IRP #8

[Alannah]

My book for this IRP is called “Tell Me Three Things” by Julie Buxbaum. The main characters are Jessie and SN (Somebody/Nobody). Jessie just transferred to a new school. She used to live in Chicago, and now she goes to a prep school in Los Angeles. Her first week of junior year is going terribly wrong. She hasn’t made any new friends, and she feels all alone. When she starts thinking about leaving and running away, she gets an email from someone called SN, or Somebody/Nobody. SN offers to help Jessie through the school year and to give her tips and tricks. She has met one boy, and his name is Ethan. He is called “The Batman”. Jessie thinks he is sort of cute, but doesn’t think much of him in the beginning. Meanwhile, SN is talking to Jessie, but not always just about school. They start talking about their lives, and eventually, love. At first, Jessie did not know if she should trust SN, because SN is anonymous. But, after a long time, SN is the only one Jessie trusts.

I loved this book! Julie Baxbaum is one of my favorite authors. In the book cover of “Tell Me Three Things”, It says that Julie got an anonymous email one time, and that is what inspired this book and how Jessie got the emails from SN. I thought the plot of this book was very creative and was very different than other books that Julie Baxbaum has written. I know that seems like a given, her books bering all different plots and stories, but some authors books all seem the same.

My big idea word for this book that I think fits very well is “trust”. Jessie has been moved to another place, taken away from her friends and the place she knew, and shipped to another school, where she doesn’t have any friends and every person that does talk to her is calling her names,Then, SN emails her and helps her get to know all of the students better, and gives her tips. At first, Jessie is very skeptical of this. I would be too, for two reasons. One, it is an anonymous emailer, and it could be anyone. Jessie doesn’t know anyone at the school, so she couldn’t be able to tell if it was a person from that school at all. Two, Jessie hasn’t trusted anyone in awhile because no one has reached out to her like SN has. When SN first emailed Jessie, She emailed him back, saying, “SN: Is this for real? Or is this some sort of initiation prank, a la a dumb rom-com? You’re going to coax me into sharing my deepest darkest thoughts/fears, and then, BAM, when I least expect it,you’ll post them on Tumblr and I’ll be the laughing stock of WVHS?(Buxbaum, 4), to which SN replies, “promise this isn’t a prank(Buxbaum, 4). SN wants to protect Jessie and “show” her the ropes of her new school, and that takes a great amount of trust.