whatthedeadknow

Group Rules: 1. If you do not complete your individual requirement for the week, you must bring in the food on Friday and will not have the privilege to eat it. 2. If you do not read the section of the book due that week, then you must watch us discuss the book without saying anything (and you do not get food either). 3. If you do not pay attention during the meeting, your laptop will be taken away by Mr. Morone until the end of the meeting. 4. If you do not follow any of the above rules for any two weeks, you will receive a zero in participation on the day of the second offense.

= 1st Book Club: October 1st: (Read up to Chapter 9) = __** A. Group Leader **__ : Halley Gradus __** B.+ C. Quotation Finder and Key Questioner: **__ Dara Cooper __** D. Group Summarizer: **__ Carly Truglio

**__ Person A: Group Question __** 1. Describe what you like and don't like about the characters: Sunny, the older sister who is dead, seems like an annoying teenager. She is selfish because she does not care about her sister in the slightest and is jealous of her personality. Heather, the younger sister, seems like a snobby perfect little girl. When she gets older, she is hard to figure out. We cannot decide whether we like her or not. All of us like Miriam, and feel sympathy for her as she struggles with her marriage. However, we do not agree with her choice to cheat on Dave. We do not like Dave, however, we feel bad for him because he is being cheated on.


 * __ Person B: Quotations: __**

1). "Her stomach clutched at the sight of the water tower hovering above the still, bare trees, a spaceship come to earth... Once you spotted the white disk on it spindly legs, you knew it was time to prepare, like a runner crouched in blocks" (1). 2). "Floating on painkillers, she fantasized about the morning, what it would be like to say her name, her true name, for the first time in years. To answer a question that few people had to think about twice; Who are you? Then she realized what the second question would be" (10). 3). "Heather had gotten into quite a bit of trouble for that, although she didn't understand why. If the family was suppossed to share everything, then why was Sunny allowed to look up her thoughts" (53). 4). "Somewhere in Baltimore, a man sat down to supper that night, unaware that he had destroyed someone else's life, and she envied him his ignorance" (4). 5). "'She doesn't want to be Heather Bethany... She wants to go back to the life she's made for herself and put this behind her" (37).

**__ Person C: Discussion Questions __**

1). What do you think the part II title, "The Man with The Blue Guitar" means/ symbolizes? 2). Why do you think Laura Lippman writes the way she does? She switches from different people every chapter. 3). Why do you think Bethany changed her name to "Jane Doe" and completley started over? 4). Do you think Heather and Sunny's relationship foreshadows anything for the future? 5). Who do you think Miriam and Jeff are? And how do you think they will become significant characters as the story carries on?

**__ Person D: Book Club Summary __** After Valley Cup, Halley, Dara, and I sat down and took out our books. We broke out the cereal, chocolate milk, and gold fish and got down to work. Dara asked questions on the first couple of chapters, Halley and Dara does not like the way the author changes the characters perspective every chapter. I disagreed, i like how we get to find out what each character is thinking about their situation. We talked about what part II "the man with the blue guitar" meant. Dara and I decided it was foreshadowing the kidnapper. Halley told us we were way off but did not have an answer for the question. Then, Halley asked what we thought of the characters, we all discussed how we did not like Sunny and thought Heather was a little snobby. We liked the mom, Mariam although we thought that it was wrong of her to have an affair. We talked about the thought of if her daughters did not get abducted she would be the reason her family might break apart. We all find the dad very weird. Halley said he freaked her out and was very creepy. We all discussed how he shouldn't make his family be that open and hide absolutely nothing. I argued that my Dad doesn't like when my brother and I lock our doors, but Halley and Dara said that this was different because they had to share everything and hide nothing. When we talked about the dad's idea that the family should always be open we discussed how the sisters may have resented it and that is why Sunny hid a diary in her room. The two sisters did not get along, Heather thought her sister was a loser and never wanted to be like her. Sunny resented her sister for being so likable, smart, and "perfect". Halley then asked Dara and I who Irene was in the book. We both were a little confused about that two so went back to the page she was mentioned and reread it. We all talked it out and concluded that Irene was one of the kidnappers Heather was referring to. We also considered the thought as to why Heather Bethany did not want to tell anyone her real identity and decided she just wanted to put her awful past behind her and start over. She did not want to relive any painful memories. She did not want people thinking she was crazy either and that is what was starting to happen at the hospital she was brought to. At the end of the meeting we talked over who would do what job next week and Dara calculated that we all needed to read up to chapter seventeen. Overall our discussion went very well and helped us understand some iffy parts, go over what parts we loved, and go over some parts we hated.

