jennibear8504
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Relationships: Family and Friends
Talk about the different characters' relationships:
-Maggie’s mom
-Caleb’s parents
-Leah
-Mrs. Reynolds
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nissie
Little Dhampir
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Mood: Rose is in red. But never in blue, sharp as a thron. Fights like one too.
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I really hate Caleb's parents... they're supposed to be the supportive ones and they just make things worse grrr
You, Yes, You, linger inside my heart Y
think I may cheat on Marcus Flutie... dang you Seth Mortensen!
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jennibear8504
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I completely understand Maggie's mom, I'd be the same way if my daughter was hurt that bad.
I hate HATE hated Caleb's parents. I dont even know how to explain it. His mother was a mess and his father was the biggest push over ever... and
thats all im going to say about them...
Leah, well, I think I hated her, the most of all characters. She's on my black list of characters. She probably the most selfish character I have ever
seen... I understand she was scared, but letting her brother take the blame for something she did was not right. And then for her to be the moody,
mopey one, was just completely wrong… so yeah I really hated her…
Mrs. Reynolds, is one of my favorite characters. Her cranky personality was just a façade, but I loved it. I think she knew Caleb wasn’t a bad guy and
that he really didn’t hurt Maggie… what do you guys think? Do you think she knew something?
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nissie
Little Dhampir
Posts: 4728
Registered: 3-6-2009
Location: Mexico
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Mood: Rose is in red. But never in blue, sharp as a thron. Fights like one too.
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I agree twin! Leah is like the worse!
I cant believe she doesnt say anything even when she sees how much Caleb suffers! grrrr
I understand she's young and all that but she was just being selfish.
You, Yes, You, linger inside my heart Y
think I may cheat on Marcus Flutie... dang you Seth Mortensen!
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xStephx
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I loved Mrs. Reynold's! She was such a nice lady, and I loved her attitude towards Maggie. Since Maggie didn't want to be treated as an invalid, Mrs.
Reynold's treated her just like any other person.
I also HATED Caleb's parents. They were not supportive at all. They just wanted to brush all the bad stuff under the rug and not talk about anything
and pretend they were a happy family. Ugh, I hate reading about parents like that, and it's sad there actually is parents like that.
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Feybie
yaReads Editor
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I think its great that you guys all hated Caleb's parents, because I think we're supposed to.
And its not that I understand them or anything, but Caleb was essentially a good kid and ended up in Juvenile Hall for a hit and run. I guess that's
bound to shake the foundations of any family.
yareads.com
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jennibear8504
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yeah, something like that would mess with a family... but for them to act like its the end of the world or that everything is perfect is just wrong :/
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Feybie
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Agreed.
And I can't believe his sister let him do that for her. What kind of person lets someone they love pay for mistakes they didn't make?!
yareads.com
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jennibear8504
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She's such a coward... I think we're supposed to hate her... but I agree with you Nikki, how could you do that to someone you love!?
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nissie
Little Dhampir
Posts: 4728
Registered: 3-6-2009
Location: Mexico
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Mood: Rose is in red. But never in blue, sharp as a thron. Fights like one too.
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Again... if the parents didnt teach her values how she's suppose to do the right thing, I dont justify her I just think if she had better parents
things could've been different. but its true she's a coward!
You, Yes, You, linger inside my heart Y
think I may cheat on Marcus Flutie... dang you Seth Mortensen!
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Deni
Wordsmith
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Registered: 5-9-2010
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I really didn't like Caleb's parents. His mother especially. I tried to be sympathetic toward her, but the way she treated Caleb in the end was
horrible.
I don't think she was completely sane at that point. Sure, I understand appearances would matter to her, but I think by the end she was just grasping
at that because she could handle that more than she could handle anything else. She had no control over her situation. Her good kid suddenly did
something she never could have imagined and had no way to stop. She was helpless, but she felt she could control how people viewed her if she put on a
good enough front. I think that was the only way she knew how to cope with the situation and to "fix" it, but when her attempts started to fail (she
was kicked out of her ladies' association, the dinner party didn't go well), she started to really break down. As a mother, she was terrible, but as a
person I think she was just really broken and sad.
I'm not sure what to think of Leah either. On one hand, yeah, how do you look at a person who would allow her brother to take the blame and punishment
with anything but scorn? Especially considering her situation was a clear cut accident and the lie for Caleb's action make him an immoral screw up for
driving drunk.
I hated the way she treated Caleb, but I think I understand it too. She hated herself so much, for what she did to her best friend, what she did to
her brother, and the fact that she was so weak in both situations. I just think she shut down and, as Caleb observed, stopped living. I think she
couldn't allow Caleb to be nice to her because she hated herself so much. We see the whole story through Caleb and Maggie's eyes with Leah as a very
minor secondary character, but I think she was living with even more pain and inner torment than the two main characters.
Plus, how old was she? 15, 16 at the time of the accident? She was a baby and she was terrified. Things probably happened so quickly with her brother
making the decision to take the blame. I imagine she was probably stunned, and once things were set in motion in that direction, I imagine she didn't
know what to do and was just so emotionally messed up she didn't know how to set the record straight. She spent the rest of the book in a jail cell
every bit as punishing (and probably more so) than the one Caleb inhabited. I don't condone what she did, but I think I understand it.
Mrs Reynolds was a great character. I wish I had my own Mrs. Reynolds.
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07dasv
Wordsmith
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Registered: 10-5-2009
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Calebs whole family was very messed up and even though he was the one who was in jail, he was the one who had to help the rest of his family and had
no help from anyone. except maggie and mrs. Reynolds. She was amazing and without her, maggie and caleb wouldnt get close enough to help each other.
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