Beautiful Disaster by Jamie McGuire (An Output of the Literature Circle by the 7 Deadly Beauties)

She would change everything for a "happy ever after"

Caught in the in between of Beautiful Disaster

Our 3rd book is entitled Beautiful Disaster 

written by Jamie McGuire

Rica Ann Colina

Beautiful Disaster begins with Abigail Abernathy (Abby) attends a Circle fight in her university with America and Shepley. There she catches the attention of fighter Travis Maddox. Travis immediately finds Abby interesting. They come into more frequent contact as a result of her best friend, America, dating Shepley, Travis’ cousin. The attraction between them is obvious as their friendship develops. But later on, their intimate friendship begins to have an effect on Abby’s reputation therefore she tries to get rid of Travis, but he will not allow it. Travis is upset when Abby begins dating a guy who happens to be his frat brother, Parker. Travis soon makes a bet with Abby that he will not take a hit during one of his fights and if he wins, she has to spend a month at his apartment.

Travis makes Abby’s experience dating parker miserable by continually calling her during dates and mocking Parker until she tells him not to ruin this for her. Though Parker doubts Travis and Abby’s friendship, Travis refuses to free Abby from the bet, admitting that he cannot stand the thought of her being with Parker. Rumors spread that Abby slept with both Parker and Travis, after the surprise birthday party Travis throws for Abby.

Travis throttles a guy who offended Abby, but Abby explains to her friend, Finch, that she cannot date Travis because he reminds her too much of her father and the past that she is trying to escape. Parker decides to stop seeing Abby until her month with Travis ends; but, on the last night, Abby makes love with Travis. When she leaves during the night and starts dating Parker again, Travis is upset. However, Abby’s feelings for Parker are completely covered by her affections towards Travis, so when Travis confesses that he is in love with her; she stops seeing Parker and becomes Travis’s girlfriend. Travis makes everything better because he wants Abby to be happy.

Travis and Abby’s relationship was tested when Mick visits Abby for help escaping from his debt. Abby and her friends fly to Las Vegas and Abby wins most of the money to pay Mick’s debt. To make up the remaining difference, Travis joins in a professional fight. Unfortunately, Benny wants Travis to continue fighting for him. Since Travis does not listen to Abby’s objections, she breaks up with him because she thinks that money is more important than she is.

During the last Circle fight of the year, Keaton Hall goes up in flame, and Abby and Travis hardly escape. This incident makes Abby realize that she and Travis belong together. They visit Las Vegas again to get married. After Abby gets a tattoo of her married name, she assures him of her everlasting love and devotion.

Kate Diosomito

“Make way! Move it, people! Let’s make room for this poor woman's hideously disfigured, ginormous brain! She's a fucking genius!” (Chapter 2, page 44)

This line was said by Travis after he knew that Abby got the third highest grade in her biology exam. Travis has been tutoring Abbey in her subjects and Travis was really happy when he heard the good news. Well, I picked this line because I really liked the way Travis described Abby.

“Let me guess, it’s the love of your life?” I said quoting Travis’ statement about his motorcycle. “No, it’s a car. The love of my life will be a woman with my last name.” (Chapter 5, page 137)

Parker was exaggerating his Porsche nine-one-one GT-three and even addressing it as she and this is why Abby Abernathy asked this question. I picked this line simply because I like the answer of Parker, that the love of his life will be the woman with his last name at the same time I find that line really attractive and sweet in a sense that it makes me squeal and gives me chills. 

“It's over. Go home. His eyebrows pulled in. "You're my home.” (Chapter 16, page 422)

Abby and Travis are having a quarrel at this part of the story because Travis wanted to work in Las Vegas as a fighter where he can have a big salary. I chose this line because I find this sweet and it gives me the chills. Travis was really desperate this time to win again Abby who was really mad at him and telling Abby that she’s her home is really sweet.

“To douchebags!" he said, gesturing to Brad. "And to girls that break your heart," he bowed his head to me. His eyes lost focus. "And to the absolute fucking horror of losing your best friend because you were stupid enough to fall in love with her.” (Chapter 20 page 516)

Abby and Travis are still not in good terms at this time, this conversation takes place when both Abby and Travis attended the Sig Tau Party, but even though they were in the same party Abby kept on ignoring Travis so Travis climb onto a chair and asked for a toast where he said this line. I chose this line because this is one of the lines that show how showy and sincere Travis is when it comes to Abby.

“I had experienced the happiest moments of my life while at Eastern, all of them with Travis. Fighting, laughing, loving or crying, if it was with him, I was where I wanted to be.” (Chapter 20 page 523)

           

I chose this part because I find it really amusing; throughout the story Abby had fought her feelings, guarded them, and bottled them up. She always acts strong and independent. I was amused how Abby expresses her feelings. She’s really not so vocal about how she feels not like how Travis always expresses how he felt for Abby and with this line it just sums up her inner feelings.

Jovie Ann Matanguihan

Discussion :

1. If you can compare Travis and Abby's relationship to a thing, what is it and why? 

Ara answered, "It would be a rubber band, no matter how hard you pull it apart it would still go back to its normal state. Just like Travis and Abby, no matter how hard the problems that comes to separate them, in the end they still went back to being together. "

Aica said, "For me, I could compare it to clay. Because, simple clay must be molded into different shapes to come up with a definite object. Just like Travis and Abby’s relationship, it was tested through different trials, there were changes that made their relationship come up with what they have desired."

Nadzla answered, "Travis and Abby’s relationship is like a tattoo, a painful thing. Once you want to have a tattoo, perhaps you have to endure the pain that it’ll cost you. If you want to put it on be sure that you really love to see it forever in you and be sure that in the end of the day you won’t regret it, not at all. I can compare the complicated established relationship of Travis and Abby when Abby was enduring the pain when she started to have feelings for Travis when he brought girls/sluts at his apartment, she was a bit jealous when Travis was with other girls and much worse when he had sex with them while Abby was pretending asleep in Travis’ bed and they were having sex at the couch. For Abby’s poor feeling, it pain her as it was painful as having a tattoo, it hurts all over her body and soul, but she suffer patiently everything about Travis, she endured his red flags. In the end, their relationship was just a tattoo that they always love to see, a relationship that they love to see every day in life. Like Slyvia Plath once said, “Wear your heart on your skin in this life” wear your tattoo and endure the pain."

Mae

Kate said, "I can compare their relationship to a diamond because the diamond is the strongest stone and even though how many times you try to knock it down, it will just remain from its original shape. Same with the relationship of Abby and Travis. The more you try to separate them, the more you will see how bonded they are for each other. Also, diamond is a rare item to have because of its price and value. Also the rareness of the diamond is not just because of the value but also the delicate beauty of the stone."

      Abby answered, "Abby and Travis’ relationship is like a candle.  They've been through a lot of things yet there they are, still standing, still hoping for a brighter side of their story.  Just like the candle, it may lessen its light due to some problems but it will still glow to give hope."

