"Just Listen" entry #4

author: Sarah Dessen; published: 2006

I chose this book, "Just Listen" because I have read other books by Sarah Dessen before and liked them, so I figured I would like this book too. My expectations were that it would have a little bit of everything in it. That "Just Listen" would have romance, comedy, truth, lies, and all of the in-between. Most of Dessen's books are about teens discovering something about themselves that they had never thought of before or had avoided because they were afraid to face the truth. It's when the teens in Dessen's books face their truths, that they change- usually for the better. Usually the teens or subjects of Dessen's books are going through tough times- parents divorcing, the death of a loved one, a close loved one is sick- the kind of life changing events that especially effect you at that age when you're still living at home. Dessen lived up to my expectations- even surpassed them. After you read several books by one author, you usually get a feel for what the author might right but if they are an especially good writer, they tend to surprise you with unexpected twists and turns. Dessen did this in her book, and even surpassed what I had expected. I guess you could say she's one of those classic authors (or getting there) that I really enjoy- kind of like the type of author most people enjoy including people like Jack London, J.K. Rowling, Stephenie Meyer or J.R.R. Tolkien. Personally, I'm adding Sarah Dessen to my "classic authors/books list", the kind that gets read over and over again.

"Just Listen" entry #3

author: Sarah Dessen; published: 2006

So far as plot, not much happens within the next 75 pages- except that Annabel goes with Rolly and Owen to breakfast for the first time. Here, Annabel becomes slightly amazed that she is spending time with Owen like this, so natural and relaxed and although she doesn't realize it yet- she starts to fall for him. Owen drives Annabel back to her house, and then leaves just as Annabel realizes that Owen left his jacket with her (the breakfast restaurant had been cold) and she would have returned it to him when school started up again on Monday or Tuesday but she realized that Owen also left his ipod with her. Curious, Annabel turns on the ipod to find a playlist on the ipod with her name on it- slightly intrigued she starts playing the list and as she scrolls she finds that every song that she has ever talked about with Owen is on this playlist that has her name on it. Annabel thinks about how she had always wondered what Owen was listening to all the time (he's the type that always has the ipod earbuds in his ears almost 24/7, playing something all the time), and what he was thinking about as he listened to his ipod but "who would have ever guessed that it might have been me (Dessen 203)?", Annabel finds herself thinking. Its when Annabel goes to take the ipod back to Owen that she finds her sister trying to make dinner in the kitchen. At first Annabel makes a move to leave her sister alone (the sister that had the eating disorder), in the kitchen trying to make herself dinner, but then Annabel realizes it must be very difficult for her sister Whitney, seeing that "[...] Whitney hardly ever cooked for herself. My mother monitored all her meals, fixed her snacks and sandwiches, even the cereal she ate for breakfast. I realized that if this was weird for me to watch, it had to be really strange for her to do. Especially alone (Dessen 204)." So for the first time, Annabel cooks dinner with her middle sister, Whitney, and then leaves shortly after to take the ipod and jacket back to Owen. When she arrives at Owen's house, she finds his sister Mallory having a sleep over and playing model/dress-up and taking tons of pictures. Mallory shows Annabel her room- which is covered with pictures of models in all sorts of attire, including pictures of Annabel. Here Annabel discovers that Owen sees her as different from what they can see in the pictures and later that night they kiss for the first time. As Annabel heads home from the photo op, Mallory hands a stack of pictures to Annabel to take home and shortly after Annabel leaves with a lot on her mind. When Owen tried to explain to Annabel exactly what she was to him at his house, she doesn't really get it but then, "I wanted to ask him to explain further, to say what I was to him, exactly. But then I realized maybe he just had. I already knew he thought of me as honest, direct, even funny- all things I had never thought about myself. Who knew what else I could be, what kind of potential there was in the differences between that girl and the one he saw now. So many possibilities (Dessen 217)." Here, its a major turning point for Annabel: she starts to realize who she had been and the differences between who she is now and who she had been and that's changing, and that the girl who Owen sees her as isn't necessarily the girl who she "thinks" she is. All of this is a major turning point in thinking for Annabel.

