirror” (page 254).
I chose this quote because it shows how much of an effect Ruby’s mom had on her, suddenly she starts feeling like she is turning into her mom. Whenever something did not go right for her mom, she would try to drink her problems away and that is what Ruby tried to do when Cora told her the truth. This reminds me of the saying ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’ because most kids are mirror images of their parents and that is what Ruby and Cora begin to see. But Ruby says that that is not what she wants to turn out of herself.
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5/13/18: Lock & Key
Summary: In this weeks reading, Ruby finds out that Cora tried to get in contact with her after she left home but her mom would always hide that from Ruby in fear that she would leave her and she would be all alone. Cora tells Ruby that their mom left Ruby alone in that house because she was afraid that Ruby would leave her first. Also in this weeks reading, Ruby walks in on her ‘best friend’ Peyton getting with her boyfriend Marshall and she gets very angry.
Reflection: I liked this weeks reading because Ruby finally got to hear the truth about why she did not get to see Cora for like ten years, it’s kind of like half of her life was a big lie. Her reaction was raw though because she wasn’t expecting the conversation that she was having to escalate that quickly into such a sensitive topic. I like that Cora told what seems to be the truth because I would not trust what my mom said if she was like their mom. It’s interesting to find out that her mom hid the wedding invitation from Ruby because she was scared of being alone after her husband left and her daughter, Ruby seemed to be the only thing she had. The part when Ruby sees Peyton and Marshall together was crazy and so wrong of Peyton. I was expecting something like this to happen though because Ruby had been gone for a while and Peyton thought it was okay for her to just get with her best friends current boyfriend.
Literary Device: “... because this place is like a prison, okay?” (page 230). This simile shows how Olivia compares their school to a prison since their super strict and perfect.
Vocabulary: The word I chose was Coddling from page 219 which means to treat in an overprotective way or in my own words to baby. A sentence using that word is “The mother kept coddling her newborn when people came to visit.
Quotes: “... but when my dad left, he pretty much took my mom’s yuletide spirit with him” (page 210). I chose this quote because it shows how one person can change so much in someone's life. Ruby is saying that after her dad left, her mom seemed to not have any holiday spirit anymore so she says that he took in when he left them. This relates to society today because people get too attached to someone and then when that person leaves them, it is like they lose everything and they cannot be happy for a while because they used to rely on that person. Sometimes people rely on someone else for everything and then when things don't seem to work and that person finds another, it makes that person feel like nothing anymore
“Until this year, when she knew that you’d be turning eighteen, and you could, and most likely would. So what did she do? … She left you. Left you alone in that filthy house, before you could do the same to her.” (page 225-226).
I chose this quote because Cora is straightforward and finally tells Ruby the truth that she deserves to know about. She tells Ruby that the reason that their mom left her was because she did not want Ruby to leave her, so she left Ruby. Cora tries to convince Ruby that their mom did not care and that is why she left without telling her and that is why she left her in that filthy house all alone. This quote reminds me of movies that little puppies get abandoned in the trash or something because their owner does not want them anymore. Ruby is the puppy and her mom is the bad owner that never showed her any love or affection that she needed.
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5/6/18: Lock and Key
Summary: In this weeks reading, Nate tells Ruby that Gervais likes her because of the way that he acts around her. Then, after school, Jamie was waiting for Ruby instead of letting her get ride home from Nate and she could tell that something was up. He wanted to talk to her about college but she told him that she didn’t see more school in her future because it just didn’t interest her. After coming home from the pet store, Peyton comes to visit Ruby and she looks & smells high, the usual.
Reflection: This weeks reading was boring except for the fact that Nate told Ruby that she was not as rude as she thought she was. I think that he is going to start to catch feelings for her later in the book because they are together very often and their friendship is getting better and better. One thing that shocked me was when Peyton showed up at Cora’s house. This only shocked me because the day that Ruby called her, she did not really want to talk to her since she was with her other friends but maybe she realized that she needed Ruby in her life or that she was her only real friend and wanted her back. The part when Ruby talked about feeling her moms presence was really sad. This was surprising because Ruby did not like being around her mom until she wasn’t there anymore and it made her regret all those times.
Literary Device: “and his burps could wake the dead” (page 171-172). This hyperbole exaggerates how loud Gervais’ burp is just to show how annoying he is to Ruby, his burp can’t actually wake up the dead.
Vocabulary: The word I chose was ‘cacophony’ from page 180 which means a harsh, discordant mixture of sounds or in my own words a loud racket. A sentence using that word is ‘When the kids picked up instruments for the first time, it sounded like a cacophony’.
Quotes:
“Back then, I’d always been irritated, wishing she’d go to sleep herself or leave me alone. Now, even when my conscious mind told me it was just a dream, I remained still, wanting it to last.” (page 177).
