Summer Reading – (For Everyone Entering 11th Grade)

Emily Fine

Summer Reading – (For Everyone Entering 11^th Grade)

Book: Little Bee by Chris Cleave

Recommended by: Allison Diamond

Conversation 1: Before the Read.

My mother has been trying to convince me into reading Little Bee by Chris Cleave for months on end, and until now, I simply have not had a reason, or even the time, to read it. When I found out about this assignment I knew that this was the perfect opportunity to read this book. My mom told me to brace myself for heart-wrenching situations, among many other inopportune scenarios in which the main character is put through. This book had a very strong impact on her emotions, and in hopes that it would do the same to me, we agreed this was the right book for me to read. Apparently, there is a lot of build-up that happens in this story. It goes back and forth between the lives of two women whose lives collide on one fateful day, and two years afterward. This is a story of two heartbreaking life stories coming together as one, and what becomes of these two women once they are one story together. I expect this one to be a tearjerker.

The Read.

Having just finished the book, I have to say that it was much different than anything I had expected. The read itself wasn’t difficult, but some of the emotions woven into those words tore into emotional depths to heartstrings of mine that are normally difficult to reach. My mother told me that this book would do this to me, but unlike her, it only became that emotional once or twice in the story. From my mom’s perspective, though, the entire book was a tearjerker. This is a story about how fate always has a plan. No matter how hard you try, and no matter how far you run away and how many secrets you leave scattered or take with you, the universe always has a destination for you. Some might say you can change your fate, and that you shouldn’t just sit around assuming your future is set in stone. The difference between the two is that, as proven in the book by Little Bee, your destination might be preset, but what you do and the lives you change along the way are not predetermined along with it.

Conversation 2: After the Read.

My mother and I have different opinions regarding this story. She explained, “It shows that we are all human beings, and our destinies are different based on the circumstances we are born into. It is random, and unfair, and we should have more love and compassion for each other as human beings. We take ourselves as being separate from one another, when we’re really all connected.” I understand that perspective; at least now that it has been presented to me. I do not disagree with it, but that was not my immediate interpretation of the book. To me, this book is about how sometimes, we just cannot control what life wants to do with us, but while our destination may be controlled, our path is not.