As I finished reading the ending of the novel, Adam finally realized how much he loves his family and needs them in his life. I guess he needed to go through his “stupid” phase to see how much he cannot live on his own. It would have been a matter of time until Adam ended up dead just for trying to help Jaime. When he was back at home for the second time Adam realized a lot has changed. His father was not living with them anymore and Lucy was kicked out of the house for good. Lucy was caught by Linda trying to make a pass at her husband.

            When Adam spoke to his mother, he began expressing how he feels and listening to how his mother felt. He learned to realize that his mother was able to walk all along after secretly taking private lessons in therapy. Linda too had problems and dealt with it her way. The whole time of Adam feeling hopeless was for nothing. I think he shouldn’t have done what he did but at the same time I feel because of what he did it kind of opened up everyone’s eyes.

            Adam returning home for good was the best thing he had done throughout the novel. I think after everything Linda will grow closer to her boys Adam and Andy. I feel like she has gained more respect for going through everything she has gone through and in the end will allow John to return back into the house. I feel as if he has a different outlook on things and will try to become a better father figure but I’m not quite sure how long the “normal” life will last. Everyone has their flaws and sometimes it can kick in again and seem to slip in with the old lifestyle. Either way I do feel after the novel has ended that there would be a great possibility for improvement.

            As for Gracie and Adam, I think they will never lose touch with one another and Gracie will still continue with her sneaky ways and will go to see Adam. I think Adam will always be stupid when it comes to Gracie but also has matured from realizing that she “ratted” him out. Since he has experienced everything with Gracie, he will always be able to forgive her. I don’t feel like it will end up with anything serious because they live too far away from each other to have a real relationship but will always be good friends. Lucy will never be welcomed in their home again and Adam is happy with that. I guess it will be somewhat of a happy ending….

            In chapter 11 “Let Me Bring you Down”, it discusses how Gracie gave up Adams where bouts. Adam felt as if Gracie has back stabbed him. He hated the idea that he was being led into the police station. On the drive there, Adam and Gracie sat in the back and Gracie attempted to talk to Adam yet Adam did not want to hear what she had to say. He was extremely disappointed. As he sat there…pop! It happened again and he flew out of his body. Every time that happens Adam has that chance to let his body die yet he always goes back. As much as he talks about dying he never takes the opportunity. In the police station Adam waited for his parents. As Gracie was on the verge of leaving Adam had the courage to stand up and say, “Gracie.” He froze after that not knowing what to say next, especially since Mr. Highsmith was right there. “Stay the hell away from my daughter, McCormick,” Mr. Highsmith said as he gritted his teeth. Gracie had not said one word which hurt Adam so much. How could she not say anything? As soon as they left, Adam’s family came around the corner. He wanted to run up to his mother and yell at the top of his lungs, “I love you!” but did not act upon his needs. Once again as Adams family came to see him, along came the Lucy the paralyzer. It only made Adam feel worse and notice that nothing had changed.

            After saying hello to his mother, Adams father, John, decided to get serious with Adam and set down rules. It only made Adam feel more distant towards his father. On the drive home no one said a word. Adam began to believe his family was trash just like Mr. Highsmith had said. Lucy, who was now living with them due to the divorce of her husband Doug, was always trying to do things for everyone. Adam simply hated her. No one had asked where or why he had done what he did. At that moment Adam actually wanted to hear everyone’s voice but instead he received silence. Later that night, Adam tried to sleep on the couch as he stared at the Christmas tree and tried watching TV. All he could think of was Jaime. He finally fell asleep around six in the morning.

            The next day Adam was woken up by the touch of his father picking him up from the couch. “You’re not going to do whatever you want. I’m in charge now”. John wanted Adam to return to school. After John was done shouting, everyone ended up at the dinner table eating breakfast. Adam began to wonder why nothing has changed yet seemed to only get worse. It only made him feel more depressed. Later on that day everyone headed to the cemetery to brush off the snow on their grandparents stones and visit them. Everyone gave Linda her space except of course Lucy. More and more Adam became irked. John then took everyone out to lunch.