"Just Listen" entry #2

author: Sarah Dessen; published: 2006

Well, probably the most amazing thing at this point in the book is that Annabel meets Owen- or more like the way she met him. At first they would both sit at or on the wall at lunch- because they both didn't really have friends to sit with at school by that point. Annabel was constantly being confronted by Sophie, her ex-best friend who's convinced, we later find out- that Annabel purposefully slept with her boyfriend, Will. Annabel hates confrontations- and every time they happen, Annabel gets sick and starts throwing up. It's after one of these confrontations with Sophie, that Owen spies Annabel throwing up behind the bushes at school and goes to help her. Owen doing this helps to create a lasting relationship. Before they know it- they're catching each other walking home after school just to give the other a ride & then they start talking about music, Owen's obsession. Shortly after Annabel gets her first ride home with Owen, she meets Owen's little sister- Mallory, a girl who's obssessed with fashion and therefore Annabel Green who's a model. Mallory is also like a hyper-active puppy that seems to get into everything. It's when Annabel gets her first ride home with Owen, that she learns about Owen's radio show and one of his good friends, Rolly, who's extremely forgetful but also obsessed (in love with he says) with some girl that we meet later in the book. Here Annabel listens to Owen's radio show for the first time and we also get a feel for Annabel's relationship with Sophie before the fall out. It doesn't look so good- apparently Sophie's one of those moody, self-absorbed, jealous types & even more so because she goes with Will- who constantly has sex with and goes to other places with girls. Then Annabel gives a ride home to Owen- and meets his sister again, but this time while getting a feel of Owen's life and his neighborhood.

"Just Listen" entry #1

author: Sarah Dessen; published: 2006

So far this book is different from London's "Call of the Wild" where everything is pure fantasy and not necessarily the truth. In "Just Listen" though, things come off differently. You get the feeling as you're reading, that you're reading something akin to a diary or something- that it's the truth and nothing but the truth, or else the truth from how the author views it. Thing is, I don't think the author of this book is Dessen, at least I don't think she wrote it from her point of view so to speak (meaning it's her voice writing or its her diary that I'm reading). Dessen writes this book as if she's the actual main character of the book, Annabel. So far this is what's happened... Annabel has two sisters- both older but completely opposite of each other and she's still in high school, so she still lives her with parents. Supposedly her family is perfect- but then again, not everything is what it seems and that's what Annabel tells the reader, indirectly of course. At first she tells of how her mom acted when her mom found out her mother died- and how although Annabel didn't know it at the time (she was too young to realize what was going on), her mother was depressed and acted so. At times, Annabel's mother wouldn't even get out of the bed and would stay in bed all day, hardly eating anything. She tells of how the whole family tried to act as if everything was ok, fine, perfect and move to take over the things that Annabel's mother left undone. Next Annabel tells of her sister- Whitney of her relationship with their other sister, Kirsten. Mostly they have a rocky relationship because they're complete opposites- Whitney is calm and quiet while Kirsten is loud, talkative and bubbly. When Whitney follows Kirsten to New York to try their luck with modeling (which they've been doing since they were young), things go from bad to worse. For awhile though, the rest of the family don't realize that something is wrong with Whitney, and that she has an eating disorder. Unfortunately though, they won't realize something is terribly wrong with Whitney until Annabel finds her collapsed on the floor of the bathroom early one morning, which then ends up with Whitney in the hospital and everyone acting as they did when Annabel's mother was "sick" that everything is fine- perfectly normal and nothing is wrong.

"The Call of the Wild" entry #3

author: Jack London; published: 1903 & 2002

When Buck meets John Thornton, his life starts to change completely. London states in relation to Buck that, "[...] Love, genuine passionate love, was his for the first time. This he had never experienced at Judge Miller's down in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley. With the Judge's sons, hunting and tramping, it had been a working partnership; with the Judge's grandsons, a sort of pompous guardianship; and with the Judge himself, a stately and dignified friendship. But love that was feverish and burning, that was adoration, that was madness, it had taken John Thornton to arouse (London 140-141)." After stating such, London continues the story with ways that Buck was of service or proved his love to John Thornton. Buck did this in many ways in that he would playfully "bite" John Thornton's hand or in several instances, Buck saved his master's life. Buck saved Thornton's life once by jumping in a river pull him back to shore, or attacking a man that once hit Thornton. It was the last and only time though that Thornton was threatened that Buck wasn't able to save his master. Towards the end of the book, Buck was frequently going on hunting trips on his own into the wild, constantly being drawn to the wild's call. One day when Buck went on one such trip to hunt a huge moose, he came back to the camp in which Thornton had been hunting gold- to find Thornton dead. When Buck found his master dead, he went wild. What happened was that Thornton, his other two dogs and his two friends were attacked at their camp by a tribe of Indians called the Yeehats. The Yeehats killed Thornton and company and as a result, Buck killed many of them. When Buck did killed many of these humans (the Yeehats), it was a huge revelation to him. It was like he was defying the very essence of the law of club & fang. In other words, Buck was stronger than a man- he defeated and killed many men and therefore was stronger than them. The book ends with Buck joining a wolf pack after Thornton dies. In a way, Buck becomes a legend among the Yeehats- for being an evil spirit. True-fully though I don't think Buck was an evil spirit- he was just once again expressing his passionate love for a man (John Thornton) who was killed by the Yeehats- it was just unfortunate that the Yeehats were on the negative, receiving end of that expression of Buck's love.

