art+of+racing+in+the+rain

]The Art of Racing in the Rain By: Garth Stein Week 1:

Food (Alexa)

Questions (Maria and Jyll) 1. Do you think dogs actually think like this and have ideas of their own about life? We think dogs have ideas similar, but not as intellectual as the way Enzo thinks. He is a very smart dog that can analyze situations. 2. How was Denny's relationship with Enzo changed before and after getting married and having Zoey? Every new person introduced into Denny's life makes their relationship weaker because he is now focused on his wife and daughter, not just Enzo, the way it used to be. 3. How does Enzo feel about Eve? What is their relationship like? At first, Enzo hated her and was jealous of her because he wasn't getting as much attention. Later on, he opened up to her and started accepting her as family. Now, he cares for her because she makes Denny happy and tried to let them know that she was ill. 4. Why is Enzo so interested in racing? Enzo likes to watch it with Denny and it is one of the ways they bond. While watching the races, Denny treats Enzo like a human being or friend than a pet or dog. 5. What would Enzo like to become when he dies? What does he wish for? Enzo believes that he will become a human when he dies. When he dies and becomes a human he plans on telling Denny that Enzo says hi. He doesn't care if he loses his memories or experiences he just wants to be human and have thumbs. 6. Why does Enzo think he is different from other dogs? He analyzing things differently than other dogs and takes all situations into consideration. He thinks ahead when he is left at home alone for a few days and has a mind of a human, but cannot speak. 7. How do Zoe and Enzo interact with eachother? What is their relationship? 8. What happened when Eve had to leave for a few days? What happened to Enzo? When Eve left, she took Zoe with her, leaving Enzo behind in the house for a few days. That day when Eve and Zoe left, Eve woke up feeling unwell and started vomiting and having the feeling of that something was hurting her skull. Enzo was left behind in the house alone. 9. Why did Denny get frustrated and angry at Eve? Denny was angry at Eve for leaving Enzo in the house alone for a few days alone, since Enzo could have died from lack of food and water. 10. What caused Enzo to chew on Zoe's toy? Enzo was hallucinating about Zoe's toy zebra coming to life, and doing weird but gross things to the other dolls that Zoe owned. Enzo was angry about how the toy was treating the others and thought that it had to be stopped, but before chewing it up, the toy took itself apart, leaving Enzo shocked.

Summary(Alyssa) In The Art of Racing in the Rain, Enzo is the main character. Enzo is a dog and his owner is Denny. Denny is a very good racecar driver, the only one that can race in the rain. Enzo is a loyal dog that appreciates Denny very much. Denny loves Enzo, but Enzo gets some different feelings when some new family members are added to the mix. Denny gets married and has a child and it seems to Enzo that Denny favors them. Enxzo must come to learn how to deal with these feelings.

Characters (Allison) There are only four characters in this story because Enzo, the narrator, only knows four people enough for them to be a character in his story. Enzo: Narrator; an old dog; Denny’s pet; thinks humanlike beliefs: thinks that he’s more human than other dogs; thinks that dogs are more like humans than monkeys, despite thumbs; believes that when he dies, he will be a man. Enzo can smell something wrong in Eve’s head but is frustrated because he can’t tell her Denny: Enzo’s owner; professional racecar driver; very close with Enzo. Denny is Enzo’s best friend and talks to him like he’s a real person. Denny is an interesting character because of his unique career; racecar driving. He often watches tapes of his races with Enzo and talks him through every moment of the race. Eve: Denny’s wife; very ill. From the beginning, Enzo did not like Eve because she came between him and Denny. After a little while of living with Denny and Enzo, Eve began to accept that she was going to have to become close with the dog because of his and Denny’s relationship. At first, Enzo was cautious and confused about Eve’s kindness towards him, but soon after he opened up to her and they became good friends; she talked to him almost as human-like Denny does. Eve has a brain tumor, and Enzo smelled it a while before she felt the pain, but he could do nothing about it. Denny urged her to go to the doctor but she refused, saying that he’ll only make up a diagnosis to her pain just so he can say that he can’t cure it. Zoe: Denny’s daughter; protected by Enzo; has a bunch of stuffed animals that Enzo destroyed when he was left alone for 3 days. Zoe has tea parties with Enzo and her many stuffed animals, one of which is a zebra her grandparents got her for her birthday that Enzo has a rivalry with for Zoe’s affection.

