Dead+Girls+Dont+write+letters

12/17/10 - MEETING 1

 * Brittany-Person A (leader)**
 * Mallory-Person B (quote finder)**
 * Laurel/Karina-Person C (question finder)**
 * Jess-Person D (summarizer)**

The main characters are Sunny, Jazz, and their parents. Sunny is your average, ordinary, teenage girl. Jazz is Sunny's older, beautiful sister who died in a fire. Sunny's dad is an alcoholic, and their mom is a depressed woman because of the death of Jazz. We are drawn to the characters because we can relate to Sunny (around our age) and the characters are all unique in their own way.
 * Brittany- (A)**

“ I blinked into the sun, and recovered. Everyone does know where Jazz is. Dead, but not buried. This letter must have survived the fire, then lost its was, arriving months after the fact. I exhaled, not realizing I had been holding my breath, and my heart beat again. Everything was fine.”
 * Mallory- (B)**

(Page 2) Sunny is feeling really confused when she gets a letter from her dead sister, Jazz. She doesn’t open the letter write away, which shows she is skeptical and she feels nervous seeing what she wrote. Her reaction to the letter is strange and it starts to make you wonder her relationship with her sister.

“I talked out loud a lot. Otherwise, there was nobody to talk to. I scooped up the pill and the water and scurried downstairs. Mom hadn’t moved. Head still on hand, tears still flowing.”

(Page 5) Sunny is feeling alone now that her sister is gone. Everyone around her is missing her and forgetting that she is even there. She is forced to be the strong one especially with her parents who are a wreck.

“That talented Reynolds girl. Killed so tragically.” “Heard her remains couldn’t be identified. Nothing but ashes.” “And the poor mother, having that breakdown.” “And the father. The only time he’s not drinking is when he’s passed out in jail.” “He was such a good journalist. The paper hasn’t been the same without his column.” “The sister isn’t nearly as bright as the one who died, is she?” “ No, and so plain, too.” They parted then, never seeing me behind them, and shuffled off to the next class to pass out the papers and words of wisdom.”

(Page 9) Sunny was always constantly compared to her sister Jazz. At school and at home, Sunny was never as nearly as good compared to Jazz. Now with Jazz gone, people don’t confront Sunny but they recognize her and her family with the memory of there favorite student. Sunny feels invisible and like she is never good enough.

“Mom would be happy. With Jazz back, she might be able to pull her life together. Dad might dry out. Everybody’s life would be like a sitcom. So why didn’t I feel relieved?”

(Page 13) Sunny is starting to cope with her life without Jazz and doesn't know if she could handle being compared to her anymore. Sunny is becoming her own person and having a sister who everyone thinks is perfect and can make anyone happy, would just make her feel less important or even worthless.

“I felt like I had been sucker punched. I headed for the door. “I’ll let you guys read the letter and make your plans.” My tone was cold and hard. Like their hearts. “Sunn, I don’t get you,” Dad said. “What’s with the attitude? Its as if you don’t was Jazz to come home.”

(Page 23) Sunny saw that as soon as she told her parents that Jazz might be alive, they might go back to they way things were. Her mom would fall all over her and her dad would start to work again. Sunny was acting as if Jazz was the only person who could pick up the troubles they were facing, and that Sunny would just stand by as everything falls back into place. Jazz being the favorite everything, and Sunny just there being compared to.

1. What happened to Sunny’s sister, Jazz? Everyone thought she died because her apartment building burned down. Now after reading the letter, everyone is curious if she is alive. 2. What's wrong with the dad? He's in jail most of the time because he is an alcoholic. 3.What news does Sonny tell her parents? She tells her parents about the letter and that Jazz might still be alive. 4. Do you really think her sister is dead? As of right now, yes. 5. Why didn’t she tell her parents immediately when she got letter? She didn’t know what to do or think.
 * Laurel/Karina- (C)**

During the group's discussion, we talked about Sunny's parents. We talked about how they are so different and have many problems. Also, we discussed Sunny may be jealous of her older sister, considering, Jazz was extremely pretty and intelligent, and everyone always says so. The most important discussion we had during the meeting was the letter Sunny received in the mail. We all have different suspicions about this, such as Brittany and Karina thinking Sunny is playing a trick on her parents to make them feel better, Mallory and I think that it is also a joke. Laurel thinks it may be a 'fake' Jazz that wrote the letter to Sunny and her parents.
 * Jess- (D)**