I chose this quote because it shows Ruby’s regret about always being ignorant to her mom. It reminds me of the quote “you never realize how much something means to you until it’s gone” because when her mom was present in her life, she wanted her to leave her alone and now that her mom left her and she has to live with her sister, she realized how important and valuable her mom was to her. This reminds me of society today because people take advantage of their family members and then when someone passes away, they regret all the times they weren’t there for them or were just rude. I relate to this quote sometimes because i’m rude to my family and friends and then once they go home or leave me alone, I regret what I did and I feel so guilty.
“You’re assuming I’ll get in somewhere. That’s a big assumption” (page 184).
I chose this quote because it shows how much Ruby doubts herself because people haven’t believed in her either. Ruby does not think she is going to get into a college so she doesn’t want to apply so that she won’t be upset with the result. It reminds me of high school dropouts because they stop trying in school since they do not have the support from family or friends to keep trying because they are told that they will not get anywhere in life. That is kind of sad because those people that dropout or do not pursue careers in college, could be the people that make life changing discoveries for the entire world.
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4/29/18: Lock and Key
Summary: In this weeks reading, Ruby finds her way back to her old town because she wants to see a boy named Marshall. She hangs out with him for a while and then goes to the mall to buy new clothes to fit in at her new school and ends up getting a job working with a lady that her neighbor, Nate, knows. When she gets to her sisters house, she overhears a conversation about her sister being pregnant and doesn’t know what to do.
reflection: I liked this weeks reading because Ruby showed her feelings and did not just try to keep them to herself. When she found out that her sister was supposedly pregnant, she realized how much of Cora’s new life she had actually missed out on because she changed a lot since she left home. I feel like for Ruby to find this out this way, makes it more interesting because Jamie probably does not even know yet. I like the part when Ruby goes to the mall to buy new clothes because she describes the clothes that are stylish at the moment and says that they look old because it is all ripped jeans and washed out t shirts which relates to us today because that is what we wear now. The part when Ruby cries after hearing Cora sing with her friends at the party was sad because it reminded her of her life with her mom and how her life changed drastically in such little time.
Literary Device: “I told her as she shot him a look”, (page 148). This idiom shows how Harriet gave the man a look like a warning so that he would stop talking. She didn’t actually shoot a look a him.
Vocabulary: The word I chose was Fallacies from page 146 which means a mistaken belief, especially one based on unsound argument or in my own words “an error or misbelief”. A sentence using that word is “Starving yourself helps you lose weight is a huge fallacy”.
Quotes: “I wanted to tell him that Cora’s house wasn’t home, that i wasn’t even sure what that word meant anymore…” (page 142) I chose this quote because Ruby was about to open up to someone about her rough life but then does not because she doesn’t think he will understand. I find it sad that she sad that she does not even know what the word home means due to the fact that to have a ‘home’ there needs to be love involved and there was never love in her house since her mom liked to mess with bad things. This reminds me of our world today where there are abusive parents so their kids don’t consider their house an actual home, they consider places like school a real home because they feel safe and loved there.
“And It was nice to let someone get close again, even if it was just for a little while” (page 142). I chose this quote because it shows that Ruby has been hurt and alone so much just by her mom leaving her all the time that any type of love or affection that she can get, she takes it because it is better than nothing after everything she has been through. This reminds me of people that have been heartbroken because after going through the same over and over, they take any type of love they can get because they get tired of being alone. This quote is also surprising because I would assume that she wouldn’t let anyone get that lose to her again but maybe she just needs that gap to be filled.
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4/22/18: Lock & Key
Summary: In this weeks reading, Ruby explains that before moving in with Cora and Jamie, she was working to support herself and her mom. They worked as people that returned lost luggages back to the owners until Ruby’s mom quit so Ruby took on the job herself because they needed the money. Ruby then has to start school at Perkins Day because she’s still a minor and can’t live on her own. She talks about what life was like when her parents weren’t divorced and when Cora still kept contact with them until she had to move in with her.
Reflection: This weeks reading was kind of boring, nothing super important happened. I liked the part when Ruby talked about her old relationship with Cora. Cora used to be very protective of Ruby when their mom would get angry with them. I find it interesting how when the girls were younger, Cora had to act like Ruby’s mom and later in their lives she has to take on the mom role again since her mom disappears whenever she wants to. One thing that confuses me in Sarah Dessen’s books is that she looks back at old times a little too much, it confuses me because I never know if it is past or present in the book. When Ruby ate cereal for breakfast and then complained about her stomach hurting, it shocked me that her moms neglect was so intense that if Ruby ate a little bit more that she was usually given, it would make her stomach uneasy.
Literary Device: “It was as if their relationship had been a business arrangement, bound by a contract, and that contract had expired” (page 72). This simile shows how bad Cora and her mom’s relationship was, once she left for college- it was over.
