The protagonist in this story is the accepted Claire Mckenzie. This character is a very dynamic character and you see her grow within herself as the story continues. Before Lani Garver comes to Hackett Island, Claire is the stereotypically “popular” girl. She has fun loving friends, a great boyfriend, and a job singing at a local coffee shop that she loves. She shines when with her friends but she never opens up to them, not even Macy, her best friend. Claire has a history of tragic, suffering with leukemia in just seventh grade. She tries to fit in as much as possible, weather its underage drinking with her friends or trying out for cheerleading. Claire is very statuesque girl, so in order to be in cheerleading she thinks she has to be extremely thin. So skinny that she doesn’t realize she is causing herself an eating disorder. Although Claire trusts Macy there are some things she just can’t tell her. For instance, Claire has wild dreams of blood and razors and she plays heavy metal music on her guitar in the basement. Claire fears her friends will penalize her for heavy metal thoughts so she hides them from her friends for as long as she can. She has constant fear of being diagnosed with leukemia again, but she hides it within herself.
From the time Claire meets Lani Garver until his death she feels a very drastic trust with him and she is confused why. As she spends more time with Lani she tends to open up more and trust him more than she would ever dream of trusting Macy. Reluctantly, she opens up with Lani and confides in him. He is the support she needs, setting her up with a therapist, a doctor, and a great band to get her started in a music career. Her constant trips from Hackett Island to Philadelphia are what caused her to truly discover who she is. She tends to care less of others opinions, especially Macy’s. She dresses the way she wants, she plays the music she wants, and she chooses Lani over her old friends. Lani knows Claire better than Claire knows herself and an example of this is located in Chapter 21. Throughout this chapter you see Claire trade in her cheerleading jacket and buy her first leather jacket. She looks throughout the store to find an outfit she loves, and when she discovers it she notices they don’t have her size. Disappointed, she leaves the store only to be stopped by the clerk who gives her a package from Lani. Lani has chosen the exact jacket and pants she wanted in her size. Lani Garver truly changed Claire.
As I read the story I had trouble discovering who the Antagonist was, for Claire suffers so much from so many people. I debated between it being her drunken mother who truly wishes to be a teenager again, her best friend Macy who just wants to have fun in the present, or is it herself because of all the stress she causes herself to feel. In the end I decided the Antagonist was clearly not a person, but a place. I believe the strongest opponent to Claire is Hackett Island. I believe Claire feels like an outcast in Hackett and she is refined to be just like everyone else. It’s a small town just outside of the big city of Philadelphia. The island is where everyone knows each other and everyone knows each other’s business.
The major conflict in this story I think is Claire against herself, this internal conflict is caused by several things. I think Claire’s fear of leukemia is keeping her from living to her fullest, she constantly checks for bruises and jumps to conclusions when she feels dizzy or tired. When in reality she feels so dazed is due to her eating disorder she cause herself to have in order to remain skinny to try to blend into the cheerleading crowd. Claire also strains herself to keep her gruesome dreams and song lyrics to herself. She locks so much information in her; it results in her carrying a lot of stress.
The story takes place in a small town known as Hackett Island. Everyone on the island knows each other and they are familiar with everyone’s drama. The location affects the storyline in many ways. It’s what causes Claire to feel so isolated from who she truly is. Due to the lack of variety in the student s here, she strives to remain friends with the “cool” crowd. The story also has a constant surrounding of the big city, Philadelphia. Here is where Claire’s father lives with his new wife. Philadelphia is the polar opposite of Hackett City. Claire loves the vagabonds surrounding the town and the wild new stereotypes she has never been exposed to. Philadelphia is a very dynamic and lively town where Claire is now exposed to from Lani, who gives her a whole new perspective of the city.
Claire’s life may seem perfect at a quick glimpse, but it’s just an illusion. An outsider may see Claire as the beautiful, tall, cheerleader with the best friends in the school. Instead of that perfection, Claire has just returned to school after surviving cancer and now has formed a drastic eating disorder. She is influenced by the wrong group of