The Best Summer Ever!

Now that Casey is alone with her two little brothers she has to be really responsible and look after them and watch for storms. However, she had a problem that happened at the next day after his father was gone... It was a normal day and Case and her brothers went to see the turtles. Yet, Casey remembered that she didn´t heard the weather station and that they left the shutters open so she return home while her brothers were waiting for her. It was predicted that a storm was going to happen on Ginger wich is the name of the island in which Casey is settle. In that moment she heard a whistle and ran to see her little brothers. PJ was injured so Casey decided to take the boat and go to Tartuga to the clinic. However they return because the sky was getting darker even though it was 11:00 A.M so Casey couldn´t see were Tartuga was. When they arrive home the rain began and since Jonah and Mr.Anderson were gone she decided to go and get Jonah´s sibligs to her house. When they went to see Luke and Annie they discovered that in the storeroom at Anderson´s house were a bunch of turtle shells but Mike and Casey did as if they don´t have seeing nothing and continue their way allthough they were really surprised and curious. When the five get home they quickly went to the basement bringing different types of suplies such as food and flashlights so in that way they could pass the hurracane without complications. At the next day the basement was covered with leaves from the trees that entered from the broken windows and luckily Jonah entered. However Casey was angry at him because she was thinking that Jonah was helping Anderson to kill the turtles and then sell them but when they went to the clinic at Tartuga with PJ she was relief because her thoughts were wrong. Finally, at Tortuga they saw Sheryl and her dad and Casey was really happy. Then a few days later Anderson was arrested and Casey was upset because she and her brothers were going back to California and she wanted to spend more time with Jonah. 

Quotes

"Tutle shells. A bunch of them. Even before it registers what they are, even before I start to think about what they´re doing here, what this means, my breathing speeds up and my heart starts racing"(181). 

When Casey found out that Anderson had turtle shells in his house I was really surprised and a lot of questions come to my head like: Does Jonah knows? or Does Jonah is helping his uncle to kill them? I couldn´t stop reading until the answer comes up. At the end Jonah was innocent and was a relief because I don´t wanted Casey to be angry at him. 

"The whole island is a mess. The landscape looks like an enormous version of my bedroom after I've  been digging through my closet looking for something to wear" (194). 

From this quote I like the comparison the author, Lesley, did with the mess of the Island and Casey´s bedroom. When I read this quote I felt connected with Casey because I´m also messy as Case is telling us and by reading it I immediately picture the island with all of the mess due to the hurricane. 

The End...
Well in my opinion I liked this book and I recommended to the young girls who like romantic stories about a summer love. I think that Jonah and Casey were a really cute couple more than what Casey was with Matt. I wanted her to be with Jonah forever but it was impossible since they live far from each other. I hope they see each other again.


   

I didn´t Expected

In the last few chapters I had read from "The Problem with Paradise" many important things had happened. The first one starts when Casey, PJ and Jonah went to Lizard Island and when they were in the boat Jonah gives Casey the letter from Matt however she decided not to read it and wait for another moment in which she is alone. Then when they arrive to Lizard Island for a moment Jonah and Casey were alone together while PJ went to see his

snorkel at the boat. In that moment Jonah kissed her (I was like "WOW, OMG" I didn´t expected). After they finish kissing a really hard rain began and when they returned home Casey remembered that she left Matt´s letter with her snorkel and other things at the Island. That´s when she decided to become independient and have sailing lessons so she can go to Lizard Island and recuperate Matt´s letter. However because of the rain Casey couldn´t read the whole letter because the ink had run. After this, in that same day Jonah wanted Casey to go with him to the main island and that´s when she found out the Jonah had a girlfriend and that he already knew that she had a boyfriend. However, both were okay with each other, they were not angry or somthing like that. 

Quotes 

"Who is Cindy?" I ask.
First he doesn´t say anything. He looks uncomfortable, as if his skin doesn´t fit right anymore and he´d like to shed it like a lizard. 
Finally he says, "Cindy´s my girlfriend. I thought Cyril was being facetious. I didn´t know there really was a storm out there named Cindy. I thought he meant Cindy´d be mad if she saw me with you"(149). 

