David Sheff continues to take readers on the hard and long journey of what life is like for his teenage son Nic. The way that Sheff describes Nic's teenage I found particularly interesting because the reader would find it enjoyable since Sheff tends to write the experiences that Nic has went though with drugs, and even if you had not had to deal with an experience with drugs, you were still able to understand the point that David was trying to make. David's message that he is trying to send to teenagers throughout describing Nic's teenage years is to try to realize that you should not always participate in activities that all of your friends are doing that you as an individual need to make the conscience decision of whether you want drugs to be apart of your life or not, and you need to decide if you will constantly associate with people who will hinder the amount of peer pressure or if you leave those friends behind and try to find a group that will support you no matter who you are.
Not only is the way that David Sheff uses his own son's experience with drugs a way that he tries to connect with the readers in the book, but also David tries to relate back to the parents of the teenagers who are experiencing drug addiction as well. How Sheff does this is he explains the internal conflict he experiences when he finds that his son was experiencing marijuna at the age of twelve. What causes Sheff to experience an intenral conflict is because he is torn about having to make the decision of whether or not to tell his son about his own drug addiction and how it had effected his life. He even goes as far as to question whether or not he should have moved to America explaining "I have never fantasized that any American suberb or exurb or country town, no matter how remote, is far enough away to be untouched by the perils most often associated with inner cities, but I thought that towns like Inverness must be safter than the Tenderloin." When explaining how he is confused of whether or not to tell his son about his own drug addiction, he says "I blame my hypocrisy. It makes we wince. How can I tell him not to use drugs when he knows thst I have? 'Do as I say I say and not as I did.' I tell him that I wish I hadn't used them. I tell him about friends whose lives were ruined by them. And meanwhile, in my mind, as always I blame the divorce. I tell myself that many children of divorce do all right and many children in inact families don't. Regardless, there is no way to undo what I know would be the most traumatic event of Nic's life." It now becomes evident through David's words that clearly he wants Nic to not experience this hardship, but there is nothing he can't do because he is unable to control all aspects of his life.
Stay tuned for more!!!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Beautiful Boy by David Sheff
As soon as I completed the introduction of the novel, I developed the sense that David Sheff has a very unique writing style. The way in which this memoir is written I find very interesting because usually in memoirs authors tend to sometimes leave out how other people in the world can learn from their life experiences until the end or towards the middle when the author tends to summarize the last thoughts of what they want to leave the reader. By Sheff including certain statistics of drug addiction, it is able for readers to fully grasp the reality of what it takes to try to battle an addiction, whether it be with drugs, alcohol or any other form of addiction. Immediately his writing style grabbed my attention and made we want to learn more about what is son, Nic, had to go through in order to control his addiction with methamphetamine. Another thing I find interesting is how David Sheff described the process by which he had created this book and how many people were so deeply moved by his story because other parents from all over were able to relate to what Sheff had to deal with. This indicates to the reader that this is a book that discusses a problem that is worldwide and it may be for you to read if you enjoy relating well to the novel you are reading.
Nic has just come back home from college for summer vacation. The whole family is so excited to see him, and it seems as if Nic is having a good time, until he begins to ask to borrow the car. Nic's parents have placed a curfew on him, and he seems to be follwing the rules until one day Nic tells his father that he is going out for a drug rehab meeting. His father allows him to go out for the meeting, but then ends up worrying sick about where Nic is when he ends up not being home by 11:30. He keeps trying to tell himself that his son can't possibly taking drugs again after he began to make so much progress in recovery from his addiction. However, Nic ends up not coming back home until 1 in the morning. When discussing the reason fo why he was out so late, Nic becomes very defensive and simply states that many group members in the rehab meeting went to a girl's house in order to socialize and watch a movie. He keeps denying to his father that he is high until his father asks him to come and take a drug test. Once the father had said this, Nic immediatly left the house and admitted he was high since the beginning of his semester at college.
