The+Lovely+Bones+by+Alice+Sebold

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold Colleen Gargiulo, Taylor Kennedy, and Amelia Trembath WEEK 1. week questions- colleen gargiulo


 * 1) ======We know Mr. Harvey killed Susie, but no one else does. Her father has an idea that it is Mr. Harvey, but no proof. At the end of the story do you believe Mr. Harvey will be found guilty? If so, how do you think this will happen? Do you think Susie’s dad will be able to find proof of it?======
 * 2) =====As a group we believe that Mr. Harvey won't be found guilty. The book says that Susie wasn't the first person he killed, therefore he must know how to hide up the evidence and get away from it. Where the book stands now, we don't think they will be able to find proof of Mr. Harvey killing her. Mr. Harvey knows how to hide the body, eliminate the evidence, and cover up his life with lies. So how can you prove him guilty? We think Susie's dad will find clues and proof to find him guilty, but it will either be too late or not enough.=====
 * 3) =====On page 65, Susies dad says, “You were not there when your daughter needed you.” If you were in a situation where a loved one was potentially brutally murdered, would you blame yourself? Do you think there was anything Mr. Salmon could have done to change the factor?=====
 * 4) =====We completely understand how Susie's dad feels, and why he would blame himself. Depending on the situation, we would all probably in someway blame ourselves. If we knew the slightest thing changed what could have happened, we would most likely blame ourselves for it. However there really was nothing Mr. Salmon could do. He came home from work to find that his daughter wasn't home yet, and wasn't coming back. In no way is it his fault that Susie took the shortcut, and was murdered there. Sure he wasn't there when she needed him, but he couldn't have been there.=====
 * 5) =====Most characters introduced in the story have had a big impact in their life because of Susie’s death. ( Ray Singh- accused of murdering her. Lindsay- being looked at as her dead sister. Her parents- knowing their daughter is dead but not being able to do anything about it. Buckley- not knowing what happened or where his sister is. Ect.) Who’s life do you think was most impacted by the death of Susie. Why?=====
 * 6) =====To us, we think Lindsay's life has the biggest impact. She has probably always been compared to Susie, and now to be compared to your dead sister, must be extremely hard for her to deal with. She is the one who has to deal with gossipers at school, the one who has to deal with the constant stares and assumptions about her and her family. She's the one who has to deal with loosing her best friend, and sister.=====
 * 7) =====Suppose you were in the situation of Susie’s parents. Would you be able to tell your other children that their older sister has died? How would you cope with everyone looking at you and thinking of your dead daughter? How would you go on with your life, knowing your daughter is missing, and most likely dead.=====
 * 8) =====It was hard for all of us to imagine going through loosing your daughter in general. However, telling your other children that they lost a child is extremely difficult for anyone to do. We know it would need to be done right away, but we honestly have no idea how we would break the news of our daughters death to our children. If people were always looking at us, thinking of our daughter being dead and how we should have done something, we'd get very emotional and conscious of it. We'd care what people think, but at the same time hope people understand when there was nothing we could do, and that we'd do anything to get our daughter back. Going on with our life would be extremely hard, knowing fully well, we just want to sit and cry. However we would have to slowly move on for our family, and the people around us.=====
 * 9) =====5) The charm bracelet Susie wears obviously has a major impact in the story. You can tell this straight away because it’s on the cover. However on page 42, Susie talks about how important the bracelet is to her, and how her mom memorized each charm on it to describe it, if she ever lost Susie. We later find out that Mr. Harvey has the charm bracelet. What impact do you think the charm bracelet will have on the story? Do you think it will help solve the mystery? What do you think Mr. Harvey will do with it?=====
 * 10) =====We think it's irony how Mrs. Salmon thought to memorize the charms on Susies bracelet incase she went missing, and then when she did Mr. Harvey had her bracelet. In ways we think Mr. Harvey will destroy one part of the bracelet at a time, just like he did to Susies body. I think that one day, Mr. Salmon will find the bracelet in Mr. Harvey's house and use it to prove him guilty.=====