Before reading this page I felt sorry for Jonah because Casey was hiding that she has a boyfriend and she was still deluding him. But all my feelings change when I read this whole page and now I feel bad about Cindy because both Jonah and Casey are having a great time together without feeling guilty of what they are doing. In the other hand, I don´t know what to think about Matt because I´m not sure what does he wanted to say to Casey in the letter he sent. That says: "Anyway, I really meant what I said before" and in the first page there was part of a word "ance" that as Casey say it could stand for romance and since Matt is working at the playground with Patty Harper maybe he also is having a summer love with her. So the truth is that I feel more sorry about Cindy because I don´t know what to think about Matt. 

"I remember when I was learning to drive a car," she says. "My father could not stop telling me when to slow down, signal, look in the mirror, start braking..."(155). 

This also happen to me when I am with my dad learning to drive the car and he starts to get nervous and telling me to slow down, to see around and to the front and he does´t stop talking and telling me the same exact things all over again. Even though he is like that while teaching me to drive I love him. 

Final Thoughts... 

All I can think about is what Matt wrote to Casey. Im really curious about it but Casey doesn´t write to him. I hope later she decide to write him because I REALLY want to know what he really meant. Also I predict that a strong storm is going to come and give problems to Casey since her dad and stepmother are gone for a few days and she is alone with her little brothers. 

Start of a New Love

It was a normal day as the last two weeks and Casey was starting to get really bored. She always made the same things all days with her little brother PJ and Mike. The only thing she wanted was someone of her age to spend her time and talk about topics of her interest not like the things PJ talked about. That´s why one day she was really excited when her dad and Mike arrive the Island with another boy who was about her age. This guy was named Jonah and Casey couldn´t stop staring at him because of his good looking. With Jonah Casey starts to have more fun and to appreciate more her vacations because with him each day was more entertaining.  

Quotes

"Casey, I´ve been thinking about the turtle that got stuck."
"Yeah, Pj?" I say, loading our stuff into the lockers under the seats in Bob´s cockpit. "What about it?"
"Well do you think he was trying to kill himself?"
"PJ! What made you think of that? How do you even know stuff like that?"
"I saw a movie once, on TV? And this lady stuck her head in the oven and tried to kill herself."
Great. I´m actually starting to agree with all those grownups who complain about what kids see on television"(103).

Sometimes I feel the same as Casey with what my little brother sees on the computer and television. Especially now days that the society transmits inappropriate messages for little kids in a casual way or directly. So some of the time I am also agree with the grownups complains just as Casey in the story. In the other hand this shows that Casey´s character in parts of the story is just like a mother who is there to protect her children. This demonstrates that  she is a person that really loves and care about her two little brothers. 

"Jonah climbs into the cockpit and takes hold of the mainsheet, which controls the mainsail. When he sits down next to me I notice that my heart cranks up again. What is happening here? As if I don´t know, as if I´m two people and only one of me knows or will admit that it´s Jonah and not the luffing sails that is making my heart skip beats"(106).

Oh No! Apparently she is falling for Jonah but if this happens what is going to happen with her BOYFRIEND Matt? Or what if Casey is not going to tell Jonah about her boyfriend? Does she will decide to still being Matt girlfriend?

Final Thoughts 

Well... I´m happy that now Case has someone who understands her and with whom she can have fun for the rest of the summer without complaining. And I am sure that Jonah and Casey would end together. If this happens Case would have a secret love leaving Matt appart.  

Ready for the Trip?

The day of their trip was getting closer and Case and her little brothers were packing their bags and getting ready. Case was still unhappy and worried about Patty working all summer with Matt. However, there was nothing she can do. The next day Casey´s mother leave them in the airport and waited for their plane for a while. Later Casey and her brothers were close to the airport in the Caribbean Islands which was not so big as she thought. In the airport they saw their father waiting for them with a big smile on his face and they were really happy to see their father again because they only see him like three times in a year. The kids were really tired since Casey couldn´t sleep because her little brothers were kicking her seat and bothering her so also PJ and Mike didn´t sleep for a long time. When they arrived on the Island everyone was excited but very hot. Casey was desperate because she didn´t have service on her phone and there was also no internet to communicate with her friends, the only solution was sending cards, so she start to write to her friends. 

