Pen Pal Letter, Dead Girls Don't Write Letters

The John Carroll School
703 Churchville Road
Bel Air, Maryland 21014

Dear Sunny,
Hello, my name is Stephanie and I am a freshman at The John Carroll School. This summer I read the novel, Dead Girl Don’t Write Letters, by Gail Giles. Besides reading the novel, I was with my friends a lot of the time, and I also went to the beach. I thought the novel is very well written and once you start reading it, you wouldn’t want to stop.
I thought you handled the events very well, and took care of your mother good due to your sister’s death. You also handled the fake “Jazz” very well also by not really telling her you know she’s really not your sister but by kind of going along with it for awhile, then reading her journal to figure out who she really is.
I had a few questions when I read specific events in the story. As the story goes on, I think the author’s style is very interesting and makes the story very suspenseful. Each event happening made me want to read more of the book to discover the next event. The character is realistic to the reader, because she was a normal teenager.
What did you first think when you saw that there was a letter from your sister, Jazz, in the mail? Also, when she came to your house and you knew she wasn’t your real sister, what made you want to keep quiet and not say anything first thing?
The novel makes you raise awareness about the issue because apparently there are people out there that could pretend to be someone they are not, either on the internet, in person, or even on the phone. The novel will leave me thinking more about the issue since it was a big deal to a family that lost their daughter/sister.
I really enjoyed reading your novel, Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters, during my summer. It was interesting and fun to read. I hope you and your family take care. J
Sincerely,
Stephanie

Book Review

When I read, Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters, by Gail Giles, I loved the story. It was exciting and upbeat. By reading the title you’d probably assume someone dies in the story. Jazz Reynolds has been claimed to be dead. Sunny Reynolds, her younger sister, is living in a world where everyone knows her as “Jazz’s sister.” The family has already been through a divorce, now dealing with depression, and also alcoholism. Sunny is left to deal with all of this and needs to take care of her mother including herself. No one has given or is giving Sunny any credit. Sunny has been taking care of her mother for awhile, and one day, out of nowhere, she finds a letter in the mail from her sister Jazz. This shocked Sunny because her sister was dead. How could Jazz write a letter and be dead at the same time? Sunny is asking herself, “Is this really my sister or is it a joke?” This book is filled with questions, emotion, and mysteries, which made me love reading it.
The plot and characters were very modern, and the author’s style was like it’s written for a teenager to enjoy. The message of the story was meaningful; it taught us that we should care for one another, and no matter what kind of family you have, they will always care for you. What I disliked about the novel was that the ending was very unclear. Besides that, this book is overall a good choice and it leaves readers wondering what happened.

Author Biography

Gail Giles is the author of the novel, Dead Girls Don’t Write Letters. She was born on September 24th and is married to Jim Giles. She lives in Woodland, Texas. She is a writer, and taught high school in Angleton, Texas. Her interests are watercolor painting, reading, computer solitaire, playing guitar. Gail Giles has received many awards like the Best Books for Young Adults selection and Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers selection, American Library Association (ALA), both 2003, both for Shattering Glass; ALA Teens Top Ten selection, 2003, for Dead Girls Don't Write Letters. She dislikes, mean people, cabbage, bad books, bad movies, really bright light, sweat or any activity that produces sweat, repetitive noises, waiting for anything, airports, getting up early, and people that ask when I’m going to write for adults. Gail Giles has many pets. She has two Great Pyrenees, named Jack London and Chicago. She also has three cats, Hemingway (Himalayan), Buffet (Scottish Fold), and Oz (Balinese). Gail Giles likes, chocolate, good books, good movies, hot baths, crisp, clean sheets, big cities, rain on a tin roof, my friends, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Jimmy Buffett and sleeping late. Some of the books she wrote were: Breath of the Dragon, illustrated by June Otani, Clarion Books (New York, NY), 1997. Shattering Glass, Roaring Brook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2002. Dead Girls Don't Write Letters, Roaring Brook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2003. Playing in Traffic, Roaring Brook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2004. What Happened to Cass McBride? (novel), Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2006. Right behind You (novel), Little, Brown (New York, NY), 2007.

Note Card #1

Byck, Robert. "depression." Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2008. Grolier Online. 22 Sep. 2008 http://gme.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=0083450-0.

-Depression is an uncomfortable mental state that may be characterized by such adjectives as blue, dejected, or discouraged.
-Major depressions occur in 10–20% of the world's population in the course of a lifetime.
-Depression is defined by its symptoms.