For me, their relationship was like a confetti. Although every bits of paper is never collected and just wasted, but the feeling when you see those confetti is just sensational. Just like their relationship, all those times that they had difficulties, it wasn't a waste for both of them because it became their stepping stone toward a better relationship in the future.

2. Do you think they had a healthy relationship? Explain your answer. What is your ideal relationship? 

Ara answered, "At first it was unhealthy because Abby is somewhat not yet into the real thing with Travis and Travis is full of insecurities and these things always get in the way in their relationship. But after the challenges that they had faced, their relationship became more serious and mature. So in the end it became a healthy relationship in which both of them are happy and both are making positive progress in their lives.."

Nadzla seconded, "Yes, they had established a healthy relationship although in some part of the story they  had a co-dependent and obsessive relationship. Travis’ obsession with Abby is somehow appalling. He is consumed by her and makes her his everything. But if we see it in reality, this is somehow a unhealthy relationship, his obsession becomes disturbing and immature. It was Abby who took courage to face all his RED FLAGS behavior in a mature and rational manner, even leaving him for a time. But in the end of the story, Travis’ some behavior  had changed and hoping to win Abby back. He succeeds and Abby returns to relationship. It means that they really established healthy relationship. Those problems, misunderstanding, challenges are just part or normal factors of  building a relationship,  thus it’s only both of you who just have the sensibility and courage to fight these complex situations and how to respond to it.

 "

Kate added, "Yes, I think they have a healthy relationship, they love, laugh, fight and cry which is for me the recipe of a healthy relationship. I can’t say it’s healthy if they just love and laugh at each other and there’s no fight and crying same with a relationship that only have fights and cries. I think the perfect mix of this four can be the recipe of a healthy relationship. In the story, Abby and Travis experiences all these in their relationship have lots of ups and downs but the good thing there is they learned from their mistakes and also repented. That’s why I think they have a healthy relationship."

Abby also agreed that they had a healthy relationship, "As what I have mentioned above, though they’ve been through a lot of circumstances, if they are destined to be together, then they would be. And it was proven because they got married in the end of the story."

Rica agreed, "I guess yes, because at the end they got married and they felt each other’s assurance that they are really destined for each other. Also, they did not let the trials ruin their relationship but instead it made their affections for each other grew stronger."

I agree that they, somehow, had a healthy relationship. They're drowned to their past when they first met and they are both trying to get it over with, they had weaknesses and they had flaws. Abby  was hesitant and afraid. Travis was persistent and impatient. Perfection does not define a healthy relationship, SACRIFICE AND DIFFICULTIES does. Their imperfections brought a hurricane to their relationship that gradually calmed, got settled and resulted into a rainbow.

What is your ideal relationship?

Ara's revelation, "I haven't thought about what my ideal relationship would be and this is the first time that I've been asked about this. So I don't know, maybe as long as were both happy and were both willing to mature together, learn things together and as long as we respect and trust each other. Also a relationship that will not change us and will not be a distraction to anything that we do..a relationship full of love and laughter."

Rica's idea is, "My ideal relationship? Maygaaash. HAHAHA. My ideal relationship would be not so romantic but full of surprises, less lies, mature enough to deal with problems, to know the limitations and look into the bright sides of life, inspiring.

I haven't thought of this deeply or seriously ever since because the idea of relationship never bothered me. My ideal relationship would be equivalent to the quote "expected the unexpected". Although I don't want such complications that might lead to break us up, I just want to have a relationship (that we'd both argue on what movie to watch and what flavor of ice cream to buy) that we experience both difficulties and happiness together, and by that, I think that make us both stronger and trust each other more. 

Nadzla's ideal relationship is simply imperfectly perfect relationship.

Abby stated," Talking about my ideal relationship, well, I just want us to be faithful to one another, to stand as one as we face problems,  to care about each other’s feelings’, no secrets and mostly, to love each other dearly."

3. What were the wrong choices that Abby has made? Give only 1 and explain how it affected their relationship. 

For Rica, one of the wrong choices Abby has made was trying to escape of her past. She was afraid to love or to be attached on Travis because he reminded her so much of her father. It affected their relationship in a way that her fear made her look into negative outcomes of their relationship. Abby agreed to this answer.

Nadzla, "When she leave Travis because of her fear that she might couldn't escape from her past. It really affects their relationship and her behavior towards Travis in a way that she has trust issues."

Kate answered, "I think the wrong choice she has made was to play push and pull against Travis. The time when she spent her holiday with Travis’ family she already recollected and realized how she felt towards Travis but in the end she didn’t express or show her feelings instead she kept it inside and untold. Well, because of that the misunderstanding started thanks to Abby, neglecting her feelings toward Travis. And Travis tried so hard to keep his feelings so that they both can stay as good friends."

Ara said, "Abby used (other boy) to get over Travis because its clearly obvious that she's so in love with him and getting over Travis would be so hard but anyway what she did with (other boy) is not the right way to deal with her problem. Its so selfish and immature of her to do it, she just made the problem bigger and she made Travis more eager to get back with her."

I agreed to what Ara have said. She doesn't have to use someone just to get revenge from Travis. First and foremost, revenge is such a cowardice and immature act. Abby's defense mechanism, which was using another guy just to get Travis jealous, was like a magnet that even urged Travis to get her back. She also deceives herself that she doesn't want Travis but deep inside, she's still madly in love with him. She was not afraid of Travis but the idea of her past just haunts her. Maybe Abby just needs a powerhouse of her courage.

4. Are they both lacking in some aspects? 

Ara stated, "For me its just Abby, she didnt really let Travis feel or see that she loves him so much that's why it made Travis so concious about everything that she do and made him a super jealous person. Maybe Travis lacks self control but its his nature and Abby should accept it."

Rica, Abby and Kate agreed. Kate added, "Yes, they’re both lacking in some aspects, I think that’s why old people are saying that there’s no such thing as “perfect relationship” there are always flaws and lapses in relationship and even though this is just a fiction there are still flaws in their relationship. Abby, being inexpressive or ineffable, I think being inexpressive can be consider as a flaw because being ineffable can cause misunderstanding in the relationship. While Travis, for me well I can say that he gets jealous easily and sometimes narrow-minded. And he also doesn't know how to control his temper. "

Nadlza said, "Yes, especially Abby when she believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, mainly due to her father, she developed trust issues, mainly towards guys like Travis. "

For me, they didn't lack anything. It was an imperfect relationship. What happened was all unintentional and it was fated to happen.

5. Describe Travis in three words. (Phrase) ex. Hopeless Romantic Prick

Ara, Amazingly yummy badass

Rica, romantic clever shitty

Kate, Ravishing Hot Gentleman

Nadzla, Intense Love Maker

Abby, He gets what he wants. VOLATILE. PASSIONATE.