David Sheff seems to be going through a period of time where he seems helpless and confused. He seems to only want to be comforted by listening to other people's problems and mentions that "people are relieved to learn that they are not alone in their suffering, that they are apart of something larger, in this case, a societal plague- an epidemic of children, an epidemic of families." Thus, Sheff is trying to say that by hearing how other parents were dealing with their own children's drug addictions, it gave him the hope that he could find the strength inside himself to help Nic get to a full recovery.
The process of reading this book has been a little slow for me due to the fact that sometimes the sentences are written very long and descriptive, so it takes me awhile to process sometimes the full meaning of what Sheff is trying to say. However, I would definitly recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with a drug addiction or if you know someone battling addiction. This book may just be what it takes for someone you care about to have a full recovery.
Monday, October 12, 2009
The Ending Of Firefly Lane
The Firefly Lane Girls are now entering the age of thirty, and it is amazing to see the difference in the type of life that Kate leads compared to Tully's life. Kate ends up marrying Johnny, however, throughout the book the reader will see that she occasionally doubts herself that he truly loves her and she continues to believe that Johnny is not over Tully. She also ends up having three children named Marah, William and Lucas. Despite the fact that Kate never really pursued a career and simply told everyone that she was a stay at home mom, Kate still fins happiness and joy in her life by helping her kids and being their as a volunteer at school functions or charity events. However, Tully ends up pursuing her career as a news reporter and ends up becoming very wealthy and famous. She takes offers from large corporations and even accepted a deal where she films a live talk show called The Girlfriend Hour. Tully continuously finds herself unsatisfied with her life because she feels alone and wants to share a life with someone. Tully is scared of falling in love and can never understand why. Tully believed that being successful and famous would make her happy, but she ends up feeling abandoned and empty like before.
As the novel progresses, we see the different lifestyles that Tully and Kate leave end up putting a strain on their relationship. Tully spends most of her time in New York filming for her show while Kate spends her time with her family and taking care of her children. Another strain that is put on their relationship is Marah. When Marah enters the preteen years, Kate finds it hard to manage the constant battles that emerge about curfew, clothes and friends. However, Marah tends to force Tully to talk to Kate and Johnny and persuade them so that she could be granted permission to go somewhere or participate in an event. For example, Marah becomes interested in modeling and ends up taking a modeling class. However, one day in class Marah finds out that the class had been invited to go to New York for a week at a costly price. Marah tells Tully about it, who then ends up offering to pay for the trip and to also escort her to New York as well. Kate was furious that Tully would agree to something that was dangerous for a thirteen year old to do. Kate constantly reminds her that Tully is not her mom and that Kate's responsibility is to keep her daughter safe. Also, Kate becomes tired of Tully never apologizing for her actions and how she never will call first to resolve a situation. All of these factors lead to their relationship becoming estranged, which will lead to problems later on when Kate develops inflammatory breast cancer. Tully ends up feeling so much regret for the time that they did not spend together, and how she should have apologized and called Kate back when she called her months ago to tell her she was in surgery. However, Kate reminds her that they should leave the past in the past, and just live in the present.