** 2nd Book Club: October 8th: (Read up to Chapter 17) **

__** A. Group Leader **__ : Carly Truglio __** B.+ C. Quotation Finder and Key Questioner: **__ Halley Gradus __** D. Group Summarizer: **__ Dara Cooper

**__ Person A: Group Question __** 1. On your group's wiki page, discuss the type of language that your book contains. Is it easy to read? Conversational? "Classic"? Does it use a lot of words you don't understand? What grade level do you think the book is written at, and why? The language of this book is very conversational and human like it is written in a way that people can relate to not only the characters but the writing itself. The use of dialogue and thought process enhances the various aspects of the story. Most words are understandable and if we don't know them there are enough context clues to figure out their meaning. All but Halley agree that the literature of the book is perfect for high school. Halley thinks that the language of the book is more appropriate for eighth grade level. However we all agree that the context is perfect for high school. 1.) (letter from woman in pink suit) " 'Besides, Mr. Baumgarten is very happily married and will never leave his wife. This is why mothers do not belong in offices' " (77). 2.) "Once, //before,// her sense of humor had been a key part of her personality. It was rare now that she made anyone laugh, which puzzled her, because Miriam felt she remained capable of wit...Granted, it was a cruel wit, but her sensibility had always been on the cynical side, even when cynicism was unearned" (97). 3.) "Sunny, not to be outdone, had an imaginary friend, a dog named Fitz. Strangely, Fitz was as capable of getting lost as Bud. In fact, Fitz got lost whenever bud got lost, and then some, and Fitz proved much harder to find" (99). 4.) "Their problem, their curse, he insisted to neutral third parties, was that they were //happy//. Life was perfect, and therefore had to fall" (101). 5.) "The old cop may have needed reminding that he had the Bethany file, but he knew exactly where that Christmas card was...It wasn't just the sense of a job well done that had led Willoughby to file this card in a place he remembered so readily" (115). 6.) "She wasn't sure who worried her more, the dead or the living, who posed the most risk. But at least you could bluff the living. You couldn't put anything over the dead" (127).
 * __ Person B: Quotations: __**

**__ Person C: Discussion Questions __**
1.) What further conclusions can we make about Dave when he teaches the girls about sexual intercourse before Heather is even in kindergarten? 2.) Why do you think Miriam and her boss, Joe Flemming, maintain such a strange relationship for such good friends? 3.) We know that Heather lied to Gloria and Kay about who kidnapped her and her sister. What do you think is the real reason Heather refuses to spend time in jail? 4.) After reading about Miriam's response to the one question she answered to the press (page 138), what is different about Miriam's point of view compared to that of Dave's? 5.) Do you think the music teacher should be a prime suspect? If not, who do you think Kevin Infante should investigate?

**__ Person D: Book Club Summary __** We started today’s book club by taking out our food and books. Halley started off by reading her quotes out loud that she had found. The first quote that she read we believed to be very ironic. It stated, “ … That is why mothers do not belong in the office”. We found this very ironic because Miriam was a mother who worked with Dave, and they had an affair together. When we brought up Miriam, we began to talk about her and how we would feel if we were in her shoes. If we were to lose our two daughters, we honestly don’t know how we would continue to live our lives. We believe that Miriam would be so self-conscious and very paranoid about the world. It would also be very hard to trust anyone, and/or have more kids. A part of her heart was ripped out of her chest and thrown away. We also discussed a quote having to do with the world being perfect and how some people can’t accept it. We were saying how life isn’t always perfect and when life gets “too good” for a person, they don’t know how to deal with something like that. The last quote was an excellent quote and it left us all thinking about it after. Halley picked it because she loved it and she really couldn’t figure out what it meant. Carly and I interpreted in two different ways that both make sense. The last quote talked about the dead and whether or not one can trust them. We also began to talk about Dave and how we think he is very open-minded and liberal. He doesn’t seem to care about telling his daughter very mature things in kindergarten. We also think that Sunny is a show-off and a “know-it-all” because she is always saying how she is better than Heather. We think this foreshadows for the kidnapping of the two sisters. Another prediction Halley though of was that Joe was the kidnapper and he is getting close to Miriam so that he will kill her. The last prediction we thought of is that Miriam and Heather are going to meet each other but it will not go well because Miriam has not seen her in 30 years! Lastly, we talked about the language of the book. I don't like how the author writes, but Halley and Carly like it. Halley wasn't a fan of the writing style in the beginning, but now she likes it. I find it confusing how the author changes from present to past. We all believed that the book is for high school but Halley thought the language was more for an 8th grader. We were discussing how it is much easier to understand than any other book we have had to read in school. Carly also related this book to //Lovely Bones// because the the plot lines are very similar. We are really excited to read more of the book and discuss it next week.

