Final: Anti-Hero Perfect Match

The Hero:

Nina Frost is an interesting character in the novel, Perfect Match. Her job as a district attorney would clearly illustrate her as a superhero because of the lives she potentially saves. But when her own son is the life in need of saving, she goes to the extreme and almost exceeds her role of a hero. It is difficult to identify exactly which type of hero she is.

As a district attorney for rape and abuse cases, Nina Frost sees dozens of children put through the ringer to punish their abuser. Frost is completely thrown off when her own son is the victim. She is so traumatized, she decides to take matters into her own hands. She kills the priest that is accused of raping her son. This part of the book would demonstrate her being the Anti-Hero. This archetype explains that the “protagonist lacks the attributes or characteristics of a typical hero, but with whom the audience identifies.” The audience hesitantly identifies with Nina Frost because she is just a mother trying to protect her kid. Her morals are also a huge spotlight of the book. She answers the question of how far can you go to protect the ones you loved. Any mother that reads this book is faced with that reality. This conversation between Nathaniel and his mother shows how much his mom meant to him: “’You saved me,’ he said. Nathaniel put his hands on either side of my face. ‘I had to,’ I said. ‘So you could save me back’” (267). The relationship between a child and their mother is arguably the most important relationship in the world. Nina Frost is convinced that she did the right thing. Later on, it is found out that the DNA did not match up and Nina Frost killed the wrong man. She killed an innocent priest. That is where it is difficult to say she is any type of hero at all. She never tries to right her wrong, she almost goes off to kill the real rapist. Her own husband struggles to support her after her crime: “What about the things Nathaniel’s had to deal with because of what you did? I’m not saying you did the wrong thing. I’m not even saying it wasn’t something I thought of doing myself. But even if it was the just thing to do…or the fitting thing…Nina, it still wasn’t the right thing” (290). Caleb, her husband, says what everybody else is thinking. Most people think about doing unimaginable things, but that is the extent of it. The difference between Nina and everyone else is she acted on it which questions her role as a hero. The last line of the book justifies Nina as a hero: “He needs us” (351). This is her telling her husband that her son is in need. That is why she did what she did. Whether or not a person agrees with it, she is convinced she helped her son in his time of need.

I would rate this book a 6 on a 1-10 scale. It is a good story and it seems realistic until the end. I have a hard time believing a court would let a murderer free. It is also the fourth Jodi Picoult book I have read. Her style gets repetitive and the stories model off of each other. The fact that I finished the book shows that it is decent because I really struggle reading mediocre books.

Reflection 10: Villains

Villains provide an important aspect to books and that is why they interest us. They are essential to stories because they add an exciting element that protagonists just cannot do. Without a villain, you just have a story about a normal person. There are no heroes when there are no villains. The hero has to overcome the villain in order for them to be defined as a true hero. The severity of the villain, or how mean the villain is, reveals a lot about readers. If a reader enjoys an exceptionally evil villain that shows that the reader has a darker side. Villains also show what our culture is capable of. If somebody can write about an evil villain, somebody can certainly act like one, or even try to mimic a villain. Some villains become heroes in the eyes of crazy people. We have seen this happen before in our society. In the famous TV show, Criminal Minds, there is a new villain in every episode. It is scary to think that people are really capable of such crimes. The stories might not be real, but I can bet there are people out there getting ideas from this show. The same goes with villains in books. It could be even more serious in books because writing can give a lot more detail than any TV show. Villains are important in reading but they can also become dangerous.

Reflection 9: Spot the great moment

Great moments of unexpectedness:

Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult is a book of unexpected moments. Picoult throws the reader off multiple times in just the first half of the book.

The first moment is kind of two moments put together. Nina Frost’s son has stopped talking because he has been sexually abused. He has resorted to signing everything to communicate. When they asked who the abuser was, he signed the word father. They immediately accused Caleb, Nathaniel’s father, of abusing him. This creates a giant uproar in the house and the reader never really believes it’s Caleb. Once Nathaniel starts speaking again, he explains that Father Glen is the man who abused him. These two scenes together create a lot of confusion in the family because Caleb is angry that his wife would think he did such a thing. And Nina is angry that Caleb was capable of doing it. In the end, Caleb forgives his wife for accusing him because they need to come together to help Nathaniel recover from the traumatic experience.

Once you think the book is going to settle down, there is another twist in the story. In court, they are in the process of arraigning the priest that abused Nathaniel. Out of nowhere, Nina Frost approaches Father Glen and shoots him in the head four times. It happened so quick, I had to read it again to make sure I got it right. This is a turning point in the book because suddenly, everything is out of control. Nina takes the whole “I would do anything for my child” to a new level of crazy. The murder seems justified and you want to feel sympathy for Nina, but sometimes, you have to let the court do its job.

The most recent unexpected moment comes while detectives investigate the murder of the priest. The lab work had finally come back that proves that the DNA found in the child was the same as the DNA of the priest. This shows that he really did rape Nathaniel. The twist comes at the end of the lab report that states Father Glen had leukemia and had a bone marrow transplant. That is a game changing statement, but it took a while for me to understand why. The catch is that when you receive a bone marrow transplant, your DNA becomes the DNA of your donor’s. Therefore, Father Glen’s DNA is the same as his donor.  The great moment in this scene is where Nina finds out she has killed the wrong man and the rapist is still out there.

Reflection 8: Top 5

Sami’s Book Awards

Best Tear Jerker:

About: My Sister’s Keeper is about a girl who has cancer and her sister who has done medically everything to save her life. The sister finally decides she has had enough and goes to court so she can become medically emancipated. This brings the family together as they argue against each other while the daughter continues to get sicker.