Kristin Hannah has a distinctive writing style and she had done a wonderful job in developing Tully and Kate. Even the minor characters in the novel, such as Johnny and the children, Kristin had developed so well that the reader will end up feeling as if they know the Ryan family and some mothers can connect to the struggle that Kate has with managing her kids. One writing technique that I found particularly interesting of Kristin Hannah's was how the passage in the prologue of the novel ended up being repeated later on the novel during the time when Kate and Tully were in an argument. Typically, if a writer is going to repeat a certain passage in the novel, the writer will mention the passage in the beginning and then in the end. New before have I seen a passage in a book where it was mentioned in the prologue and then mentioned in the middle of the novel. I think that Kristin Hannah purposely placed the passage in the beginning of the novel because she wanted the reader to get a sense about the book was going to be about and then she probably mentioned it in the end in order for us to understand that the questions we may have had in the beginning had been answered. In the prologue, I was left wondering what exactly happened with Kate and Tully' relationship, and about halfway into the novel, I was able to answer the question. Kate being a guest appearance with Marah on Tully's show ended up not going well because Kate was unhappy with the fact that Tully was calling her a bad mother on television and Tully did not like how Kate mentioned facts about her personal life on television. Thus, this then led to Tully and Kate not talking for awhile until Kate got sick and needed to see Tully again. One quote that shows how Kate is dealing with cancer is when Kristin Hannah writes "She woke with a start, feeling tears on her cheeks. She lay there in her bed, wide awake now, listening to a winter storm rage outside. In the last week she'd lost the ability to distance herself from her memories. Too often lately she returned to Firefly Lane in her dreams, and no wonder. Best friends forever. That was the promise they'd made all those years ago, and they'd believed it would last, believed that someday they'd be old women together, sitting in their rocking chairs on a creaking deck, talking about the times of their lives, and laughing. Now she knew better of course. For more than a year she'd been telling herself that it was okaym that she could go on without her best friend. Sometimes she even believed it. Then she'd hear the music. Their music. Yesterday, while she'd been shopping, a bad Muzak version of "You've Got a Friend" had made her cry, right there next to the radishes." From this quote the reader is able to gather that Kate is having a difficult time dealing with the cancer because even though she has her family's support she still misses the time she spent with her friend. Tully also demonstrates that she feels regret for what she did to Kate on the show when she says to Kate "I'm sorry, Katie," she whispered, hearing how small the words were; all her life she'd hoarded those few those few and simple words, kept them tucked inside her heart as if to them out would harm her. Why, of all the lessons she should have learned from her mother, had she held on to this most hurtful one? And why hadn't she called when she'd heard Kate's voice on the answering machine? "I'm so sorry," she said again, feeling the burn of tears." Basically, the reader can then see that Tully feels a huge amount of regret for not calling Kate back and that she had overcome her fear of saying "I'm sorry." This is significant progress for Tully because it is showing that she is starting to forget about what her mother had done to her and how she will try to move on and become a stronger person than she was. Tully ended up trying to help restore the relationship with her mother, but it ended up not working because her mother ended up in the hospital and said to her that she was not good enough to be Tully's mother and that she wishes she could be what Tully needed growing up but she was unable to provide the care that she needed.
While reading this book, I found that it did take me a longer time then I had expected. However, I just thought the idea of following your dreams and being successful was a powerful topic that the author explored in this novel. It really made me think that even if someone can become sucessful, it does not necessarily mean they will always be happy. I learned that it is important to aprreciate the little things in life, just like Kate did, because that is what you will always remember. As Kate had written in her journal "That's the funny thing about writing your life story. You start out trying to remember dates and times and names. You think it's about facts, your life, that what you'll look back on and remember are the successes and failures, the time line of your youth and middle age, but that isn't all. Love. Family. Laughter. That's what I remember when it's all said and done. For so much of my life I thought I didn't do enough or want enough. I guess I can be forgiven for my stupidity. I was young. I want my children to know how proud I am of them, and how proud I am of me. We were everything we needed-you and Daddy and I. I had everything I ever wanted. Love. That's what we remember."
I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy books that take place over a long span of time and follow people as they grow and develop. This was an amazing book that teaches readers a very valueable lesson-success does not always make you happy.
As the novel progresses, we see the different lifestyles that Tully and Kate leave end up putting a strain on their relationship. Tully spends most of her time in New York filming for her show while Kate spends her time with her family and taking care of her children. Another strain that is put on their relationship is Marah. When Marah enters the preteen years, Kate finds it hard to manage the constant battles that emerge about curfew, clothes and friends. However, Marah tends to force Tully to talk to Kate and Johnny and persuade them so that she could be granted permission to go somewhere or participate in an event. For example, Marah becomes interested in modeling and ends up taking a modeling class. However, one day in class Marah finds out that the class had been invited to go to New York for a week at a costly price. Marah tells Tully about it, who then ends up offering to pay for the trip and to also escort her to New York as well. Kate was furious that Tully would agree to something that was dangerous for a thirteen year old to do. Kate constantly reminds her that Tully is not her mom and that Kate's responsibility is to keep her daughter safe. Also, Kate becomes tired of Tully never apologizing for her actions and how she never will call first to resolve a situation. All of these factors lead to their relationship becoming estranged, which will lead to problems later on when Kate develops inflammatory breast cancer. Tully ends up feeling so much regret for the time that they did not spend together, and how she should have apologized and called Kate back when she called her months ago to tell her she was in surgery. However, Kate reminds her that they should leave the past in the past, and just live in the present.
