Monday, January 26, 2009

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson

Mary E. Pearson author of The Adoration of Jenna Fox tells a story of girl who was so loved by her parents, they did everything they could to save her life.
Excerpt: p 226
Kara was crying and screaming, desperately turning the steering wheel. We were tossed about, none of us had bothered to put on our seat restraints in our rush to leave the party. The car skidded, then rolled when the shoulder turned to cliff. I was screaming, flying. Tumbling. Glass sprayed like a thousand knives, and the world had no up or down. The fear was so complete it webbed together our screams and motion. Flying free and the sickening thud of my skull on the ground. Or was it Kara I heard, landing next to me? And then the sounds of dripping, hissing and soft moans that seemed to hover in the air above me. And finally just blackness.
I never saw Kara and Locke again.
They are my witnesses. They alone know that I didn’t drive that night.
When Jenna begins to question why she has no memory of her past he mother tries to explain:
p 118 “You were burned so badly Jenna. We tried everything. Even with all the temporary grafts, you were losing so much fluid. The antibiotics weren’t working. By the time they got you to surgery your heart had stopped twice. They had the Bio Gel waiting. They saved as much as was still viable. The butterfly, Jenna. That’s what they call it. The heart of the brain. That you still have.” (p 119)
At the end of the story, you realize that because of their Adoration of Jenna Fox, two parents manipulated science and medicine to save the life of their only child.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Deadline

Deadline by Chris Crutcher
Have you ever kept a secret from your family and your friends? Ben keeps a secret from the people he cares about for over half the school year. But then he realizes when everyone finds out, they will be hurt he didn't tell them. He didn't tell them he would be dead in less than a year.

Ben's doctor tells him he has a terminal blood disease after getting the results of his physical. Ben decides to keep that news to himself and make his senior year the best ever. He goes out for football instead of track. Ben confronts the history teacher when he disagrees.

Ben finally realizes keeping his illness a secret is going to hurt everyone even more. The first person he tells is the town drunk.