Belly vs. Conrad

In The Summer I Turned Pretty, Belly falls head over heels for her brother's best friend, Conrad. As she starts to see the "bad boy" side of him, her attention draws her closer. They both eventually grow feelings for each other. The story is written in Belly's point of view. From this perspective, a lot of events and characters are described in a way that creates hatred towards Conrad. During the beginning of the book, it describes Conrad as a rebel. He does what he wants to do. After a while, his feelings towards Belly grow, but there is another person that gets in their way of their relationship: Jeremy. 

One way that Belly's point of view influences the reader's interpretation is how her perspective describes and shows you her relationship with Conrad. In the beginning of the book, it reveals Conrad a bit of a "brat" the way Belly describes him. While reading, this gives you an opinion of Conrad and not such a good one. When Belly and Conrad are at the fair, he ignores her and treats her as if she were his little sister. When I first read that, my first impression of him was not a pleasant one. I thought that he was going to be like any other teenage guy in high school: cocky and selfish, but as the book goes on and he dates Belly, you start to see the softer side of him. 

However, the reader would feel a lot differently about Conrad if the novel was written in the point of view of Conrad. You would understand how he feels and what he's going through more. His intentions might not have been what he was going for. For instance, the reader wouldn't think that Conrad was soft hearted before Belly stepped into his life. If the book were to be in his point of view, much would change because in a relationship, both people see things in different perspectives. 

As you can see, the point of view of the story forces the reader to see just one side of the book. In The Summer I Turned Pretty, you have to be patient with some characters. For an example, Conrad, he has an attitude in the beginning, but redeems himself. Belly's perspective makes the reader have strong opinions of each character, main or minor. When reading this novel, you have to understand the characters. Imagine what it's like to be in their shoes and situation. 

Roles In Family

Author's note: Here's a theme piece with three different types of books. The Summer I Turned Pretty, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and The Hunger Games. All have the same theme: roles in family. 

Family is the only group of people that will stay with you when you're going on the roller coaster of life. Whether you're going down or at the very top, you can always rely on your family. There are some members in our family who enjoy being leaders or obnoxious. Others may be protective, or maybe even shy. Roles in our families are quite important. Personally, my role in the family is to behave and not cause stress to my parents. However, my parents' role is to be protective and to watch out for their kids. The role of the parent is a very important theme in many novels.

In The Summer I Turned Pretty, Belly's role in her family is to fit in. She has a brother, Steven, who she wants to always be with. Whenever Steven's friends would come over,  Belly wanted to play with them. Almost as if he were her teddy bear; she was clingy. Belly was so clingy because she looked at Steven as a fatherly figure. Since her father had died, she had no one to look up to as a fatherly figure. 

Another person who looks up to their father is Hugo Cabret. In The Invention of Hugo Cabret, his father runs the clocks at a local railway station. Hugo learns so much from his father; he teaches him to mechanic and how to invent robots and run clocks. He looked up to his father, but when a tragedy occurs to his father, he is left alone. While his father's duty is in his hands. 

Fatherly figures are important in everybody's life, but so are motherly figures. In The Hunger Games, Katniss acts as if Prim were her daughter and she is her mother. Katniss and Prim's mom is struggling with supporting two kids and being a single mom without a job,  she neglects her kids from all the stress she has in her life. Whenever Prim needs someone to talk to or to look up to, she can always rely on Katniss. 

Whether it's a fatherly figure or a motherly figure, everyone needs a role model in their life. For me, my parents are my role model. They taught me to never give up and dreams do come true. When you work hard, there is always something good coming out of it. We will all go through failures and accomplishments, but without these and our role models, we wouldn't be who we are today.