            The next morning, Adam woke up to the sound of someone in the driveway. It was a social worker. After getting settled in, Adam and the social worker began to have their one on one time so she could ask him questions. Adam told her things but not the whole truth. Linda then came along, “what could happen to him?” As the social worker replied, “He could be sentenced to juvenile hall”….Linda had a break down. His father gave Adam this look. As Linda continued to cry, John began getting more annoyed and began to yell at not only Linda but Adam as well. He ended up back slapping Adam.

            It was now Christmas and everyone sat around opening presents. It was awkward. As the day passed by, Adam ended up back on the couch and realized that Jaime had come back. Adam and Jaime began to comfort each other. Even though Adam had just returned home, Jaime decided to plan to take Adam somewhere else. As they laid on the couch, they both wished each other a Merry Christmas. Chapter 12 was next with Jaime and Adam trying to escape in dead space…..

            In chapter 10, many changes in relationships occur. Changes occur with Adam and Gracie, Adam and Jaime, and Jaime and Frances. Adam and Gracie have seemed to “fade” apart slightly. She continued to always visit him in the woods but sometimes I feel as if she’s in it only because she is bored at home and for the fun. I’m sure she does love Adam but I don’t think it was on the same level. I know she cares for him because she ends up giving him in which did seem like the messed up thing to do but in reality it was the best thing for Adam. He was on the verge of dying.

            Jaime and Frances became closer. Since the two were dead they understood each other. Even when Frances was a bitch Jaime would put up with it. He knew why she was the way she was. After Adam burned down Frances house, Jaime and Frances grew closer because she now had nothing but Jaime with her. Eventually she was to cross over and she did with the help of Jaime.

As for his relationship with Jaime, Adam ended up on his own because he felt as if Jaime chose Frances over him. I don’t feel as if he chose her over Adam because Adam who is still alive didn’t understand 100% the way the dead are. He thinks he knows but he isn’t the one experiencing exactly what they incurred. Jaime was just helping Adam by asking him to leave and helping Frances out now that she had absolutely nothing to her name. They fell apart for a short period of time but as Adam lived in the woods temporarily he spied on Jaime walking with Frances taking her to “the place”. Later on Jaime crossed Adam and Gracie’s path in the woods to help them from the skinless man. This allowed Jaime and Adam to once again rekindle their friendship and explain all the misunderstandings.

Continuing in chapter 10 there was a scene where Gracie continued visiting Adam but the two came across a problem. Adam had run smack into a skinless man. Gracie running along with him ended up in the “dead space”. I think she was confused to where she was and didn’t really know what exactly was going on. She was able to see the same thing as Adam when it came to Jaime but I don’t believe she saw and experienced everything Adam did. Gracie kept asking what was wrong with Adam because she noticed he was freaking out. She did feel something and thought she saw something but in the end she hadn’t realized that Adam had somewhat saved her.

As the skinless man tried to take certain words to help him stay longer, Adam said “I love you” which was taken by the skinless man. Gracie didn’t know it was said for the wrong reasons. I know Adam does love her but by the time his words were taken it was too late for him to get them back because he realized that he did mean it. He loved Gracie. Jaime then popped up out of nowhere and helped Adam and Gracie by getting the skinless man away from them. I still get a little confused by the novel but I do think that Adam wasn’t imaging everything happening. It did occur but Gracie didn’t see exactly what was happening. Gracie then went home so she wouldn’t get into trouble with her parents again which left Adam and Jaime to continue their journey.

In chapter seven, “Playing House” there was 3 headlines mentioned such as “Possible Suspect in Child Murder Apprehended”, “Local Boy Goes Missing and “The Wilkinson fire”. Adam came across the newspaper reading about everything the town had learned. No one knew he was the one who had burned the Wilkinson’s farm down. He did it out of anger because him and Fuck you Frances had gotten into an argument. His actions were uncalled for and although I have not finished the book just yet, I have gotten to the point where Gracie has given Adam in. I feel that even though Adam has issues he shouldn’t have burned it down. It was abandoned so I also felt that it wasn’t a big deal since it just stayed there with no one in it except for Frances’ spirit as well as her parents.

