Reading Response #2: The Night She Disappeared



Road where Kayla was kidnapped



                This book is about a girl, named Kayla, who gets kidnapped on a back road by a forest . Her kidnapper was actually trying to kidnap Kayla’s co-worker Gabie. They work together at Pete’s Pizza together. Gabie and Kayla switch shifts at work so Kayla can work Wednesday and get Friday off. Gabie drives a Mini Cooper and when the kidnapper ordered his pizza, he asked if the girl who drove the Mini Cooper would deliver them. Even though Kayla did not drive a Mini Cooper, she was working Gabie's shift, so the kidnapper mistook her for Gabie driving a different car.

 

Black Mini Cooper

                When Kayla awoke in the white room her kidnapper placed her in, her first reaction was panic.

                                “But the handle won’t turn more than a half inch. I twist it the other way. It won’t move at all. “Let me out! Let me out!”  I pound on the door. Then I stop to listen. Nothing. Silence.”(pg.37)

                Kayla reacted how most would react in a foreign situation. Most would panic until they wear themselves out and force themselves to stop. Kayla then takes the time to evaluate her surroundings. She meets her kidnapper who wants her to be his imprisoned slave. Kayla won’t cooperate and has to be beaten into submission. She submits for a while. She secretly plans to get herself free.

                                “I still have to play along. I can’t afford to let him see that I’m still here. Inside the other Kayla. I have to pick my time and place. And I’ll only have one chance.”(pg. 159)

                Kayla puts on a show for her kidnapper. After she realizes that begging or force won’t get her out, she starts using her brain. She turns to logic and strategy. She uses her limited household resources and makes tools for her escape.

Reading Response #1: Dust & Decay

             Dust & Decay is set in a world where zombies run rampant. The main character is Benny Imura. He receives bounty hunter training from his older brother Tom Imura. Tom also trains Nix, Chong, and Morgie. In the last book, Benny and Nix come across Lilah, a girl who has been alone most of her life and hunted to survive.  While out in the great Rot and Ruin (or the outside of the settlement in Mountainside), a great jumbo jet circles the sky. The jet could mean civilization. Nix, Benny, Tom, and Lilah decide to track the jet and see where it came from. For the first stretch of their journey, Chong decides to join them, mostly because he has a crush on Lilah and wanted to go with her. This review is going to focus on Chong.

Mountainside

            The group experiences trouble at the start of their journey. They run into a white rhinoceros. The rhinoceros is territorial and charges at them. Chong panics and makes their escape more difficult. Lilah's view of him is low because of that. She thinks that he is not cut out for the Rot and Ruin and tells him so.  Chong feels weak and inadequate. He feels guilty about the trouble he caused so he runs away.

            When he is on the run, two bounty hunters find him. He tries to fight them, but they are more skilled than him and knock him out. When he comes to, he is greeted by the great White Bear. White bear takes Chong to Gameland so he can be thrown into a pit and forced to fight against zombies. When Chong is first thrown into the pit, he reflects on his past moments.

Zombie Pit

                        “While he knelt there, his mind did terrible things to him. It conjured images of Lilah standing over him, watching him kneel in sobbing defeat, and laughing. Laughing at the weak, skinny kid. At the “town boy” who thought he could be a warrior. At the fool who dared to think that he could ever in a million years win the love of someone as magical and powerful as the legendary Lost Girl. At the loser who had endangered the lives of his friends. At the coward who had run away. The images and the implications were like nails driven into his flesh. But sometimes shame is a more powerful engine than rage.”(pg. 270-271)

            A lot of times, you will see this kind of thought in anything you see or read. It’s a great invite for character development. At this point, Chong could give up and be what everyone thinks he is, or fight to prove to himself that he is strong.  He ends up choosing to fight for himself.

            There is a good moral here. When you’ve hit rock bottom, the only way left to go is up.

           

101 Things About Me

1. My favorite television show is Supernatural. I like the story the show tells and I like the characters.

2. My favorite history is ancient history.

3. My favorite mythology is Norse mythology because it has the weirdest tales.

4. Astronomy and astrology fascinate me.

5. One of my favorite book series is the Adventure of Sherlock Holmes because I love reading how Mr. Holmes solves crimes by observation and deduction.

6. My favorite color is black.

7. Some of my favorite bands are Lincoln Park, Green Day, and Bastille.

8. Halloween is my favorite holiday because I love dressing up.

9. My favorite bird is an owl (any species) because they look so intelligent and are the symbol of knowledge.

10. My favorite movie trilogy is the Star Wars trilogy (the older movies).

11. My favorite hero is Batman because he doesn't need powers to fight crime.

12. I play clarinet in the PHS Viking band.

13. My favorite brand of shoes is converse because they aren't bulky (like tennis shoes) and cover the whole foot (unlike sandals and flats).

14. My lucky number is 13.

15. My favorite mythical creatures are dragons because they come in so many shapes and sizes and are so powerful.