Therapy for Liza

               Nancy Garden’s Annie on My Mind begins with the narrator, Liza, writing a letter to Annie.  Immediately the reader can see this is a difficult process for Liza, however the reason isn’t known yet.  As the novel progresses the letters, as well the flashbacks help the reader understand what exactly happened.  It also helped develop Liza’s character, although it should be noted that Liza’s character development is not as in depth as Annie’s is.

                The epistolary is very therapeutic for Liza, as it helps her understand her emotions, identity and because of that she ultimately is able to move on with her life.  The flashbacks while writing to Annie reveal that Liza’s cautiousness was a result of fully understanding how her society works, from the first chapter of being expelled from school and meeting Annie.  While writing to Annie, Liza thinks back to day the two girls met and how her life forever changed.   Liza’s straight forward story telling allows for the reader to see the world through her eyes rather than have it played out like a movie, as in other novels.  The seemingly lacking feminine emotion gives Liza an often overlooked female characteristic, strength.

                Since it is told from Liza’s point of view, some of the characters lack depth, such as Sally and Liza’s parents.  As a result the reader is unable to connect to these characters on any level and only regard them as insignificant.  For example, Sally’s character went from a rebellious ear-piercer to a righteous fundraiser participant without any true explanation or any emotional connection to Sally’s change.  Liza never goes into any detail about her former friend, but makes it seem like Sally changed overnight and never takes interest in this change.  Instead Liza focuses all of her attention on Annie, describing both Annie and everything that is important to Annie in great detail.

                As a result the reader is left with multiple questions at the end of the book, such as how did Liza’s family deal with finding out Liza was a lesbian?  Did they ever bring up the topic again? Or was it completely swept under the rug?  What social consequences did Chad have to face even after Liza left for MIT? What ever happened to Ms. Stevenson and Ms. Widmer?  While these answers are seemingly unimportant to Liza, the reader ends the book with more questions than answers, including the biggest question of them all- Now what? 
        

The Good and the not so Good

Annie on my Mind has the feeling of a classic first love story. The awkwardness, confusion, excitement, and rush of new emotions remind me of my first love.  That being said, this book is slower than the others. It takes quite a few chapters to really get into the story. I still haven’t invested in the characters and I feel like some of the dialogue is unbelievable. The interactions between Liza and her brother are not believable. I can tell the author of this book never had a brother. Although the dialogue could use some work, I do think that the author did a good job making the language in the book accessible for adolescents.

I loved Annie and Liza’s first meeting in the museum. I thought it was sweet and fun and it really showed both of their personalities. I liked how awkward Liza felt when Annie was acting like a knight but then she opened up herself and did the same thing. It shows that Liza is hesitant to express herself which also means she may be slow to express her feelings about Annie.  Then later Annie is the first one to call, once again showing Liza’s hesitation. 

While I haven’t invested in the main characters yet I think there are a lot of interesting characters. The principal Mrs. Poindexter is a great antagonist. I can see the understanding, fair, Ms. Stevenson being a good mentor while also creating a nice contrast to Mrs. Poindexter.

So far the book is enjoyable but I am not loving it. I feel like there should be more action and drama, but who knows maybe I have not read far enough yet.

Privy Information

I had a difficult time reading more than a paragraph in the first chapter of Annie on My Mind, I couldn't stay focused because I felt I was reading something very personal and private, like a diary.  But, I had not earned the right to read the diary.  It took until chapter three to get to know the character Liza enough that I felt comfortable knowing her deepest feelings.