1/7/11-MEETING 2
 * Jess- Person A (leader)**
 * Brittany- Person B (quote finder)**
 * Mallory- Person C (question finder)**
 * Laurel/Karina- Person D (summary)**

The type of language that is used in our book is very easy to read. The language type could be considered "conversational" but not classic. It uses words on our vocabulary level. Everything in our book is pretty straightforward and does not need an explanation of the text. The grade level is probably written at 5th to 9th graders' levels. This is because the book is a written very clearly. 5th graders would know this vocabulary too. However, it is just the storyline of the material that may be challenging for them. 9th graders could fly through this book with no problem. They should and can understand the storyline and vocabulary used.
 * Jess- (A)**


 * Brittany- (B)**

Page 28+29 “ ‘I don’t know why you are always so sullen, Sunny.Why can’t you be more like your sister?‘Just lucky I guess.’ ” -This shows how Sunny’s parents compare her to Jazz, I’m sure this makes her feel bad since they are insulting her by saying that. Page 31

“Dad rubbed his hands against his knees. “Why do you always have to be so difficult?You’ve always been this way.You just— “ I cut him off.“I got all the bad DNA, what can I say?” -This shows again, how unfairly Sunny is being mistreated and compared to her sister.I feel that since her parents miss Jazz so much they are feeling the sadness and taking it out on Sunny, and this surely doesn’t make her feel good.

Page 31 "Dad bolted to his feet and strode to the front door. He opened it and looked toward mom. She backed away from the window, distancing herself from the open door. Shrugging, dad pushed passed the screen door past the porch. I stayed but placed the coke on the floor. I heard a squeal. “Dad, oh, I’m so glad you are here.” There was no answer from dad. Light steps pattered the wooden stairs. The door opened, a large carpetbag suitcase thumped in. Followed by a tall slim shape with a swirling pirouette. “Ta-da! I’m home! The light silhouetted the shape and cast the face in shadow. She wore clunky black boots, a long skirt, and a white silk blouse. Her dark hair framed her shadow face and brushed her shoulders. Mom, “Come give me a hug. I’m home!” She stepped forward out of the shadow. It wasn’t Jazz.” -This is one of the most important passages of the section we read this week.This occurs when ‘Jazz’ came back home.However, Sunny realizes that ‘Jazz’ looks nothing like her sister that she remembers.Sunny is then left in suspense to find out who she really is, while her parents still think it is the real Jazz.

Page 35 “Who was this girl?How did she know these things? Not-Jazz patted my head.“Don’t sweat, Cheekums. I’ll clean it up.”She darted for the kitchen without so much as a glance for directions.“Cheekums” was a baby nickname I hated.My grandmother slapped it on me because I had chubby cheeks as a child. Who was this girl?” -Still puzzled by not knowing who the girl disguised as her sister is, Sunny is called a childhood nickname that only her sister would know.

Page 41 “Sunny, I know this girl isn’t Jazz.But I think we have to play along for a few hours.” “Play along?” This passage here that i chose shows that Sunny's dad now realized too that it really isn't Jazz. At least we know that Sunny isn't the only one who thinks this.


 * Mallory- (C)**

1. How did Sunny's mom's attitude change when she thinks Jazz may be coming home? Sunny's mom cleans the house and starts cooking all the foods she knows Jazz would like. She starts to act positive and truly excited that her little girl is coming home.

2. Did Jazz come home? What does Sunny call her throughout the chapter? No, Jazz did not come home. Another girl who appeared as Jazz and acted as Jazz came into there life. Sunny called this girl "Not-Jazz".

3. Why does Sunny and her dad insist on playing along with this game? Sunny's dad reminds her of how crushed her mom was knowing that Jazz was dead. Breaking the news that this girl is not her could crush her and make her even more upset. They decide to play along with this imposter and see how well she really keeps this up. They are waiting for "Not-Jazz" to slip up.

4. Why is Sunny shocked when she's called "Cheekums"? Who gave her this nickname? Sunny is shocked when Not-Jazz calls her this because she never thought she would know it. It was a baby nickname she hated and her grandma gave it to her because she had chubby cheeks as a child.

5. Why does Sunny apologize after yelling at Not-Jazz? Sunny reminds herself that she has to play along. The real Jazz was use to Sunny fighting and arguing with her but the fake Jazz wasn't. She had to make her believe that she was falling for her tricks.