 * =====For our book we are reading The Lovely Bones. We read up to chapter seven. We agreed that chapter one was the most capturing so far. The main characters name is Susie Salmon. It was about a fourteen year old girl who gets kidnapped and murder becomes a mystery. At this time she has to watch her murderer get away with it while she watches up in heaven.=====


 * =====We liked how everything was detailed and she explained how her life and others lives changed drastically. We liked how she tells her point of view from heaven. We wondered if Mr. Harvey would get away with it in the end. Amelia and Colleen think that he is not gong to get away with it in the end so far. Taylor thinks that he’s going to get away with the brutal murder in the end. We argued about who will be most affected by the murder. In the end we al came to a conclusion that the sister will be most affected by the murder.=====


 * 1) =====All throughout Mr. Harvey’s childhood he talks about wanting to be a builder (said on page 110). Still, the book says he has dreams of buildings and creating them. He built the underground room, where he murdered Susie and the tent he built with Mr. Harvey. When he was a child he probably never imagined to murder someone, only to build. Do you think his buildings have something to do with his murders? What do you think lead him to killing=====
 * 2) =====We believe that when his mom left his father and him, he was emotionally scared for life. We think his anger came from when his mom left, and then he grew something against girls, and people who reminded him of his mom. When someone you care deeply for hurts you badly, it will affect you a lot. We’re not sure the building he makes and his mother leaving have something to go with each other. However, we think with every building he builds he kills another little girl.=====
 * 3) Ray Singh begins talking to Ruth Conner, a girl Susie became friends with the last few weeks before her death. Do you think they will develop a friendship together? Or lean on each other for support? Do you think they’ll be able to help each other get over Susie’s death together? Do you think Susie’s best friend Clarissa will join them in mourning over Susie’s death?
 * 4) =====We think both Ray and Ruth will need someone to lean on while going through the hardship of Susie’s death. We think a friendship will form, and they’ll bond over memories of Susie and getting over her death. We think Clarissa will keep to herself, and stay away from Ray, Ruth, and everyone else who reminds her of Susie. Clarissa doesn’t seem like the kind of girl who would weep over her sorrow, especially with other people .=====
 * 5) =====In chapter nine, Lindsay asks her grandma to teach her about makeup. Why do you think she suddenly wants to be more girly or feminine? Do you think its to impress her boyfriend? To show she’s different from Susie? To show she can take care of her self?=====
 * 6) =====We think becoming more feminine will show people that Lindsay is her own person, and isn’t the same as Susie. She wants to prove both her maturity and differences from Susie. We also think it could have to do with her boyfriend. They get closer throughout the book, and advance further in their relationship. We think her new choice of makeup and clothes may have something to do with her boyfriend as well.=====
 * 7) Do you think as Ruth writes in her journal or write poems, she’s really writing to Susie? Why or why not?
 * 8) =====We think Ruth believes that Susie is watching her, and Ruth is trying to talk to her, and make her understand how she feels. Normally when people write to their journal they mean for it to be kept to them selves. However, with Ruth we think she wants Susie to read it and in someway communicate back to her.=====


 * 1) =====Mr. Harvey keeps belongings of everyone he murdered. Yet for some he doesn’t remember who the belongings belonged to. Do you think he just randomly killed? Or do you think there was a reason for each murder? Also, why do you think he kept belongings from the girls?=====


 * 1) =====We think Mr. Harvey decided knew who he wanted to kill, but only learned enough about them to get away with it. We don’t think he necessarily randomly killed, but there was a reason for it. We think he kept belongings of the girls to keep track of them, and remember who he killed in ways. Or maybe the item they had reminded him of his wife in some way.=====


 * =====This week we read up to chapter eleven. We discussed chapter six, which was about Susie remembering Ray Singh almost kissing her before they are interrupted when teacher talk about Susie’s about her artwork. When Ray tells Susie that she is beautiful it is just what she wanted to hear. Chapter seven is about Buckley and his friend Nate. Buckley asks Nate if he sees Susie. Buckley says that Susie has been “gone for a while, but now she’s back”. Buckley remembers he last time she say Susie it was when he kissed her on the cheek. In chapter eight they described Harvey’s life. We realized that he grew up in a horrible family situation. Those were our favorite chapters of the book so far besides chapter one.=====