First Impression of Annie on My Mind

Couples

After reading chapters one through seven in Annie on My Mind I feel as if I am reading a traditional love novel between a guy and a girl.  In the beginning of the novel there is that first moment when their eyes lock and there is love at first sight.  “The girl’s smile deepened and her eyes sparkled for just a second. (p.8)” As the novel continues we see Liza and Annie become giddy over each other, they both know that there is something special between them. “By the time we were through, I realized I was talking to Annie as if I’d known her my whole life, not just a few days. (p.62)”   There is a definite spark between the two girls, the same as if it were between a guy and a girl.  After Liza and Annie meet in the museum exchanging numbers they went their separate ways.  Liza was confused, should she call Annie or should she wait for Annie to call her.  It is like when a guy and girl exchange numbers and there is the three day rule.  Neither of them wants to call because it might make them sound desperate, so both of them are contemplating to call the other.  Usually, the man will call because they are the more mature ones, any comments ladies?  Then the day Annie calls back Liza we see Liza have butterflies in her stomach, much like girls do when the guy calls them. 

After the special phone call next, we start to see Liza and Annie’s relationship start to grow. Liza and Annie gradually start hanging out. Their hanging out becomes more frequent, much like a relationship between a guy and a girl.  At first the guy and girl couple start to hang out once or twice a week, then as the couple starts to get to know one another their hanging out becomes more and more frequent, or until the guy has had enough.  With Liza and Annie we see the same thing.  The amount of time they spend together increases throughout the novel.  The girls spending time together is much like a guy and girl couple dating.  We see Liza and Annie go to the museum, have a picnic, take a ferry ride, have a cab ride, and long walks.  These events are dates a guy and a girl could take place in.  As the novel moves on we see the girls meet each others parents and go to each others house.  This is similar of a guy and girl couple when they begin dating.  With the traditional couple many times the parents want to see who their son or daughter is dating.  Most of the time the couple dating will go over to the house and meet the parents and spend time with the family getting to know each others family members, much like Liza and Annie do.   Another time I see an instance of a traditional couple dating is when Liza brings Annie flowers as a nice gesture, much like a gentleman would do.

After a fair amount of dates and getting to know one another Liza and Annie bump their relationship to a physical level, with that special first kiss.  This is very much the case of what a guy and girl relationship would look like.  After getting to know one another, there becomes a level of conform ability and maybe the start of a physical relationship.  Liza and Annie’s kiss is that of a typical guy and girl kiss.  It is that unexpected first kiss, where the world seems to stop and both people are at awe, mainly the guy because he’s like wow she actually fell for it.  “Without thinking, I put my arms across her shoulders to warm her, and then before I knew what was happening, our arms were around each other and Annie’s soft gentle mouth was kissing mine. (p.92)”   

There are many instances that Liza and Annie have that are similar to the instances that a traditional guy and girl relationship would have.  Instances of similarity would be the look of love at first sight, the dating experiences, to the first kiss. If the author would have changed Liza’s name to Rick I would think nothing of the relationship between the two, I would think of their relationship as a traditional relationship.  I might think Rick is a bit feminine but I would not think anything of their relationship.  I just see two girls dating like any other traditional couple would.

First Impressions-Annie On My Mind

Nancy Garden’s, Annie On My Mind, has given me mixed feelings so far. It’s been slower than the others as far as getting into. I have especially noticed the style of writing to be different than the other books we have read. Although, the more I read, I’m slowly becoming more interested.

As others have also stated in posts, I definitely am seeing a gender role confusion with Liza’s character. I read the description on the back of the book before I began reading and knew beforehand they were both females, but it was difficult to figure that out in the first two chapters. Liza exhibits more male attributes than female. She mentioned that she wouldn’t want to get her ears pierced and at the dinner table with her family and Annie, she was talking about sports with her father while Annie was talking about music. She even brought over an African violet for Annie (pg.83). Not saying that a female can’t do that for a friend, but it’s just more usual that a male does this for a female in a relationship.

It’s been somewhat hard to get into, but I’m hoping things will pick up as I go further in the book. It will be interesting to see how Liza and Annie deal with these feelings they are developing for each other.

