Book I Plan on Reading Next

    The book that I plan on reading next is The Fault in Our Stars. I would like to read this because I know many people that have read it and fell in love with it from the beginning. I have read some online reviews of this book and all of them say it is an amazingly sad book, and is written perfectly. I also know that the movie for this book will be coming out this summer and I really would like to read the book before I see the movie, since the book is almost always portrayed much better than a film.

     Another reason I would really like to read this book is because it is everything I enjoy in the books that I read. Online sources and reviews say it is romantic, suspenseful, tragic, and especially dramatic. I know that the main plot line is a girl that has been diagnosed with a very serious and deadly type of cancer falls in love with a boy she had recently met. Now, this may not seem like it could be any better than some other novel with a plot line similar to this such as My Sister's Keeper, but from what I have already heard about it, it is written in a way that just makes it so much more tragic, dramatic, and romantic. I predict that when I start reading it, I will not be able to put the book down!

Review of Lock and Key

     Lock and Key is a novel about a teenage girl, Ruby, who undergoes many drastic changes after her mother had abandoned her. The story starts off describing Ruby and her mother's daily life and describing some of Ruby's main traits such as independent, unpredictable, and troubled. Ruby and her mother move around often in the early pages of the book, and within the first few chapters, Ruby has been abandoned by her mother, who Ruby thinks has run away with her new boyfriend, and is forced to move in with her older sister Cora.

     Cora left Ruby and her mother when Ruby was little. By now, she had her entire life planned out; college, career, husband,wealth, children. This all had to be adjusted, however, when Ruby moved in and the adjustment wasn't only for Cora. Ruby had never known what it was like to have a lot in life and didn't know what to think of it. She had a new school, new home, new lifestyle all together. It was very overwhelming for her, and as Ruby is a very independent and quiet person, it was very hard for her to try and fit in with everyone else and become accustomed to her new life.

   I am not entirely finished with this book yet, but I really like it a lot! I would probably rate it 9 out of 10 stars. This book is an amazing book for any person who likes intriguing and realistic novels. The writing style throughout the entire book is told in third person from the main character, Ruby's, point of view. This style of writing allows you to have a better look at how Ruby is feeling about all of this change that is happening with her and you can really see how much she had to adjust her way of living, and personally, I really enjoy these things in a book.

The Best Thing about Lock and Key

    The book Lock and Key is a really great book. I think that one of the best things about this book is how visual it is. The diction that Sarah Dessen uses really makes you feel as if you are a part of the book and you are just viewing the main character, Ruby's, life from the side. An example of amazing diction used to create visualization is "Everything was stiff and smelly, and the more I took down the more I could see the rest of the kitchen: the pots and pans piled in the sink, the buckets I'd used to collect water from the bathroom, the clothesline, now sagging over my head. I was doing just fine, I'd told Cora, and at the time I believed it. But now, standing there with my stiff clothes in my arms, the smell of rotting food filling my nostrils, I wasn't so sure anymore." (Dessen 87) I really liked all of the well thought out diction that was used at this part of the book. I thought that it had really made the setting and what Ruby was doing come to life. Some of my favorite words that Sarah Dessen used in this quote are stiff, smelly, piled, sagging, rotting, and filling.

    Another one of the best things about this book is how Dessen clearly describes how Ruby is feeling on the inside. She always uses very descriptive words that clearly showcases how Ruby feels about what is happening around her, with her, and to the people most near to her. This can help you really connect with the main character and the story. I really enjoy the connection that has been made as I have read this book because I find it very helpful for my understanding of parts that could be seen as confusing or particularly difficult to read.

Vocabulary within Lock and Key

     In the book, Lock and Key, Sarah Dessen uses her large vocabulary to create amazing diction in the novel. Dessen uses a multitude of creative words to really show many characteristics of all of the characters. For example, a quote that clearly displays her vocabulary and way of making the characters really come to life is "Unlike Perkins Day, the elite private school known for its lacrosse team, stellar SAT scores, and the fact that the student parking lot featured more luxury automobiles than a European car dealershio. The only contact we ever had with Perkins Day kids was when they felt like slumming at parties." (Dessen 22)

 

     This quote that I had picked to show the vast vocabulary, shows how different the school that Ruby now attends is from her old school, Perkins Day. To describe how glamorous her new school is, Dessen used words like elite, private, stellar, featured, luxury, which all show how expensive the taste of many of the students at this new school is. However, when she compared it to Perkins Day, she used the word slumming. When you compare slumming to elite, you can see that the students that still go to Perkins Day are rather poor, and do more things that are not accostumed to at her new school, which is more expensive and fabulous.

Sarah Dessen

 

     Sarah Dessen, the author of my book, Lock and Key, is a New-York Times best selling author of many books that were meant for young adults. As I have learned from previous experiences, Sarah writes many love stories that will usually have a twist within them. Dessen was born June 6, 1970, in Evanston, Illinois. Her education included starting her years at college at Greensboro College, but later dropping out and finishing by taking some classes at the University of North Carolina. That Summer, Dessen's first book, was published in 1996. After this first major publication her writing career really kicked off and she wrote 11 other books that were published during the late ninety's, all the way up into 2013. Personally, I have really enjoyed reading her books. I love all of the suspenseful moments and plot twists within such an intriguing love story. One thing that I had found very interesting about Sarah Dessen, is that her books That Summer and Someone Like You were the basis to the 2003 Mandy Moore movie, How to Deal. Finally, I had found a video clip of Sarah Dessen herself talking about Lock and Key, which is the book I am currently reading, and how she came up with all of the ideas within the book.

     

Most Important Line in the beginning of Lock and Key

 

     I think that the most important line that contributes to the story within the first few chapters, is where Ruby described her mother waking up angry at her and her sister, and she describes how when her mother would do this, Cora would step in front of Ruby and protect her from the angry drunk lady that was supposed to be their mother. "As my mother approached, annoyed and usually spoiling for a fight, my sister would always step in front of me. ... Of course, I knew my mother was still coming toward me, but it was always Cora I kept my eyes on: her dark hair, the sharp angles of her shoulder blades, the way, when things were really bad, she'd reach her hand back to find mine, closing her fingers around it." (Dessen 57). I believe that this is the most important line in the story so far, because it shows how protective Cora was over Ruby, and it sort of makes you believe that now that they are older, it will still apply later in this story somehow. It also shows how strong the bond between the two sisters was and probably still will be after thay had spent a few days together.

Setting of Lock and Key

     The main settings of Lock and Key so far have been the little yellow house, which is where the book started off at, and Ruby's sister, Cora's, house.

 

     The little yellow house tucked deep into the woods is a mess. After Ruby's mother left her, the entire house became even more of a reck than when her mother was still there. The wood paneling covering almost the entire inside began to rot, the dirty dishes piled high, the dryer had broken and clothes were hung throughout the kitchen.The most disturbing part about the yellow house was the dirty ash trays and cases of empty bottles, that were once filled with variations of booze.

     After Ruby was forced to move in with Cora, everything that she had once known to be right was considered wrong and improprt. Cora's house was large, with an extravagent amout of rooms. The entire place was spotless. No drinking or smoking, working washers and dryers and expecially no dirty dishes.The house was decorated with plain walls and carpet and incredibly expensive furniture. The backyard reflects perfectly on the house. It was also plain but decorated with a few rose bushes and trees. This was nothing like Ruby had experienced ever before. Now, she felt that she lived in a place that she did not belong.