Kristin Hannah has a distinctive writing style and she had done a wonderful job in developing Tully and Kate. Even the minor characters in the novel, such as Johnny and the children, Kristin had developed so well that the reader will end up feeling as if they know the Ryan family and some mothers can connect to the struggle that Kate has with managing her kids. One writing technique that I found particularly interesting of Kristin Hannah's was how the passage in the prologue of the novel ended up being repeated later on the novel during the time when Kate and Tully were in an argument. Typically, if a writer is going to repeat a certain passage in the novel, the writer will mention the passage in the beginning and then in the end. New before have I seen a passage in a book where it was mentioned in the prologue and then mentioned in the middle of the novel. I think that Kristin Hannah purposely placed the passage in the beginning of the novel because she wanted the reader to get a sense about the book was going to be about and then she probably mentioned it in the end in order for us to understand that the questions we may have had in the beginning had been answered. In the prologue, I was left wondering what exactly happened with Kate and Tully' relationship, and about halfway into the novel, I was able to answer the question. Kate being a guest appearance with Marah on Tully's show ended up not going well because Kate was unhappy with the fact that Tully was calling her a bad mother on television and Tully did not like how Kate mentioned facts about her personal life on television. Thus, this then led to Tully and Kate not talking for awhile until Kate got sick and needed to see Tully again. One quote that shows how Kate is dealing with cancer is when Kristin Hannah writes "She woke with a start, feeling tears on her cheeks. She lay there in her bed, wide awake now, listening to a winter storm rage outside. In the last week she'd lost the ability to distance herself from her memories. Too often lately she returned to Firefly Lane in her dreams, and no wonder. Best friends forever. That was the promise they'd made all those years ago, and they'd believed it would last, believed that someday they'd be old women together, sitting in their rocking chairs on a creaking deck, talking about the times of their lives, and laughing. Now she knew better of course. For more than a year she'd been telling herself that it was okaym that she could go on without her best friend. Sometimes she even believed it. Then she'd hear the music. Their music. Yesterday, while she'd been shopping, a bad Muzak version of "You've Got a Friend" had made her cry, right there next to the radishes." From this quote the reader is able to gather that Kate is having a difficult time dealing with the cancer because even though she has her family's support she still misses the time she spent with her friend. Tully also demonstrates that she feels regret for what she did to Kate on the show when she says to Kate "I'm sorry, Katie," she whispered, hearing how small the words were; all her life she'd hoarded those few those few and simple words, kept them tucked inside her heart as if to them out would harm her. Why, of all the lessons she should have learned from her mother, had she held on to this most hurtful one? And why hadn't she called when she'd heard Kate's voice on the answering machine? "I'm so sorry," she said again, feeling the burn of tears." Basically, the reader can then see that Tully feels a huge amount of regret for not calling Kate back and that she had overcome her fear of saying "I'm sorry." This is significant progress for Tully because it is showing that she is starting to forget about what her mother had done to her and how she will try to move on and become a stronger person than she was. Tully ended up trying to help restore the relationship with her mother, but it ended up not working because her mother ended up in the hospital and said to her that she was not good enough to be Tully's mother and that she wishes she could be what Tully needed growing up but she was unable to provide the care that she needed.