            The town was shocked to see another boy gone missing. As Adam read he basically brushed it off. He continued to want to get away not caring about his family or anyone else who cared and was worried. Everyone was most likely on the look out. As for Jaime, his mother was interviewed about his death. Adam was unhappy with the way she had spoken about her son. He felt that no one knew how Jaime really was, not even his own mother. I’m not finished with the book but I’m very curious to see if they reveal who murdered Jaime. I wonder what kind of punishment Adam and Gracie will receive. If Adam and Gracie were to tell everyone the real truth about everything how would everyone react?

            Adam stayed in the woods alone where he came across Frances and Jaime as he led Frances somewhere where Adam did not understand. I feel as if Jaime led her to move on since she no longer had her home anymore. Adam feels and thinks he is dying and can see and understand more than Gracie. He wonders why Gracie feels she has a crappy life because she compared to Adam and Jaime seemed as if she was living the life. As I read along I hope to find out everything that I’ve been curious about.

I feel as if my writing has improved. I know that I still do need to work on certain areas such as the conclusion. I feel as if I do have somewhat of a skill in writing my essays but it is still not perfect. My essay is about the changes I’ve experienced from moving from NY to Ohio. I began my draft when we were supposed to hand in a proposal. I spent about an hour on it but I wasn’t finished so I ended up completely finishing everything the day before it was due. I tend to do better knowing the deadline is near. I definitely would like to change how I repeat myself when explaining something. I somehow manage to say the same thing but I word it differently. Out of nowhere I would feel stuck. The conclusion can be easy at times depending on the subject. I expect to hopefully get a high grade on my essay after I revise it. I feel it is pretty good and after fixing my mistakes I should have a well written essay.

Adam came across Jaime at the graveyard when he ran out of his house. His father then came and got him and as Adam was taken away he thought he wouldn’t see Jaime again. Adam locked himself in his room and when he finally got out he went into the kitchen to eat and came across Jaime again. Jaime began to stay with Adam in his room. When Adam came back into his room he noticed his bedroom was a mess. Jaime threw all of Adam’s clothes on the floor. His reason for that was because he said he needed to search for “dead space.” That meant a place that went nowhere. Adam didn’t mind Jaime staying but would have moments of getting annoyed not understanding Jaime’s situation.

After all the problems of Adam running out of the house, his parents decided to send him to a shrink. Adam then tried to make things “normal” by spending time with his family. After watching television with his family he then went back to his room to find Jaime on the computer playing a game. Whenever he would see Jaime his appearance would change. One minute Jaime’s cuts and bruises would show everywhere and the next minute he would look as if he was still alive. He had short moments of looking normal and feeling warm. Every other time Jaime would be freezing cold. To attempt not to be cold anymore, he then “burns memories.” He doesn’t usually remember or know what memory he is burning but it helps Jaime get warm but just for a little bit. I think that when Jaime burns all of his memories he will have nothing left. He is able to stick around because of his memories. I feel like Jaime who died a horrible death has not crossed over because his situation was still unsolved. Burning his memories will only help him to stay warm for a moment but I feel that it will affect him. I could be wrong but I feel that Jaime should not burn his memories.

Adam goes to the kitchen to see Lucy, the woman who put his mother in a wheelchair at his house. It’s like she lives there. Adam dislikes her. He then yells at her for saying something ignorant to his brother but realizes that it did not come out of her mouth. Adam was able to hear/see Lucy’s shadow. I think that since Adam was able to see Jaime and experience the “dead space,” he will realize that he has a “gift”. I don’t know if I should call it that but Adam is able to see and hear things that others could not see or hear. He knew Lucy’s real feelings and thoughts from her shadow. I think that Adam’s mental state is going to go down hill until he learns how to deal with everything. He is too young to understand what is happening. He doesn’t have anyone he could talk to and even if he did they probably wouldn’t even believe him.