blog #5

  One of the biggest Character personality changes has to be Delaney. When she was first introduce she came off as a snobby girl. She was rude, thought she was all this and that. But for her the reasons she acted so rude is because her whole life her mother and father have been looking for another girl. And that was Carey. Delaney says that she feels like she was always left behind, in the back. Little did she know that those two girls would change her life for the better. They opened her eyes at seeing everyone else differently. Delaney took a liking to Jenessa quite quickly. She cared for her as if they were related. Delaney became protective and only wanted the best for Jenessa. Now Carey, Delaney didn't like her as her whole life revolved around her. Carey had been placed in the same grade, homeroom and school are Delaney. She protested but her parents won saying it would be easier for Carey to adjust if she knew at least one person. Carey was liking the guy Delaney maybe liked, and started hanging out with him. Delaney was very against that. The change that happened there was important because Delaney starts to grow as caring for other people. One of the people she first liked was Jenessa and after Carey told her that by calling her a freak she's calling Jenessa one too. Delaney was hurt by her own words. She didn't realize it because she loved Jenessa. This change was able to improve her view on life. Delaney definitely changed but its small changes, its hard to see throughout the story because she gets mad at Carey a lot. It isn't until the end She actually becomes a better person and the change is noticeable.

blog #4

   If I had the chance to be friends with anyone in the book it would be Pixie aka Courtney. She has a very fun, friendly, outgoing personality. She isn't afraid of what people think about her and her age or the clothes she wears. From the story she likes one of Shakespeare's stories and she can read it by heart. She gets excited when she goes to a party and is a very supportive character towards Carey. They went to the party together and she was one of the first people to actually talk to Carey. She's a good character with a good heart and those are the kinds of people we need in our lives. If you are to hang out with someone that has a similar or the same personality you start getting their habits. You'll find yourself becoming more confident and little more fearless. That's how I see Pixie. Pixie seems like the kind of girl that understands you when you have a problem, one that's going to be by your side. She doesn't judge people or let them feel excluded since she is younger then the students in grade 10 and tends to stand out more. She was one of the first people that began to form a best friend relationship with Carey. Pixie has a sweet, quirky, and funny personality. Another friend would be Delaney, even though she was rude to Carey in the beginning of the story she later shows her kind side. She loves Jenessa and after finding out what happened and having that promise with Carey, her life kind of unfolds. Towards the end of the book she turns into that person that would be a good friend. You have to find the good in the bad. And Delaney is finally letting it shine.

blog #3

  One of the many problem Carey faces is accepting people into her life and trusting them. When Ryan came back into her life and showed her the news paper clippings, she thought it was all over. He tried to prove to her that he wouldn't judge her and he was looking for his best friend he lost. Carey accepts his friendship at first but feels judge by the popular kids like Delaney and her friends. She feels betrayed by Delaney but it is proven that Ryan got the news paper from his mother who was also helping to find Carey. She thought that Delaney has shown him the news paper. Ryan went thought a lot as he reveals to her when they have a heart to heart. She feels that its only right to trust the boy who used to swing with her when they were little. The boy who stood up for her when her mother got angry. For some people its hard to trust others after what they've been through. Carey was basically lied to her whole life and it would seem hard to trust others. I can see how this could cause some problems . If someone just got out of a horrible relationship lets say, will have a harder time falling back in love as they are left betrayed, and hurt. It feels like they will never find happiness with another anymore. Its one that most people hear about. Its happens to many people. You have to find the good in people to trust them.

blog #2

   The setting of this book was in the Obed Wild and Scenic River National Park. I would say this setting is important because, if the girls where living in a different area the story wouldn't make as much sense. Its a girl and her younger sister basically living alone in a trailer. Another setting to the story is the home they moved into when Mrs,Haskell and their father found them. These settings are important to the story because it makes up the characters personality. The woods are their home. They say the woods saw everything. If they were put in a different location it wouldn't be the same story.  When the girls moved into their new home the environment showed what love was. They experienced help which they didn't have before. If they were put in foster care they could have been separated. Their foster parents might have been mean. One of the biggest things for them they got to experience is love. This is something they never had before and knew what it felt like. They created a bond with their father, a figure they didn't know what was. When they moved from the woods they left their only home they had. The woods was a nightmare for them but it kept them at peace. This setting of the novel, the woods and their new home, is so important as it creates the characters. Because of the changes the girls faces it finally builds them to have a better life than they thought they would ever have.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

blog #1

  "There are notes for happiness,too,if you listen past the ache." (264) This quote appeals to me because its true. Everyone has hard times and it feels like things will never get better. But you have to find the beauty in ugly. Happiness isn't easy to get, you must believe that something wonderful is going to happen. The past is the past and it can't be changed, but you can learn from it. You put that information to make your life better. If there are hard times you must search for happiness. You must let go of what hurts to grow. For some people is being in a bad relationship or friendship. For other it might be an opportunity they missed. If you had the chance to do something great but were afraid it put you're whole life back. You might never get the chance again or if you do the fear you got first might come back.You must remember that sometimes the best things come from things that scare you. This quote fits in with novel because it shows that amazing things will happen if you believe they will. Carey never thought she would actually live with her father again or get away from the woods. Yet after pain, light shone through and gave her the best she could ask for. She got another sister, a real mother, and her father back, as well a a three legged dog named shorty. Life can be hard and unfair sometimes, but believe and happiness will break all the ache even if you think it won't.