** 3rd Book Club: October 15th: (Read up to Chapter 27) **

__** A. Group Leader **__ : Dara Cooper __** B.+ C. Quotation Finder and Key Questioner: **__ Carly Truglio __** D. Group Summarizer: **__ Halley Gradus

**__ Person A: Group Question: __** **On your group's wiki page, discuss the mood or tone of your book.What is the overriding emotion of this book? What examples back up your claim? ** **The mood and tone of this book is very mysterious and suspenseful. The tone is also very depressing because while reading it, some parts really hit you as being horrible. For example, Mariam's outlook on the whole kidnapping situation is depressing. SHe kind of gave up on life and is just waiting for news to somewhat change her. ** **It is also very upsetting how she is raped every single day and she doesn't so anything. SHe never tells anyone, nor run away. ****This book is a lot like a CSI episode, figuring out who is lying and who is telling the truth. Many points in the book are very dramatic as well. First, the part where Mariam talks about she adopted the kids because their real dad shot the wife and shot him. When she talked about never going to tell them until they are 18 is horrible. Lastly, the most dramatic part of the book is the part when Mariam gets the phone call that they possibly found Heather. They said that a girl was in a car crash and she claimed to be a Bethany sister. **

1."In the immediate aftermath- But no, "aftermath" was the wrong word, for it suggested a tangible event, something definitive. Where was the "math" in their situation, what was the "after"? In the first forty-eight hours Miriam felt as if she had been plunged into a cold, rushing stream, and her only instinct was to survive the shock of it all."(148) 2. " People tried on Miriam's pain in that way, modeled it for her, almost as if they expected her to be flattered by their interest. But they never had any trouble shedding it when the time came. They plucked it off and handed it back to her, continuing with their blessedly uneventful lives." (154) 3. "He believed that much- but only that much. The fear in her face was real, the shudder in her shoulders visible even beneath the shawl. She could not stomach the thought of this journey. Where she'd been headed Tuesday night, it wasn't Pennsylvania. But that still didn't mean that she was Heather Bethany." (171) 4."A skeptical look from Kay. Was she laying it on too thick, trying too hard? But it was true, this part was true. Perhaps she had gotten to the point where her lies were more believable than her truths. Was that the consequence of living a lie for so long?"(192) 5. " 'A few days ago, a women was in a car accident, when police came to the scene, she said-' //Lunatic, lunatic, another fucking lunatic. Another crazy, indifferent to the pain and hurt she was causing.// ' That she's your daughter. The younger one, Heather. She says she's your daughter.' And Mariam's mind exploded."
 * __ Person B: Quotations: __**

**__ Person C: Questions __** __**1.**__ Do you think Mariam is doing the right thing in chapter 17 when she wants to wait until they know what happened to the girls to divorce David or just divorce him now because she is waiting for the inevitable? __**2.**__ Why do you think "Ruth" doesn't run away instead of acting like a normal teen and going to the party? __**3.**__ Why do you think Gloria and Kay believe "Jane Doe" is really Heather Bethany and Infante believes shes lying? __**4.**__ Do you think Kay was right when she let Jane Doe stay in her house? Would you let her in her house? __**5.**__ Make a prediction, now that Mariam knows about Jane Doe how do you think she is reacting to the news?

