In Real Life...

"I look at the words, black like inky spiders, and watch the webs they weave." Page 1, The Worst Thing She Ever Did, Alice Kuipers.

I just finished The Worst Thing She Ever Did by Alice Kuipers. It focuses on Sophie, who was caught in a terrorist bombing of a subway with her sister; who did not survive. Sophie is struggling to deal with her grief, and she feels trapped in her own life. She is a victim of near-constant panic attacks, and her friends have left her due to her constant need.

This book reminds me of, and is posssibly based on, the London Underground Bombings. Multiple explosions were planned and detonated, which killed and injured many. To find out more on this attack, you can read the Wikipeidia article here.

This also reminds me of the very well-publicised and well-known event of the 9/11 World Trade Centre terrorist attack. Planes were flown into both of the twin towers, and the pentagon. There were several other planes that were assumed to be hijacked, excluding United Airlines flight 93, in which the passengers of the plane revolted against the terrorists. Over 3,000 people were killed in the attacks. To read more on the World Trade Centre attack, click here.

Also similar to The Worst Thing She Ever Did is We All Fall Down by Eric Walters. I read this book quite a while ago but it is still very fresh in my mind because it is such a good read. It is based on the World Trade Centre Attacks, an d it also is from the perspective of someone caught in the attacks. These books are very similar, however The Worst Thing She Ever Did is set up differently, because the author wrote the book from present to past, starting with how Sophie's life is now, and finishing with the attacks, which were the result.

Parker Fadley in a Cracked Up Nutshell...

Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers is a 2010 White Pine Nominee, following the life of the apparently emotionally unsound Parker Fadley...


"I don't want to open my eyes.
'Just wait, parker, can you hear me?'
I am not going to open my eyes. I am going to lie on the court until I die, and I hope that happens soon, because I want to die."

-Courtney Summers, Cracked Up To Be, pg. 153


Parker Fadley used to have it all. But now, her life has taken a turn for the worst, and as much as everyone else does, she doesn't want her old life back. A dark secret demolished her life, leaving her to pick up the peices. An emotional train wreck, Parker turns to alcohol and drugs to solve her problems. Kindness dissapears from her vocabulary. She hates her parents, she hates her friends, she hates the guidance councellor, she hates her ex-boyfriend who still loves her, she hates her old Cheer squad, and she hates the boy she is in love with.

Parker hates life.

Placed on the suicide watch list, nobody can understand why she tried to kill herself, and why her life is slipping away from her own control. Nobody else understands why she sneaks into the woods and searches amongst the pine needles. But nobody can understand, because nobody knows what happened.

And nobody ever will.



I predict that things will get a lot worse for Parker before they get better. I'm guessing she will most likely attempt to commit suicide again but will be thwarted by those who care about her most. Towards the end of the book, I think Parker will turn her life around and go to rehab.



The video I chose is the song "Lover Dearest" by Marianas Trench. It was written by Josh Ramsay whilst he was in rehab to overcome his heroin addiction. I feel that it really sums up how someone trapped in the life of drugs or something similar feels, and how difficult it is to get out of it. I think that this really relates to Parker, as she feels she needs her alcohol and pills, but she doesn't want to quit, because it is so easy to just stay addicted.

The Help

Image from steppingbackintimecherishedcookbooks.blogspot.com
Click on the book cover to see a review by The New York Times

The Help by Kathryn Stockett is an inspiring story that takes place in 1962 Jackson, Mississippi, at the peak of prejudice and racism towards black men and women. Following the lives of maids for white families, it exposes the brutal truth of how the world once was. Times are getting tough, and the awful and horrible things the maids and their families are forced to deal with are increasing. They live in a fear of speaking and standing up for themselves, for many who do so go to jail, are beaten, or even have their tongues cut out of their mouths. But an unusual advocate emerges for the black people- the young, white writer, Skeeter Phelan. She begins collecting stories- the good and the bad- from local maids about their life from their own perspective, with the intention of publishing it as a book anonymously. But will the fear of being punished stop the maids from telling their stories, and will local racists stop Skeeter from her dream of exposing the truth?

The Help is by far one of the most inspirational yet shocking books I have ever read. Skeeter's determination to make things right, and the humour that can be found in topics that are really quite serious carries this book, and creates a story free of dull moments. I found that the relationships that developed in this novel were strangely addictive and enticing, and the way the characters interacted with each other was actually quite interesting. As I was reading it, I noticed how much thought and effort was put into this book. With the book written from multiple perspectives, I realize how difficult it must have been to make it flow well and make individual plot lines interconnect.

If I could change one thing about this book, I would change how the relationship between Skeeter and Stuart ended. I wanted them to work things out so badly!

“I say ‘ That good vanilla from Mexico’ and then I go head. I tell her what else I put in that pie for her.” Minny revealing the Terrible Awful secret to Miss Celia (Pg 339)