Jovie, Cleverly Persistent Heartthrob 

Mae,

Mae Andrea Tabaosares

Abby Abernathy is a good girl. She doesn’t drink or swear, and she has the appropriate number of cardigans in her wardrobe. Abby believes she has enough distance from the darkness of her past, but when she arrives at college with her best friend, her path to a new beginning is quickly challenged by Eastern University’s Walking One-Night Stand. She is described as being 5'4" tall and attractive with long caramel-brown hair and gray eyes. Abby is a genius when it comes to math. This is shown when Parker Hayes makes a statement about her being only a freshman and in Calculus III. Due to her father, she developed trust issues, mainly towards guys like Travis. She can hold her liquor which is shown at her nineteenth birthday party. Despite being so, Travis is intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal. He often pointed out that she is mysterious in a way that he can never guess what she is thinking because she is so different from him. Abby doesn't jump into things without thoroughly thinking it through. Despite her good girl act, she can be a hard chick to get according to Travis's friend. Abby also sees herself as not being good enough for Travis, likewise Travis sees himself as not good enough for her.


Travis Maddox is a lean, cut, and covered in tattoos, is exactly what Abby wants—and needs—to avoid. He spends his nights winning money in a floating fight ring, and his days as the ultimate college campus charmer. Intrigued by Abby’s resistance to his appeal, Travis tricks her into his daily life with a simple bet. If he loses, he must remain abstinent for a month. If Abby loses, she must live in Travis’s apartment for the same amount of time. Either way, Travis has no idea that he has met his match. Moreover, he is the male lead of the story, and sophomore at Eastern State University. He is notorious at Eastern State for being quick to anger, tough, and avoids commitment. He is a member of the Sigma Tau fraternity, undefeated in The Circle--an underground fight ring where he is known as "Maddog", and is the youngest of five brothers. He is described as lean and muscular, and covered in tattoos. He's tall, has buzzed brown hair, brown eyes, and a deep dimple in his left cheek. Travis admits that Abby is the first woman he's ever wanted to want him, and It is hinted that there is a jealous side to him which includes resorting to violence against other men who try to get closer to Abby. He can be some what cocky, although changes are made when he meets Abby. He is very protective and passionate about the things he loves. Travis is described as intelligent, and seems to sail through his classes easily. This is proven true when he helps Abby study and passes her biology test. Travis seems to be horrible at poker, but makes up for it with fighting abilities. He's also an ace in pool. Abby calms him just as much as she gets under his skin. He becomes less violent and agressive once Abby offers some assurance. America Mason is Abby's best friend since thier junior year of high school. She is also the girlfriend of Shepley, Travis's roomate and cousin. America is described as thin and petite, and having long, blonde hair and blue eyes. He is a spitfire and fiercely protective of her best friend, Abby, who she also considers a sister. America is used many times as a voice of reason, and sometimes gives Abby seemingly bad advice, but in reality she is helping Abby realize a decision she has already made.

Kara Lin is Abby Abernathy's roomate at Eastern State University. She is very studeous. She is always doing her homework, and seems crabby most of the time. Moreover, not much is known about Kara's outside relationships. She is often very stuffy but seems to care for Abby, often giving her unsolicited advice. She does not seem to like Travis, claiming he is co-dependent on Abby. Her and America seem to also dislike each other. In the book Kara does a pretty good job of putting up with everyone around her. She seems to care about Abby as shown when she sends Finch after Abby when she rushes by looking upset. She is often annoyed whenever anyone bothers her in her dorm room and often leaves to shower whenever Abby has company.

Shepley "Shep" Maddox is the roommate and cousin of Travis Maddox. Shepley (Shep) is currently in a relationship with America. They were both why Abby met Travis in the first place. Shep loves America dearly, and their relationship progresses throughout the story. Shep and America were also the ones who knew about Travis' feelings for Abby, and they tried to hint that to Abby over and over again.

Ara Nneka Dialawi

Beautiful Disaster is a unique love story, unique because it has a different aura in it. Its a kind of love story between two young couple who deals with the world in a more mature way. Its not like those common love stories that you read in books because its has a touch of reality in it, that makes it more unique. However, the boyfriend, Travis Maddox is not part of the unique package. He is that kind of guy who plays with the things that he can easily acquire, for short he takes things for granted and those things are mostly called girls. He is a chick magnet because of course he's handsome and hot and handsome but the way he let those girls get to him and then dump them the next morning is unforgivable even though he's really hot.

Those attitude are not new to me because Ive read a lot of books and movies with those men in it and an example of it is Adrian Belikov in Vampire Academy and Colin Shea in What's Youre Number?, they are a carbon copy of Travis Maddox, just the older version. Travis do boxing while Adrian do compulsion because he is a vampire while Colin is just physically fit, you blend this together with their looks and you'll have the traits that make girls swoon. The three of them knows what are the effects that they have to girls and they use this to use them. But they don't play forever because when they found that one girl who didn't care about what they have and who didn't even gave them a second look, it posed as a challenged to them and on the long run made them fall in love and becomes so serious. These guys has their own soft spots too, that they only show to that special girl and they are also super sweet when they are serious, making super cute things for the one they love and saying the right words everytime. So I could really see Adrian and Colin in Travis Maddox and I realized that these guys are really those type of guys who would make girls fantasize of them even if they are fiction, so maybe that's why these type of guys are in several books and movies.

Nadzla Adal

"I need to hear you say it. I need to hear you're mine."

"I've been yours since the second we met."

Abbygayle Basio

Reason: The words I’ve chosen are the words that made the story more realistic and made the readers’ emotion rise. I’ve only chosen 5 not so ordinary words because some words are understandable.

Purpose:  The author’s purpose in using these words is to give emphasis on characters emotion towards such event. These words make the readers visualize the happenings.

1.    Throes

“…her body going slack in the throes of passion.”

Noun

a. Pang, spasm

b. Middle English thrawe, throwe, from Old English thrawu, threa threat, pang; akin to Old High German drawa threat.

c. First use: 13^th century

2.    Mirth

“The mirth in her look tells me she knows exactly what I’m talking about.”

Noun

a.Happiness and laughter.

b. gladness or gaiety as shown by or accompanied with laughter.

c. Middle English, from Old English myrgth, fom myrge merry- more at merry.

d. First use: before 12^th century.

3.    Eavesdrop

“, and it takes my uncanny knack for eavesdropping to make me realize that I don’t really believe her.”

 Intransitive Verb

a.To listen secretly to what other people are saying.

b. Origin: probably back- formation from eavesdropper, literally, one standing under the drip from the eaves.

c.First use: 1606

4.    Leeway

“I really want that answer without any leeway for me to worry.”

Noun

a.Freedom to do something the way you want to do it.

b.First use: 1669

5.    Atrocities

“Not some fat- free, low carb, no sugar atrocities, but normal, honest- to- God homemade chocolate chip cookies.”

