Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

"Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult is about a judge named Alex and her daughter Josie who are victims of a mass shooting that occurred at Josie's school.  Josie struggles with self esteem issues, like every teenage girl yet is one of the popular crowd. Josie wants to be perfect so bad that she has lost herself by being friends with this fake group of people. The only person she truly finds comfort in is in her boyfriend, Matt. While this is going on Patrick (from Perfect Match) gets the call and shows up the school too late, as always. Patrick finds himself always too late.

I think the message of "Nineteen Minutes" is to be yourself you have to do what you have to do to make sure you are the person you want to be or are. Josie for example; wants to be herself but has lost herself in the crowd. She has very obvious depression at the beginning of the book and keeps a bag filled with narcotics so she can commit suicide at any point. Yet Josie does not stop and say to herself, "let me be friends with people who actually interest me", instead Josie just goes to her boyfriend for comfort who truly changes her mind. If Josie and her boyfriend breakup she might just go off the edge because she may lose sight of who she truly is.

Patrick is another character who is suffering from doing what he knows is right and being himself. Patrick always has the feeling that he shows up too late and cannot prevent crime, he only corrects it. It seems that all he wants to do is stop one single crime before it becomes worse, which is what he does in the school shooting. The only problem is that Patrick only slightly decreases the amount of fatalities instead of preventing the shooting all together. Patrick did not follow directions and was able to save students, yet he still feels unaccomplished.

I believe that Jodi Picoult wants to teach this specific message through different ages. This way different audiences can engage and feel empathy towards the character that is most like themselves. I think that the author wants to show that Josie is completely helpless without some guide of direction to let her know, it's okay to be yourself. With the character of Patrick she wants to show that you need to follow your own lead in order to commit justice, you just have to trust yourself. This is what I think one of the messages is in "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult.

The Wild Things by Dave Egger

"The Wild Things" is a story loosely based upon the children's book, "Where The Wild Things Are". It tells the story of a boy named Max who has a very distant and unusual relationship with his sister and mother. Max struggles with being normal and he desperately wants his mother to be happy and for his sister to accept him. It seems though that Max may struggle with some sort of ADHD which prohibits him from acting "normal" according to his sister. I really want to focus on his relationship with his sister since that seems to be a very big issue in the book so far.

Max wants his sister to notice him, just like any other little brother would. As his sister, Claire grows up she wants Max to leave her alone so she can just be with her friends. Max does not understand this concept and plays a practical joke on Claire which results in her being extremely furious with Max. Max doesn't seem to realize that what he does to Claire that may be mean or annoying will result in a consequence. It seems that Max may have ADHD because when Claire yells at him he becomes very confused and describes that he cannot organize his thoughts. This may lead to him non-purposefully annoying his sister.

I believe that Max is a complicated character wishing that he could understand his thoughts and understand his relationships with others. I think that if he truly understood what consequences he would always face no matter what he did, he would realize that he is just an annoying little brother and his sister believes she's too cool for him. Max is also a very interesting character because he watches people and observes how they live but never tells anyone if they are doing something wrong. Max is almost a wallflower in this sense. This is Max's relationship with his sister and why he is such a complex character.

I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak

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"I Am The Messenger" by Markuz Zusak is about a man named Ed Kennedy who doesn't really live life until he gets a set of aces. The cards list names and addresses, where he goes and sees the good deeds he must perform in order to make their life better. Soon Ed becomes obsessed with the idea that he is helping other people and cannot wait till he receives the next ace. Ed lives a complicated life with his dog named Doorman, his crush (Audrey) and his two friends Marv and Ritchie. Ed throughout the book expresses his love for Audrey, yet Audrey tells Ed that she doesn't go through longterm relationships.

I found Audrey to be the most interesting character in the book. Audrey suffers from an inability to love. Throughout the story the reader learns of Audrey's persuasive ways to use men for their looks and make sure she doesn't truly have any feelings for him. By using men as toys, Audrey doesn't have to go through heartbreak or guilt when her relationship ends. Audrey knows that Ed has a huge crush on her but she denies his love because she doesn't want to fall for him or make him feel terrible.

As Ed continues his adventure by doing these good deeds, Audrey soon discovers that she is starting to fall for Ed. Ed soon grows to be a very interesting person instead of just watching his life go by without participating. Audrey falls for Ed's curiosity and courage, she soon realizes that she needs to abandon her guard and let herself go. Finally at the very end of the book Audrey tells Ed that she will stay with him forever and the book has a happy ending.

Audrey was such a fun character to read about because she learned a valuable lesson. As I continued to read the story I soon realized that Ed and Audrey learned the same message You should always let your guard down because sometimes that keeps you from living. "I Am The Messenger" was just as amazing as "The Book Thief" except the ending was slightly rushed. I really loved the book and even though you know the story, I recommend that you read it.

Perfect Match By Jodi Picoult 2

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

"Perfect Match" by Jodi Picoult is about a young boy named Nathaniel whom is molested at the age of five and how his Mother, Nina deals with this conflict. Nina is a prosecutor against child molestation cases and when he own child's mental health is at stake she will do anything possible to help bring the rapist to justice. At one point Nina even points the blame at her husband Caleb but when he is proven not guilty she begs him to forgive her and their marriage happily continues. Nina finally decides that a certain priest is definitely the molester and she shoots him in court. During all of this conflict I noticed another side story. 

