10-13

Back in Yarrow Heights, Reid tells his daughters that Krista is in love with another man. "No matter what she has told you, she has chosen him over her family. She'll have to live with her decision. We can never forgive her." That is ridiculous to my mind. Another fact is that Franky never tried to call her Krista and she kept her cell phone turned off. Neither did she listen to the voicemail or pick up the house phone. But her Mom tried to find out how her daughters were doing by calling her friend Twyla. Franky was really mad about this. Why didn't Franky trust her mother? Why did she choose her father over her mother? I'm really wondering how manipulative she is. She can't even tell her "best friend" what is going on. She tells her friend that everything is alright... She acts just like her father right now and tells everybody that everything is fine. She doesn't even realize that her father destroys her relationships to others. She has probably been brainwashed by her father. "I shut my eyes. I could see her with Dad's eyes, in that cozy little cabin of hers where she lived her perfect, selfish life. In the dollhouse. In her own zone." I wonder where did Freaky Green Eyes go? Where did her courage go and why doesn't she see the situation through her own (freaky, green) eyes? Why does she have to see her Mom through her Dads' eyes. At the end of this chapter Franky said that this was the last time she spoke to her mother and the last thing she said to her was: "I'm not Francesca! I hate that name! And I hate you! Good-bye!" I was really surprised by this. I would not dare to talk to my Mom like this. But I guess this is today's young adults.

Vocabulary: chickpea (bot.) Kichererbse sea bass Seebarsch to blackmail erpressen steroids Anabolika

skagit harbor: july 23

The crucial point in "Freaky Green Eyes" is when the girls visit their Mom in Skagit Harbor. There is a big description given of Skagit Harbor. It is the complete opposite of Yarrow Heights (where their father lives). It is colorful and full of life. The people have economic problems but they are happy anyway. They are not superficial like Franky's Dad and it is forbidden in Yarrow Heights to let dogs (like Rabbit) run loose in Yarrow Heights. I think these metaphors are great. The two different cities represent the two different characters Krista and Reid. There is also a burrow close to Krista's house, which she shows to her daughters... she said that someone could leave a secret message for someone. Maybe she is going to leave a secret message there for her daughters... we'll see ...This is what Kristas little cabin could look like.

Everything seemed to be so peaceful and nice until Franky's Dad came to pick them up. That was a really sad scene. I was shocked and I didn't know what was going on. As well as the Franky and Samantha didn't have any idea what was happening in this moment.

"No. Go away. Go away with your father. You can't stay with me, there isn't room, for God's sake go with him."
[...] She was so weak, pathetic! I didn't even fell sorry for her now, I just wanted to go away from her.

At the end of this Chapter Franky said that this would be the last time she ever saw her mother. I am really wondering if that is true ... I'm excited to see what is going to happen. The author did this on purpose to make want to read the next chapter to get more answers :D but she did a good job on making the plot interesting.

Vocabulary: Tylenol American brand of medicine for relieving pain groundhog Murmeltier dandelions (bot.) Löwenzahn

cape flattery: july 4

The 4th of July! The Independence Day!

... For Franky this 4th of July is not really an Independence Day. In the following I'm going to explain why...
The Piersons (except the mother, of course) are spending the 4th of July in the Blounts' lodge. The Blounts are multimillionaires with spoiled children, who have their private zoo where they put the animals in cages without taking care of them. Samantha and Franky feel sorry for the animals and they free them! Independence Day! BUT this action had a big consequence for Franky. Her father wanted her to apologize for her behavior but she didn't. So her father lost control and shook her so hard, in front of everybody, that her body was hurting even a couple of days later. "Damn you. I'm telling you. Apologize to these people, Francesca, or I'll break every bone in your miserable body!" To my mind this is doesn't sound like a caring father like Franky always thinks of her father. Maybe this incident will open her eyes and she finally realizes that her father is not right in the head.

I really like the metaphor the author uses for showing Frankys dependence on her father through the Independence Day. But I think that Franky is on the right way: "Seeing the raccoons lumber away in the woods. Seeing the hare shaking free of his trance [...] Yes, you have to accept punishment sometimes for doing what is right." This is very true. This statement could also be referred to Frankys' Mom. She left her husband because she is afraid of him but as a punishment she is leaving her daughters behind and she has to live with the thought that her husband controls his daughters and tells them that she doesn't love her children. I think that Franky also would like to be let free like those animals in the cages. Franky knows how they feel because she is caught in a cage or like she would say in a "mausoleum" that her father calls a house and her father could be one of the Blount brothers poking a stick at her and not taking care of her. He just keeps her in the house to keep up the appearance of a happy family. To her father she is just like a decoration without feelings, which he likes to show to his so often changing "girlfriends".

There was a statement, which I really liked and I just wanted to mention it here. "[...] And you carry it with you wherever you go, like a turtle with a crooked shell." Here she is referring to her parents' divorce. I really like this simile and wanted to post it here to remember it.