Noun (Plural)

a.A very cruel or terrible acion.

b.First use: 1534

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (An Output of the Literature Circle by the 7 Deadly Beauties)

Our second book is entitled 

The Lovely Bones 

written by Alice Sebold

Summarizer: Jovie Ann Matanguihan

 “My name is Salmon, like the fish, my first name’s Susie. I was 14 years old when I was murdered.” Susie just got her first kiss from an upper-class man named Ray Singh. She was just engaging herself from her first experience in romance but unexpectedly it was cut-off because of her tragic and unjust death. She was taking the shortcut on her way home when she was stopped by their neighbor, Mr. George Harvey, in the middle of the cornfield. He designed and built an underground basement, with a door that's covered with soil and wilted corn husks. He aroused Susie's curiosity and lures her into the basement. She quickly learns this is a mistake but she was too late to plan an escape, he immediately rapes her when she struggles to climb up the ladder and then kills her. She directly went to heaven -- which she soon learns is her personal heaven – everybody gets one when they die and they can decide what their heaven would be like. She chose her heaven to be like her life on earth. From her heaven, she watched closely the lives of the people she left: Her parents, her little sister Lindsey, her little brother Buckley, and her grandmother, Ruth, Ray Singh, Len Fennerman and even the person who killed her, Mr. George Harvey. For her, “heaven” isn't perfect. But she came to believe that if she watch closely and desired, she might change the lives of those she loved on earth. She meets Holly and Franny, her “counselor” in her heaven and relates to her the ways of the after-world.

She observes the lives of her family members falling apart. Susie’s father began suspecting their neighbor Mr. Harvey and even confronted him. One night, father got beaten up by the boyfriend of Susie’s friend when he followed Mr. Harvey to the cornfield in planning to beat him. Susie’s mom started to have an affair with Len Fennerman. Her friend Ruth has become devoted to writing poetry about her and Lindsey and Samuel begin a sexual relationship.

Lindsey learns the idea to from her dad that she should break into Mr. Harvey’s house to search for evidences that can be the cause of Susie’s death. Successfully, she found more evidences not just Susie’s but as well as his other victims. Meanwhile Lindsey finds the evidence she needs and escapes just before Harvey catches her.

Will Lindsey hand over her new found evidences to the police that would finally put Mr. Harvey behind bars? How would the Salmon’s life go on if this happens? What would happen to the people Susie has been constantly watching from her heaven? Will Susie finally move on and proceed to Heaven?

Luminary : Ara Nneka Dialawi

 “If you stop asking why you were killed instead of someone else, stop investigating the vacuum left by your loss, stop wondering what everyone left on Earth is feeling,” she said, “you can be free. Simply put, you have to give up on Earth.”

This is Franny's line when Susie asked her how to make her heaven as perfect as she want it to be. I choose this line because it speaks not only for the dead but also for the living. There will come a time in our lives that we will have to say goodbye to people or even things that we are so used to having around, at first it would be devastating but in the end we have to move on and go on with our life and in doing that we are freeing ourselves from the pain and loss that haunted us which will in turn make us happy.

It is evident here that Susie still can't let go of her life on Earth but for her to be truly happy she must accept her faith and let go of her former life and this line is a proof for that.

"All you have to do is desire it, and if you desire it enough and understand why – really know – it will come.”

I choose this line for it shows how powerful our desires can be. Franny, in saying this line was referring to what heaven can give to Susie but in reality this is also true example of this is our goals in life. We desire it so much that we work hard to attain it and if we really understand what our goals in life are or what it truly means to us, no matter what happens it will come to us.

"Nothing is ever certain"

When it comes to investigation, suspect, evidence and murder this might be true in a negative way but this could be put in a positive way like in life. In life, nothing is really certain, we don't know what will happen in the future or what will be the outcome of what we do but that's the beauty of life we just trust God, that whatever will happen to us, it is his plan and everything that happens to us have a reason.

This line applies to everything that happened in the story, none of it was expected.

"People grow up by living"

This line was from Susie, when she's already in heaven and she wanted to grow up. The literal meaning of growing up is increasing the number of your age, however that is not really the case, growing up is when you are already matured enough to handle difficult situations on your own and understanding things in its deeper sense. It is also when you already learned a lot of things from the mistakes that you have committed. So basically by living we can achieve these factors that makes us grow, that shapes us to a better individual.

In the story, Susie wanted to go back because she wanted to grow up. So we can see that by saying this line, she really hadn't accepted her faith yet.

　　“Like snowflakes,” Franny said, “none of them the same and yet each one, from where we stand, exactly like the one before.”

In here, Franny is referring to the souls of humans. How unique and wonderful it is, that even if its the same in a sense that its a soul but each of these souls differ from each other. Every human soul are unique and it can't be the same as another soul because every soul is special, every human is special. I choose this line because the comparison of the human soul to snowflakes is so precise that you will clearly understand what she means.

Discussion Director: Kate Diosomito

1.) Do you think Susie’s parents did a good job helping Buckley and Lindsey comprehend the loss of their sister? Why do you think so?

For the first question Ara, Mae, Nadzla, Jovie and I have the same answer that no, the parents of Susie didn’t manage to do a great job helping their children comprehend from the loss of their sister Susie. Susie’s parents were in the state of grief in the whole duration of the story, and were even breaking apart. While the other two members, Abbygayle and Rica Ann, think that Susie’s parents did a good job helping Lindsey and Buckley comprehend with their sister’s death because their parents was honest to Buckley and Lindsey about the death of their sister. They even sited the part where Susie’s father explained the death of Susie to Buckley, who’s still 6 years old; Susie’s father tried his best, he even chose the right words so that Buckley can understand why his sister is not home anymore.

2.) Can Abigail’s choice to leave her family be reasonable? How?

Still for question number two we have split opinions and decision, four of us answered no, who are Ara, Mae, Abbygayle, Nadzla and I because we believe that even though Abigail cannot deal with the loss of her daughter Susie, her choice to leave her family cannot be reasonable even though she left to resolve her own grief. In the very first place, she is a mother of two kids, who are very much alive and struggling with the loss of Susie. Leaving them in this very difficult time where everyone in her family are hopeless, depress, and tired we believe that was so unacceptable. They’re a family and it’s better if she stayed with her family and helped each other to move on. Rica and Jovie on the other hand answered yes because for them there’s a good side of Abigail leaving her family. She took a time off. She was regenerating, preparing herself to live again with her family, accepting the undeniable fact that she’ll continue her life without the presence of her daughter. At the same time, Abigail is a mother but still a human, she gets tired, gets hopeless and tried to escape problems. There’s always a reason why people leave. She then realized when she returned, how much she loved her family.

3.) If you’ll be in Lindsey’s shoes, can you forgive Mr. Harvey for killing your sister? Why?

Rica, Jovie, Abby, Nadzla, Ara and I answered that Mr. Harvey is unforgivable, knowing that he didn’t just do that to Susie but also to other innocent girls and women. He was like a fox having a killing spree of poor helpless chickens. Losing a sister, no matter how much you’ve fought and had misunderstandings, is just unacceptable and unbearable. Moreover, her death left an agony and uncertainty to her family, leaving them hoping and praying that she’d come back and that’s the worst feeling ever, trying to keep your hopes up, expecting for a miracle to win but you just lost and then your system just shuts down and leaves you dumbfounded, unable to process what had just happened. Maybe forgiving him would mean finally accepting Susie’s death but how can you just let a disaster walk down the streets and just let him wait for the perfect timing again to catch his next prey. What he did was just unforgivable. While Mae said that she can forgive him but it will take time. She can forgive Mr. Harvey with the reason that she’s always reminded of what God said, “If you forgive others, God will also forgive you.

