Outside Reading Blog 4 Memoir

Riding the bus with my sister

Part one
“ She shuffles forward in a daze. Her brother and sister are leaving. She does not grasp why, and neither do we. It is all happening too fast.” (pg153) I think this is a really important quote because it ties together a lot of what the book it about. It shows Beth’s inability to comprehend things and a lot of how Beth and Rachel’s relationship has been in the past. She says this when she is going off to boarding school when her mom kicked them out. Her attitude is very sad in this chapter but she tries to be positive for Beth’s sake.
“Cool Beth” this is what Beth signs on everything she sends anyone including Rachel who receives tens of little notes every week. This to me describes and helps me understand Beth who is much like a child with her condition. She dresses in brilliant colors capitalizes random letter and colors like a child to.
Part two
We meet a new bus driver Baily who Beth calls crazy Baily because he’s funny. Baily is a good friend of Beth’s and notices that she needs more variety and responsibilities in life so he lets her go to his house every morning and wake his kids up and make sure they get on the bus. Both him and his wife work early in the morning so it works out nice and Beth likes it too. Rachel also try to get Beth a small job or volunteering but she hates it and would much rather ride busses. Rachel is very optimistic about her sister. Rick stats sending Rachel messages and he likes her so when they meet for the first time Rachel finds herself a bit nervous and they work on a crossword and have a nice conversation. In her memory her mom marries the ex-con and Beth disappears on the honeymoon and Rachel is very worried. Then we meet another bus driver jack and he likes to cook and we learn some valuable lesions and recipes. Jacob is another bus driver and invites Rachel and Beth to the beach with their family and Beth buys a very colorful swimsuit and they have a very nice time. In her memory she is at school and gets a school and faints but her dad comes to get her with Beth and max. Beth, her mother and the x-con have been on the run for a really long time and they wont let her call anyone so she escapes one night and goes to the pay phone but the ex-con finds her and locks the mom out and holds her at gunpoint until morning where the mom put her on a plan for her own safety.