Simone Chen

Simone Chen
Lock and Key
Sarah Dessen
Realistic Fiction
Just right
Pg. 48

1. Ruby and her mom had lived together in a small yellow house, and everything was going fine. Ruby's mom drank a lot and often just left Ruby by herself for days to take care of herself. Her mom's absences grow longer and longer, and one day she just doesn't come back. Ruby knows that if the officials find out they'll send her away, and Ruby doesn't want that at all. So she lives by herself for a few months, thinking that everything will be fine because in only 6 months she'll be 18. But then one day the landlords come visit the house, and realizes that Ruby has been living alone for a while. They report this to the police, and Ruby is sent to live with her older sister Cora and Cora's husband, Jamie. Ruby never really knew Cora that well. Cora's house and life is completely different from what Ruby is used to- Cora has a huge, expensive, and neat house and an organized life. In addition, Ruby now has to go to a fancy private school, and she's nervous about this because she knows she won't fit in.

2. I'm enjoying this book so far because the beginning immediately got my attention and was interesting, unlike some other books where it takes a few chapters for the plot to start to seem exciting. The author so far has done a good job showing Ruby's reaction to this new environment. Ruby is scared, nervous, anxious and mad all at the same time, and I feel much sympathy towards her. I like the author's writing style, also. One line I particularly liked is (talking about her key-shaped necklace): "...I'd just lift it up gently, reassured to see that the outline of that key remained on my skin, the one that fit the door to everything I'd left behind". I thought this metaphor was a great way to show that Ruby is longing for her old life, and the necklace with the key is the only thing she has left.

3. A theme I see in the book so far is acceptance. First, Ruby thought she would have a really hard time fitting in with the other students in her prestigious private school, because they came from completely different worlds. All she wants is for the other kids to accept her as "one of them", never mind the differences they have. Also, it is important that Ruby accept the fact that her mom is gone, and her new life will be with her sister Cora and Jamie. You can see that Ruby is having a hard time doing so, because on the first night with Cora and Jamie Ruby tried to escape and run away- back to her old town, back to her old life. Even though it will be hard, she has to accept her new life and make the best out of it.

4. My favorite character is Jamie, Cora's husband. He welcomes Ruby into the family with open arms, even when Cora wasn't so thrilled with the idea (or at least she didn't show it). He is a good-hearted and humorous guy. He tries, unfortunately unsuccessfully, to break the tension between Ruby and Cora when they all first meet. Jamie is very kind to Ruby, and also understanding. He knows that she doesn't want to go to a new school, and he tries to make her feel better by telling her that he had to go to 8 different schools over a course of 12 years and that he knows exactly how Ruby is feeling.

5. My least favorite character would be Cora, Ruby's sister. She's not a completely bad person, but she wasn't very friendly and welcoming towards Ruby when she moved into their house. She just sort of stood off to the side and let Jamie introduce Ruby to the house, with her hands crossed and mouth closed. It's surprising that Jamie was more hospitable towards Ruby than Cora was, because Ruby should know Cora better than Jamie because Cora is her own sister. I thought it Cora didn't make a good first impression to Ruby, and this may affect the sisters' relationship later (and probably for the worse).

6. I predict Ruby is going to meet some nice kids and make friends at her new private school and realize that the school is not as bad as it had seemed. I think Ruby will get closer to Cora, and meet her neighbor Nate whom she met briefly the first night when she tried to run away. Ruby will also find out why her mother abandoned her, and where her mother went. Ruby might go back and visit the little yellow house she had lived in with her mother, because once she mentioned that she wanted to. I think Ruby's key necklace will be important later on because the title is "Lock and Key", and she mentions it a lot.