4.) Jack and Abigail Salmon are allowing themselves to be swallowed up by their grief. When do you think is the right time to let go? Is there something admirable about holding on so tightly to Susie’s memory?

We all agree that there is no certain year, month, date, or time when you can proclaim that you have completely moved on. As what they’ve said, blood is thicker than water, losing a family member is like losing a part of yourself and you’ll never be whole again. Susie was not just a daughter and a sister but she was admired and loved by her family. She was not just someone who you could easily forget and gotten over with. Life goes on and they have to carry on but memories of her just keep coming back to them. Maybe there’s also a good thing about her family members holding on to Susie’s memory, they can use it as a vessel for their strength and happiness at the same time it was a way of showing how they really have cherished their daughter and sister, that love can last even afterlife.

5.) In Susie’s heaven, she is surrounded by things that bring her peace. What would your heaven be like?

In Mae’s heaven, it would be like full of joy and happiness, no more problems only blessings and a heaven full of loving people.

 In Abbygayle’s heaven, it would be like a playground because she wants to be young again, she wants in her heaven to have a swimming class, ballet class, gymnastics class because she still wants to pursue the things she haven’t done on earth. In Nadzla’s heaven it would be like full of love in every corner. She wanted to be surrounded by people’s love because she knows that love can bring her happiness forever. And the love she means is the true love from her family and her friends.

 In Rica’s heaven, it would be surrounded by things that would bring her happiness. She wanted her heaven to have zip lines, roller coasters, and the Eiffel tower. She also wants to learn how to swim in her heaven. In short, Rica wanted to experience the extreme things on earth that she can’t do while staying on earth. Rica also wanted a new family, and a place where she can witness her living loved ones on earth.

Jovie wants her heaven to be a place where she is not familiar of, it could be anywhere as long as it’s not from her hometown or any place that would remind her of her death and of her family and she would do all the things that she haven’t done on earth. She would make her heaven a happy place. She would love her heaven to be colorful like a Kid’s playroom like the size of the universe. She would have her own swimming pool the size of the ocean. She wants her heaven to have a refrigerator the size of the tallest building ever made and it would contain all her cravings and the mouth-watering food she have seen on blogs. She wants to build her dream house and change its interior and exterior design every day or every time she wants to. She would like to have her own mall and all of her ’wants and needs’ will be there. If she gets fat of eating, she would build a gym five times larger than a normal gym and work-out whenever she wants. She would have a room intended for video games with a wide screen as wide as those in the theaters. She would build her own stadium and let her Kpop Idols held their concerts there and she would be their only fan. She would collect all their albums, photo books and goodies and she would be present in all their activities. She would want to build a house and let all the dogs with different breeds that she has wanted to live there. She would want a walk-in wardrobe where she could wear anything that she has always wanted to wear, Doc Martens and Givenchy products. She would create her own jungle and virgin forest and name it after her own name. She will not forget to build a Chocolate Factory. She would create magic and let all the fictitious things she have read come to life and make them tangible and real. She would copy all the famous places she have seen on the internet and make it unrealistic, like licorice instead of vines and frosting instead of snow, just to forget the reality that she has left on earth. She would ride around the ’heaven’ she has made with her Toyota Supra or Lamborghini and other luxurious cars she could wish of.  Although it’ll behard to move on completely, with the help of her created ’heaven’ she’ll get over it gradually without even noticing. 

Ara’s heaven would be a collection of all the places on Earth that she wants to visit and all the food that she haven’t tasted yet.  She also wants all her love ones who are already in heaven to be there.

 And lastly for Kate’s heaven, she just wanted some simple things. She wants a friendly and loving community and a house where she can stay. In her house she wants to have a huge kitchen where she can cook all the foods she like and also a huge refrigerator that contains all the ingredients she needs, a room where she will have a walk-in closet, in that closet she have all the clothes, shoes and accessories she likes. Beside her house she wants to have a big library where she can read all day without thinking about the time or term papers to make. She wants her library to be complete and updated, across her house there is a children’s park where cute little kids are running around and playing, there’s also a basketball court and gym in her heaven. And lastly, she will have one place where she can watch live games of baseball, basketball, football, volleyball and tennis on earth. That’s the heaven she likes. 

CHARACTER CAPTAIN:Nadzla S. Adal

Susie salmon is the protagonist and the starring ghost in the story. She's only fourteen when she's beaten, raped, and murdered by her neighbor, Mr. Harvey. She tells us her story from the after world. She’s loving, caring and helpful. She was already in heaven but still, loving her family. When all the truth sink into the mind of her mother, Abigail, Susie wants to hug, kiss and comfort her to at least lessen the pain that she is feeling on that moment. Susie is the eldest child of jack and Abigail salmon. As the eldest, she must love her siblings and take care of them. One night while her parents are not home, she carried Buckley, the youngest of the family, to make him sleep. Though Buckley is heavy for a thin fourteen year old Susie, she insists to carry him to make him fall asleep because it was already late and Buckley must sleep early. Susie is caring to her sister, Lindsey, she’s worried a lot for her sister because the pain of losing was still in the heart of Lindsey and may lead her sister into depression. Susie's greatest dream is to have a queenly status, a helpful queen. She doesn't want seeing people being humiliated or get tease by the others. She would do something to help people in order to have justice. All she wanted is fairness.

George Harvey or Mr. Harvey is a sexual predator, a rapist, a serial killer. He's the 36-year-old neighbour who rapes and murders Susie, within minutes of her own home. He builds dollhouses for a living. He is characterized as an odd man in terms of his personality, but on the outside he appears to be just a normal man. Mr. Harvey is a quiet, unassuming neighbor who keeps to himself.  No one has anything really to say about him when the detectives go around during questioning.  But behind closed doors, Mr. Harvey exhibits the classic signs of a sociopath.  He is insanely orderly, and everything in his house has its place.  He is fascinated with building dollhouses and creating these microcosmic worlds that he can control.  It is also later revealed that Mr. Harvey keeps trophies from his many murders, another sign that Mr. Harvey craves control.  So, Mr. Harvey is a man who on the outside appears like just a quiet neighbor, but on the inside harbors serious mental problems.

Jack Salmon is Susie's dad; he is the frustrated hero of the piece. He's a loving, determined and tender father. He who knows the truth of his daughter's murder, but can't prove it. Jack shows his love for his kids through his actions. Even after his wife leaves him, he takes care of Buckley and Lindsey and does all that he can. He is determined to seek revenge on Mr. Harvey no matter what, even if that means death for himself. Jack is not always strong. He shows his weakness through Susie’s death. He holds onto little memories and refuses to let go of even her clothes. He is weak without his daughter. However, he sticks it out every inch of the way, facing the truths of his world, and trying to keep his loved ones and himself from going mad over what's happened to Susie. He even manages, to some degree, to hold down his accounting job.