Why it won? Jodi Picoult does a good job at making the reader become attached to the characters. The unexpected ending leaves readers bawling in confusion. The loss of a child can bring tears to the toughest person’s eyes. It is a great book that will leave you in tears.

Movie Preview

RIYL: Handle With Care, family involved stories, Jodi Picoult

Best Nonfiction:

About: Marley and Me is a man’s true story about the worst dog ever. Marley is a rambunctious yellow lab who causes more problems than most. But with those problems comes unconditional love.

Why it won? Nothing can make a reader cry more than a dog dying. Going into the book you know that is how it ends but the story makes you want to believe otherwise. It especially hit close to home because I have a similar yellow lab that is absolutely obnoxious but is a big lover. It is really easy to believe the story because of the experiences I have had.

Interview with author, John Grogan

RIYL: You like to cry, you like animals, My Dog Skip

Best Book I Was Forced to Read:

About: Night is a teenager’s true account of his experiences in Nazi death camps. The details are horrifying as he explains the everyday struggles of a death camp. The story is dark, but is necessary because there are no other ways to describe what happened in those days.

Why it won? Many books that are read for a class are painfully repetitive. This one is different. Night is about a topic that interests many. The realness of the story brings shock to readers.

Book description and review

RIYL: History, Diary of Anne Frank, World War II

Best Book That Makes You Think:

About: Pretty Little Liars is the first book of a 13 book series. It is the perfect setup to the teenage mystery series. The story is about 4 friends who are brought back together after the investigation of their best friend’s death. While figuring out who murdered the teenage girl, the friends are tormented by a mysterious texter who leads them into danger.
Why it won? Most teenage books are about vampires or romances, or both. This book is a refreshing change. The high school cliques and stereotypes are magnified. The multiple twists in the story keeps readers thinking and also have the ability to creep a reader out. Do not read at night.

Pretty Little Liars Season 1 TV Show Preview

RIYL: Pretty Little Liars TV series, The Lying Game

Best Knee Slapper:

About: Seriously . . . I’m Kidding is a collection of hilarious true stories that Ellen Degeneres has experienced. She creates an easy to read hodgepodge of tales that will make anyone laugh.

Why it won? Fan or not, Ellen Degeneres knows how to make people laugh, whether it’s on her show or in her books. Like said before, a super easy read for anybody. It is a refreshing change and a book has never made me laugh as hard as this one does.

Reader's Reviews

RIYL: Ellen Degeneres Show, Tina Fey, Betty White

Book 2 (Keeping Faith) Project Comparisons

Jodi Picoult Comparisons

It doesn’t take long to figure out that Jodi Picoult has a very definitive style. So far, I have read three of her books, My Sister’s Keeper, Handle with Care, and Keeping Faith. I most recently read Keeping Faith. The books are really good if you only read one or two of them. As I read more of her books, I start to get bored. Keeping Faith had a really good concept of a story but it is so repetitive reading the same thing over and over again.
Sick Child
In all three books there is a sick child. My Sister’s Keeper, the daughter has cancer. In Handle with Care the daughter has Osteogenesis Imperfecta which makes her extremely sick and leaves her in the hospital frequently.  In Keeping Faith, the daughter is seeing visions of God and gets hurt and sick from the visions.
Mothers
With sick children come protective mothers. Jodi Picoult makes sure to add this character in every book. In My Sister’s Keeper, the mother argues in court that her daughter needs every single medical procedure that will save her life. In Handle with Care, the mother goes to court to sue the doctor who allowed her daughter to be born. In this story, the mother is trying to gain money to help treat her kid. In Keeping Faith, the mother goes to extremes like fleeing the state to protect her child. She also goes to court to gain complete custody over Faith.
Courtroom Drama
Three similarities that come with the overprotective mother is they are in court to do what they think will better their child. The books are very courtroom heavy and it kind of seems that Picoult has had some experience in the law area, or she has just done a lot of research.
Family
Most of her books also include a family atmosphere, at least to begin with. The books I have read all start off with a husband and wife crazy in love with two children. The husband and wife then experience some trials because of their children. In My Sister’s Keeper, the husband starts to take the side of the younger daughter who believes the sister should be taken out of her pain. This causes the mom to get angry but they eventually realize they need to do what’s best. In Handle with Care, the father decides to not support the mother’s decision to go to court. The mother then kicks the husband out of the house and a divorce is filed. The end of the book explains that everything ends up okay and they don’t actually get a divorce. In Keeping Faith, part of the story is the husband has cheated on the wife so they get divorced. This then leads to a custody battle over their daughter.
Tricky Endings
Keeping Faith differs from the other two books in one area; it ends how you expect it to. The mother wins custody over the daughter and she falls in love with a perfect guy. My Sister’s Keeper has a tricky ending where the daughter who doesn’t have cancer dies and ends up donating a body organ to save her sister who has cancer. No one saw this coming. Handle with Care almost ends how you expect it, the family wins the lawsuit and they get an unimaginable amount of money to care for their daughter. The twist is, at the very end the daughter dies from slipping on ice and falling into cold water.
Jodi Picoult
All this being said, I think Jodi Picoult is a great author. It is understandable that she writes essentially the same story over and over again. She’s good at it so why stop? I also think that the books I chose are all similar because that is the style I like. She may very well have different books with different plots, but they might not interest me. So it goes both ways. It is just interesting to compare different aspects of her books to each other and really realize how similar they are.