Free Choice Reading. Post #3

NAME: Kelsey
DATE: February 3,2010
BOOK: The Lovely Bones
AUTHOR: Alice Seabold
PAGES: 214 - 328
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 328

QUESTION 1:What was one of your favorite lines (or sentences) in what you read today? Copy it down and tell why you liked it.

RESPONSE 1:
In what I read today one of my favorite sentences is "At the tips of feathers there is air and at their base : blood. I hold up bones; I wish like broken glass they could court light ...still I try to place these pieces back together, to set them firm, to make murdered girls live again."
I liked this piece from the book because this is one of the poems that Ruth wrote. This is the only poem that they show in the book and all though I don't understand the full poem I do understand some of it. I really like this poem though and I think it is very interesting. It really shows what Ruth is feeling. I think that "Ruth" in the book is a very talented writer. I think that she really channels her feelings well into this piece of work.


QUESTION 2: Explain how the author creates suspense in this book.

RESPONSE 2:
In this book there are times when there is a lot of suspense. One of these parts was when Lindsey snuck into Mr. Harvey's house. Lindsey breaks open a basement window of Mr. Harvey's house and begins too search for his bedroom. She thinks she has about 45 minutes until she has to get out. She finds Mr. Harvey's bedroom and begins to look for evidence that he committed Suzie's murder. She finds his sketchbook sitting on his beside table. During the time she finds it and walks over to it she doesn't put together the sounds of a car pulling up to the house, a squeak of the cars breaks, and a car door slamming shut, signifying that Mr. Harvey has come home. She begins looking through the sketchbook. She finds a page that can be used as evidence and tears t out of the book. Right then Mr. Harvey hears a board squeak and starts rushing up the stairs. Lindsey opens and jumps out of a window to get away, but Mr. Harvey still sees the soccer jersey with her soccer number on it and knows it is her.
This part made me very anxious and nervous. I started reading really fast at this part because I wanted to know what was going to happen next. Alice uses good descriptions of what is happening and she lengthens out certain scenes to make them more intense and suspenseful.

Free Choice Reading. Post #2

NAME: Kelsey DATE: February 2,2010
BOOK: The Lovely Bones
AUTHOR: Alice Seabold
PAGES: 84 - 214
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 328

QUESTION 1: Which character would you like to be like? In what way? Why?

RESPONSE 1:
If I could be like a character in this book I would choose to be like Lindsey. Lindsey is a very strong person both physically and mentally. I think that out of all her family members besides Buckley she handles Suzie's disappearance the best. Lindsey acts very strong. She doesn't let Suzie's death effect her as much as the others do. She pretends like it didn't happen sometimes and then others she just tells herself that everything is going to be all right.
Another character that I like in this book and would want to be like is Ruth in the sense that she is very artistic and she is a very good poet. I like this about her a lot. I think this gives her character something different that none of the other characters have. Ruth is a very important character in this book because of how she felt Suzie touch her when Suzie's spirit left the earth. I like the way Ruth takes this experience and other things that she begins to feel about it and writes them down in the form of a poem. I really like this about her.

QUESTION 2: What other character(s) beside the main character is really important to the story? How and why?

RESPONSE 2:
I think that one of the most important characters in this book besides Suzie is Franny. All though Franny isn't mentioned much she plays a big role in Suzie's heaven. Franny is the person that gives Suzie the map to the pear tree where she sees the other girls that Mr. Harvey has killed. This is a good experience for Suzie it shows her that she isn't the only one that has been killed. I like this part in the book a lot and I like Franny's character. She reminds me of a nanny or a caretaker of the girls in heaven which is basically what she is.
I also think that Ruth is a very important characters in this book. Ruth is pretty much Suzie's main connection to earth. Ruth even though she didn't really know Suzie took great interest in her death after Suzie's spirit touched Ruth when going to heaven. Ruth writes poems about Suzie's death and thinks about it a lot. She also becomes good friends with Suzie's lover Ray. I think this is important because they become really good friends and Ray begins to be able to talk about what happened to Suzie with Ruth. Ruth writes down anything she notices about places where people could have been murdered or raped, and different scenarios she sees play through her head about what happened at these places inside of a journal she has. This journal also holds the poems about Suzie.

Free Choice Reading. Post #1

NAME: Kelsey DATE: February 2,2010
BOOK: The Lovely Bones
AUTHOR: Alice Seabold
PAGES: 1 - 84
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 328

QUESTION 1: What does this book make you wonder about? Why?

RESPONSE 1:
There are a lot of things this book makes me wonder about. One of the main things this book has made me wonder about is our world and how things like rape and murder can happen to anyone. This book has really come o make me realize that things like this do happen everyday. Young girls are being beaten, hurt, and that's sad to know. This book has made me wonder how many people might have had happen to them what happened to Suzie. As the family of a victim of that, that would be very hard to cope with.
Another thing this book has made me wonder about is the police and investigations. Through out this portion of the book the police are starting to begin their investigation and search for answers on what might have happened to Suzie. They don't find any evidence that could pinpoint to one person saying that they murdered Suzie. This makes me wonder about our own police force. Are there cases left hanging like this? Can the police and detectives sometimes not find anything? This portion of the book is just starting the investigation. When I read this portion I remember wanting to know what the police were going to find if they found anything, and how the case would end up.


QUESTION 2: What do you think about a particular character's actions? Was he/she right or wrong to do that?

RESPONSE 2:
At the very beginning of this book, in the first chapter it describes Suzie's rape and murder. The murderer and rapist is Mr.Harvey. Obviously I along with any other that will or have read this book think this is very wrong. Mr. Harvey was wrong to do this but without this beginning there would be no story. In this first chapter it talks about how Mr. Harvey gets Suzie into the hole in the cornfield with him. I think that Mr. Harvey planned this very well for the benefit of himself. I'm not saying that I think what he did was right but that I do think he planned the way he was going to rape and murder her well. He definitely had a good plan that worked. I think that because the police don't find anything but Suzie's elbow, hat, and book shows that he did a good job covering up his tracks. I think his actions were good for himself but from the readers point of view what he did was horrible and I hate how Suzie is killed in the end of the chapter.