Vocabulary: belly flop (inf.) Bauchklatscher to look slantwise at sb. to look at sb. out of the corner of one's eye

"seperated": june

"Go away then. Stay away. You don't love us. You love the "zone" you're in." Franky blames everything on her mother for all the trouble happening in her family. Frankys Mom is spending more and more time in Skagit Harbor in her little "cabin". In this chapter it is also said that they didn't miss their mother. This really made me mad when I read this chapter. I feel sympathetic with Krista because I don't think that it's her fault. I think that Krista is just doing what makes her happy. She loves arts, which is very important in her life, but she is not able to develop her creativity in this modernist house, which looks more like a hospital and a husband who acts like a robot.
"I stopped bringing my friends home. With Mom away, the house was deadly quiet like a museum nobody ever visits."

Krista has a weird habit. She is always turning her silver ring nervously around her finger. The ring is a symbol for her marriage with Reid. To my mind her habit might stand for her uncertainty towards her marriage.

Reid brings other woman home when Krista is gone. They are all blond, glamorous, and years younger than Krista. They look like TV news or weather girls, like models. They stand for the life-style Reid likes and they even fit in the modernist house. Krista doesn't fit in his schema any more.

This is another thing I found interesting in this chapter:
"The thought came to me I wish I was that young." I don't understand why Franky wants to be younger. She is only sixteen and she wants to be younger than that? Most teenagers want to look older and do things that adults do but she wants to be a child again. Another thing I don't understand is when Reid twisted Samanthas (Frankys little sister) wrist just because she wanted to know if they could visit their Mom and Franky just said that she felt sorry for her sister but it was her fault since she provoked him. I think that is really weird that she always lets her father get away with everything just because he is the famous Reid Pierson. I am looking foward to the moment when Franky is finally going to put up some resistance to her father.

Vocabulary: sophomore (n) AE student in the second year of a course at a college or university to be sympathetic with sb. to care and feel sorry about sb.'s problems overdue (adj.) unfinished by the time expected bang around move around a place making a lot of noise to impact on sth. to affect, have an effect on to butt in to interrupt to commute to travel to and from work to eavesdrop deliberately listen to other people's conversations To take after sb.

the quarrel: may 29

In this chapter we learn something about Frankys' brother Todd. Todd is her half-brother. When they were little they used to be friends but since he got obsessed with high school sports he did not have that much time for his "sisters" and he ignored them when he was home on the weekends.

I really like the way the author uses the E-mails to express the protagonists feelings and worries. Franky sends some E-mails to her brother Todd about the trouble with her parents but Todd never wrote back. Maybe I'm going to send an E-mail to Franky if I had any questions.

Furthermore, I like how the author choose the style of the house, which perfectly describes the mood and the situation of the family. "The house was designed by a famous Japanese American Seattle architect. It's what is called "postmodernist", meaning it doesn't look like a house exactly, more like a small high-tech building. Glass walls ... "minimalist" furnishing .... more module units, not rooms."
This is how I imagine the interior of the house: no colors, no flowers, no life. Krista is an artist and she hoped to furnish the house herself, but Reid insisted upon the most fashionable Seattle interior decorator. This house and its interior stand for the different lifestyles Krista and Reid have. Also the family dog "Rabbit" is a symbol for life. Since Reid can't stand the little dog he has to stay away from him.

Vocabulary: to pall around with sb. AE to associate with sb. as a friend preppy AE (adj. inf.) chic, smart to drop by to pay a casual, short visit to sb. or a place toadstool Giftpilz to be out of sb.'s depth to be too difficult for sb. to understand

The quarrel: may 5

In the last lesson we talked about Young Adult Literature (YAL) and its characteristics. I think that characteristic nr. 2 applies very much to the next chapter. Franky tries to be the big strong sister and she does not want to show her younger sister that she is afraid of what is going on between her parents. She is supressing her feelings. Franky is in a conflict with herself. Sometimes she just wants to be like a child so she could hug her sister and tell her that everything is going to be alright but somehow she is not able to do that because she is trying to act like an adult.

Vocabulary: off-limits AE not allowed to be entered by sb. (My room is off-limits, this time of morning.) out of earshot get your where one cannot be heard facts straight

The celebration: april 18

I think that this chapter is very interesting because it gives us an overview of the family structure and their relationships. In this chapter they are celebrating Dads new contract with some network. They were having a huge Chinese banquet. But Krista (Franky's mom) wasn't there to celebrate with them. What I also found interesting, in this chapter, is that Franky is a little afraid of her father. "And maybe, just maybe, I was a little afraid of my father" It is obvious that Franky is very confused about her parents. She does not know which one is the good one. But she sticks to her father even though she is a little afraid of him. Franky blames everything on her mom .

I think that the most important about this chapter are the fortune cookies.

Maybe those fortune cookies, each family member has to read out, is a hint what is going to happen in their future. I'm excited to see if this comes true or if there isn't any relation to this fortune cookies. This is what Frankys fortune cookie says: "a calm mind restores calm." It is also quite interesting that Frankys parents have the same fortune: "You will cross a wide water."

Some vocabulary I would like to remember: nightcap a (usually alcoholic) drink taken before going to bed to humiliate to put to shame, disgrace