Abigail Salmon is Susie’s mother and she deals with a few different forms of grief throughout the novel. She is a complicated, fraudulent and unhappy woman. Her love for Susie is apparent in her intimate knowledge of things Susie related, as detailed to Len Fenerman. She disguised as a perfect wife and mother in the beginning even though she is unsatisfied with her life, but when her daughter dies the façade disappears. She cheats on her husband with the detective Len Fenerman and then deserts her husband and remaining children. She returns after eight years when Jack has a heart attack and realizes that she is still in love with him. She is finally able to move on from Susie’s death and is now faithful to her family.

Lindsey Salmon is Susie’s sister and is the strongest family member as she helps her father investigate Mr. Harvey.  She is a very wilful even through her immense pain and longing for her sister.  Even though Susie is dead, Lindsey must live in her shadow.  Whenever someone sees her they do not think of her as her own person, but as ‘the dead girl’s sister’.  Abigail has completely shut her out which is very difficult for the thirteen-year-old because of all times to need a mother, this one is major.  She must remain strong and caring for her little brother and even her father.  Jack remains extremely attached to Susie which is very hard on the entire family because they need his support.  In heaven, Susie continues to follow Lindsey because she views Lindsey’s life as the one she was not fortunate enough to live.  This burdens Lindsey subconsciously, but her character is strong even to not let this break her family apart.  Lindsey has a happy ending with the love of her life, Samuel, who she marries and the book ends with them preparing to move into a house together. Although Susie is smart, Lindsey is considered a genius. She's not only a brainiac, but also one of the most physically fit people we know, able to run eight miles in the rain and leap from a killer's window in a single bound.

Buckley Salmon is Susie’s little brother who is four at the time she is murdered. He is an affectionate, caring brother but lately become mad to his mother.  He and Susie were very close when she was alive and he sees her ghost quite often.  Those he mentions this to do not seem to believe him but he knows that he can communicate with his sister.  Buckley does not understand death when Susie dies and as he grows older still cannot comprehend that his parents will not move on. He keeps the shoe from Monopoly because it was Susie's favorite piece.  He definitely misses her and stays quite attached but he needs support from his family that he is not receiving because they are so obsessed with Susie’s death. He is very angry with his mother leaving them but in the end is able to forgive her for her mistake.

Mae Andrea Tabaosares

In the story Lovely Bones, there are some part which has similarities to my cousin’s experience. The date and age she was raped was not the same with the protagonist on Lovely Bones but they are similar on the number of family members. My cousin, actually, was 18 years old when she experienced the tragedy of her life. In Lovely Bones, Susie Salmon was raped and killed by her neighbor named Mr. George Harvey but in my cousin’s case, she was raped and killed by her own boyfriend.

The root of the scenario was only because of the gift of my cousin’s best friend. She received a present from her best friend, which was a white stuffed teddy bear with a note that says “I LOVE YOU!”. When her boyfriend found out about that gift, he threw it away out of rage. Her cousin slapped him, but then she was raped and eventually killed.

Abbygayle Basio

I was once a somebody

Does heaven exist? I don't really know.

When we die, where do we really go?

But to live as a spirit, in a lifetime before this life

we must have some memory of that time.

When I leave this world, I'll leave no regrets

leave something to remember, so they won't forget

I was here

I lived, I loved.

I was here

I did, I've done, everything that I wanted

And it was more than I thought it would be

I will leave my mark so everyone will know I was here.

I want to say I lived each day, until I die

And know that I meant something in somebody's life

The hearts I've touched, will be the proof that I leave

That I made a difference , and this world will see.

Vocabulary: Rica Ann Colina

Reason:
These words I've chosen were the words that mostly describe a certain situation in the story. These words made the story more realistic and which have stirred my emotions

  

. Also, these words may help sustain the reader’s stream of consciousness.
Author’s Purpose:
The purpose of the author in using these words is to make the readers feel and understand the intense emotions of each character in different situations. These words make the readers visualize the happenings in the story to be more realistic. Also, this is an effective way of making the readers realize something at the end.

1. SKEEVY

“Thanks, I said, even though he gave me what my friend Clarissa and I had dubbed the skeevies.” Adjective. “Morally or physically repulsive” from Italian “schifo” disgust and Schifare to sicken, disgust.

2. ICKY

“He made me feel skeevy and icky now that he was blocking the door.”

Adjective. “Nasty; having a very unpleasant quality” from baby talk alteration of sticky.

3. BLUBBERY

“Mr. Harvey started to press his lips against mine. They were blubbery and wet..”

Adjective. “Puffed out: thick” first used in 1791

4. DRIPPY

“...she was cursed with the drippy looks of consoling teachers.”

Adjective. “Silly and extremely sentimental” From Old English dryppan, Indo-European, “to drop”

5. PETULANT

“She was being what my father called “petulant”, as in, “Susie don’t speak to me in that petulant tone.”

Adjective. “Having or showing the attitude of people who become angry and annoyed when they do not get what they want.” From Latin or Middle French; Middle French, from Latin petulant-, petulans; insolent akin to Latin petere “seek, go toward”

6. GRAZE

“I could not help but graze her.”

Verb. “Touch something lightly” From Middle English grasen, from Old English grasia, from grass.

7. GESTICULATING

“She wanted her daughter gesticulating with the long thin fingers of her hands.”

Verb. “Make gestures: to move the arms or hands when speaking, or express something with movements of the arms or hands” From Latin gesticulat-, past participle of gesticulari < gestus "action, gesture" gerere "carry, and act"

8. CONVIVIAL

“He had never felt completely comfortable at these forced efforts of conviviality himself.”

Adjective. “Pleasant: enjoyable because of its friendliness” From Mid-17th century. Latin convivialis , convivium "feast" vivere "to live"

9. ASSIDUOUS

“How maybe if she was assiduous she could free us both.”

Adjective. “Very careful: showing persistent and hard-working effort in doing something” From Mid-16th century. Latin assiduus < assidere, in a late sense "apply yourself"

10. ONSLAUGHT

“She was armed to the teeth for any onslaught of sympathy.”

Noun. “Overwhelming assault or force: a powerful attack or force that overwhelms somebody or something” From Early 17th century. Via Dutch aanslag < Middle Dutch aenslach "blow on" < slach "blow"

If I Stay by Gayle Forman (An Output of the Literature Circle by the 7 Deadly Beauties)

1. Discussion Director (Ara Nneka Dialawi)

1. If you are Mia what would you choose? Would you stay or would you let go?why?
Abbygayle, Rica, Nadzla and I answered that if we were Mia we would stay. Even if she doesn't have a family to return to but the fact that we don't know what will happen in our future is so powerful to ignore. There might come a point in the future that could change her life for the better and we can't really say unless we live to face that future. However, Kate and Jovie answered that if they were Mia they would let go. Since she doesn't have a family anymore, there is no reason to come back to life. Although she still have Adam and Kim but losing one's family is a great devastation that can't be healed by only a bestfriend and a boyfriend because no matter what we say, we can't deny that our first love is our family.

