"Let's Get Lost" Reading Response

            The novel “Let’s Get Lost” by Adi Alsaid tells the story of four teens, all going through very different struggles, whose lives end up being connected by one girl. 18-year old Leila is a friendly girl with a mysterious past who embarks on a road trip across the west coast in order to find her roots. Through this crazy trip, Leila ends up making friends with four people in unexpected ways and places. She meets Hudson, Bree, Elliot, and Sonia; all very different people with very different problems and situations. Leila talks and listens to each of them. She becomes their friend and helps them make it through their difficulties. She comes in, changes each of their lives, and then heads back on the road to try and figure out her own problems. Throughout “Let’s Get Lost” there is a recurring theme that sometimes taking a wild chance and seizing the day can end up changing your life.

            The main example of this theme in the story is how each person who met Leila in a random or bad situation took a chance on her and ended up being a lot happier than they were before. The first example of this in the story is when Leila meets a boy named Hudson while going through Vicksburg, Mississippi. While Hudson repairs Leila’s broken down car, he talks with her and they immediately click. Hudson ends up spending “the greatest night of his life” with Leila, but when they fall asleep on the grass, he misses an interview for a scholarship that would get him out of Vicksburg. At first Hudson blames Leila for what happened, but Leila makes him realize something. She tells him that “You let us fall asleep on the oxbow because this is exactly where you want to be. You’re afraid of leaving Vicksburg, of leaving your dad.” By taking a chance on Leila and spending an amazing night with her, Hudson realized what he truly wanted in life.

            The second place this theme comes up in the story is when Leila meets Bree, a runaway girl with a sad past. Bree teaches Leila to seize the day whenever she can, and always look for adventure.  Bree and Leila bond over adventures and feeling alive, and Bree gets Leila to help her shoplift at a convenience store, and then steal and drive around in a car for an hour. Bree explains to Leila how her mother and father died and she got so mad at her “controlling” sister that she ran away. Bree also explains how she likes to “seize the Tuesday,” or living life to the fullest every chance she gets. Despite this philosophy, Bree and Leila still end up getting arrested for the night because of the car stunt. Leila soon makes Bree call her sister, Alexis, is order to bail them out. After a failed reunion between Bree and her sister, Leila once again makes Bree seize the day and go back and find Alexis so that they can make up. By seizing the day, Bree is reunited with her sister and feels a lot better.

           “Let’s Get Lost” by Adi Alsaid is an interesting story of adventures and friendships that teaches readers that taking crazy chances can many times result in life changing and great events. The author showed that both seizing the day with people, opportunities, and adventures can lead to new relationships and discoveries. It is important for people to read this story so that they know that getting out of your comfort zone and seizing the day can sometimes be the best thing to do and can change life for the better. 

"The Visibles" Reading Response

         The book “The Visibles” by Sara Shepard tells the story of a girl growing up in Brooklyn in the 90’s. Summer Davis is in high school at the beginning of book, but the story follows her life as she grows up and becomes an adult. Summer’s main problem at the beginning of the story was that her mother left her father, brother, and her without any notice or reason. As Summer struggles to deal with this, other issues begin coming up with her family. Her dad slowly becomes depressed, her grandmother dies, causing her to visit unknown and disliked relatives, and her brother becomes aloof and lonesome. Throughout the book, Summer faces many challenges regarding relationships with her family members. She learns to deal with these struggles while also maintain her own life. “The Visibles” by Sara Shepard teaches us that although our relationships with family can be difficult, they teach us and help us to grow as people.

            

         The first example of Summer struggling with family problems comes up at the very beginning of the story when she is grappling with the fact that her mother left and wants to get divorced from her father. Summer cannot accept this fact, until her dad invites over her childhood friend, Claire, to talk with her. Claire was also having problems with her parents, and with Claire’s help, Summer begins to get over her mother’s absence. Claire is learning of Summer’s stubbornness and says to her “’God, Summer. I’m so sorry. But we can talk about this together. About…the stuff that’s happening to both of us. We need each other.’” Claire saying these things to Summer helps Summer grow from the experience of losing her mother rather than remain hurt and sad because of it. Her friendship with Claire brings Summer to become a better and more accepting person.

            

            Another way Summer grows as a result of family issues is when Summer’s grandmother dies, and Summer is forced to see relatives she’s never met. She visits her dad’s old home and town and sees her great aunt, cousins, and uncle. While Summer is there, she learns of secrets her father kept from her when she was little, about her mother and his past girlfriends.  These lies hurt Summer a lot. “”He has been keeping something from me,’ I finally said. ‘Other secrets. He keeps secrets from everyone.’” Summer is so upset by these things, that she doesn’t keep anything from her family members. Later in the story, she tells her whole family them about a scholarship she got in Ireland, rather than going to Ireland and leaving without telling them, which she was considering doing because she was angry. Summer remembered her father’s secret keeping and decided to tell everyone, which brought them closer together.

            

        “The Visibles” by Sara Shepard tells the story of one girl’s life from teenager to adulthood. Throughout the story, Summer continuously runs into problems involving her family. These problems sometimes lead to good, things, however, and end up making Summer a better person and shaping her life. “The Visibles” shows readers that although having family can be tough, it ultimately will change you as a persona and have a good impact on your life.