**__ Person D: Group Summarizer __**

After whipping out our nontraditional breakfast foods, our discussion quickly commenced. The first thing we talked about was the general topic of pain. With Miriam in mind, we came to the conclusion that one cannot fully understand somebody's pain unless they experienced it themselves. Because of this depressing concept, we discussed how alone Miriam must feel, without anyone to relate to her pain after leaving Dave. In addition, we discussed how Miriam must feel knowing her daughter might be alive. None of us feel she would want to see Heather because she might not be her daughter. Dara added the fact that seeing her daughter after so many years might mess up her daily life. Expanding on Miriam's pain, we talked about why she waited so long to leave Dave. Carly presented the idea that she had the intentions of staying with him until they reached closure about their daughters. Dara and I pointed out, that she eventually left him, even without knowing what happened to their daughters, because there was no love between the two of them. Next we discussed Heather. All of us agree that it is hard to tell Heather's truths from her lies. I feel that the only reason Gloria, her lawyer, is defending her is because of her money. On the other hand, Dara and Carly said they feel Gloria truly believes her. We also discussed why Kay let Heather stay in her house. We agreed that from the reader's point of view, Kay made the right decision, since we know about Heather. However, Kay, who knows little about Heather, made a stupid decision letting a potentially crazy woman stay with her family. This led us into the discussion of what happened to Heather. We are all disgusted with what "Uncle" does to Heather. I pointed out that "Auntie" envies Heather and might feel "Uncle" is more affectionate towards Heather than her, even though he rapes her every night. Everyone said this was a little far-fetched. Carly asks why Heather does not just run away. Dara and I attempt to explain that she is provided with food and shelter, but Carly does not think that gives her a reason to stay in a home where she is assaulted and abused. We also discussed why he let her go after six years, coming to the conclusion that he wanted to find a "new" virgin because he was getting tired of Heather, who, obviously, was no longer of such innocence. Before ending our discussion with Dara's, the group leader's, questions, we discussed who "Uncle" really is. So far, our suspects are whoever kept leaving Dave messages and the man with Alzheimer's in the nursing home.

**4th Book Club: October 22nd: (Read up to Chapter 36)**
 * A. Group Leader ** : Halley Gradus
 * B.+ C. Quotation Finder and Key Questioner: ** Dara Cooper
 * D. Group Summarizer: ** Carly Truglio

**__ Person A: Group Question: __** On your group's wiki page, discuss the themes and images that your book contains. What are some of the images that are used? What do they seem to represent? Why do you think the author uses these images to convey his or her meaning? A reoccurring theme of this novel is hope. The author describes how hope can isolate one from society and has the potential to destroy a person. Although there is not much imagery in this book, there are a few characters that represent a bigger idea. For instance, Dave symbolizes hope and displays the qualities of a good parent. Miriam symbolizes selfishness and reality with her harsh ways. Possibly, the car accident that Heather was involved in represents life as a whole. The author might have used this imagery as a way to portray the concept that every person will have a moment in their life which will bring them pain that seems perpetual. In addition, since the little boy in the accident was healing quickly, the author probably wanted to symbolize the idea that life moves on.

1). "Dave was the one who clung to hope, and it killed him. It was Miriam who could accept reality, who found a way to survive and get on with her life, diminished as it was." (240) 2). "But she couldn't sustain the wish. She would give up everything- the truth about herself, ugly and unpleasant as it was, the truth about Dave and how she had treated him- she would trade it all, without a second thought, to see one of her daughters again." (249) 3) "Denied children, she could not bear to hear about another infertile couple who had gained them, almost magically, then saw them taken. Now, for the first time, he wondered if the real problem was that he never solved it. Had Evelyn been disappointed in him?" (266) 4). "'Was Sunny a goods-goody?' 'No, she was something worse.' 'What was that?' 'Someone who wanted to be bad but didn't know how.'" (275) 5). "Miriam lived every day with a dull, chronic ache, like some permanent nerve damage she had learned to compensate for because there was no surgical fix. But no matter how careful she was, no matter how tenederly she protected these compromised joints and tendons, there were things that made the pain flare up, sudden and searing." (294)
 * __Person B: Quotations:__ **

**__ Person C: Questions: __** 1). Do you think Miriam made the right decision by moving to Mexico? 2). Why do you think Nancy was so curious about Heather's pocketbook that she had lost 15 years ago? 3). Do you think that Heather might have exaggerated any parts of the story, or left any important facts out? 4). Why do you think Evelyn, Willoughby's wife, wanted nothing to do with the Bethany Girls case and mystery? 5). There is one more section left in the book. What do you think is going to happen in regards to the Bethany Girls case?