Week 2

Food (Allison)

Question (Maria and Jyll) 1. Why did Eve go to the hospital originally? Because she got frustrated Zoe for not eating her nuggets so in an effort to make hot dogs, she cut her hand badly with a knife. 2. Why did Eve want Enzo to stay with her over night? 3. What is wrong with Eve? Eve has a brain tumor. 4. Did Denny or Eve yell at Zoe during this part? If they (ore one) were, why? 5. Where did Eve stay when they found out she was sick? Eve stayed with her parents when she got sick. 6. Did Eve's disease get worse? Did it get better? Explain how she got better. 7. Who is Maxwell and Trish? Grandparents of Zoe, parents of Eve, Enzo calls them the twins. 8. Why did Maxwell get angry at Eve? 9. What happened to Denny in his races? 10. Why was Enzo being taken care of Mike? Who is Mike? Mike is Denny's friend who took care of Enzo while Denny was busy at the hospital with Eve.

Language (Alyssa) Our books language is very unique because it is not told in the point of view of a person. It is told in the point of view of a dog, which makes it 10 times better. Although that story is told by a dog, the language and writing is very advanced. However, this book is an easy read, considering the concept of it. The story that is told by the dog is very interesting which keeps you turning pages. Our whole group thinks that this book was probably written at an 8th/9th grade level.

Summary (Alexa) This week Allison brought food for book club. We ate and then discussed all the details of the pages we read and what we predict and think will happen throughout the rest of the story. We usually just talk about everything and recall what we know for the first ten minutes. Then we start asking question on things we didn't understand or forgot. After that, we usually start to write questions, but this week we were all to excited to meet the kid we were assigned and take them through a Winter Wonderland. The group has noticed that this book is an easy read, but tells a great story. The words never seem to drag on. Personally, I find myself flying through the pages. As I predicted in my pitch, I do not feel like I just have to read this book to meet the deadlines every week. Once I find the time to read, I will sit down and be done for the week. I love the storyline and I find it very entertaining that Enzo is the one telling the story. His ideas amaze all of the group and we always end up talking about how intelligent and observant Enzo is.

Week 3:

Food (Aylssa)

Questions (Allison and Alexa) 1. When do you think Zoe is going to fully understand about her mother's death? Once she starts to question where her mom is, Denny will have to eventually explain Eve's death and what death is. 2. What was the purpose of Denny and Zoe going to the big family party? So Zoe can meet all of her mom's side of the family. 3. Do you think Denny is going to bring Enzo in a car on the track with him again? Why or why not? Yes, because it made Enzo very happy and Denny had a lot of fun too. 4. What do you think was going through Annika's head when she was trying to get together with Denny? We know that Annika thought that he loved her because she said that, but we cannot figure out where she got this information from. Denny loved Eve and that was very obvious because he stuck with her through all of the pain. 5. How did Denny find out about Eve's death? He was in the park with Enzo and he got a call from The Twins. 6. Do you think Denny will ever be able to move on? 7. What happened with Enzo ran away? 8. Are the charges against Denny going to be dropped? 9. Are Denny's and Zoe's relationship ever going to be the same? 10. How do you think Annika is effected by the charges against Denny?

Summary (Maria) During our group discussion we talked about Eve's death, how it affected everyone, and what we think will happen next. When Eve died, Eve's parents wanted to take Zoe from Denny and take care of her because she would be better off with them. We discussed how this would affect Denny and if he will allow Zoe's grandparents to take care of her. We also discussed how Enzo feels about all the things that have been happening.

Mood and Tone(Jyll) The part in the book we read was surrounding on the time after Eve's death. Denny and Enzo were both were sad and depressed from Eve's death. Denny was sad because he lost his wife, who he loved and also had a great friendship with, and Enzo was sad because his master had lost something very important to him. Also, things got worse since Denny met Annika, a member of Eve's side of the family, because Annika tried to get with Denny and after the encounter he was arrested for something he didn't do, and he was accused of raping a girl, when he did not. Zoe does not know, and when she told Denny that she wanted to go back home and live with him, Denny told her that she couldn't because someone accused him of doing something very bad and it made him have no custody over his daughter, and Zoe kept telling him to tell them that Zoe wanted to go back.

