| This is a sequel to the Ellen Emerson White book Friends for Life. In this book, Beverly is dealing with a lot of hard things from her past. Her mother committed suicide when she was younger, and her former boyfriend (Tim) was a drug dealer who killed two people and attempted to kill another. Susan is dealing with the self-loathing she feels because she blames herself for her mother's death and the death of Colleen, one of the girls her ex-boyfriend murdered.
Her involvement with Tim and the murders has also put a strain on her relationships with her family and peers. At school, most of the students and other teachers blame her for Tim's actions because she is the only one still around to take the responsibility. As a result, Beverly is isolated from everyone. At home, her very strict father is terribly disappointed in her, and embarrassed at the prospect of her involvement in a public murder trial. As a result, he limits her activities severely. Beverly also has a strained relationship with her stepmother, Maryanne, whom Beverly holds responsible for her parent's divorce and therefore, indirectly, her mother's death. Beverly tries to deal with her isolation by telling herself that she is better off alone, that she is better off without friends. She is afraid that anyone who knows about her past will also blame her for her mother and Colleen's deaths, but she masks this fear with anger and emotional distancing. Her father forces her to see a psychiatrist, but she finds it difficult to talk to him because she is afraid he will judge her. On one of her solitary walks to the park, she meets a city worker named Derek. At first Beverly is angry and defensive when Derek talks to her. She is afraid of him, so again she masks her fear with defensiveness. But gradually Derek and Beverly become friends; she returns to the park several times to talk to him because she can't talk to anyone else, and she knows that he doesn't know anything about her past. At first, it is easier for her to be with Derek than anyone else because she knows she won't have to talk about her mother or Colleen. At first, her relationship increases the strain between her and her father, as she goes out to see him without telling him where she is going or who she is seeing. But when Derek and Maryanne finally convince her to tell her father, her relationship with him is actually strengthened since her family really likes Derek. But as Derek and Beverly become increasingly closer, she starts to pull away. She knows that she will eventually have to tell Derek about the deaths in her past, and she is afraid that he will judge and shun her when she does. So she decides to reject him before he has a chance to reject her and tells him that she never wants to see him again and that she doesn't have to explain why. Derek refuses to be brushed off and forces a confrontation. Beverly tells him the story about her mother and Colleen's death to prove to herself that he will hate her when he finds out. However, Derek's response to the story is not to hate Beverly. He understands how scared and in how much pain she must have been, and he helps her to realize how bottling up all of her feelings and problems doesn't help, but can actually make matters worse. | ||
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Plot & Themes Tone of book? - thoughtful Time/era of story - 1980's-1999 Internal struggle/realization? Yes Struggle over Is this an adult or child's book? - Age 11-14 Battle with a psychiatrist Yes Drinking/Drugs problems? - drugs Main Character Gender - Female Profession/status: Ethnicity/Nationality Main Adversary Identity: - Male Age: - 40's-50's Profession/status: How sensitive is this character? Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor Intelligence - Very much smarter than other characters Setting How much descriptions of surroundings? - 6 () United States Yes The US: - Northeast City? Yes City: - Boston Writing Style Amount of dialog - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog |
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