Literacy Blog #1

1.                The book that I am currently reading is called "Abandon" by Meg Cabot. The novel is about this girl, Pierce who once met this "guy," John, when she was younger; he brought a bird back to life. Later, when Pierce died, drowning in a pool, trying to save a bird, the "guy" appeared. He was there, in the subterranean cavern along the shore of a windy lake, where all the deceased people go before they go to their final destination. Once she noticed him, Pierce came towards John and as he recognized her, Pierce agreed to go to a quieter and warm place with him. John takes her to his place and tells Pierce that she can't leave because she chose to come with him and this was her supposedly final destination. As they started talking he gave her this gray-blue diamond necklace and told her it would keep her safe from harm. From all this change she had to get away, so she ran down a flight of stairs and became alive again. Since she "died," Pierce has been in strange situations, which end up with John "coming to the rescue."  Throughout the book she keeps seeing him in her life, but doesn't understand why because in the current time it makes no sense.
2.                The protagonist in the novel Abandon is Pierce Oliviera. She is a fifteen year old girl, and now lives in Isla Huesos. She has long dark brown hair with fairly tanned skin and always wears the blue-gray diamond necklace given to her by John. Even though she only wears it under her clothes, people who happen see it always have bad luck turn their way. Meg Cabot describes her character, Pierce as a very kind and caring person, one who cares about others safety, health, feelings and being more than herself. In the novel she seems to be involved with John a lot, but tries to avoid him- that does not tend to work out. Every time that John gets close to her, most likely lecturing her about making better decisions, she always seems to think he is going to kiss her. In the reality of the book that doesn't happen, but the emotion that she has towards him is powerful, even though nothing has happened. In some parts of the book, Pierce shows that she has not made the smartest choices in making decisions; meeting up with a strange and creepy guy in a graveyard right before a huge storm is about to hit. I thought that Jennifer Lawrence would be a great actor to play the role of Pierce Oliviera because she has a similar image to the description of Pierce and is a fabulous actress.
3.                In my impression, this novel seems to most likely take place in the 21st century, based upon the imagery the author describes. Even though the setting supposedly takes place in the 21st century, there is a sense of mythology involved as John appears to be one of the people in charge of the Underworld.  The story began to take place with Pierce's first incident that happened in the backyard of her home in Connecticut. It was winter, as she was trying to save a bird, but unfortunately she tripped and fell on top of the cover of a pool and got stuck as she was pulled under the cover, and drowned. As she was sent to the hospital, once found by her mom, Pierce went through a traumatizing injury, but successfully saved. As she was being rescued by the doctors, Pierce was in the Underworld where she met John again for the second time. She was sent to his home where she realized she had to escape and go back into the real world, which happened to be down a flight of stairs. Once she was let out of the hospital, after her saved death, her parents got divorced and Pierce moved with her mom to a small town in Florida, Isla Huesos. While Pierce is living in Isla Huesos, the graveyard seems to be one of her more special places. Perhaps because that's where her grandfather was buried, or maybe because that is where she met John for the first time. As you start reading, this book it is very hard to understand, because Meg Cabot's diction describes the story as if you already know the background information, but in reality you don't. This story reminds me of The Twilight series because it has the same innocent girl falling for the "bad boy."