Keeping the Moon question

Summary:
I’d like to focus on Nicole Sparks. She has been bullied for her weight since she was little and she is insecure. Her mom sent her to live with her aunt in North Carolina. When she got there she made some friends and a boy that she liked. They went to see the eclipse before she went back home. (59)

Opinion:
This book is one of my most favorite. I really like how it is written. The author did a good job of making you feel the emotion of each character. In the first chapter you can feel Nicole’s emotion when her mom is mean to her. On page one Nicole’s mom said “With you hair that color and that thing in your lip you look terrible even when you’re smiling.” With that you could feel Nicole getting more insecure than she already was. I liked how through the story you could tell that Nicole was getting less insecure. When she got to her aunt’s house in Colby, North Carolina she made a couple friends that gave her a makeover. You could really feel Nicole getting happier and more confident. “I kept trying to glimpse my own reflection each time a car lit up the rearview mirror; I was sure I’d find the old me staring back, my hair ragged and black, my lip ring glinting. Instead I saw that same pretty girl Isabel had created. And I was surprised every time, sure she wasn’t real.” (151) I also could feel Nicole falling in love with a boy named Norman “Norman squeezed my hand, and I could see, as the eclipse reached totality,” This book kept me interested and I had to see what was on the next page. I think teenagers should read this book because I know many teenagers struggle with self confidence. This book shows you what being beautiful is all about and it really isn't all about looks and I think a lot of teenagers need that reminder. (271)

Analysis:
I decided to focus on the character Nicole Sparks. Nicole Sparks is insecure about her weight. If you met her the first thing you’d notice is her lip ring. Because of Nicoles weight she is shy and you don’t see her come out of her shell until she goes to North Carolina. Nicole is a dynamic character because when she was first introduced she is some shy girl that is insecure about her weight until she moves to North Carolina for the summer and makes some friends and meets a boy that she likes and finally comes out of her shell. You can see throughout the story how she is insecure about her body when her friends wanted her to dance. On page 125 it states “I didn’t dance. And I had my reasons. As a fat girl, I’d experienced a wide range of humiliations. Add in the fact that I was almost always new, too, and I hit trouble everywhere I went.” And by the end of the story you could feel her confidence when she states “At first I was afraid, I was petrified” (222) and then she goes on to say while dancing and laughing with the boy she likes her friends asked “what’s this?” and she replies “It’s what girls do” (224-225) As you can see Nicole is a dynamic character because you can see that she changed significantly throughout the story with how she views herself and her body. She realizes that there is more to you than just looks. (255)