High Expectations

My initial reaction had more to do with how Liza was treated for not turning in Sally than on gender roles, which everyone else seems to be pulling out.  First, the headmaster, Mrs. Poindexter, seems to be an old woman out of touch with students.  I find her rude, unforgiving, and consumed with money.  I make the connection of principals being consumed with high stakes test scores and losing touch of how the pressure makes students feel.  I hope I am more like Ms. Stevenson who realizes Sally’s motive for piercing ears is to in fact help fundraising.  I like that Ms. Stevenson does say Sally should know better but doesn’t make her feel like a bad person. 

Liza’s dad is also harsh and has very high expectations for Liza.  Liza’s mother is sympathetic and points out the difference in severity between Sally and Liza’s punishments stating it is unfair.  To which Liza’s father boomed, “It’s fair all right”.  He believed Liza’s leadership position held her to higher standards than Sally and sided with Mrs. Poindexter.  The following day Liza’s dad made a jab regarding earrings and asking Liza since she knows more than anyone else in the family.  Then he read an article out loud to the family about discipline problems in high schools.  Later the same evening I was relieved to see him show both Liza and her brother Chad how much he cared about them by wrapping them both in side hugs and telling Liza we all make mistakes. 

Finally, I applaud Liza for not backing down and standing up for what she believes in.  Before she was elected student body president, it was known she did not agree with the reporting rule (which required high schoolers to tattle on one another).   When asked directly about the reporting rule, Liza stated she did not agree with the rule because people in Upper School are old enough to take responsibility for their own actions.  Liza also notices Ms. Poindexter is being very sensitive about the issue because it affected Jennifer, the daughter of the publicity chairman for the fundraising campaign.  It took guts for Liza to stand up for all of the students saying Jennifer should not be treated any differently just because of her fathers position.  Liza showed why her class voted her student body president and demonstrated exemplary leadership skills.

Mixed First Impressions

                Annie on My Mind is very different from the other books we have read. In the past books, there have been many different characters to identify; however, in this book, there are only two characters to connect to. I like the fact it is based on two characters because for young adults it is easy to comprehend and stay focus on those two characters. For only downfall is for older readers reading this it is hard to get into the book because there is little interaction between characters and hard to get into the book. Yes, it is an easy read but difficult to get excited to keep reading. The book isn’t a bad book but right now it isn’t a book that keeps me reading. Annie on My Mind has not drawn me in meaning the plot, characters, or the style is bland. I feel as if something is missing to draw me in to keep the book in my hand.

                The controversy part of the book doesn’t bother me because it is more accepted and talked about in our generation. I like how it was not very graphic when it talks about new exploring new feelings and relationships. It was hard to comprehend that the girls were seniors in high school because of their imagination. While they are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the girls were playing knights and pretending to ride horses which throw me off thinking about their age. I know it’s okay to have an imagination but this pretend play is what third graders play not seniors in high school. It is also hard to picture the girls because the author does not give any physical features except for some detail about Annie’s eyes.

                Overall, the book is good and has a developing relationship between the girls. I also like how it is a love story about two completely different teenagers. Liza and Annie are both very different people, from Annie’s love of plants and music to Liza’s passion for architecture. As young adults, it can help gain perspective in finding yourself. The final thing I enjoy in the book is the letter format throughout the book. Those letters give hints or reasons to keep reading to finally find out why they do not talk anymore.

Family

Family

By: Nate Reichter

In Neal Shusterman’s novel Unwind there are many topics that could be addressed, such as storking, abortion, unwinding as well as the role of family.  I would like to dive more into the theme of family and how family affects each individual character throughout the book.

When I think of family I think of unconditional love.  I think of family always being there to pick a person up when they fall.  I think of family being there to protect and support a person in times of hardship.  I think of family as always being there through thick and thin, with unending forgiveness.  In the novel Unwind this is not the case, the role of the family is unconventional and immoral.  This is shown by mothers storking unwanted babies and leaving them on complete stranger’s doorsteps, from parents choosing to no longer care for their teenage son’s or daughter’s and having them unwound, as well as having an absence of family.  Through these unconventional and immoral acts the main characters in the book form their own unique bond with one another.  The absence of a true family sentiment bolsters Conner, Risa, and Lev’s own unique bond with one another. 