Epilogue

Once home Carey calls Mrs. Haskell and tells her everything. Carey and her father go and meet with the officers and tell them the whole story. The officers listen and say the man that hurt them had been wanted for many reasons. They said what Carey did was out of self defense. Nothing was going to happen to her or Jenessa. News got around and soon everyone knew about what had happened to them. people respected her because she was a survivor. Delaney and her friends were really nice to her as well. Ryan did what he could to make her fell comfortable. everything was starting to fall in its place. This was the life Carey always wanted and dreamed about and it was finally hers.

chapter 15 summary

In chapter 15 Carey explains that a man hurt her in the woods and was about to hurt her sister so she did what she had to, to protect her. Carey was afraid of what would happen and her father hugs and reassures her everything will be fine and nothing bad will happen to her. he explains that her mother took her when she was young and he did everything he could to find her. She also tells him about Ryan and their friendship.

chapter 14 summary

In chapter 14 Shorty goes missing and for the first time Jenessa speaks. No yells. She goes crazy trying to find him and everyone joins to find him. Once found he goes to an emergency pet hospital as he is seriously injured from  some barbed wire. Carey finally knows its time to tell her father about what really happened that night that Jenessa stopped talking.

chapter 13 summary

In chapter 13 Carey and Delaney promise to keep each others secret. Her Delaney learns about her and Ryan. The friendship begins to form together.

chapter 12 summary

In chapter 12 Carey and Pixie (Courtney) attend a party where they are both split apart. Pixie joins her other friends and Carey finds Ryan. There they both apologized about what happened at the park. They kiss for the first time and begin to make a relationship out of it. He tells her about how he remembers her as his best friend. He also p[lays the piano for her. Once he left she searches for Pixies only to find Delaney with a guy and leaves the party with Pixies. Pixies describes the party as "the most amazing night of my entire life." (200)

chapter 11 summary

During chapter 11 she meets with Ryan again and they talk outside at a park. They share their lunches and he finally shows her a news clipping about a girl that went missing before and Carey freaks out and leaves Ryan by himself after yelling at him blaming Delaney for showing it to him. When she gets home her father talks to her about how Jenessa stopped talking. He tried to get more information about it only to not get any from Carey.

chapter 10 summary

In chapter 10 Carey goes to school and Delaney who is supposed to help her ends up ditching her for her friends. There she meets Ryan who helps her around school and takes her her first class. In that class she meets Courtney who befriends her quickly. Later Carey is sitting by herself Ryan joins her. She plays the violin for him. Later on that day they get the letter that their mother left them saying that she could no longer take care of girls. Delaney calls Carey a freak and mocking Carey.

chapter 9 summary

In chapter 9 Delaney gets into a fight with her parents about Carey being in the same grade as her. There Carey waits to see what her father and mother will do. They do nothing but say that they'll talk to her. As Carey does the dishes she sees Delaney playing with her friends and thinks about what her mother said about that "music is a bridge[...]it connects folks on a higher level, sayin' what words can't say."(122) Carey starts thinking this way about Delaney.

chapter 8

During chapter 8 both the girls get back their results from the tests. Delaney is told to stay and help Carey around school. Then they later talk more about how they want Jenessa to talk again and how she once went to a speech therapist. They included that she got once a week and start questing if she can really speak.

chapter 7

In chapter 7 she remembers about school and Delaney. She also has a sweet moment with Melissa because she bought her new clothes and tries them on. Here she sees herself as a different girl. And Melissa compliments her which make Carey feel like the girl she always wanted to be and feels beautiful. From then Carey starts calling Melissa, Melissa and not ma'am. Which Melissa appreciates.

chapter 6 summary

During chapter 6 Carey enjoys dinner with her father, Melissa, Jenessa, and Delaney. Here Delaney gets mad and has to excused. She ends up washing the dishes and has flash backs of her mother in the woods. When Carey gets mad at her mother for forgetting her daughters age. Then her and Jenessa have to take exams to see where their grades are at. Carey is at a grade 11 level but is put into a grade 10 level to get more comfortable in her school and Jenessa is put into grade 2. During this time she meet up with Mrs.Haskell.

Chapter 5 summary

In chapter 5 they fully get to Delaney that also goes by Delly. She's rude to Carey. Carey and Jenessa both go check out their rooms and find that their fully decorated with dolls or books. Shorty goes in the house and Delaney yells at him but Jenessa want him to stay. This is also their first time sleeping in the house. They fall asleep without eating dinner.

chapter 4 summary

 In chapter 4 Carey and Jenessa finally go to court to finally be put into their fathers custody. On the way we find out their going to live in Tennessee. Along the way they go to a restaurant where Jenessa eats too much and throws up. This is also the first time they meet Melissa and Delaney who is Melissa's daughter. And they also meet Shorty, the three legged dog.

chapter 3 summary

In chapter 3 not a lot of things happened. Jenessa fell asleep while Carey started having flashbacks. In the morning Carey used toothpaste and it was quite interesting to see that since she hadn't used that in years. In this chapter it was also the first time she had a warm shower that's not in the trailer.

Chapter 2 summary

Chapter 2

In chapter 2 Carey and Jenessa are on their way to a hotel when Carey tries chips again after a few years. A lot of the chapter involves Carey thinking about her father and Mrs. Haskell. Later on she tries actual fast food for the first time.

Chapter 1 summary

In chapter 1 we meet the main characters Carey, Jenessa, Mrs.Haskell, and their father. The girls mother is in charge with bringing supplies, but Carey is more of a mother to Jenessa than their own mother. They girls live in the backwoods of Tennessee. When their food supply was running low, they were thankfully found to months after their mother left them. Mrs.Haskell and their father had been searching for them and were planning on taking the girls from the camper they had been living in. Carey decided it was best for them if they left with the strangers.