While reading this book, I found that it did take me a longer time then I had expected. However, I just thought the idea of following your dreams and being successful was a powerful topic that the author explored in this novel. It really made me think that even if someone can become sucessful, it does not necessarily mean they will always be happy. I learned that it is important to aprreciate the little things in life, just like Kate did, because that is what you will always remember. As Kate had written in her journal "That's the funny thing about writing your life story. You start out trying to remember dates and times and names. You think it's about facts, your life, that what you'll look back on and remember are the successes and failures, the time line of your youth and middle age, but that isn't all. Love. Family. Laughter. That's what I remember when it's all said and done. For so much of my life I thought I didn't do enough or want enough. I guess I can be forgiven for my stupidity. I was young. I want my children to know how proud I am of them, and how proud I am of me. We were everything we needed-you and Daddy and I. I had everything I ever wanted. Love. That's what we remember."
I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy books that take place over a long span of time and follow people as they grow and develop. This was an amazing book that teaches readers a very valueable lesson-success does not always make you happy.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Firefly Lane Entry Three
Kristin Hannah is still developing the characters very well. However, the reader may begin to notice that Kate's emotions are becoming more developed. I find this interesting because I now find myself considering Kate a main character where before I considered her more of a secondary character because the author would always develop Tully more because of all the problems she had with her mom. By seeing all of the problems that Tully had with her mom and the way that she handled her mom being a drug addict I think revealed Tully as lonely and it also showed that Tully no longer believes in care and compassion in people and she is unable to show her true self because she always finds that she gets broken in the end. As you can see, some changes are taking place between these two characters, and as a reader, it is very interesting to see this friendship span from the beginning of the book when they were fourteen to now when they are out of college.
Tully recently just got dumped by her boyfriend, Chad, due to the fact that he was moving to Tennessee and wanted Tully to go with him but Tully refused because she wanted to continue working at the KILO-TV news station with Kate. Tully was an excellent reporter straight from the beginning. On one of her first television appearances as a news reporter, Tully is reporting about the Seattle SWAT team chasing a robber as he is going through a glass window. Tully ends up being hit by a gunshot and fall unconscious. Clearly, the reader can see that Tully can be viewed as a heroic person because she is willing to make sacrifices in order to follow her dreams of being a reporter with possibility of having to report a story that maybe taking place in a dangerous location. However, while she may be seen a heroic, the breakup with Chad had really impacted the view that Tully has of herself because she says to Kate "There's something missing in me...first my dad saw it. Whoever the hell he is; he must have taken one look at me and run. And let's not even discuss my loving mother. I'm...easy to leave. Why is that?" Basically, I am able to gather the impression that Tully is taking full responsibility for growing up with parents that were not helpful and supportive throughout her childhood, and is unable to understand that her parents were the ones who had problems they were not able to deal with, but it had nothing to do with her. Since Tully blames herself for her parents leaving her, I believe that this plays a significant impact on the friendships that she builds because she can never fully trust anyone because she constantly is burdened by the fact that they one day might just leave her. Can Tully ever get past this fear???
Kate who always demonstrated herself as shy decided to tell Johnny about the feelings she had for him. However, Tully keeps warning her that she could easily just be a rebound girl for him, since Johnny became disappointed that Tully did not have feelings for him. Kate is still a very uncertain girl and finds it hard to trust Johnny. What will become of this relationship??
Stay tuned for more!!!
Tully recently just got dumped by her boyfriend, Chad, due to the fact that he was moving to Tennessee and wanted Tully to go with him but Tully refused because she wanted to continue working at the KILO-TV news station with Kate. Tully was an excellent reporter straight from the beginning. On one of her first television appearances as a news reporter, Tully is reporting about the Seattle SWAT team chasing a robber as he is going through a glass window. Tully ends up being hit by a gunshot and fall unconscious. Clearly, the reader can see that Tully can be viewed as a heroic person because she is willing to make sacrifices in order to follow her dreams of being a reporter with possibility of having to report a story that maybe taking place in a dangerous location. However, while she may be seen a heroic, the breakup with Chad had really impacted the view that Tully has of herself because she says to Kate "There's something missing in me...first my dad saw it. Whoever the hell he is; he must have taken one look at me and run. And let's not even discuss my loving mother. I'm...easy to leave. Why is that?" Basically, I am able to gather the impression that Tully is taking full responsibility for growing up with parents that were not helpful and supportive throughout her childhood, and is unable to understand that her parents were the ones who had problems they were not able to deal with, but it had nothing to do with her. Since Tully blames herself for her parents leaving her, I believe that this plays a significant impact on the friendships that she builds because she can never fully trust anyone because she constantly is burdened by the fact that they one day might just leave her. Can Tully ever get past this fear???