Here is The American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual f Mental Disorders lists:
poor appetite and significant weight loss, or the reverse;
insomnia, or increased sleep;
agitation, or retardation, of movement and thought;
loss of interest or pleasure in usual activities or decrease in sexual drive;
fatigue and loss of energy;
feelings of worthlessness, self-reproach, or excessive or inappropriate guilt;
diminished ability to concentrate, or indecisiveness; and
recurrent thoughts of death or suicide, or suicide attempts.

-Depression is treated by psychotherapy, drugs, or electroconvulsive therapy, and often by some combination of these treatments.
-In psychiatric usage, disorders of mood are called affective or mood disorders.

Note Card #2

- Depression is a serious mental condition that is characterized by extreme feelings of sadness, worthlessness or hopelessness, fatigue, irritability, loss of appetite, inability to concentrate, and insomnia or excessive sleeping.
- It may include physical or emotional causes and might require long-term treatment.
- Depending on the type of depression and how severe it is, treatment may include prescription antidepressant drugs, psychotherapy, or in some rare cases, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
- Depression lasting more than a few months or is recurring is known as “major depressive disorder” or “clinical depression.”
- Depression is sometimes accompanied by alcohol or drug abuse and in some severe cases may lead to suicide.
-Experts say that students with depression are more likely to have difficulty in school because they may lack the motivation to learn or may not have enough self.
- Some depressed students show no signs of academic failure because they try to hide their feelings by becoming perfectionists or overachievers.
-Statistics show that one out of every five children in the United States has a mental-health problem, and between 10 percent and 15 percent of young people exhibit symptoms of depression.

http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-sub-display?id=SMD0067H-0-1140&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N&keyno=0000007107&leadiss=Y&auth_checked=Y

Note Card #3

Peleg-Oren, Neta, Giora Rahav, and Meir Teichman. "School-age children of fathers with substance use disorder: are they a high risk population?." Journal of Alcohol & Drug Education 52.2 (August 2008): 9(22). Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. John Carrol School. 22 Sept. 2008 http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS.

-Studies of adult children of alcoholics (A-COAs) indicate that they are at increased risk for emotional problems including depressive symptoms, anxiety disorders, and frequent occurrence of post traumatic stress disorder.

-Parental drinking alcohol may affect parenting style and, eventually, the manner in which a child will perceive his or her family.

-Parental inconsistency and unpredictability may explain the findings of several studies that these children manifest problem behaviors as early as preschool age.

-The theoretical literature describes children's attachment to their parents or to their primary caregivers as the foundation for the development of a sense of security, basic trust, and emotionally balanced personalities

- Parental substance abuse disorder (SUD) is believed to affect the family, especially the children (Peleg-Oren & Teichman, 2006).

-“ During the last decade, the effects parents with SUD have on their children have been the focus of clinical as well as research literature. The literature has grown from a handful of publications in 1980 to 53 in 1990, and dozens in the year 2000. The predominant idea presented in the clinical literature has been that these children experience various emotional, cognitive, social, and behavioral problems that will continue to adulthood. This study examines this predominant idea among school-aged children living with fathers with SUD.”

Note Card #4

http://sks.sirs.com/cgi-bin/hst-sub-display?id=SMD0067H-0-1140&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N&keyno=0000000932&leadiss=Y&auth_checked=Y

- Alcoholism has been an issue since earliest recorded history
- Two amendments to the Constitution have dealt with alcohol in the United States.
- Drinking has become less socially acceptable in recent years as people in general have become more health conscious.
- Alcohol abuse takes a huge toll on society, through automobile crashes, crime (especially violent crimes), child and spousal abuse, reduced workplace productivity and illness.
- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, excessive alcohol use is the third leading lifestyle-related cause of death in America
- Statistics from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) reveal that every year from 2002 to 2006, nearly 19 million people ages 12 and up were classified with a dependence on or abuse of alcohol.

Note Card #5

"alcoholism." Reviewed by Donald W. Goodwin. Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. 2008. Grolier Online. 23 Sep. 2008 .

-“Alcoholism is considered a disease.”
-Alcoholism refers to drinking alcoholic beverages so often, in large amounts, repeatedly interferes with major aspects of an individual's life—such as work, school, family relationships, or personal safety and health.
-An alcoholic who abstains from drinking can regain control over the aspects of life with which alcohol interfered.
-A person does not have to drink every day to be called an alcoholic.
-Alcoholism is found among all age and economic groups.
-An estimated 75 percent of alcoholics are male, and 25 percent female.
-“Alcoholism is a worldwide phenomenon, but it is most widespread in France, Poland, the Scandinavian countries, the United States, and Russia.”
-About 14 million American adults/ 7.4% of the population are estimated to be alcoholic.