2.Why do you think Mia is put in that situation, where she can see everything and choose for her destiny?

In this question, we combined our answers into one.
For us, Mia is put into that situation because it can be her parents way to tell her that she really has to stay and it can also be divine intervention to let her see the different souls that she touched, praying for her to stay because if she is really destined to die why didn't she die in the first place?

3. Why did Mia waited for Adam?

We also agreed in a one answer to this question.
She waited because even if she's already thinking about giving up and already imagining what would happen if she give up, she still have a part in her deep down there that is still hoping that Adam could do something to change her mind. Also she saw what Adam did when she's in the ICU, she saw that he didn't give up to her after seeing how hopeless she is. So in her part, she could also do the same to Adam and stay no matter how hard it is for her.

4. What is the similarity of Mia's perception of the cello and of herself?

What they answered is the similarity of the cello and Mia, which is Calm and Quiet. Calm and Quiet, because the cello is an instrument that omits sounds that are soothing to the ears, it is relaxing and peaceful just like what we feel when we are calm and quiet. Moreover, Mia is just a simple girl, she doesn't have a complicated life, she doesn't seek for popularity or fame she's just simple like a cello, just a calm and quiet girl.
My answer is different because for me the similarity of Mia's perception of the cello and of herself, is being an outcast. Mia perceived the cello as an instrument who can't play along with other instruments because it will sound bad, she only thinks of it as a solo instrument. At the same time, she considers herself an outcast to her own family because she thinks that she doesn't look like her parents much and they have a different genre of music compared to her.

5. If you could change one thing in the story, what would it be and why?

Kate answered that she would not let Mia's family die, because that factor really made the story too tragic. They were just a simple perfect family yet in the blink of an eye everything's gone and its not that easy to accept, it is so unfair.
Jovie answered that she would let Teddy survive because he's too young to die. So many thing could still happen to him, he could still do a lot of things and it's just not right to take away his chance of having a great life.

Abbygayle answered that she would not change anything because after all the bad things that happened, there are still those little positive things that came up. Adam and Kim became friends for Mia's sake, they forgot about their issues with each other and stand together for her. So even if Mia doesn't have a family anymore yet her bestfriend and boyfriend are on good terms, she can live with it.

Nadzla answered that she would also let Teddy live, so that Mia would still have a more reason to stay. They could support each other in facing the future without their parents. Also, because Nadzla's not contented about the life that Teddy lived, its too short for him.

Rica answered that she would change the family's accident into just Mia and Adam's accident and they would both be critical. So that the story would not be too heart breaking, they would both become wandering souls and see each other and decide what they would do. It would not be a hard decision to make and they still have each other.

My answer is that i would also not change anything about the story, simply because its already a perfect story. If I stay describes life as what it is, its cruel, its unfair, its heart breaking but it also has hope, love and faith. So even if I dont really liked what happened in the story but I accepted and understand it because that's what reality is, you have to accept things and just be thankful for what you still have. It is the reality in a fiction book that made it, for me, perfect.

2. Literary luminary/ passage picker (Mae Andria Tabaosares)

1. * “If I stay. If I live. It’s up to me. All this business about medically induced comes is just doctor talk. It’s not up to the doctors. It’s not out of the absentee angels. It’s not even up to God who, if He exists, is nowhere around right now. It’s up to me.”
- Mia

This passage is indeed meaningful. It has something to tell us that’s why I chose it – life’s lesson. Most of us are afraid to die and blame God to every dolorous situation we have been encountering. But, the message above depicts that “It’s up to us” either to stay or to decide to let go. On the other hand, no one knows when we will die.

2. * Loyalty to feelings is important.

 In every relationship, loyalty matters. It’s a simple word yet has a meaningful message for us. Moreover, the line above can be implied or shown in the relationship of Adam and Mia. Despite of the accident neither happened to Mia’s family, Adam never left Mia’s side nor gave her up until he could truly hear her voice and that’s an amazing manifestation of loyalty towards your special someone – friend, brother, sister father or mother.

3. * Dying is easy. Living is hard.

The passage is an eye-opener to us. Indeed, to be in grave condition is easy to happen but living in this fickle fancy world is quite difficult. Living requires us to suffer, weep, stumble and fail before we understand what really living means. Avalanche of tears would first cover your eyes before you’ll laugh again. But in just one shot of gun or the sharp edge of a knife, our life would suddenly vanish.

4. * Life might take you down different roads but each of you gets to decide which one to take.

In every decision, ours should be the final. It is the same with the two lines, “I am the master of my faith, I am the captain of my soul.” No one knows our future, its God alone. Life might give us different choices of roads to take but it’s up to us to which road we take. In addition, it’s either the easy or the difficult road.

5. * Amazing things happen when you stop hiding behind that hulking beast.

It’s one way of saying that amazing things happen when we go beyond our comfort zone. Definitely, the passage tells right. We won’t become experts if we won’t try hard to surpass all undertakings life might give us but it is through facing every challenge and claim that we will be triumphant in the end of our race.

3. Connector (Nadzla Adal)

• BOTH LIVE FOR LOVE
The story of If I Stay reminds me of If Only It Were True which I found them somehow a bittersweet story. The connection between the protagonists were both lived and saved by love of those who remain around them while they were in between life and death situation. The protagonists were both in coma. In If I stay, Adam has proved his love to Mia and so as Arthur to Lauren in If only It Were True although they would look lame, desperate and crazy in the eyes of other people around them.

Unfortunately, in the hospital where Mia was confined, the staff and nurses didn't allow Adam to enter the ICU not even once even if he begged many times. However, he never gave up to see and to be with Mia. He never failed to show how much he loved her. Hence, he desperately used Brooke Vega as a part of his some great ruse planned to see his love.

Let’s connect it to Arthur’s feeling for Lauren. He sees her, talks to her, and touches her when no one else so much as sensed her presence. He talked to her as if he was talking to himself. His best friend Paul, even thought of sending Arthur to a Psychiatrist because he looked really gone crazy. Anyhow, they didn't notice how Arthur and Lauren cherished and shared their magical bond.

That statements only proved Adam was crazy in love with Mia, as Arthur with Lauren.

I think the utilization of the car accident in these stories is as a “pivot point” within the period of not alive and not dead and how the events influenced the future of both protagonists, MIA AND LAUREN. It sounds as though their “not alive” period focuses mostly on Mia’s family and friends while on Lauren’s stranger love – Arthur and his very alive mother. And it is how they would cope with the aftermath of the accident.