Kate who always demonstrated herself as shy decided to tell Johnny about the feelings she had for him. However, Tully keeps warning her that she could easily just be a rebound girl for him, since Johnny became disappointed that Tully did not have feelings for him. Kate is still a very uncertain girl and finds it hard to trust Johnny. What will become of this relationship??
Stay tuned for more!!!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Firefly Lane Entry Two
Now farther along into the book, the difference in character traits between Tully and Kate is becoming more evident as the book progresses along with their age. Kristin Hannah does an excellent job of allowing the reader to have a clear and distinct insight into the characters in order for us to truly understand what the character is feeling and going through. This is crucial for the author to do when there are two characters that have two different personalities because it is interesting to see how both Tully and Kate are keeping their feelings a secret from one another, and how both characters are developing in two different people. However, the reader might also realize at this point that even though personalities change, some feelings are too powerful that they remain the same.
Tully and Kate are currently finishing college and they are trying to pursue the career choice that they had chosen back in the summer they met when they were 14 years old. Tully and Kate had decided that they both were to become the first female team of reporters. However, Kate begins to think that being a reporter is not the type of career that she planned for herself. She finds this difficult to tell Tully and her mom. The reader may feel surprised to see that Kate is not able to talk to her best friend about her true feelings because in the beginning of the novel, Kate had never kept a secret from Tully. However, Kate decides that she will give broadcasting a try after Tully had insisted that they work together as "interns". She agrees to go meet with Tully's boss, Johnny, in order to fill in the position of a secretary who left for maternity leave. Kate finds herself saying yes to the position after meeting Johnny, who she becomes automatically infatuated with. This secret is one that Kate did not share with Tully because she is afraid that Tully would tell her to ask him out, which causes a problem because Johnny is constantly admiring Tully, which gives Kate the impression that Johnny has the intention of asking her out. Throughout the novel, Kate constantly tells the reader that she feels like she is always Tully's shadow, which may play a significant factor in why Kate does not tell Tully everything.
The distinctive writing style that Kristin Hannah uses really keeps me interested in this book. Kristin writes so profoundly and in depth that it is impossible to put the book down. The friendship of Tully and Kate also progresses in a manner that everyone can relate to. The friendship starts out strong, but now it seems like it is getting weaker. It is almost as if the personality differences is getting in the way of their friendship. Tully seems confused as to why Kate is not her usual self who enjoys spending time with her, and Kate is confused as to why Tully is unable to see what is bothering her. When Kate thinks to herself "deeper down, in a dark place she rarely acknowledged, there was another fear, one she only recognized in her dreams and nightmares. In the cold light of day, she didn't believe it, but at night, alone, she worried that if Tully found out about Kate's love, it might actually make Johnny more attractive to Tully. That was the thing about her best friend; it wasn't that she wanted what she couldn't have. It was that she wanted everything, and sooner or later, Tully got what she wanted. Kate couldn't risk it. Not having Johnny she could live with. Losing him to Tully would unbearable." The reader is now able to see that Kate still is envious of her best friend and how she longs to be admired by someone for the type of person she is. Kat struggles to explain this problem to her friend, which may possibly lead to a disaster later on in the novel--what do you think???
Not only is Kate's feeling of envy staying the same, but Tully also is beginning to get stronger when it comes to dealing with her drug addicted mother, or so she thinks. When Tully was filming for a news broadcast, she remembered that her mom was staying at a local campsite nearby. Tully is surprised that she wants to go, since she has not seen her since the funeral of her grandmother, and she is stunned that she even has the urge to go as well. When Kristin writes "Tully tried to keep the pride out of her voice, knowing it was stupid to expect anything from her mother, but it was there anyway, in her eyes and in her voice, the shadowy remnant of the pathetic little girl who'd filled twelve memory books so that someday her mother would now her and be proud...Tully wished she'd never come here. She knew what to expect from her mother: nothing. Why couldn't she seem to remember that?" It become clear to the reader Tully still feels upset about her mom not being involved in her life, and how she still is hoping that being on the road to becoming a television broadcaster will make her mom proud. Also, but her remembering that she can't expect anything from her mom, it shows that Tully will be pained and reminded of that for the rest of her life, and how no matter how hard she may try to fight the feeling of abandonment, it will be stuck with her.