Quotes 

"PJ gives such a hurt look when I hit him, though that now I feel guilty. That´s the problem with little brothers. They´re total monsters whose mission in life is to drive you crazy, but they also have this almost endearing, and annoying, habit of worshipping you. Because of that, I can make them, specially PJ, feel really bad. I mostly try to use this power wisely"(38). 

I connect this with Casey because I also have a little brother who sometimes bothers me and I become really angry with him because he never stop. Also in those moments I say to him things without thinking and then I feel really guilty and sorry.however, even though sometimes I hit him and say things without thinking and he can be a little bit, well very annoying I love my little brother and I think that Case too. The only thing you need to do with little brothers is arm your self with patience.

"Air conditioning takes too much electricity so all the rooms have ceiling fans, which are essential since is very hot here. And humid. Really humid. I mean, dripping-wet-every-minute humid. Dad says we´ll get used to it, that we´ve only being here 2 days and we haven´t acclimate. I hope he´s right because every second I´ve being here so far feels like the gym locker room when our whole class has crammed in there after volleyball practice. It does smell better, here, though, but is very sticky. I don´t know why I wasn´t expecting that"(57). 

I like how Lesley, the author, compares the hot climate and the feeling of being hot and sweat with the gym room after an hour of making sports. I think is a good comparison because makes me feel the way the character does in the story and how the climate in the island might feel. This also reminds to the climate in Guayaquil when I went to visit my uncle and cousins. 

Final Thouhts

I just want Casey to appreciate her vacations a little more and to be more happy about it because everyone would like to have the oportunity of going there and spend their vacations in a different environment such as the Caribbean Islands. 

Goodbye Fun

The Problem with Paradise By Lesley Dahl 

The first three chapters of "The Problem with Paradise" were about a young girl named Casey. She was finishing 8th grade and summer was near so she was really excited about it. For all the year she was waiting for school to end because she and her best friend, Jennifer, had planned a lot of stuff to do in the summer. One of those things was creating their own garage band with other friends and Casey´s boyfriend, Matt. She couldn´t wait for school to end. However, one day Casey´s mom told her that his father was inviting her and her two brothers to a Caribbean Island for almost all of the summer. In that moment Casey was surprised and upset because she didn´t want to spend her vacations with her two brothers and her stepmother for that long. Because she already planned what to do in the summer and she really wanted to spend time with Matt and Jeniffer but this plans were ruined when her mom gave her the bad news. At school she told her friend about it including Matt but their reactions were not as she expected she wanted their friends to be upset and wanting her to stay. Instead everyone was happy for her and jealous because she was going to a Caribbean Island so they didn´t understand what was the problem of going there.

Text Responses


"What news?" Matt says. 
Great, leave it to Jen to spill my beans for me. I wanted to wait to tell Matt sometime when we were alone together- alone, alone, not alone together surrounded by three hundred kids chomping down lunch. I had imagine a romantic moment where he´d wrap his arms around me and tell me how much he would miss me. Something along those lines. Maybe a little making out. Something to think about while I´m gone. So much for that idea"(17).

Case is a girl with a lot of imagination that expect a lot of people. She likes people to be worried about her and also to miss her if she is not going to be there. Especially now that Case will travel to a Caribbean Island most of the summer. However, the reaction of Matt and her friends was not what Case had expected. She want them to be sad wanting her to stay, instead everyone was happy about her trip and envious because she was going to spend her vacations in a wonderful place. If I was Case or her friends I would be happy and excited because I love to travel and I would like to go to a Caribbean Island. For me it would be awesome. 

"Oh, don´t worry, Matt," Patty says, turning toward us. She´s wearing a really short skirt and, I swear, she kind of arches her back and tips her chin up so we get the full Victoria´s Secret effect. "You won´t have to wait till September to see me. We´re going to be working together. I got a job as a proctor at the same playground as you."
My heart does a free fall into my stomach"(19).

Poor Case! If it was me I would also be jealous and worried and the worst thing is that I would not be there to see them and take a look on Patty. However, if Matt really loves her then he would not do something with Patty just talk as friends at their job. I hope Matt don´t fall in love with Patty while Casey is away.  

My Final Thoughts...

So far this book is really interesting and entertaining even though I thought it was going to be a little bit boring I was surprise when I found out I really like this book. My prediction is that maybe Case is going to fall in love with other guy forgetting about Matt. So she will change her mind and she will not want to leave.