In the novel “Someone Like You” by Sarah Dessen, a girl named Haley talks about her life as a teen. Her best friend, Scarlett, called her while Haley was at a camp her mother sent her to. She called her late at night and told her that her ex boyfriend, Michael, had gotten killed in a motorcycle accident a few hours earlier. Scarlett is devastated and asks Haley to come home as soon as possible. When Haley gets there, she sees Scarlett on the steps crying. She hugs her and tells her everything will be OK. Scarlett and Michael didn’t date for long, just a summer, but it was long enough for her to be hurt over the fact that he got killed. The next morning, Haley goes over to Scarlett's house to get ready to go to the funeral. When Haley lays on her bed, she feels someone there. Is was a guy named Macon, who was Michael's best friend. Scarlett said he needed a place to stay for the night because he was also devastated that his best friend got killed. Later in the book, Haley and Macon begin to hang out a lot. Macon is the total opposite of Haley. They soon start dating. One day at work, Scarlett goes up to Haley and tells her to meet her in the bathroom. She goes in and sees a stick with a plus sign on it. Scarlett then tells Haley that she was pregnant with Michael's kid. She doesn’t know what to do since Michael won’t be there to support her. Haley supports Scarlett throughout it all, though. As Haley begins to hang out with Macon more, her mom is beginning to notice a change in her. She then finds out that she’s dating him and she isn’t very happy about it. Her mom tells her that she may not see him anymore, but she still continues to date him behind her back. As months go by, people at school begin to find out that Scarlett is pregnant with Michaels kid because she has begun to show. She then meets a guy named Cameron. He also supports Scarlett throughout her pregnancy. One night when Macon and Haley were going to a party. They get into an argument at the party and Macon begins driving her home, frustrated. He yells at her and doesn’t notice the speed he’s going. Before they know it, they get into a car crash. Neither of them are really injured, just soreness. But, Haley then realizes that Macon wasn’t the guy for her. He begs for her back but she won’t give in. After a few months pass, prom night comes. Haley is forced by her mom to go with her ex boyfriend, Noah. Scarlett goes with Cameron. When they are going to the prom, Noah is really drunk and starts acting sloppy and rips Haleys dress. Haley leaves him and goes to the bathroom once they get there. When she’s in the bathroom, she noticed that when she was walking into the prom, she saw Macon and his new girl. She doesn’t really care though. She tries to fix her ripped dress with bobby pins. As she’s doing that, her friend bursts into the bathroom breathing heavy. She tells Haley that Scarlett is having her baby. Haley rushes out, and sees Scarlett sitting down with people around her. They get a ride from Macon, because he was the only one with a car since the limo had left already, to the hospital. They rush her into the room and Haley calls her mom. Haley doesn’t know what's going on and she’s freaking out. Her mom gets there and comforts her and tells her that she needs to hold it together for Scarlett. After pushing, the baby was born. It was a girl. She named her Grace Haley, after Haley of course. When Haley goes out into the waiting room, she sees the room filled with classmates. When she told them it was a girl, everyone got so happy. After a while, Haley begins to go home. She walks home by herself, not worried about anyone or anything, not even Macon. She’s just so happy that she was able to support her best friend throughout it all, and can’t wait to grow up with Grace Haley.
The theme of this novel is “Life is an Ugly Place Not to Have a Best Friend” because without Haley, Scarlett wouldn’t have been able to go through all of what she went through. Even though they had to go through some speed bumps, they stuck together throughout it all.
I chose this book because Sarah Dessen is my favorite author. I’ve read quite a few of her books and I love every single one of them. Once I started reading it, i knew it was going to be a great book, and it was. It’s my favorite book by her.
This book did seem realistic because motorcycle accidents can happen any second, killing anyone and it can cause a huge impact on someone, like it did with Scarlett. I didn’t really make any connections with this book because I haven’t had a close friend get pregnant before.