 * =====Colleen was in charge of questions for her questions be discussed that if Ruth writes to Susie thinking as if she is still still alive. We think that Ruth is actually writing to Susie, we think it’s a sign to her to tell her how everything is going. We also questioned why Lindsay wanted to be more girlie and feminine. We said that she wanted to be more girlie and feminine because to show that’s she more mature and she wants to prove that she’s different because she’s being compared to Susie when she doesn’t want to be.=====


 * 1) =====How do you think Len feels about having to deal with murders after his wife-committed suicide?=====
 * 2) =====We think in some ways working against murders may be his way of coping with his wife’s death. We think it may be away to cover up his hurt by dealing with harsh things in the world.=====
 * 3) =====What do you think will happen with Mrs. Salmon and Len? Do you think they will kiss again? Do you think Mr. Salmon will find out?=====
 * 4) =====We think for as long as Mrs. Salmon is hurting she will seek comfort in Len. We don’t think she’ll actually develop feelings for him. However, we do think Mr. Salmon will find out an it will have a very big effect on the case of Susie’s death, and their family.=====


 * 1) =====Imagine being in heaven and in Susie’s position. Would you be able to watch all this happening on Earth? What would you watch?=====
 * 2) =====If we were in Susie’s position we would definitely watch what’s going on, on Earth. We would keep tabs on our friends, family, and Mr. Harvey. We would also try and find ways to communicate with our family, to try and help them find evidence of Mr. Harvey being the murder.=====


 * 1) =====When Lindsay broke into Mr. Harvey’s house he saw her shirt as she left. Do you think he will do something to her? Do you think she’ll end up dead like Susie?=====
 * 2) =====We think Mr. Harvey will try to kidnap and murder Lindsay as well. Now two of the Salmons are onto them, and their gathering more and more evidence against him. He doesn’t know what Lindsay saw and didn’t see, so he could be cautious and try to get rid of her too. However, we don’t think he will succeed in killing Lindsay, she is cautious of him now, unlike Susie was.=====
 * 3) =====Do you think Susie will meet more of the girls Mr. Harvey killed? Do you think she’ll be able to figure out why he killed so many girls?=====
 * 4) =====We think Susie will come across several of the girls Mr. Harvey has killed. We think the girls will either help Susie on her way through heaven, or help Susie communicate with her family on earth.=====


 * =====This week we read up to chapter sixteen. Our favorite chapters were thirteen and fourteen out of these chapters. Chapter thirteen is about Susie’s murder, its December second and it the anniversary of her death. They talk about Susie and how the family is adjusting without her. Lindsay asks her father if he thinks that Mr. Harvey is the murderer. Jack answers and says that he was sure he killed Susie. Chapter fourteen was about Lindsay watches Mr. Harvey every day and becomes familiar with his routine. She eventually breaks into Mr. Harvey’s house eventually. We discussed the questions that Colleen had prepared. We argued about how we thought Len felt about the murder after his wife committed suicide. We came to a conclusion that working with hardships makes him gain strength, we believe that he will cope with things better. We argued about what if we were in Susie’s place. We wondered about what we would do if we were her. Me and Amelia agreed that it would be hard to watch it all happen. Colleen thought that it would be nice to see whats happening on Earth.=====


 * 1) =====How do you think Susie felt about Ray beginning to like Ruth, and Ruth possibly liking him back?=====
 * 2) =====We think Susie was happy and sad at the same time. We think she was sad because they kissed, and Ruth discovered her feelings towards Ray on her death anniversary. We think she may have felt neglected or forgotten by the both of them. However, we think she’s also happy that he is able to get over her, and be happy himself. We also think she could be happy because two people she cared about are making each other happy=====


