the big house book club

  • home
  • books
    • what we're reading>
      • jenna fox
      • what we've read>
        • divergent
          • daughter of smoke and bone
            • scorch trials
              • blue bloods
                • last good place of lily odilon
                  • devil's kiss
                    • hunger
                      • gentlemen
                        • truancy
                          • infinity
                            • monstrumologist
                              • looking for alaska
                                • such a pretty girl
                                  • maze runner
                                    • rules of survival
                                      • patron saint of butterflies
                                        • forest of hands and teeth
                                          • candor
                                            • wake
                                              • flight
                                                • twisted
                                                  • the dead and the gone
                                                  • what do you want to read next?
                                                  • blog
                                                  • comments
                                                  • wish list
                                                  • about us
                                                    • about us
                                                      • officers
                                                        • members
                                                          • alumni
                                                            • photos
                                                              • videos
                                                              • contact us
                                                               
                                                              SUCH A PRETTY GIRL / LAURA WIESS 05/19/2010
                                                              2 Comments
                                                               
                                                              Picture
                                                               


                                                              Comments

                                                              Laura Wiess link
                                                              05/20/2010 10:00

                                                              Hi Anna and the Big House Book Club!

                                                              What a wonderful surprise it was to find your note this morning, and what a great book club page. I really enjoyed it, especially Tabitha reading the excerpts, the photos of everyone with the book and listening to all the songs on the play list. (Ha, that's pretty much everything, isn't it? Well, I can't help it. It was great.) Nice job, guys.


                                                              I wish I could be there person, listening to your thoughts on the book. I have a feeling it'd be a blast. In the meantime though, I'll just say this: One of the things I love most about Meredith is her 'Never say die' determination to somehow make it through. Yes, Pretty Girl is fiction, and Meredith's a fictional character (although she's very real in my head) but it wasn't hard, after speaking with survivors of sexual abuse, to imagine how it felt to be let down by almost every adult around, and for Meredith to try desperately to find a way through.

                                                              When I was writing to the end of the story, I didn't know what was going to happen. I was in Meredith's head, panicked, terrified, running down that hallway to her room with her father chasing her, and when she cried I was crying, too. I could see it all very clearly, like a movie in my head, and was typing like a million words a minute, trying to get it all down as I saw it. And when she saw the statue, and I realized what was going to happen, I got so freaked and excited to finally see how it all climaxed that I called my parents and yelled into the phone, "I know what's going to happen! I know how the book ends!" and they got all excited too, and said, "How? How?" and I crowed, "I'm not going to tell you! You have to read the book!"

                                                              I really, really wanted Meredith to make it, and she did. I'm happy about that.

                                                              So thanks so much, Anna, and everyone in the book club. I hope you enjoyed Such a Pretty Girl and if I'm ever out in the Petaluma area, I'll be sure and stop in to say hi.

                                                              All Best,

                                                              Laura Wiess
                                                              http://www.laurawiess.com

                                                              Reply
                                                              Mary McCabe
                                                              06/03/2010 12:07

                                                              So here is what I wrote for the Yalsa teen review thing. :]

                                                              The cover was very appealing; it depicted a picture of a yellow and pink withered rose. The rose pops on the cover because it is surrounded by a black background. The only other colored aspect to the cover is the author’s name. The cover definitely reflected the contents of the novel. When one thinks of a pretty girl they think of a brightly colored rose that is alive and bountiful, but yet this cover depicts a withered rose. When people think of a withered rose they think it’s ugly, but in reality a withered rose is just as pretty as an alive rose. The main character Meredith was abused by her own father, but had to live on with her life until her father got out of jail early. Meredith is a pretty girl who was strong enough to stand up and protect herself from her own flesh and blood. Meredith is a beautiful withered rose, who has been through a horrible event, but made it through it and is still beautiful and strong like a withered rose.

                                                              Reply



                                                              Leave a Reply


                                                              Create a free website with Weebly