Ashley Hanlon

Ashley Hanlon

Beach Blondes: July

Katherine Applegate

Realistic Fiction

Just Right

510

1. Right now I am currently reading Beach Blondes: July, by Katherine Applegate.  By now in the book Summer has been in Crab Claw Key for about a month, her hut is getting fixed up, she has a job, and made some friends and everything is going smoothly.  Until Seth decides to sabotage her hut because she rejected him when he asked her out.  But, luckily Adam Merrick, her boyfriend offers her to sleep at his house for the night.  Summer agrees to sleep at his house but as long as they have separate rooms, so she goes back home to pack some clothes and then leaves with Adam.  But, Adam's brother Ross has his reputation of being in and out of rehab and his father having to get him out of trouble so that he doesn't go to jail and tarnish the family's name, especially before re-election.  And Ross had come home unexpectedly and tried to rape Summer just as he did to Diana.  Ross is drunk when he stumbles up to Summer's room and she screams for Adam's help as he tries to catch her when she runs for the door.  Adam swings open the door and hits Ross and he falls unconscious.  All the while Diana had rallied up Summer's friends and her own acquaintances to get Summer out of the Merrick estate and safely home, back at her aunt's house.  Diana knew that nothing would stop Ross until he got her, so when she ran inside Adam's house she heard Summer scream and saw her run from the bedroom.  Adam leaves Ross's unconscious body upstairs and goes to Summer because he's afraid that this incident could hurt his relationship with Summer, just as it did with Diana.  But Summer is so shaken up so she just goes right to Diana and wants to go home.  The ride home, Seth and Marquez listen to what had happened to both Diana and Summer, as Diana explains everything.  Seth and Marquez do their best to comfort the two.  Ross and Adam are left at the Merrick estate, and Seth goes back to his house, while Marquez drops off Diana and Summer at Diana's house after she finally goes back to her house and goes to sleep.

2. If I were to give this book a rating out of ten, I would probably give it a nine. My reasoning for my rating is because there was never a slow moment in this book.  I wouldn't give it a ten because the beginning of the book was almost too fast to start it off.  The book was easier to understand after about one or two chapters because Katherine Stockett had finished introducing the characters, the setting, and the relationships between the characters. So, everything was easier to understand. I haven't read any other books like this except the first book in the same series.  I really like Stockett's writing style because it's different than other author I have ever read.  Although it is similar to Sara Dessen's style, I would prefer to read something written by Katherine Stockett because I feel that she relates her book to the reader better.  The theme in this book was also different than other usual themes and it shows up everywhere.  Trust is the one theme that connects all of the characters together.  Stockett creates her characters so that none of them are similar at all so when mixed together they make the perfect setting and are very comical and fun to read about.

3. The theme in this book that I have noticed so far would definitely be trust. Trust is shown between all of the connections between every character.  For example, Adam loses Summer's trust after Ross tries to attack her, and Adam decides it would be better to take Ross's side after this incident happened twice. Summer gains trust with Diana even though the book started off with the two of them being mortal enemies and having no trust at all. There has been some small things between them that has helped with their trust issues, like when Summer sees how depressed Diana is and without knowing it, talks her out of suicide.  Also, Diana saves her from Ross.  She saves her cousin from having to go through what she went through. Summer has also helped rejoin the bond between Marquez and Diana, who used to be best friends and are now acquaintances. Because of Summer they have learned to get along and become friends again.

4. My favorite character is definitely Diana. This is because her personality is far from even being close to any of the other characters, so she usually makes their conversations/fights very interesting. But, Seth, Adam, and Marquez put up with it anyway because she's Summer's cousin. Diana is also full of many surprises. Just like the time when she stood up for Summer and saved her from Ross. Also deep down she really does care about Summer and she knows that Summer cares about her too. For example, when Aunt Mallory calls Diana for her to at least fix the hut so that Summer can live in it. At first Diana decides to just ignore her mom's call and let Summer live in an old abandoned shack. But, after about five minutes or so Diana makes the call for Seth to come over and fix up the house. Diana's dark personality also changes throughout the book as she becomes a more cheerful person, so that is also fun to read about.

5. My least favorite character would probably be Diver. Diver is just some random guy that has been living in that hut. Summer stumbles upon him one night when she wakes up and sees an almost naked stranger in her house at about one in the morning. Stockett doesn't really mention him a lot, only that he meditates, talks to birds, and pretends that he's a fish. Another thing that Diver only says to Summer is that she cannot be loud and mess up his 'wa'. There is nothing more said about him in the book. He is just a calm, complete person who likes to meditate when the sunrises.

6. My prediction for the ending of the book would be that something significant will happen to Diver, making him important to Summer. Also, I think Aunt Mallory will return home and see Diver in Summer's hut. She will probably get extremely worried and call the police, and Diver will be sent away and get into some trouble for trespassing. All of Summer's secrets will start to unravel as summer ends and she will soon return back to Michigan. I think Summer will find a conflict between deciding which boy she will choose: Diver, Seth, or Adam. Possibly everything might be resolved between her and Diana, and Summer will probably return back to Crab Claw Key the next summer.