The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Dear journal,
     Heaven is much different then what I expected. Well, I didn't really have a clear idea of it, I never would've thought I'd be dead at 14. I always thought I'd live a long life.
     Over the first few weeks of me being here. I have been watching my family, friends and my very own life go on without me. I've watched my parents marriage falling apart over me. I feel like all he bad things going on at home are my fault. I didn't choose to get murdered. I wish they could keep things the way they were before. For me. But I guess it doesn't even matter anyway. What's done is done and I have to stop feeling sorry for myself. Im dead. I'm in heaven. And I can't change anything. This is what its gonna be like for now on. It's almost like I'm stranded behind one of those pieces of glass, where I can see them, but they can't see me. I just wish I could just run through it. I miss my mom and dad, I miss Buckley and Lindsay, I even just miss my own bed. Everyday, something looks different. Lindsay started wearing makeup. I wish I was there. She really needs some help with it, I guess she's gotten better at it. It's just so strange to see my family this way, so hollow looking.
     My father knows Mr. Harvey did this to me. I just wish everyone else would see it too. Lindsay knows it too. She snuck into his house the other day, and stole the drawing of the hole he killed me in. I will say, that Mr. Harvey is very good at covering up his murder. He's always so kind to the officers coming to ask him questions, he says she feels bad for the "poor girl",and the person that did it is a terrible person, and blah blah blah. I hate watching that, it makes me sick to my stomach.
     Lots of love,
            Suzie S

Dreamland by Sarah Dessen #Spoiler alert

     I recently finished "Dreamland" by Sarah Dessen. It's mainly about a 16 year old girl name Caitlin who's sister Cass, ran away to new york to be with her boyfriend. 

     Caitlin changes a lot throughout the book. In the beginning, she meets this guys named Rogerson who's a drug dealer. Even though she always goes with him when he's dealing, she never did any drugs. But one day when she meets this girl Corinna, who is a chain smoker, she decides to try pot. And she continued smoking pot everyday with Corinna because it made her forget about Cass, and numb the pain of missing her.

     One day, Caitlin and Rogerson go to his house past his curfew. And Rogerson's dad comes in the room and slaps him. When Caitlin see's this part of Rogerson's life it makes her understand him more and become closer to him. 

     When Caitlin and Rogerson were driving in the car, they got into a huge fight, And he slaps her. This started happening a lot. But she loved Rogerson too much to break up with him.

     At the end of the book, Caitlin's mom see's Rogerson hitting her and calls the police. Rogerson get's arrested. And her mom finds a bag of weed in Caitlin's jacket, so she puts her in rehab.

    In rehab, she talks about her feelings with Cass running away, and how she always felt like she was following in her sisters footsteps, so Rogerson was her way of creating her own path.

    "Dreamland" by Sarah Dessen is an amazing book about a girl dealing with her sister running away, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

     I recently finished the touching and powerful book, "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. The main character was a girl, named Scout Finch who lives with her brother and her father Atticus, a triumphant lawyer in their tired town of Maycomb, Alabama. Jem and scout become friends with a boy named Dill, who is living in Maycomb for the summer. The three of them become fascinated by the spooky house on the end of street called the Radley Place. The house is owned by Mr. Nathan Radley, who's brother, Boo Radley, has lived their for years without ever leaving it. Many bad rumors surround him, like that he is a runaway murderer who steals children. But Atticus tells  them to see the world from other peoples perspective.
     Another plot line involves a black man named Tom Robinson, who is charged of raping a white woman. Atticus take the case because he believes that their is a serious mistake. The entire Finch family is given the cold shoulder by their white neighbors, and welcomed into the black community. When the trial is finally over Atticus proved that the white woman actually seduced Tom and the bruises and cuts on her face from her father. mad that she tried to sleep with a black man. Despite the evidence that Atticus has, the white jury convicts Tom and he is later killed while trying to escape from jail.
    The woman's father is angry at Atticus because he claims he made a fool of him. So he attacks Scout and Jem one night, and tries to hurt them. But they are saved Boo. Who then kills the attacker.
    Scout finally comes face to face with the person she has been fearing this whole time, and realizes that Boo is very kind man, who stays covered because he suffers from a mental issue that makes him appear simple. The lesson that Scout learns from Tom and from Boo is the importance of seeing people how they are, and not from the misunderstandings of racism.