Lock and Key is a novel written by realistic young adult fiction literature writer Sarah Dessen, published in 2008. The best-selling author explores the heart of a gutsy, complex girl named 17-year-old Ruby Cooper who is abandoned by her drug and alcohol-addicted mother and determined to make it on her own, even—and especially—when she is sent to live with her long-lost sister Cora in a whole new world of privilege, family, and relationships making her deal with unforeseen circumstances and becoming a reluctant modern-day Cinderella.
As she learns to trust again, Ruby realizes there’s a big difference between being given help and being able to accept it. We're featuring Lock and Key this month as we feel that the plot's motivations as stated below by Dessen only came on full actual circle sometime around Christmas time in the tale when Nate's father gets worse and the protagonist is already somewhat settling into her new life:
Ruby chose abuse and neglect as a key theme as she "...was really interested in taking on a different type of narrator. Most of my girls are from upper middle class families, living in pretty solid environments."
I was intrigued by taking a girl who WASN’T like that at all and dropping her into this whole new world. I liked the idea that you’d think it would solve all her problems—having a roof over her head, money, a family—but that it actually brought up a whole other set to deal with.
Also, I liked the idea of my narrator having to sort of “save” someone else in order to save herself. Another key theme was family. It started out with Ruby not knowing the true meaning of family, only thinking that it meant people related by blood or marriage. So in Ruby's mind, the only family she had was her mother and her sister.
But by the end of the book, Ruby realized that family is not only relatives, it's everyone who takes care of you, anyone who you trust, anyone who loves you. The concept of the English project sprung from her want to "...focus on the idea of family, and I thought it would be an interesting way to get Ruby thinking about it without it seeming too forced."
Love, life, and all of the above are what you’ll find in this new amazing read of moving on but hanging on both at the same time told in a quick-paced, flowing style. It'll have you up for hours. If you're a huge fan too, you'll surely find allusions to Dessen's other works. The fREADom hub at the High School Learning Resource Center of Divine Light Academy Las Piñas houses quite a number of the writer's novels including Lock and Key.
No comments:
Post a Comment