Vocabulary: The word I chose was palpable from page 70 which means so intense as to seem almost tangible or in my own words very obvious. A sentence using that word is “The characters change in mood was palpable.”
Quotes: “With my mom, when someone was gone, they were gone. She didn’t waste another minute thinking about them…” (page 66).
I chose this quote because I feel like it shows how emotionless/ careless the mom really is. After Cora left for college, she did not care at all about her anymore, she cared even less than she did when Cora still lived at home. This reminds me of the world today because a lot of people do not know how to forgive others or at least make the effort to reach out to them when they are wrong, they just move on and act as if the person never existed in the first place. This also applies to when the dad left because after he was gone, the mom made the girls forget about him by trying to replace him with multiple boyfriends.
“Then I realized that deep down in the fine print, my name had been on it as well…” (page 72).
I chose this quote because it is the continuation of the literary device quote. After Cora left, her relationship with her mom ended completely and slowly so did her relationship with Ruby. They slowly began to lose touch because of the mom. This reminds me of a lot of people in our society today, they fight with their parents and finally get to leave for college and then stop talking to their parents but they do not realize that their siblings or the rest of their family has to suffer too, because if one person stops talking- everyone else has to stop too.
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4/15/18: Lock and Key
Summary: In the new book that I started this week, the main character Ruby has just moved in with her older sister and her sister’s husband. Her mom did drugs and liked to drink alcohol and she always left Ruby without warning her. Ruby was living alone after her mom had left her, until social services came to the house and took Ruby. She has to live with her sister and feels so out of place since her sister’s new life is so perfect, so she plans on running away.
Reflection: I liked this weeks reading. I like how there is already a problem in the beginning in the story because it makes me want to read more. One thing that I did not like and that confused me was that Ruby only talked about why she was not living with her mom after she talked about her sister giving her the house tour and stuff. It would have been better if she talked about her situation with her mom and then explained her new life living with her brother in law and sister. One thing that I noticed is that in the books that Sarah Dessen writes, there is always someone that does drugs or that runs away in the main family. Then, the main conflict revolves around the one problematic person and more conflicts build off of that person's issue. Cora’s house from the way that Ruby was describing it, reminded me of house from the movies with rich families, perfect.
Literary Device: “Like the rest of the house, it looked like something out of a magazine, too perfect to even be real” (page 29). This simile compares Cora’s house to a perfect house shown in a magazine. It shows how the houses Ruby has been living in, probably weren’t in the best conditions considering her mom was never really home.
Vocabulary: The word I chose was “sweltering” from page 12 which means uncomfortably hot or in my own words “very humid or stuffy”. A sentence using that word is “The shed in my backyard is sweltering in the Summertime.
Quotes:
“ ‘Ruby,’ she said, ‘Where is your mother?’.. ‘I don’t know,” I said, ‘She’s just gone.” (page 24)
I chose this quote because it shows the relationship between Ruby and her mom (also named Ruby). Ruby’s mom neglects her and only really cares about herself and drugs/ alcohol. This reminds me of Sarah Dessen’s other book called ‘Dreamland’ when the main character Caitlyn starts doing drugs and only cares about herself and forgets about her family and other priorities because the drugs take over her life. It’s sad because drugs can break families but once you start, it is difficult to stop. It reminds me of our world and society because more and more people start drugs everyday without knowing what will happen to them in the future.
“Like all it would take was dropping me in a fancy house and a fancy school and somehow i’d just be fixed, the same way Cora had clearly fixed herself when she’d left me and my mom behind all those years ago.” (page 33).
I chose this quote because Ruby is going to have to move a new school but she doesn’t want to because of the changes she has already had to go through. She feels as is her sister is trying to change her because of everything she has been through but she does not want to change. She begins to feel like she does not belong because everything is way too fancy for her since she has been living with roaches and since her mom never did anything to make her feel happy or special. This reminds me of orphans and kids that get adopted because sometimes they feel like their new family is trying to change them when in reality, they are giving them what they deserve because of the bad life they lived before.
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4/8/18- Never Fall Down
Summary: In this weeks reading, when Arn is in the hospital, he gets to meet a man named Peter. Peter tells Arn that he is the chosen one and he brings Arn to the United States. Arn brings two other Cambodian kids with him (Sojeat and Ravi), and they get used to their new lives very quickly, but Arn struggles to forget his real home. Arn and Sojeat get into an insane fight and Arn runs away. When they find him, Peter has Arn travel with him to tell everyone about his incredible journey.
