Reading Response to The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

       The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards has a very interesting story line.  This book is very intriguing though a little difficult to relate to since the events that occur in it are so out of the ordinary.  In the story so far, the wife of a loving husband gave birth to twins.  She was expecting to give birth to her children with a doctor though when she went into labor the doctor had a car wreck trying to get to the hospital.  The husband, a orthopedic surgeon, was forced to deliver his babies.  There is a twist though.  They were only expecting one baby so when two came they were delighted.  The husband however saw that the little girl was not healthy and had a similar disease that his sister had died of.  He told his assistant to take the baby to a home for children with these problems.  He did not want to tell his wife of this decision so he told her that the girl had died and that they only had a little boy.
       As you can see, this story line is a little confusing and hard to follow.  There is not a lot to connect the reader to the book other than true curiosity.  I think the author could have done a little better job trying to give her audience something, even it is a small thing, to relate to.  A father hiding his daughter from the mother does not happen often, which is a good and bad thing for this book.  It doesn't happen often therefore it is interesting to read about, but hard to empathize with.  There is not a level of emotional attachment to the characters.  Other than the lack of relatable material this book is amazing.  I can't wait to find out what happens next.

Reading Response #2 to Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

       I really enjoyed the perspective change that Tatiana de Rosnay used in this book, Sarah's Key.  She switched back and forth between a writer in Paris during the present time period, and a little girl in Paris during the Jewish roundup in 1492.  The characters' plot mountains are very similar.  They both had climaxes at the same time which made the story extremely exciting.  This book is dealing with many important issues that are still problems today.
       In the present time character's story, she was dealing with racism and abortion.  Although she had lived in Paris for 25 years, all of her friends and French family still referred to her as the American.  Whenever she did something wrong they would say something like, "You silly American."  This made her feel very excluded and bad about herself.  She just wanted to be seen as a true Parisian because that is how she saw herself.  She wanted to fit in so bad, but no one would include her in their definition of a true French woman.  This lady was also dealing with pregnancy issues.  Her husband was very selfish and wanted a baby so badly from his wife, preferably a son.  Though she had numerous and sometimes fatal difficulties.  She finally managed to give birth to a beautiful, healthy girl.  Though he soon begged her for a second child which she failed to deliver.  This woman could just not do it no matter how badly she wanted to.  Though she finally managed to get pregnant again, but this time he decided he was too old to have a baby and would divorce her if she did not get an abortion.  I think this must have crushed her.  All she wanted to do was to make her husband happy though she failed to do so.  This insight helped her decide that she needed to make herself happy for once so she decided to have the baby.  I think the author created this character and her problems to help make the story more relatable.
       The little girl from the 1940s had less relatable, but very devastating problems.  She was Jewish, during the Jewish roundup.  Things were not looking good for her and she had no idea what was going on because her parents thought they were protecting her by keeping information from her.  She decided to lock her brother in the cupboard to keep him safe because she thought that her family would return to their home in a few hours.  She had no idea what was going on.  In the next month she lost her entire family, her trust for adults and her innocence.  The girl went through a rapid character change, just like the present day woman.  I think the author had their story lines connect to reduce confusion about what was going on.  I truly loved this book, reading it was an incredibly emotional journey and I would recommend it to anyone who likes WWII books.

Reading Response for Sarah's Key

       In Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, the main character, Sarah, goes through a lot of personality change, though she does keep some main character traits throughout the story.  In the beginning of the book, Sarah is selfless and just plain happy.  She doesn't understand what is going on around her.  Sarah lives in Paris, France during 1942, the time of the Jewish roundup.  Unfortunately, Sarah is Jewish.  Her parents have kept all the political information from her though, so when French police come pounding on their door in the middle of the night, she has no idea what is happening.  Though Sarah is very helpful and selfless.  She knew her father was hiding in the attic, but she didn't know why.  So she kind of took charge in this stressful moment.  Her mother was frozen with fear, so Sarah calmed her down.  She persuaded her to open the door and talk to the police.  The police then told them that they had to pack for a short trip.  Her four-year-old brother decided that he was going to protest this madness and not pack.  So Sarah did what she thought was best at the time.  She decided to lock him in a secret cupboard and release him as soon as they came back.  What she didn't know was that they were never coming back.

       Sarah then was transported to a massive stadium with her mother and father.  She was not her usual self, though I don't think anyone would be expected to act normal in such a terrible time.  She was very panicky and couldn't stop thinking about her brother locked in the cabinet.  She took full blame for him being trapped.  Though I do not think it is her fault.  If her parents had told her anything that was going on she would have known that they were not coming back.  I think that Sarah's parents made the mistake that keeping necessary information from her was protecting her, when really it was the opposite.

       Towards the end of the story Sarah has really gotten brave and hard.  She lost her entire family and has no idea where they are.  So she is on her own, left to fend for herself against abusive police and sick, dying children.  Though Sarah remains to have her selfless character.  She tells stories that she used to tell her brother to all of the smaller children to give them something to focus on other than the  horrifying things going on around them.  She also holds their hands when they are scared, which is a lot.  Though Sarah is so determined to escape.  She thinks that if she leaves the camp now that she will be able to save her brother.  So she and her friend, Rachel, sneak out of the camp through a little gap in the fence.  Now they are left to find there way and not get caught with only a small amount of money that one of the friendliest guards gave them.  Hopefully Sarah's many great character traits will help she and her friend survive.