 * 1) =====What was you reaction to Mrs. Salmon leaving?=====
 * 2) =====We were both shocked, and not shocked. We were able to see something drastic happening to Mrs. Salmon and how she had been feeling. Still, we didn’t think she would actually leave her family and not come back.=====
 * 3) =====Lindsay never shared with her dad what happened between Len and Mrs. Salmon. Why do you think this?=====
 * 4) =====We think that because he had all ready gone through so much pain with his wife leaving him and his daughter dieing, that Lindsay didn’t think she need to give him full details. Knowing that his wife not only left him, but cheating on him with someone working to catch the murder of your daughter is even worse. We think Lindsay thought it would be to hard on him.=====


 * 1) =====If you were Susie’s brother or dad do you think you would be able to handle “seeing” Susie?=====
 * 2) =====We don’t think we would be able to handle seeing glimpses of Susie over time. Getting over a death is hard as it is, but having constant reminders is even harder. It can also mental harm him and make him believe things are happening differently.=====


 * 1) =====How do you think the story will end, from where the story is now?=====
 * 2) =====We think the story will move on with Susie leaving “the in between” and get to heaven. We think she’ll be able to stop watching her family and friends, and finally move on from her own murder.=====


 * =====This week we had to read chapters sixteen to nineteen. The chapters we enjoyed the most were seventeen and eighteen. In chapter seventeen it was about Samuel falling in love with a house. He wants to live there than asks Lindsay, his love, to marry him. She accepts and they celebrate the engagement. In chapter nineteen she plans to visit home, she has been making a pretty good living. Susie watches Ruth, she idolizes him because he sees images of deaths before they happen. Susie stays by her father’s hospital bed. Buckley asks Susie to save him. She finally returns to heaven. She is than visited by her grandfather. She dances with him until he leaves. A question that we really enjoyed that colleen had wrote was how do you think Susie feels that everyone is moving on with their lives? We agreed that It would be very hard to watch because it would seem like no body cared anymore about her death. Another question we enjoyed was If Susie and her mom meet again what do you think she will say to her mother? We said that she would say that she is disappointed that she gave up on her family and that its hard to see her give up on everything she worked for.=====


 * 1) =====Why do you think Buckley has so much built up hatred for his mom?=====
 * 2) =====We think he was so upset, because when she left him he had no idea what was going on. He was left growing up for eight years without a mom. When he needed her she left him, building up all this hatred for her.=====
 * 3) =====How do you think Ray felt when Susie visited him in Ruth’s body?=====
 * 4) =====we think he was scared because the girl he loved eight years ago was back in front of him. Back from the dead and there to see him. At the same time we think he was flattered and excited. Out of anyone who she could have visited she chose to see him, which would have made him flattered. Getting to see the girl he loved once again would also excite him.=====
 * 5) =====What do you think it was like for Ruth to have Susie in her body?=====
 * 6) =====We think it was amazing for her, she’s seen so many people die and now she can experience their heaven and what its like after life.=====
 * 7) =====What do you think of Mr. Harvey not returning?=====
 * 8) =====We wish he would have come back before dying and turn him self in or die in the town where Susie died=====
 * 9) =====Do you like the way the story ended?=====
 * 10) =====We did like the way the story ended. We thought it left with a good note after describing what happened in everyone’s life and where they are now. She talked about life in heaven for her and left it off very nicely.=====

This week we read to the end of The Lovely Bones. The chapters that’s we enjoyed the most were chapters twenty-two and twenty three. Twenty-Two was about Susie entering Ruth’s body on Earth and than Ruth slowly gets out of his body. She meets up with Ray and her in his arms. She tells Ray kiss her. He calls her Susie not Ruth. She tells him that she’s watched hi m for year suffering. Laterin the chapter Susie leaves Ruth’s body and he is extremely sad. Chapter Twenty-Three is about Ray reading parts of Ruth’s journal while she sleeps. Ruth can see the dead so he writes down deaths and locations of deaths. Jack is realized from the hospital. Abigail goes to Susie’s Room. She’s tells Susie she loves her, which surprises Susie.


 * =====We discussed the questions that colleen had. One of her questions were What do you think it was like for Ruth to have Susie in her body? We said that we think it was amazing for her, she’s seen so many people die and now she can experience their heaven and what its like after life. Another question is Do you like the way the story ended? We said we liked the way the story ended. We thought it left with a good note.=====