Our discussion consisted of many things. To start, we discussed that we know that Jazz isn’t real. And that someone is trying to trick the family. The dad is like very confused about the whole thing.. The mom is better because Jazz is back. They aren’t sure who is trying to make them believe that she is real.
 * Laurel/Karina- (D)**

1/14/11- MEETING 3
 * Laurel/Karina- A (leader)**
 * Jess- B (quote finder)**
 * Brittany- C (question)**
 * Mallory- D (summarizer)**


 * Laurel/ Karina- (A)**

1.) "Go look under my bed. Your old scrapbook is there. She looks at it for hours. She sits in a chair wearing a ratty old robe, her hair unwashed, looks at your scrapbook and cries. By the hour, by the day, by the week-" pg. 65: Sunny is extremely upset that Jazz never came back or told anyone that she wasn't dead when her apartment had burned down. Therefore, Sunny was stuck with her mother depressed, father in jail for being drunk. As you can tell, Sunny is not really happy with her sister at all.
 * Jess- (B)**

2.) "Sunny?" "Yeah, Dad. I was waiting for her to hang up." "I've got some news. Go get online," Dad said. "Sure." pg. 82: Sunny and her father are going to have a conversation on "Jazz". Sunny had found out some weird information sneaky around Jazz's room and trying to steal her journal/ diary. Her father had also found information and does not want to share it over the phone due to the fact that Jazz could possibly be listening. Therefore, this is a significant quote because it leads to the a part where you find out that Jazz could be a fake. 3.) 'Jazz wasn't really Jazz. Rhonda wasn't really Rhonda. And who the devil was Karen?' pg. 90: This quote means everything in this book. The Jazz that showed up on Sunny's front porch on a Sunday afternoon was not actually the Jazz that Sunny had known. Also, meeting a character named Rhonda, seems to be presumed dead for 5 years. Therefore, she could not have been Jazz's roommate in the apartment. Also, when Sunny snuck into Jazz's room for her diary, Jazz caught her and kept calling her Karen. 4.) 'I waited for more words to blip onto my screen. Finally, they did- Rhonda Mallory died 5 years ago.' pg. 84: As explained in the last quote, Rhonda Mallory was the supposed roommate of Jazz. However, when Sunny's dad dug a little deeper, he found that this Rhonda girl died 5 years before. Therefore, the only relation to Jazz she had was one acting class together. This makes the reader wonder what happened between Rhonda and Jazz. 5.) "Let's just say if somebody wants to get real lost, they can become another person, if the other person happens to be resting in a cemetery plot." pg 88: This qoute is said by "Ollie" a police officer. He is explaining to Sunny that there are other Rhonda's in the world. However, they could've taken someone else's identity if the real person is dead. This is giving Sunny ideas about if this Jazz girl took the real Jazz's identity. 1.) Why do you think that Sunny's dad is going along with the 'not-Jazz'? I believe they he is going along with it just to see what the outcome will be, they are not sure who she actually is so they don't want to jump to conclusions. 2.) Why is the diary so important that they found? Because it could be one of the reasons that 'not-Jazz' knows so much about the family and life of the real Jazz. 3.) What did Ollie's conclusion about Jazz's case convince Sunny to believe? That 'not-Jazz' has taken Jazz's identity and it pretending to be her sister. 4.) What does the confusion of deaths in this reading mean to you? It shows to me that anything could be possible, because of all the confusion of deaths between the girls there still is a possibility that Jazz could still be alive. 5.) Who do you think 'not-Jazz' really is? I believe that 'not-Jazz' could be the real Jazz's roommate.
 * Brittany- (C)**


 * Mallory- (D)** During the group's discussion, we talked about Sunny and Jazz. We mentioned how "Jazz" is turning out to be very different from the girl they thought she was. We start to see Sunny's family like and fall for Jazz because of her warm and caring personality. The most important discussion we had during the meeting was the diary Sunny found in Jazz's drawer. The diary could be the reason "Jazz" knows so much about the real Jazz. Jess and Brittany are beginning to believe that Not-Jazz could be the real Jazz roommate. Laurel and Karina think that "Jazz" could have easily found her information and wallet and is now trying to plot something involving her family. I for one believe that Jazz could have been a classmate or the landlord. Being the landlord to her apartment could have given her access to Jazz and her stuff.

1/21/11- MEETING 4
 * Mallory- A (leader)**
 * Laurel/ Karina- B (quote finder)**
 * Jess- C (question)**
 * Brittany- D (summarizer)**

1. Themes that our book contains would be Identity and Trust. Some of the images that are used would be Jazz's journal or her scrapbook. I think the author uses these images to convey her meaning because "Jazz" could be anyone and they journal could be her source of information. It helps to find out how this imposter knows so much about the real Jazz. The scrapbook represents Jazz and Sunny's childhood. They grew up always fighting and it shows more pictures of Jazz, there favorite child.
 * Mallory-(A)**


 * Laurel/ Karina- (B)**

“The phone rang and I jumped.As my knees struck the table,the bowl rocked off the edge clattered to the brick floor and bounced.”

