That Poor Dog - (Last Friday's Post)

My ISU novel is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I have not read much of this book, but so far it is quite interesting. It is about a boy who has Asperger's Syndrome which is a form of Autism. He is very smart with math and science, but cannot read facial expressions. He can tell the faces :) and :(, but not :S, :O, :P, : as the book puts it. He was told by Siobhan to write a novel. He decided to write a mystery, murder novel about a dog. It's a totally different twist to a mystery, murder novel and so I think this will be an interesting book. I can say I have never read a book about solving the mystery of a murdered dog.

I'm excited to read about Asperger's Syndrome. I have never heard about it until my teacher Ms. Hillier told me about it. I think it will be interesting to see the things he goes through. Since he doesn't like to talk to strangers and he's trying to be a detective he has to. That will probably pose some problems during the story. I'm excited!

The only thing I am afraid of is that the book is really random. I have read 47 pages and it seems only 10 pages are actually about the case. Other times he's talking about the galaxy, universe, or his mother's death. It seems so irrelevant to the plot of the murder, it makes me worried I may have trouble with my ISU assignment. Hopefully that doesn't turn out to be the case. Maybe that is some attributes to Asperger's Syndrome. I guess I'll just have to read on!

More Than You Can Chew

I finished reading More Than You Can Chew by Marnelle Tokio. While reading, I was unable to put the book down. It is a very enlightening book about an anorexic and all the problems she faces, especially the cause of her eating disorder. Marty views the world differently than most people and she likes to think that everything is her fault, especially when it comes to her parents. When her father left as a child, she assumes it was because of her. She is always trying to impress everyone but feels she is not succeeding. All she wants is to feel accepted. When she finally is accepted, she gets sick of being anorexic and decides to eat normally again.

I like this book because it informs you of what happens during rehab and what goes through anorexics minds. I can guarantee that after reading this book, I will never become anorexic! Not that I ever would have before, but this encourages me not to even further. I am a little disappointed with Marty's father because I feel he is always putting unnecessary pressure on her and blaming/accusing her for things he shouldn't be. I believe he is a big culprit to her eating disorder, especially when she tried to overdose on pills.

Marty is not the greatest person in rehab. She is always being difficult and mean to everyone. I suppose that is understanding because you do not want to be there but it takes her a long time to open up. When Lily, a new anorexic who is only 8 years old and 38 pounds, arrives she finally begins to open up. Lily dies while Marty is on Christmas vacation, and of course Marty believes it is her fault. It gets a little annoying throughout the book when Marty is always blaming everything on herself. Nothing ever was her fault and I wish she could have seen that earlier. Eventually, she comes around and begins to eat again. She beings to love herself and be happy once again. Marty's father also becomes a little nicer and they try to start over fresh.
I like the end to this book because it is a happy ending. Marty finally realizes what she is doing to herself and begins to be normal again. True stories do not always end this way, but I am glad this book did.