Analysis and Summary of Lost and Found

Maxine’s sister, who was even worse than she was, stayed almost completely silent for three years. Both went to the same school and were in the same second grade class because Maxine had flunked kindergarten. The first time Kingston had to speak English in kindergarten was the moment silence infiltrated her world. Simple dialogue such as “hello” or asking for directions was hell for her because people usually couldn’t hear her the first time she asked, and her voice became weaker every time she tried to repeat the question (422). No matter what, speaking English just shattered her self-esteem.

Sometimes she wonders if all these orders are enough reason to run away even if her parents are still good to her. As it turns out, she doesn't have it in her to do such a thing. It is May of 2006 and our woeful protagonist is seventeen and about to graduate high school. The last four years have been very difficult to her due to a heavily lopsided power struggle against her parents since she is about as formidable a foe as a baby mouse. After many arguments she was able to do 'important team projects' at her friends' houses, she also required two weeks of notice to go to the mall, and has stopped trying to go to birthday parties having gone to one with her mom and after about three hours of close observance and awkwardness she finally threw her arms up in defeat and went home.

According to Gatto, "School are meant to tag the unfit-with poor grades, remedial placement, and other punishments" (37). As an example, schools let students who had poor grades throughout the year to pass the grade only by going to summer school. I have a friend whose dreams were shattered thanks to the system we have now. Andrea 's eleventh-grade year was very difficult for her because her mother died at the beginning of the school year. She struggled with depression, and after being in honor classes for the past three years, she started to struggle with her classes.

They want her to strive to be the best that she can. While at school, Beka became lazy and ended up failing her first year at the school. Aside from being a poor student, Beka is also a liar. Rather than telling her parents the truth, she lies and as a result, takes a beating from her father. Her best friend, Toycie, tries to guide Beka onto the right path.

However, once her illness grew increasingly worse during her senior year of high school, she noticed that her friend group dwindled dramatically. Her friends did not understand what she was going through. They would tell her that they did not like to spend time with her because ‘she sucked the fun out of everything.’ At this point in time, Meg was having a very hard time with her mental illness and the loss of her friends seemed to be a tipping point for her. It pushed her further into her sad state where she started using self-harm as a way to cope. Knowledge pertaining to mental health is extremely important.

After that incident she stayed at her friend Zizi’s house, but didn’t tell her mother where she was. When her mother found her, she was grounded until she turned eighteen. (Phelps & Warren 2012, 35)... ... middle of paper ... ... who actually care enough to get them out of a bad situation. The people, who cared about her future, wanted her in school because they knew she could do great things, and she did. Carissa had to go through tough times like; marriage and divorce, an engagement terminated, and health issues to get to where she is in life now.

When the story begins, Gilly is very unhappy. She is eleven years old and unkempt. In the opening chapter we see her first meeting Maime Trotter and her opinion of her is not a nice one. Gilly thinks that the only way she can be happy is to find her mother and live with her. As she does not live with her mother she feels the need to rebel so that The Social Services will send her to her mother.

Her mother and father divorced a few years back, and Davina has been forgotten ever since. She lived at her best freinds house for a few years to finish schooling, as her father took off with her little sisters and her mother moved away to start a new family. Since her abandonment, Davina hasn't been the same. She is afraid to speak in class, always scared that others will make fun of her. Her grades used to be good, but now she has no confidence that she can pass the tests.

However, that is far from the truth. The book starts off with Annabelle returning to school. This was not an exciting or happy time for Annabelle because it meant facing all of the people she hadn’t had to see since the night of the incident, after a long lonely summer. The main source of Annabelle’s ‘social life’ problems was Sophie. Sophie was the new girl four years before where the story takes place, but she was a cruel as they come, and easily became one of the most popular girls around, after becoming best friends with Annabelle.

This leads to her having sex with one of her peers while on a trip and thereby loses her virginity. She always swore to lose her virginity to her crush Roger, who suddenly appears at her doorstep with his parents, because they want to visit Alice’s grandfather who suffered a slight heart attack. Even though she is very delighted to see Roger, she is plagued by the fact that she has recently los... ... middle of paper ... ...l life which just spirals out of control, due to the influence of drugs. It is an easy to read book because it is broken up into many separate entries, making you always curious how the events of one day will affect the next day. It is a bit sluggish at first, because it seems like a whiny teenaged girl complaining about her problems, but later on evolves to a very catching story which is worthy of the readers time, although the epilogue ruins the book as the protagonist dies even though everything was hinting toward her life being fixed again.