The author’s tone is intense throughout most of it like when Haley gets into the car crash. “I remember only that light, so strong as it spilled across my shoulders and lit up his face, and how scared he looked as something big and loud hit my door, sending glass shattering all across me, little sparks catching the light like diamonds as they fell, with me, into the dark,” (233). Also, when Haley gets into an argument with her mom. “I’m not getting influenced, I’m not inexperienced, and I am not like you,” (170). Lastly, when Scarlett told Haley she was pregnant. “As she held it out, I saw that in the little circle was a bright pink cross. Then, all at once, it hit me,” (95).
The author uses a simile when she is explaining when Haley got into the car crash. “...little sparks catching the light like diamonds as they fell, with me, into the dark,” (233). The author also uses a metaphor when Scarlett is in labor and talking about not wanting to go in an ambulance. “I swear, if they put me in one I will fight them tooth and nail” (266). Another literary element the author uses in the story is imagery also page 233 when shes explaining Haleys car crash. “I remember only that light, so strong as it spilled across my shoulders and lit up his face, and how scared he looked as something big and loud hit my door, sending glass shattering all across me, little sparks catching the light like diamonds as they fell, with me, into the dark,” (233). There is also another simile when she’s explaining Haley’s appearance after Noah had made her look like a disaster at prom. “...had somehow come untucked and was sticking up like a lopsided Mohawk,” (260). There’s use of symbolism when Scarlett tells Haley that she wants to name her baby Grace Haley after her, (Haley’s name is that because Haley’s Comet passed when she was born). “I’m going to name her Grace,” Scarlett said. “Grace Haley,” (277). There’s also another metaphor in use when Scarlett’s in labor and yelling at Haley for leaving the room. “I am freaking out here, Haley, and you just vanish into thin air,” (271). The author uses imagery when she’s explaining Haley imagining Scarlett on the other end of the phone when she told her about Michael’s death. “I pictured Scarlett at the sink in cutoffs and a T-shirt, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, phone cocked between her ear and shoulder,” (4). The author uses another metaphor when Scarlett is in the middle of pushing, and she’s freaking out at Haley. “I swear, when this is over, I am going to KILL you,” (276). Another literary element in use is situational irony when Haley gets drunk and wasn’t expecting to throw up in front of Macon on new years at a party. “Ten, nine, eight, and I was sick and lost and the lock wouldn’t budge even as I felt everything coming up, the first taste in my mouth..” (230). One more literary element used is sensory detail when Haley came back from the camp she was at to comfort Scarlett about Michael’s death. “Someone a few streets over was barbecuing, the smell mingling in the air with cut grass and recent rain,” (19).
An example of direct characterization is when the author is describing the type of guy Michael Sherwood was. “He was famous for his pranks on substitute teachers and was always asking to borrow a dollar in exchange for a good story.” This shows that Michael was a cool, funny guy that people got along with and who liked to make people laugh. Another example of this is when the author is describing Scarlett’s appearance. “Scarlett was a redhead, but not in an orangey, carrot-top kind of way. Her hair was more auburn, deep and red mixed with browns that made her green eyes seem almost luminous,” (22). The author also uses indirect characterization against Scarlett when she was described waiting for Haley. “I looked over at her as she sat beside me, barefoot, her hair pulled away from her face in a loose ponytail. She’d been crying,” (20). This shows that Scarlett is an emotional girl and is very sad about Michael’s death. Another example of indirect characterization is when the author talks about Noah being a sloppy drunk in the limo. “Where’s the bar?” Noah slurred as soon as we shut the door and drove off. “There’s supposed to be a bar in these thing, right?” (256). This is showing that Noah is just worried about getting drunk, and doesn’t care how he comes off to other people.
The author’s diction doesn’t really change when she’s explaining characters. She keeps the same tone throughout most of the story.
The protagonist in the story is Haley. She is a dynamic character because she goes through a lot of change throughout the story. In the beginning of the story, she is a “good girl” who would spend a lot of time with her mom. Throughout the story and after dating Macon, she starts to turn more rebellious and starts drinking and doing drugs at parties and repetitively sneaks out with Macon. She also gets into multiple arguments with her mom, some worse than the others. Haley is also a flat character. She doesn’t really get explained throughout the story, she changes once or twice from a “good girl” to a “bad girl”.
After reading this story, I did feel like I’d read a character. I feel like I was with Haley throughout her whole adventure.
