At merely six years old Luna, who goes by her middle name Jane, lost her mother. Jane’s mother grew up in Coney Island, NY. Her grandfather was a famous man on the island and had a home that he passed down to Jane’s family. Jane’s family, which consisted of her brother Marcus and their father, were constantly moving from place to place. When Jane and her brother became high-schoolers, their dad moved them into the inherited home on Coney. Soon enough, she meets some people, and not exactly the type of people she was planning on meeting either; misfits. She grows to like them because they are all that she has, and becomes curious of a club she thinks they participate in. Posters around the school with weird messages pop up about the, “Dreamland Social Club.” Jane soon takes a leap of faith, to explore who she really is and get closer to her tattooed crush. She goes and joins the club, she sets things straight with old rivalries and most importantly, she discovers where she belongs.
I would like to focus on Jane’s mom. Although she wasn’t physically there, she impacts Jane throughout the book. Whether it’s clues left behind in a journal, keys to some of the amusement park rides or flashbacks into certain memories, she was very present in the novel. In a world so filled with judgement and trying to please society, Jane’s mom wanted to break the trend. Creator of the “Dreamland Social Club” and aspiring to be a mermaid, she consistently defied the norms. She tried to teach this to her daughter at a young as best she could. The best example of this is when an odd looking stranger walked towards Jane and her mother. A bit shocked Jane remarks, "’She didn't have a nose, Mom.’" But when her mother, “stops at the corner and looks at [Jane]...
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...o creates this new exotic and weird environment yet manages to keep a bit of reality of the city. She manages to pull in elements of her own life experiences and incorporate them into her novel and characters. I personally loved the book and reread it, at points I couldn’t put it down. I could also really relate to the fact that its a girl who is a junior in high school who moves in the middle of the year, something I experienced my junior year. I would recommend this to any teenager or young adult who enjoys adventure and finding a sense of belonging in the world.
Works Cited
Altebrando, Tara. Dreamland Social Club. New York: Dutton, 2011. Print.
Altebrando, Tara. "Dreamland Social Club." Tara Altebrando. First Day Films, 2011. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
Heather. "Dreamland Social Club by Tara Altebrando." BURIED IN BOOKS. Buried In Books, 13 Apr. 2013. Web. 1 Apr. 2014.
Lily’s idea of home is having loving parent/mother figures who can help guide her in life. Because of this desire, she leaves T. Ray and begins to search for her true identity. This quest for acceptance leads her to meet the Calendar Sisters. This “home” that she finds brightly displays the ideas of identity and feminine society. Though Lily could not find these attributes with T. Ray at the peach house, she eventually learns the truth behind her identity at the pink house, where she discovers the locus of identity that resides within herself and among the feminine community there. Just like in any coming-of-age story, Lily uncovers the true meaning of womanhood and her true self, allowing her to blossom among the feminine influence that surrounds her at the pink house. Lily finds acceptance among the Daughters of Mary, highlighting the larger meaning of acceptance and identity in the novel.
Tolve, A. (2007, December 17). Lifelong friends both find a place at Mark Morris Dance Company. Retrieved February 28, 2010, from SFGate: http://articles.sfgate.com/2007-12-17/entertainment/17274863_1_mark-morris-dance-group-ethan-iverson-youngest-dancers
I would recommend this story to anyone who enjoys stories centered on the maturation of youth during their teenage years. I felt that the climax of this story was not as exciting as it could have been. However, the storyline was very interesting as well as entertaining. I look forward to reading other stories by this author!
More than eight million copies sold is a great figure for any music album. However, for a CD labeled with World Music genre, that number means an unprecedented success. The album, named Buena Vista Social Club, has changed the attitude of the world to Cuban music forever. Nonetheless, Buena Vista has been criticized for being a commercial product, and for causing negative effects to Cuban society. Let us discover the story behind this phenomenon from Cuba, and more importantly, explore the music inside this brilliant CD.
... The Movie. Dir. Arne Johnson, Shane King. Perf. Carrie Brownstein, Beth Ditto. Ro*co Films. 2008. DVD.
These kids grow up in the ghetto without a choice of moving somewhere else because of their parents low income, they live in a tough neighborhood and environment & reading this really touches you in many ways. Nobody will ever want to go through something like they did, Parts of the book tell you so much detail that it really puts an image through your head. The book entries mostly talk about the lives of the characters outside of school, The characters also describe the action of their diaries well and they present that action well in the movie.
With a heart-full of advice and wisdom, Dinah maturates from a simple- minded young girl to a valiant independent individual. “For a moment I weighed the idea of keeping my secret and remaining a girl, the thought passes quickly. I could only be what I was. And that was a woman” (170). This act of puberty is not only her initiation into womanhood but the red tent as well. She is no longer just an observer of stories, she is one of them, part of their community now. On account of this event, Dinah’s sensuality begins to blossom and she is able to conceive the notion of true love.
I heard quite a bit of conflicting thoughts about this one, some people didn’t like it, and some loved it. I think it’s one of those books that you just need to pick up and make the decision yourself. In saying all this, I truly did love The Girl from Everywhere and I am so excited to read more.
Concannon, Phil. "Review - Mary and Max." Phil on Film. N.p., 19 Oct. 2009. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
Connie, a stereotypical fifteen year old girl, views her life and her family with dissatisfaction. Jealous around her twenty-four year old sister, June, despite June’s outward plainness, and tense around her irksome mother, Connie escapes to the mall with her friends. She and her clique of friends feel like they own the place, and the rest of the world: “Everything about her had two sides to it, one for home and one for anywhere that was not home…” (1-2). The sense of freedom intoxicates them.
Jeanette had somewhat of an usual childhood compared to other kids in the United States. Where most kids don’t have to worry about if there are going to school or the money problems that come up, nevertheless Jeannette has to worry. Jeannette have to deal with her self center mother , her eccentricity father , her older sister that does not protect her and her brother that give up almost everything for her. Jeannette overcome it all and become the strong woman that all reader will believe she is .
I found the book to be easy, exciting reading because the story line was very realistic and easily relatable. This book flowed for me to a point when, at times, it was difficult to put down. Several scenes pleasantly caught me off guard and some were extremely hilarious, namely, the visit to Martha Oldcrow. I found myself really fond of the char...
We learn that Jane is a young girl who is a victim of emotional and
My recommendation for this book would be that this book is just a fun read, nothing to serious. But yet it's a book were its easy to relate to were a lot of the situations that happen in the book happen in young teenage life as well. Like for example the desperation to fit in. kids will do most likely anything to be part of "the cool group" hopefully not take some sort of pill that will talk to you in your head. But other things like being pressured into talking drugs. Sneaking out of the house to go to some party and not coming back until the next day at dawn without getting caught. These days we do so much and our parents know so little.
...ar, Sarí, and Julia VanTine. Extraordinary Togetherness: a Woman's Guide to Love, Sex, and Intimacy. Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 1999. Print.