In life we know that not one child is ever perfect, they all make mistakes.  This is the same case with Conner. Conner is the typical teenage boy who cannot control his temper and gets into many fights.  Conner has very little mind control; he acts purely on impulse without thinking about the consequence.  These actions end up getting Conner into big trouble, pulling his parents final straw.  Conner’s family decides they no longer want to take responsibility in raising him, because of his reoccurring behavior problems. By no longer wanting the responsibility of Conner his parents sign the unwinding document, getting him out of their hair.  This goes against all of our society’s belief on family.  This boy is a typical teenage boy acting out because the lack of attention at home.  Just because this boy is getting into trouble does not mean that his parents should send him away to be unwound.  This is just one phase of his life, that will be tough but eventually he will work through his problems.  This is the time where parents step into to guide their child along the right track, to love them through thick and thin.  For Conner’s parents it was all about having a trouble free future.  For Conner’s parents “tough decision” they were so upset they thought they needed to take a cruise to ease their minds.  These trains of thoughts do not resemble one ounce of the traditional family beliefs.

As for Lev his story is a little different.  Lev was the last of ten children in his family, being the tenth child his fate had already been determined.  Even before Lev was born his parents had decided he would be sacrificed in the name of the lord, they call these sacrifices tithes.  From the minute Lev was born his parents began to brain wash him ensuring that his path was a chosen one.  Lev never swayed from his parents rules and never questioned his parent’s authority.  That was until the day he met Conner and Risa.  Throughout Lev’s journey with Conner and Risa, Lev gradually begins to realize that his parents have misled him, causing Lev to question his path in life.  In the beginning of the novel Lev believes that his unwinding will be admired and respected, also brining him faithfully closer to the Lord.  By the end of the novel Lev’s beliefs of his unwinding have completely changed.  Lev’s journey with Conner and Risa completely transformed the way Lev thought about anyone or anything. At the end of the book Lev finds out there is only one family member who truly cared about his wellbeing, his older brother. Through Lev’s journey he also realizes that his true family members are his friends Conner and Risa. 

Risa’s journey is very different from both Conner and Lev.  Risa is an orphan who was brought up in a state home, never really knowing what a family has ever felt like.  Risa has been brought up in the state home for quiet sometime seeing many children coming and going.  What keeps Risa from leaving is her gift to play the piano or so she thought.  Risa with so much potential to be a great piano player never fully reaches her potential she is capable of making her expendable.  With Risa unable to reach her fullest potential and the expensive cost of living the state home has made the decision to have Risa unwound.  Instead of helping and caring for Risa the state home found it more accessible to have Risa unwound, hopefully giving her gifts to another child who could reach their fullest potential.  Risa’s lack of family has enabled her to reach her fullest potential, which is why when she meets Conner she feels inspired.  She feels she has something to work for and to be able to reach her potential.  Conner fills the void of family and helps Risa through her tough times.  In society today the normal family member would take the place of Conner and help Risa through her tough times.

Through all the main characters tough times Conner, Risa and Lev created a bond that no one will ever break.  The bond that Conner, Risa and Lev created fulfills each characters lack of family needs. Through all the breakdowns and tough times each character finds something in one another to call family.  Conner, Risa and Lev would do anything for one another, for example when Lev thought about taking his own life to save Conner’s. “He peels the backs, revealing the adhesive, and sticks them to his palms.” “Still wailing for his agony, he holds his hands up before him, preparing to make the pain go away.” (p.310)   Lev is wailing because he had lost a brother, and he could have done something about it.  He is so hurt he would take his own life to not feel the pain.  We see that Conner, Risa and Lev all care very much for one another; they are willing to go the extra distance for one another like the typical family of today.