"The Call of the Wild" entry #2

Author: Jack London; Published: 1903 & 2002

So far in "The Call of the Wild" we've had an introduction to the main character of the book, Buck. The book starts out with Buck still in his home, in Santa Clara Valley and Buck's view on life there to his life starting out in the North and his transition to becoming accustomed to life there. When Buck starts life out in the North, he doesn't know what hit him- he's starved from food and water for two days before he reaches his final destination, where he's beaten half-to-death by a man with a club and wearing a red sweater. Buck remembers him much farther on into the book- but its here that Buck learns the law of club and fang. After a time Buck is sold from the man in the red sweater to Perrault and Francois. Both men where fair and taught Buck well the law of the land- but its here that Buck becomes the master of the law of club and fang. He learns it well, to the point where after a time, Buck fights the lead dog of the team, Spitz for the leadership of the team. Buck wins- and as all fights that follow the law of club and fang, Spitz dies and Buck becomes the unannounced leader of the sled dog team. Of course Perrault and Francois don't realize this, they only know that Spitz is missing and Buck is trying to take Spitz's place in the traces as lead dog in the front of the line. After awhile (and after being humiliated quite a bit by being able to catch or hit Buck to put him in his proper place in the line) - they grudgingly acknowledge Buck as the leader of the sled dog team and he leads the sled dog team from that point onward. After a time, Buck and his team are sold again- this time to a bunch of mail carriers. Buck is worked hard with these masters and during a short period of time runs over 2,500 miles. When Buck and his team are all tuckered out, they are sold yet again- this time to two men named Hal and Charles and one woman named Mercedes. These two men and one woman know nothing about living on the trail, let alone living in the wilds of Alaska. They are so disorganized that at best they barely make 10 miles a day, which was less than a quarter of what Buck and his team were capable of doing at their best. Of course by this point in time they are worn out and are over-loaded with a top heavy sled, but for some mysterious reason Hal, Charles and Mercedes won't listen to other people's advice and go ahead when the pack ice starts thawing and becoming bad ice to sled on. At one point, Buck lays in this middle of the trail- refusing to get up and its here that Buck meets John Thornton, a kind man that he comes to love for saving his life.

"The Call of the Wild" entry #1

author: Jack London; published: 1903 & 2002

On one note, I stopped reading Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" because it just proved to be uninteresting to me. I could never get into the book, and several times while reading it in fact (I am ashamed to admit) I feel asleep. Indeed, it's a very difficult book for me to get into. I don't know why, but his other book "A Walk in the Woods" proved much more interesting to me and hilarious. This might be because I've had personal experience hiking in the woods and found it exhausting, memorable, and amazing all in wrapped into one package.

On a different note, I decided to read "The Call of the Wild" as my classic book, which I hope will be ok since it is a fiction book. One thing that I'm noting is that London changes his point of view that he's writing from when writing about the main character of this book, Buck. At first he writes this book from the third person, as if someone is watching the events occur and then is making notes of them as they occur. Then London seems to change his point of view that he's writing from somewhere in the first 75 pages, at first its disconcerting but at the same time it makes it exciting- almost as if you're with Buck himself and experiencing the same things he's experiencing. Mostly the reason why this type of writing is disconcerting is because London switches back and forth between first person and second person- making it difficult to follow at times. Then again, when I think about it- I couldn't see writing about this topic working in any other fashion and making the plot line flow quite as smoothly.