After... A Really Creepy and Suspenseful Story

Okay, so I read After by author, Francine Prose. It was so creepy, suspenseful, not really scary, but very mysterious, it just makes you think really deeply. It makes you ask this question: What if all the adults turned into a different person? What if they were out to find away to make us disappear and kill us? Us as in us kids. Where would we go? What would ever be safe? But these questions are probably confusing you. I'll explain it. I'll explain the story.

At the beginning of the book, there is a shooting in a nearby high school called Pleasant Valley. Only, the culprits were students of the school. SPOILER ALERT The school was incredibly cliquey and the three culprits "didn't belong," so they decided to get high on some drugs and then bring guns to the school gym and shoot people. Well, they did, but a lot kids and teachers lost their lives. Including the shooters because they shot themselves. End of the alert.

So every school in Massachussetts gets a new grief and crisis counseler. And everyday, ever since the shooting, there has been a daily assembly, and new rules. The parents are getting billions of e-mails each day about these from school. Most of the parents are reading them too. The protagonist, Tom, gets annoyed by this. Good thing his dad isn't reading the e-mails, because Tom hates being bugged about the new rules. One by one, kids are starting to disappear. One day, Tom's best friend gets busted for smoking weed, and taking maruajana. So, the counseler, Dr. Willner talks to his parents, and pretty soon, Tom's friend, Silas, is being sent away to a concentration camp for kids. Dr. Willner, I'm lucky I live in Brooklyn. I'd have a case about this as soon as possible, you know, if I was older, and this was in real life. Good thing it's not... and I'm hoping no one's planning for it.

Whenever I read a book, I feel as if I'm in there. That leaves me all tense, and I'm dying to finish it. I finished it on the bus. Anyways, more and more kids disappear. Tom's goody-goody girlfriend, Becca is caught graffitying on school property about where the missing children were. Then they get busted... by the worst dude out there, Dr. Willner! Becca and Tom manage to escape him. Then the next day, they all run away with their family, and a friend named Brian. Nothing and nowhere is safe anymore. Tom's dad's girlfriend drives, to anywhere... just where nothing has ever changed and where children are safe. Who knows what will happen After?

What I Saw and How I Lied

I think the book, What I Saw and How I Lied is meant to be a mystery. It seemed suspenseful, but not that suspenseful to me. The book takes place in the late 1940s, right after the period of World War II. I think the book is about not trying to grow up too fast. In the story, the main character Evelyn, or Evie, wants to be like her, and be all grown up, but she winds up in a situation that is not pleasant to hear, but it hurts her feelings and changes her thoughts about her mother and Joe. I think that the author did a great job explaining the main idea.

Inside the story, Evie wants to grow up and be able to be like her mother. Her mother was her role model in the beginning of the book. Then one day, Evie's stepfather, Joe Spooner, returns from serving in the military. He decides to take Evie and her mother to Miami, Florida. So when they arrived there, all the hotels were closed. They found one hotel that was open. The very next night, Evie could not sleep. Her mother was out with another hotel guest, and her father was hanging out with the guest's husband. There is a high school dance in the hotel. Evie wants to go, so she puts her mother's long dress on. Then, her mother returns with her friend from the hotel. They dress her up, and prep her for the dance. And when Evie goes there, she meets Peter Coleridge. He is who she thinks is a handsome man in his early twenties. Evie is fifteen. But she puts her age away, and falls in love with Peter. But is Peter really in love with her?

Over the next few days, Peter and Evie get closer, and Evie finds out that Peter is a veteran from the military, and that he served with Joe. Peter also gets to know her family. Joe isn't very happy seeing Peter. He adds sarcasm to words meant for excitement. Evie manages to overlook that for a while. But she notices Joe's every move. Peter on Evie go on a few "dates," but her mother is a "chaperone" at all times. One day, Peter and Evie decide to catch a movie, but Evie's mom comes along. They get to a point where they all want snacks. Evie's mom sends her to get the food, but Peter volounteers. Evie's mom argues that Evie knows her favorite type of flavor. Evie gets up from her seat between her mom and Peter. When she returns, Peter has moved over next to her mom. Evie just ignores that. Peter drops Evie off at her hotel, and her mom goes to a store by herself? Why would she just be driven home, and then decide to go the store?

Another time, Evie gets up at dawn, and searches for Peter all over the neighborhood. And finally, she finds him, all dressed up, waiting at a table for Evie? At first, he talked to her like she was an adult. Then, for some reason, he stopped talking like that.  Her mother shows up, dressed up all beautifully, but angry, with tears in her eyes. She grabs Evie, and takes her back to the hotel. I think her mom loves herself, and she was just getting ready for Peter to notice her looks.

The next day, her dad takes Peter and her mom on a fishing trip. There is supposed be hurricane on that day. The next thing you know, Peter is missing. and when they do find him, they say that they found his body. Over the next couple of days, Evie finds out a dirty secret. She and Peter never had anything together. It was really with her mother. She was just the cover. Her mother and Peter were flirting at the movie theater. And when her mother went to the store, Peter followed her and bought her a vase. Evie, her mother, and Joe had to lie. They had to cover up the secret relationship between her mother and Peter. Evie's feelings changed about her mother and Joe.

Mostly her mother. She realized that she will never ever want to grow up so fast. Her mother was no longer her role model. I think that the author explained it well. Not that you should deny your mother, but that there are consequences to try being grown up. It can really hurt her. She should pleased with herself, but not brag about it. Evie should stay who she is, and not try to grow up so fast. Lesson learned.

This I Believe

People everywhere have their own thing to do. Some draw, some sing, some dance, some do magic acts, or dream. No matter what, everyone has a hobby. Everyone has something he or she enjoy doing. It relaxes their mind. And no matter what, the person will always be creative with it. I believe that creativity is very important.

When I’m bored, I like to write, crochet, and do magic tricks. I’ll just turn on my laptop, and I’ll have a story. I have to write constantly, or else I’ll lose my imagination for the piece. And when I crochet, I try to imagine how my piece will look like. I even create my own strategies to make certain items. And magic tricks? At first, I started to learn from my family members. Then, I went on the internet and learned over twenty different magic tricks. Now, I create my own tricks. I don’t post it on the internet, but I do teach my friends and family. What I enjoy from all this is that I can be creative with it.

When you’re creative with something, you use your imagination. Just like how I improv in the black box, in drama. Improv take creativity. That’s why most kids enjoy their talent. It is a way for them to express themselves, be creative, and do what they do best. When I’m in drama, it feels like I can create my own world. Because I can. When people are doing their own thing, they go off to a place where they can be anything. They can make their own world. That takes creativity to form.

I believe that creativity is very important. Without it you can never become what you want to become. And creativity takes you on many adventures. Just by doing what you love, and following your passion, you can explore your own world, a place no one has ever been before. It’s only unlocked for you, and what you create in there. I believe in creativity.