Independent Reading; Along for the Ride; Book Recommendations II

In the book I'm reading called Along for the Ride, the theme is don't make judgments based on a decision made in the past in which people's perspectives could have differed. Another book recommendation that contains the same general theme is The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. This book is about two people, Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson, who lived in North Carolina and met one summer. After they met, they started going in dates and they started a summer romance. But that one summer romance led to an even closer relationship than they had thought. But Allie had just gotten the bad new from her parents that the didn't want her dating him anymore and that they were going to move. But they both promised each other that they weren't going to forget them and the love they shared. After Allie moved though, she started to fall in love with a wealthy lawyer, and things drastically changed. This emphasizes the theme because Allie made a promise before she knew that everything was going to change. This book has a slightly different ending though because they both find each other in the end.

Independant Reading; Along for the Ride; Analysis

The theme of this book is don't make judgments based on a decision made in the past in which people's perspectives could have differed. This theme relates to the book because before Auden visited her dad, she was so excited about seeing her dad and she didn't care much for her step mom, Heidi. She thought her personality was"fake" and that she was too cheery all of the time. Here is an example of a passage from the book showing Auden's opinion of Heidi;

"The e-mails always began the same way. 'Hi Auden!!' It was the extra exclamation point that got me. My mother would call it extraneous, overblown, exuberant. To me it was simply annoying, just like everything else about  my stepmother, Heidi."(pg.1) "All the things she'd been to me, and more, since she had got involved, pregnant, and married in the last year."(pg.2) "Heidi had the baby,' I said. 'They named her Thisbee.'...'I just hope she 's not expecting your father to be of much help," ( said her mom) (pg.12-13)

Once Auden had arrived at her dad's house, she still had negative feelings towards Heidi. Even though Auden was really looking forward to seeing her dad and spending some time with him, she started to notice that her mom was right; Auden's dad wasn't helping out with the baby. Here is an example of a passage from the book showing how Auden's dad wasn't helpful;

"Dad?' My father, sitting in front of his laptop at a desk facing the wall, didn't move as he said,'Hmmm?' I looked back down the hallway to the pink room, then at him again. He wasn't typing, just studying the screen, a yellow legal pad with some scribblings on the desk beside him. I wondered if he'd been there the whole time I'd been sleeping, over seven hours. 'Should I,' I said, 'um, start dinner, or something?' 'Isn't Heidi doing that?' he asked, still facing the screen. 'I think she's with the baby,' I said. 'Oh.' (pg.29)

The theme is intertwined into these 2 passages because it shows Auden's judgement of Heidi in the first passage and it shows how it changed because she saw her dad not helping out with Heidi or with the baby. It shows that people can't make judgments until they have experienced, or seen, the situation.

Independant Reading; Along for the Ride; Theme & Summary

In my independent reading book, Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen, there is a girl named Auden who lives with her mom because her parents are divorced. The summer before college starts, she decides she wants to spent the summer with her dad, her stepmom , and her new baby sister. Before she arrives, she expecteed her dad to pay a lot of attention to her and get caught up on her life right now. But Auden didn't want to get invovled in her stepmom Heidi. It wasn't like she was mean or anything, but in Auden's mind she was too perky.. But over the course of her stay, her opinions change about her stepmom as she soon notices that her dad is not even talking to Auden that much or helping out with the baby. All he is doing is working on his new book, while Heidi has to do all of the work. So over the course of her stay, Auden gains respect for her stepmom, and she also starts helping out with her baby sister too. I think the theme of this book is don't make judgements based on a decision made in the past in which perspectives differed.

 

Independent Reading; Along for the Ride; Book Recommendations

In the book I'm reading called Along for the Ride, the theme is don't make judgments based on a decision made in the past in which people's perspectives could have differed. This is because before Auden went to go visit with her dad, she was most excited to see just her dad, not her step mom Heidi. But throughout her stay, Heidi is the one she's sees the most. All her dad does is work on his next story. And he doesn't help with the baby. It's just Heidi who does all the work. And Auden is starting to notice that and she starts gaining appreciation for Heidi. She is starting to regret her judgments that she made, and now feels guilty for doing them.

A book that I would recommend that has the same theme has this book is my summer reading book by Hannah Harrington, called Speechless. In Speechless, a girl named Chelsea Knot has trouble with judging people without getting to know them first. But once she became unpopular, she started to meet these people that she had once thought of as being "lower than her" just because they were less popular, but they turned out to be really nice people, supporting her through low times in her life, and they soon become best friends. And Chelsea relates to Auden because she regrets these judgments that she made about these really nice people.

 

Theme for The Swimming Contest

'Friendship can exist even through hard times.'

Independent Reading; Along for the Ride; Characters

In the book I am reading called Along for the Ride, the main character Auden changes a lot when she goes to live with her stepmom and her dad for the summer. First of all, Auden automatically thinks that her stepmom Heidi is weird, and she wants to avoid her at all times. Auden came to live with her dad and her stepmom so she could spend more time with her dad, like going out to dinner or hanging out during the day. But what really happens is Auden's dad is completely ignoring her because he wants to finish his book, and Auden ends up spending time with Heidi and helping her our with her new little sister.

Independent Reading; Along for the Ride; Reading Skills

In my book, Auden doesn't like her stepmom just becuase of  her personality; being too perky and cheery all the time. Even though it seems really rude, sometimes I do not like people too just becuase of the way they act. I am pretty sure everyone judges a book by it's cover every once in a while. But the good thing about Auden's experience with her stepmom is that when she stays with her dad and Heidi, her opinion doesn't stay. She soon notices that her dad, the one she thought was a perfect role model, doesn't help out around the house or with his new daughter. Heidi does all of the work, but in general she doesn't complain about it. So I predict that throughout the rest of the book, Auden and Heidi will grow a closer relationship than what Auden expected, and I think that Auden will think of Heidi being less of a stepmom, and more of a friend. But what I am wondering is what will happen to the relationship and Auden and her dad? Will he change for his new wife and his daughter?

The Interlopers; Investigation Activity

The significant change we made to the story, The Interlopers, is making a new plot structure. Our new plot structure consisted of making the story start with the climax, and then we started the introduction after the climax of the story. This way it provides more mystery to the story, and makes the reader want to engage into the story more. Plus, this plot structure has a better ending in my opinion than the original story. In our story's ending, it ended with the two men, Ulrich von Gradwitz and George Znaeym, becoming friends and putting their feud aside. And then the explanation of their new friendship leads to where the author describes Ulrich von Gradwitz seeing someone coming towards them, and George asks who, and that leads to the beginning of the story....wolves.