We learned the importance of people outside their family such as Mia’s best friend Kim , and love of her life , boyfriend Adam and such as Lauren’s perfect stranger love. These characters help them to make their life changing decisions and those characters give reasons to stay. Kim shows Mia that although she has lost her immediately family the rest of her family and friends are still there. Adam shows her that he needs her, and he will do anything and everything for her if he just stays. Same as Arthur, who would find ways to save Lauren when the doctors prepared to end her physical care.

Both stories had shown us that our decisions aren't only chosen by us but the people around us that shape our lives to make us who we are and back to life. 

4. Character Captain (Abbygayle Basio)

A. Mia Hall – is the protagonist. She’s quiet, kind, musically gifted. Above all things, she loves her family, her cello, and her friends. Mia struggles with belonging, often feeling like she’s out of place next to her rock n’ roll, rebellious family and boyfriend. She is quiet individual who prefers to keep to herself. She recently begins to view her heritage with a tiny degree of doubt, due to her lack of similarities in character and demeanor.

B. Kim Schein – is Mia’s best friend. They are said to be very alike and are perceived as dark and studious --- assumptions that often work to their advantage. Kim is sarcastic and obedient to her emotional mother. She and Mia are inseparable, which becomes apparent by the amount of devotion she shows to getting Adam to see Mia, though they have never liked each other, as is seen countless times in flashbacks.

C. Adam Wilde – Is Mia’s boyfriend. He is genuinely a nice guy who cares for everyone he knows. Adam has loved Mia for a long time, and they have stereotypical relationship --- but they love each other more than most people as young as they are. Adam is hopeless romantic and does anything for the people he loves, even if it means letting them go. Adam is a swoon. He isn't afraid to be himself, either even though he is a rocker and Mia plays cello. He loves his entire being; he gives himself over to emotion and is unapologetic about it.

5. Artistic Adventurer (Rica Ann Colina)

6. Vocabulary Enricher (Jovie Ann Matanguihan)

1. RESILIENCE

"I'm amazed by their resilience, by their hidden pockets of strength."

Noun. "Act of rebounding" from the Latin resiliens, present participle of resilire "to rebound or to recoil", from re- "back" + salire "to jump or leap"

2. RESENT

"The more that happened, the more we resented it -- and each other."

Verb.Take (something) ill; be in some degree angry or provoked at. C 1600. From French ressintir "feel pain or regret", from old French resentir "feel again, feel in turn". From re- , intensive prefix, sentir "to feel". From Latin sentire.

3. COMPELLED

" I felt compelled to give myself reasons why I hated Kim: she was a goody two-shoe. She was annoying."

Verb.mid-14c., from Old French compellir, from Latin compellere "to drive together, drive to one place" (of cattle), "to force or compel" (of persons), from com- "together" + pellere "to drive" .

4. ELICITED

"Nobody had ever called me that before and I thought I was automatically furious, deep down I was also flattered that I had elicited enough emotion to be worthy of the name."
verb.1640s, from Latin elicitus, past participle of elicere "draw forth," from ex- "out" + -licere, comb. form of lacere "to entice, lure, deceive" (related to laqueus "noose, snare;" see lace (n.)).

5. TRIFECTA

"Fighting was novelty at our school. Girl fighting was extra special. And good girls going at it was like hitting the trifecta."

noun. 1974, from tri- + perfecta.

6. FRENETIC

"But it seemed right, it seemed true to Kerry, who was always overflowing eith frenetic energy."

Adjective. late 14c., from Old French frenetike, from Latin phreneticus "delirious," alteration of Greek phrenitikos, from phrenitis "frenzy," literally "inflammation of the brain," from phren "mind, reason" (from PIE *gwhren- "to think") + -itis. The classical ph- was restored mid-16c. Related: Frenetically.

7. BLASÉ

"She listened to my diatribe, her expressiob fully blasé."

Adjective. "bored from overindulgence," 1819, from French blasé, past participle of blaser "to satiate" (17c.), of unknown origin. Perhaps from Dutch blazen "to blow" (related to English blast), with a sense of "puffed up under the effects of drinking."

8. STUPOR

" I'm grateful for it, if only because it's pulled him out of his emotional stupor, I saw in the hallway outside the ICU."

Noun.Late 14c., from Latin stupor "insensibility, numbness, dullness," from stupere "be stunned" .

9. RUSE

"Then again, if I were the regular old Mia, Brooke Vega would not be in this hospital lobby as part of some great ruse to get Adam in to see me."

Noun. early 15c., "dodging movements of a hunted animal;" 1620s, "a trick," from Old French ruse, reuse "diversion, switch in flight; trick, jest" (14c.), back-formed noun from reuser "to dodge, repel, retreat; deceive, cheat," from Latin recusare "deny, reject, oppose," from re-, intensive prefix , + causari "plead as a reason, object, allege," from causa "reason, cause" . It also has been proposed that the French word may be from Latin rursus "backwards," or a Vulgar Latin form of refusare. Johnson calls it, "A French word neither elegant nor necessary." The verb ruse was used in Middle English.

10. CHURLISH

" I'd still rather have gone to the dentist than to one of his shows which was so churlish."

Adjective. Late Old English cierlisc "of or pertaining to churls," from churl + -ish. Meaning "deliberately rude" is late 14c. Related: Churlishly; churlishness.

Reason:
The words I've chosen are not just words that were precisely parallel to the subject of a sentence but those words are substantial enough to sustain the flow of the emotions of the reader as he continues to read thd story.

Author's purpose:
The author's purpose in using these words is to give empathy, for the readers to be able to feel and understand the intensity of the characters' feelings towards every situation or even memories. Words used were parallel to the siuations and emotions. It is also a very effective way for the readers to follow the flow of the emotions in the story and to come up with realizations at the end.

7. Summarizer (Kate Diosomito)

A 17-year-old Mia woke up on a snowy morning, her family celebrated their unexpected holiday. As her parents and her brother Teddy planned what to do with their spare time from work and school, the family visited old family friends, stopped by an enormous bookstore, and then planned to swing by to eat dinner with Mia’s grandparents. As they were on their way to Mia’s grandparents’ house, her father turned on the stereo andlistened to the classical music station. Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 3 is playing when Mia closes her eyes and in a second, Mia’s life changes forever. A truck crashes into the car carrying her and her family as they drive down an icy road. Mia’s parents were killed instantly, but she and her younger brother, Teddy, were rushed to the hospital.Mia had an out of body experience that allows her to see and hear everything. Mia followed her body as it is transported to an intensive care unit in a big city hospital, all the while reflecting on her first date with Adam and how their musical passions were completely different and yet unite them.

Mia, the one lying in a coma in an ICU bed is in serious condition, with a collapsed lung, ruptured spleen, internal bleeding, and damage to her brain. As the doctors worked to repair her shattered body, the conscious Mia reminisces about her life and watches her grandparents, Kim, Adam and other relatives visit her. Mia learned further devastating news about the consequences of the car accident. She also realized that she had a very important decision to make

her own life or death choice. With the tragedy, her life will never be the same. Is it worth struggling to re-enter life and live it?
Should she stay or just let go?