I Chose the Book Burned by Ellen Hopkins and My Book Is a Work of Fiction.

I chose the book Burned by Ellen Hopkins and my book is a work of fiction.

        Pattyn Scarlett Von Stratten. She is the main character in this book. She is a high school girl who doesn’t understand what love is because she has never experienced it at home. Her home life is rough and she is tired of living the way that she does. My main character changes from an introvert who never really said much to someone who isn’t afraid to stand up for herself and for others. It took courage throughout the book for Pattyn to stand up to her dad and for her to live life how she wanted to live it. Pattyn did the right thing when she confronted in Aunt J once she went to live with her for the summer. I can identify with her when she stands up for her sister, ‘Lyssa, after she clogs the toilet and it overflows. Another way I can identify with her is when she goes away to get her anger out and just relax. That is the smartest thing to do, instead of let the anger take over you and you end up doing something you regret. I also cannot identify with her whenever she starts to question the priest and what he’s telling them every single Sunday. You just need to trust him and believe what he is telling you. I wouldn’t be able to just question someone like that.

        The two other characters that I chose to describe are Jackie Von Stratten (Pattyn’s sister) and Ethan (Pattyn’s boyfriend). I chose Jackie because she is Pattyn’s younger sister and Jackie looks up to Pattyn and is there for her when she needs her. She isn’t just a sister to Pattyn, she’s her best friend. The next character I chose was Ethan because he taught Pattyn how to love and how to love herself from the inside out. He showed her how to live life with no regrets. He opened her eyes to a new world. Ethan was Pattyn’s whole world until that unfortunate day that he was taken from her.

        The theme of this story is that no matter how hard life gets, there’s always something worth living for. Another thing I think the author is trying to convey is that abuse is a real thing that real people experience everyday and life isn’t always cupcakes and rainbows. Life is hard and it can make or break you at any point. The lesson in life is that not everything will go your way, but no matter what happens, there is always something better on the other side; you just have to keep fighting for it. This is a story about love, sadness, courage, strength, and so many other things. This story teaches you so many things about life and how it’s not always perfect. I learned that love can’t solve all your problems no matter how hard you try and make them. For example, Pattyn is in love with Ethan and they make love, but she gets pregnant and it makes a whole new problem with her dad. Not everything in life can be fixed with a little bit of love.

        Here are some major events that happened throughout the story.

1. Pattyn goes out to her dad’s shed to tell him supper is ready and she finds him sobbing over his last wife. It’s the first time she has found her dad this vulnerable.
2. Pattyn starts to backtalk and disobey her father’s commands, so he sends her to Nevada for a summer to live with her Aunt J.
3. While Pattyn is in Nevada, she meets Ethan and they spend that summer falling in love and getting to know each other.
4. They experience many different things together, such as, riding horses, helping kill wild animals, working on the farm together, and even their first time making love together.
5. Pattyn is forced to go back home once her mother has another child and she eventually figures out that she’s pregnant with Ethan’s baby.
6. Ethan chooses to come back and marry Pattyn once he figures out that she’s pregnant. Whenever he comes back, Pattyn’s dad calls the cops and it had been snowing and the roads were icy. Ethan ends up being in a car accident with Pattyn and it kills Ethan and their unborn baby.

        What did I think of this book? This book is honestly one of the best ones I have read in a while that wasn’t a Christian fiction book. It keeps you on your toes and I can honestly say that I was up until midnight reading this book the same day I got it. The thing that I liked about it was that it was about normal teenagers just like us. The thing I didn’t like was the ending, but luckily, there was a sequel. I don’t know what I could have done if there wasn’t a second book. This story wasn’t very hard for me to believe because everything that happened in this book could happen to us in real life. It also wasn’t confusing at all because the plot line was easy enough to follow. The book was not predictable for me at all. Everything that happened, I definitely didn’t see coming. The ending was the most unpredictable part for me and I believe that anyone who has read this book would agree with me.