Week 4:

Food (Maria)

Questions(Alyssa and Allison) 1. What’s your opinion on the Twins suing Denny for child support? We think that it’s horrible that the Twins are suing Denny for child support, because the Twins claim that Zoe is so much better off with them because they can afford to pay for a better education and childhood experience, so Denny shouldn’t have to pay for all these things. 2. Do you think Denny is irritated by the timing of Enzo’s medical problems? Yes, we think that Denny is irritated because with all this other stuff going on in his life right now, Enzo’s hip isn’t at the top of his priority list when normally it would be. 3. Who does Zoe prefer to stay with? She prefers to stay with her dad, rather than her grandparents because she has more fun with her dad and Enzo is with her dad. 4. What happened to Denny’s lawyer, Mark? Mark was asked to be a judge, and this is a very prestigious opportunity that he couldn’t pass up. Therefore, Denny had to find a new lawyer. 5. Why doesn’t Enzo like the new lawyer? Enzo doesn’t like the new lawyer because he isn’t as confident as Mark was. Enzo described this new lawyer as “L” words, laid-back. 6. Do you think that Zoe would do better with the Twins or Denny, how so? 7. Why do you think the Twins kicked Denny out of his wife’s funeral? 8. Do you think that Zoe understands anything that’s going on, from her mother’s death to all the lawsuits? 9. How do you think Eve’s death effected the family as a whole? 10. Do you think the family will ever go back to normal?

Themes/Images(Alexa) Throughout the book, themes and images are displayed. I think that the theme of the book is to live each moment like it is your last and make the most of every second of your life. Basically, you never know what you had until it is removed from your life. In this case I don't think that the characters realizex how much Eve meant to them and the family. She was the person who kept life normal. Eve can also be considered an image. She represents all that is good in life and she kept peace within her family. Another image would also be Denny's race car. His car represents who he really is the his art of driving. It is one of the very important things in his life and a major part of himself. The authors may use images to make the reader think about things in a different perspective.

Summary (Jyll) For today’s Book club, Maria brought in food and then we ate. After, we started discussing about who would have which job to do and talked about part 4 of the book that we read. We talked about why the ‘Evil Twins’ or Eve’s parents and Zoe’s grandparents didn’t want Zoe to live with Denny. We also talked about how they wanted the custody of Zoe. Also, we talked about whether or not we would want the Twins to have Zoe with them and why. Also, we realized that Eve was the peacekeeper between Denny and the Twins, because Denny and the Twins hated each other, but Eve made them be nice. But, now since Eve has died, they hate each other again.

Week 5:

Summary: (Allison) This was the last meeting my group had for Book Club Round 2, and it was very successful. Alexa brought in the food; Baked Lays, Cosmic Brownies, and Strawberry Kiwi CapriSun (the one with the clear back!). We ate, discussed the ending, and answered some of the questions Mr. Morone suggested to the class. One of the questions was, do you think you would be better off reading or not reading this book? We all answered yes, of course, because this book is so interesting and it changed our perspectives on dogs, from what might have been stupid creatures to very intelligent beings. I would recommend this book to anyone, old or young, man or woman. This was a very well written book that makes everyone who reads it think a little bit harder about the world around them.

Questions: (Alyssa and Jyll) 1. How come Denny could not pay the medical bills for Enzo’s appointment with the doctor? 2. What was wrong with Enzo? 3. Who was the old couple who went to Denny’s apartment? 4. When Denny spoke to Annika, what did he tell her? How come Annika’s friend started crying? 5. What happens after Denny and Zoe start living in Italy? 6. Do you think that reading this book changed any of your views on dogs or any other animal? 7. Do you think Enzo’s talents are real? Do you think other dogs think the way he does? 8. Do you think Denny knows that Enzo really wanted to die, in order to become human? 9. What do you think about Enzo being reincarnated as a human? Do you think Denny or Zoe know that Enzo, the human, is really Enzo, the dog. 10. Do you believe in reincarnation? Why or why not?

Overview (Maria) The Art of Racing in the Rain was an amazing book. It changed all of our views on the average dog. We are now more open minded about the intelligence of dogs and/or other animals and this book has made us realize that they really could be as intelligent or even more intelligent than humans. i would definitely recommend this book to my friends because it is a great story not only showing the possible intelligence of dogs, but of a family that is ripped apart by deaths then slowly mended. We all agreed that after reading this book, we see dogs in a different perspective. Not as stupid animals, but intelligent beings. This book has given me a new appreciation for my dog and I will never underestimate their knowledge even if they are only animals that have no clue.