Discussion+Summary

For each set of chapters assigned, Book Club members will each take turns writing a brief summary of what happened within those selections. Within the summary or after, include connections you can make. Your connections can:
 * Be personal connections
 * Connect to other literature (Another book you read that reminds you of the selections you have read)
 * Connect to the world

=Example=

Maya is a 17-year old high school girl. She lives in Portland, Oregon, a state located on the western coast of the United States. She is close with her family, which consists of her mother, father, and younger brother. Her parents are former rockers and love music. Her dad was in a band for many years, but decided to leave the rock-n-roll business to become a teacher when Maya's younger brother, Teddy, was born. Her parents are cool and liberated people. Maya also has a boyfriend named Adam. Adam is already graduated from high school and is in a band that is successful. Maya's parents really like him, probably because he is similar to Maya's father. Maya isn't exactly a rocker-type girl, but she is involved in music. She plays the cello and is very good at it. Maya and Adam seem like they may be different, but they fell in love pretty fast. At this point in the story, Portland got a bit of snow and a "snow day" was called because the roads were not good for driving, meaning that Maya, Teddy, and their father all didn't have school. Maya's entire family decided to have a family day of visiting friends and spending the evening at their grandparents' house for dinner. Shortly after all piling into the car, a devastating accident occurs when a 4-ton pick up truck slams into their vehicle. Maya suddenly "wakes up" and sees her parents. They both appear dead and she cannot find her little brother. She looks over at another bloodied body, and it is her own, meaning she is actually not awake but somehow in between life and death. Her head is not connected to her body and the reader can listen to her thoughts as she watches her parents' dead bodies covered and her own body rushed to the hospital. Maya tells the story, but flashes back to times before the accident. The reader begins to learn more about her, her family, her musical talents, and her boyfriend, Adam. Yet, we don't know if Maya will make it. At this point, this story reminds me of another book I read, called The Lovely Bones. In the story of The Lovely Bones, the narrator of the book is a girl who is actually dead and watching from the beyond what happens to her family. Maya is somewhat similar. It seems as though she is somewhere between life and death.
 * Pgs. 3-40**
 * Summary by Heather**