There is a very conflicting love triangle that has ensued in "Perfect Match". The love triangle is in between the mother named Nina, her husband Caleb and Nina's best childhood friend Patrick. The deal with this triangle is that Caleb is devoted to his wife but knows that Patrick has an undying love for Nina. Nina talks to Patrick for advice but doesn't truly see that he is anything more than a best friend. The whole time while reading the book you truly realize that Patrick is a good guy and Caleb is just....distant. 

Patrick has always shown a loyalty towards Nina and refuses to speak to her when she tries to tell him about why she killed the priest. Patrick knows that he must testify in her trial since he was a witness but he doesn't want to put Nina in jail for the rest of her life by telling the truth to the court. Patrick at one point says, "Nina is the only one I'll ever love" when he meets a pretty girl at a bar. He doesn't let the girl get to him and runs to Nina's house to comfort her in a time of need. I think that Patrick is a great guy for her because he is completely devoted to her and will do anything to protect her.

Caleb, on the other hand, seems to love Nina in a very distant way. He always mentions that he knows her completely and that nothing surprises him anymore which is not healthy for a marriage. Caleb always seems to find more comfort in his son than in Nina and doesn't ever try to intrude on Nina's close friendship with Patrick. He doesn't even say anything to protect their marriage which doesn't make any sense at all. This is what I thought of the love triangle in "Perfect Match" by Jodi Picoult. 

The Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult

I am currently reading "The Perfect Match" by Jodi Picoult. The book is about a young boy named Nathaniel and his mother Nina, who is a lawyer to persecute rapists. One day Nathaniel stops speaking and is not acting normally. He suddenly begins to show signs of a traumatic experience and soon his parents are afraid. Nina then uses her past work to discover that all the clues add up to one thing, Nathaniel was sexually assaulted, even though he is only five. The book is mainly about how Nathaniel will tell his parents who molested him and how he will recover. I wanted to solve the social action question: "whose perspective is missing?".

I think that Nathaniel's traumatized perspective is missing in the story. The author splits the narroration between Nina, Nathaniel, the father (Caleb) and their friend Patrick. Whenever Nathaniel's perspective is written he always seems normal and talks about the toys he wants to play with. It seems as if he is completely unaware of why he cannot speak or of what happened to him. Without this voice the book is not as disturbing and the story becomes more of a mystery because the reader is limited. I also found the fact that the author included Nathaniel at all makes the story much more fascinating to read. This is because you really feel as if you're experiencing the story and trying to solve the mystery along with the characters. 

Nathaniel's perspective stands out from others, partly because he is the youngest character in the story and his mindset is clearly in the writing. Without the assailant's perspective you mostly rely on Nathaniel to help you understand what truly happened. If the molester's point of view was shown then everyone else's view would be completely obstructed. Perspective truly makes a difference in this story because the author used the craft of using everyone's perspective except the culprit. These are the perspectives in "The Perfect Match" by Jodi Picoult. 

The History of Love By Nicole Krauss

There are many difficult and complex things going on in "The History of Love". The book is about a family dealing with the death of their father/husband and a man trying to accept the fact that he is aging. I found that the man, Leo Gursky, has a lot of complex issues that were really deep. Leo struggles with the concept that he is growing older and that he cannot do certain things. For example, Leo never looks in the mirror because he doesn't want to see the sagging under his eyes.

Leo is also a fascinating character because he has never gotten over the love he lost. Leo lived during the Holocaust in Poland and the love of his life left for New York City before he could chase after her. It took him about ten years to finally see her again but she was already happy and remarried with two kids. While Leo uses his love as an excuse to live in a pig stye and never try anything new, I still feel awful that he must live alone. Leo also has a friend named Bruno who tried to commit suicide because he didn't see the point in living if he wasn't doing anything anymore.

I think that Leo really wants to do something with his life but he has a strong barrier between trying to reflect on his awful past and getting over the past in order to do something in the future. I find this really complex because I have never had any experience like that because I am so young. I think that the author will change Leo to make him leave the house more often. These are the things and ideas that are really complex in the book, "The History of Love".

Everything Is Illuminated 2

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In the book, "Everything Is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer, I found the character of Brod to be very unordinary. According to the Jonathan (the main character), Brod is his "very great-grandmother" who dates back to the 1800s in The Ukraine. Brod was found as a baby in the river, she was said to be a miracle because her father did not survive and probably drowned in the river. Her adoptive father is chosen by lottery and Yankel, a very old and wise man is the winner of the child. Yankel teaches Brod many things which changes her personality forever.

In the book it says, "life is an empty void" according to Brod. Brod struggles with a deep sense of depression based upon what Yankel taught her. Yankel's wife left him, and in his response to create something more lively for Brod to imagine as her Mother, he imagines the most perfect woman. This unknown Mother seems to create Brod's depression and she cannot truly grasp the idea that her depression is not normal. As the reader I didn't understand why she should be so depressed because her life is so perfect and yet she still finda a way to make herself miserable.

At 15 or so, Yankel now such an old man dies and Brod is left to marry the man named, "The Kolkier". Her husband is a very sweet and gentle man that wants nothing more than to please Brod, though it seems that their love is not deep but physical. Throughout their marriage, Brod seems to misunderstand love and when "The Kolkier" states he wants to live apart from her she says, "love is a room". Personally, I know that love is not where you are but it's who you're in love with and that was when I knew that Brod had never loved nor knew that she was loved.

Brod Safran is a character I truly do not connect with, mostly because her emotions and actions do not make sense to me. Brod is sweet and gentle but doesn't understand her emotions, so she just tries to go along with where life takes her and does not take risks. I think that the author used Brod as a little loophole you could see the past through and realize the very cycles we go through as we grow up. That is why I found Brod to be such a strange, thoughtful and unique character.