Reflection: I really enjoyed this weeks reading, it was probably my favorite part of the whole book. When Arn talked about running away, I felt like I was there with him, it was weird and crazy- in a good way though. When Arn started school, he said that other kids made fun of him including Sojeat and Ravi, and I feel like this happens to many new kids. But when Sojeat and Ravi made fun of Arn, it made me think that they would not be in the United States if it was not for Arn because he could choose any two people in the camp and he chose them, they just used him and made fun of him to be cool around new friends. One thing I did not like was Peter’s wife, she seemed so bitter and conceited because she was angry when the three boys arrived at her house- it’s like she did not want to help them get a chance at a better life.
Literary Device: “Then all of a sudden angry. Like storm cloud,” (page 160). This simile is comparing Peters anger to a storm cloud when the doctors don’t give Arn attention. I chose this quote because it shows how much Peter cares about Arn even though he isn’t his own kid.
Vocabulary: The word I chose was destitute from page 214, which means “lacking something needed or desired” or in my own words “less fortunate/poor”. A sentence using that word is “The little boy was destitute as he searched in the garbage for food and clothes.”
Quotes: “Peter take me to his room, close the door, and I get ready now for the beating,” (page 206).
I chose this quote because it shows how Arn used to be punished for every little thing that he did wrong. After they found Arn, he was worried that Peter was going to beat him for running away since he was hurt so much in the prison camp. This reminded me of an abused animal: when you raise your arm to them, they immediately crouch in fear and close their eyes to prepare themselves for what is about to happen, even when you raise your arm to pet them- it is so sad. Arn is like an abused puppy. The good thing about this quote though, is that Arn was loved like never before by Peter.
“So I think maybe this guy is like monk, like Jesus monk,” (page 160).
I chose this quote because it shows how Peter had been so caring to Arn when no one else had ever been. He compares Peter to a god because he was a miracle in Arn’s life. In a way, Peter is a monk Jesus to Arn because he chose him to bring to the United States to save him from the evil he had been suffering and give him a chance at a new and better life. This reminds me of when kids get adopted because it’s like they get a second chance at life and the people that adopt them are miracles to the kids.
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3/25/18: Never Fall Down
Summary: This week, Arn gets to leave his camp and ride a horse to another camp to deliver a message and the man at the other camp thinks that Arn is a Khmer Rouge so he treats him nicely. Arn feels happy that he got treated nicely for once and he gets to live in the leaders house for a couple of days until everyone evacuated because the Vietnamese are coming. On the way to a new camp, Arn sees his little sister but later has to shoot her because of how sick she is.
Reflection: By far, this weeks reading has been my favorite. I found it very interesting that the actual Khmer Rouge trusted him to go to another camp and come back and not run away. I liked the part where Arn’s little sister recognized him because it made him want to stay alive until the end of this war so that he could be with her and make her happy again. I did not like the part when he voluntarily shot his little sister. But I feel like he saved her from being raped and brutally killed by the Vietnamese and maybe she would rather be killed now to end her suffering rather than have to be a slave to these men and later be taken advantage of. I like the part when the little girl steps on a bomb only because Arn carries her because of the pain she is suffering from, he feels bad for her and they had a very cute bond.
Literary Device: “All of a sudden the gun shoot itself; and this boy has blood on him, and thing from inside, like liver, intestine, now outside, spilling out. He try to catch it with his hand; but all these bloody thing, slippery, keep spilling out” (page 122). This quote shows imagery because you can picture someone's organs falling out and that person panicking to try and catch them because they want to live.
Vocabulary: The word I chose was ‘khim” from page 115, which means a stringed musical instrument derived from the Persian Santur. In my own words that just means a wooden instrument. A sentence using that word is “After innocent kids were killed, they had us play the khim in their memory.”
Quotes: “The first time I shoot the gun, it kill me” (page 113).
I chose this quote because when all of the ‘prisoners’ got guns, even the little kids, it seemed as if the Khmer Rouge and the people they took as prisoners became equal because they needed everyone to fight the Vietnamese. But the prisoners did not want to be like the Khmer Rouge and shoot people, so that is why Arn said this quote. It shows that whenever he shoots other people, kills a little piece of him too, but after time he gets used to it just like the Khmer Rouge. Like when he shot his own sister, he felt like there was no point in living anymore. This reminds me of the wars going on around the world because innocent people are dying but the men killing them are numb to sympathy towards them.
“ ‘These little fish, we got to get more of them,’ he says to another guy. ‘They good for catching the big fish’... And I understand now. We not real soldiers. We just bait” (page 117-118).
I chose this quote because when every prisoner was given a gun, they thought it was because they were all going to be Khmer Rouge because that is what they were told. But in reality, the little kids were just ‘little fish bait’ to get the ‘big fish’ which were the Vietnamese so they could win this war. But once the Vietnamese got to where these Khmer Rouge wanted them, the little kids would be shot by the Vietnamese and then the Vietnamese would be shot by the Khmer Rouges. This reminds me of society today, people use other people to get what they want even if it means they will lose that person after, as long as they’re happy- life is great.
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