Look out for more information on what happens with Tully and Kate's friendship!!
Tully and Kate are currently finishing college and they are trying to pursue the career choice that they had chosen back in the summer they met when they were 14 years old. Tully and Kate had decided that they both were to become the first female team of reporters. However, Kate begins to think that being a reporter is not the type of career that she planned for herself. She finds this difficult to tell Tully and her mom. The reader may feel surprised to see that Kate is not able to talk to her best friend about her true feelings because in the beginning of the novel, Kate had never kept a secret from Tully. However, Kate decides that she will give broadcasting a try after Tully had insisted that they work together as "interns". She agrees to go meet with Tully's boss, Johnny, in order to fill in the position of a secretary who left for maternity leave. Kate finds herself saying yes to the position after meeting Johnny, who she becomes automatically infatuated with. This secret is one that Kate did not share with Tully because she is afraid that Tully would tell her to ask him out, which causes a problem because Johnny is constantly admiring Tully, which gives Kate the impression that Johnny has the intention of asking her out. Throughout the novel, Kate constantly tells the reader that she feels like she is always Tully's shadow, which may play a significant factor in why Kate does not tell Tully everything.
The distinctive writing style that Kristin Hannah uses really keeps me interested in this book. Kristin writes so profoundly and in depth that it is impossible to put the book down. The friendship of Tully and Kate also progresses in a manner that everyone can relate to. The friendship starts out strong, but now it seems like it is getting weaker. It is almost as if the personality differences is getting in the way of their friendship. Tully seems confused as to why Kate is not her usual self who enjoys spending time with her, and Kate is confused as to why Tully is unable to see what is bothering her. When Kate thinks to herself "deeper down, in a dark place she rarely acknowledged, there was another fear, one she only recognized in her dreams and nightmares. In the cold light of day, she didn't believe it, but at night, alone, she worried that if Tully found out about Kate's love, it might actually make Johnny more attractive to Tully. That was the thing about her best friend; it wasn't that she wanted what she couldn't have. It was that she wanted everything, and sooner or later, Tully got what she wanted. Kate couldn't risk it. Not having Johnny she could live with. Losing him to Tully would unbearable." The reader is now able to see that Kate still is envious of her best friend and how she longs to be admired by someone for the type of person she is. Kat struggles to explain this problem to her friend, which may possibly lead to a disaster later on in the novel--what do you think???
Not only is Kate's feeling of envy staying the same, but Tully also is beginning to get stronger when it comes to dealing with her drug addicted mother, or so she thinks. When Tully was filming for a news broadcast, she remembered that her mom was staying at a local campsite nearby. Tully is surprised that she wants to go, since she has not seen her since the funeral of her grandmother, and she is stunned that she even has the urge to go as well. When Kristin writes "Tully tried to keep the pride out of her voice, knowing it was stupid to expect anything from her mother, but it was there anyway, in her eyes and in her voice, the shadowy remnant of the pathetic little girl who'd filled twelve memory books so that someday her mother would now her and be proud...Tully wished she'd never come here. She knew what to expect from her mother: nothing. Why couldn't she seem to remember that?" It become clear to the reader Tully still feels upset about her mom not being involved in her life, and how she still is hoping that being on the road to becoming a television broadcaster will make her mom proud. Also, but her remembering that she can't expect anything from her mom, it shows that Tully will be pained and reminded of that for the rest of her life, and how no matter how hard she may try to fight the feeling of abandonment, it will be stuck with her.
Look out for more information on what happens with Tully and Kate's friendship!!
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