This shows that Sunny is very anxious and concerned about life.

“I'm scared.Curious, but not scared. And I think we’ll do Mom more harm making this girl go than letting her stay. At least until we know whats going on”

Sunny admits shes nervous and uneasy about the whole situation. She isn’t sure exactly whats going on and its scaring her.

“I believe she absorbed all the unhappiness in our house .Just soaked it in. When she learned to talk, she used words to fight back”

Sunny's mother starts to relive how the whole situation is affecting Sunny.

" I think we'll do Mom more harm making this girl go than letting her stay" pg 77

1.) Why do you think Sunny finally 'snapped' at Jazz? -Sunny finally snapped at Jazz because she knows that Jazz is not who she says she is. 2.) Why did Sunny confront Jazz about the journal? -Sunny confronted Jazz about the journal because she wants to know what she's really hiding. 3.) Why did Sunny go crazy and do all this research on Rhonda Mallory and call her home? -Because Rhonda Mallory died 5 years ago, Sunny suspects that Rhonda's family must know something about Jazz or what happened during and after the fire in her apartment. 4.) Why do you think that Sunny's mother said not tell anyone that Jazz is back? -Sunny's mother told Sunny that she shouldn't say anything probably because she suspects something about Jazz today. 5.) Finally, Sunny gets to Jazz's journal. She reads everything and it says everything about their family. Why do you think Sunny did not go to the police? -Sunny did not go to the police with the journal probably because she felt that it wasn't enough motive for a girl to impersonate Jazz. However, it was enough evidence to go to her father and tell him what's up.
 * Jess- (C)**

This meeting we discussed how Jazz is really not her. We come to find out that it was someone who knew a lot about Jazz's life, but really isn't her. To find out that someone could know so much about another person's life is very interesting, her roommate would be the only person that would know so much about Jazz.
 * Brittany- (D)**

2/411 - MEETING 5

 * Brittany-Person A (leader)**
 * Mallory-Person B (quote finder)**
 * Laurel/Karina-Person C (question finder)**
 * Jess-Person D (summarizer)**


 * Brittany (A)-**
 * 1. On your group's wiki page, discuss your final reflections on this book. **
 * Would you recommend it to peers? No **
 * Why or why not? Because the ending was terrible and the chapters did not make sense. **
 * Has this topic been discussed more/less effectively in another book or books? **
 * Should this book be considered for the school's curriculum? **


 * Mallory (B)-**

=
(Page 113) Sunny is finding out more about the fake "Jazz" living with her family. Sunny calls Eve Mallory to find out what happened to her daughter Rhonda, but she discovers much more. She finds out that the girl living with her is Debra, and shes dangerous.======

=

 * 2**. “Stop!” The girl returned to the present. “You stop it. You’re just like the doctors. You’ll be sorry for this, Sunny. You should have just let it alone. I came here to make up for all the mean things I did before. I wanted to make it right, but you wouldn’t let it alone.”======

=
(Page 116) Debra starts thinking about the past and comes out of being her "Jazz" character. She starts remembering her own life and it is upsetting her. She keeps running away reality to make things right, but its not that easy.======

=
(Page 120) Sunny feels bad for Debra. Sunny sees that she has the right intentions but has made a lot of wrong and crazy mistakes. She wants to let her go without involving the police and let her get her life back together.======

=
(Page 125) Sunny seeks help from her grandmother but without proof of Debra, she thinks is a lie. Sunny's parents pretend none of it happened so she is left to be thought of as crazy. Sunny supposedly made it all up.======

=
(Page 126) Sunny receives a letter but this time with a different signature, her own. Debra was set free, but that doesn't mean she changed her ways. She is now taking Sunny's identity and is coming back for her.======


 * Laurel/Karina (C)-**

During our book club meeting, we have been discussing that stealing people's identities are a common crime. Therefore, people should be more careful in who they trust since reading this book. Also, we think that the book had a good story line and plot. However, we also thought the book did not have a good ending. We knew that when Jazz visited, it wasn't really her. However, we had no idea that the mom knew it actually wasn't her daughter. The whole group feels that the ending was horrible because they let the impersonating Jazz go, when we feel she should have went to jail.
 * Jess (D)-**