 * __ Person D: Group Summarizer __**

After our group got settled and took out our snacks Dara started to read her quotes. We got into the discussion about how ironic it was that Mariam finally gets to know that one of her daughters is alive, while Dave is dead and will never know. We thought it was ironic because Mariam gave up the thought that her daughters were still alive a couple of years after the kidnapping but Dave never stopped hoping. Halley then proposed the thought that Mariam actually had feelings of hope but hid it and Dave actually had feelings of doubt but never showed it. Dara and I agreed that it was a likely possibility. We all talked about what would happen if this tragedy ever happened to us and unanimously agreed that if it were our children we would never stop looking. Also, we considered the idea that its harder to get over deaths of younger people than deaths of older people. Its very sad when a young person died and had their whole life ahead of them. Yes it is also sad when older people die but its less of a shock because they lived their life. I then told a story about my neighbor who lost his best friend in seventh grade and now he is eighteen and still a mess. We all discovered that this part of the book was really not eventful but more explanatory. We still do not know who is lying but we know more details. Dara, Halley, and I all discussed what the characters look like to us. I thought Nancy was a red head that was slightly over weight, but Halley thought she was a blond who had some curves. We all agreed that Infante reminded us of someone from CSI or Law and Order. The three of us talked about that Mariam is completely selfish. She is selfish because she has an affair and then she is selfish when she leaves her husband in a time of tragedy. We all want to know why Heather left out important details when the detective is investigating. Also, Halley, Dara, and I thought it would be funny and horrible at the same time if nothing is resolved. We all joked about what would happen if the last page was like "to be continued in the sequel" because there are so many loose ends right now in the book. Finally we talked about symbolism but decided that the book is very literal. We took a stretch and decided that the car accident in the beginning of the book symbolizes hope and life in general.

**5th Book Club: October 29th: (FINISH BOOK)** ** A. Group Leader ** : Carly Truglio ** B.+ C. Quotation Finder and Key Questioner: ** Halley Gradus ** D. Group Summarizer: ** Dara Cooper

**__ Person A: Group Question: __**
====On your group's wiki page, discuss your final reflections on this book. Was there a moral or ultimate message to the text? Would you recommend the text to peers? Why or why not? Has this topic been discussed more/less effectively in another book or books? Should this book be considered for the school's curriculum? Will this book go down in history as an "all-time classic" or will it be quickly forgotten?==== Over all, the book was good. Nothing more than good. We all agree that the rising action was too drawn out. In fact, the climax wasn't reached until the end of the book. Leaving little time to discuss the revolution. Th story in the book however was exceptional, but would be better if written in a different way. The ultimate message of this book is that every family has its secrets and issues that the outside world doesn't know about. For instance the Bethany family suffered much grieve before the kidnapping. Also, no one from the outside world would have guessed that "Ruth" Dunham was Sunny Bethany and was getting raped every night. We recommend this book to people who likes cold cases and suspense, but the writing is not that great so we wouldn't recommend it to most//. The Lovely Bones// discusses the topic of kidnapping also discussed in //What The Dead Know//. They are similar books because of the time period and the plot line, but personally we think //What The Dead Know// is a more effective book because it goes into greater detail of the consequences and effect of the kidnapping of daughters. This book should not be considered for the school's curriculum because the writing was bland and there is not symbolism to talk about. //What The Dead Know// is going to be easily forgotten because of the writing style.

__** Person B: Quotations: **__ 1.) "But Dunham was nothing more than a signature, very black and emphatic, on the back of a check that returned each month from a bank in Pennsylvania" (324).

2.) " Miriam shook her head... 'I thought I had... insulated myself against hope. Now I realize I wanted it to be true, that I thought by coming here I could make it true' " (341).

3.) "On the upper arm, she found the mark she sought, the splayed and oh-so-faint scar of a vaccination that had been burst by the helpful application of a flyswatter, missing the fly but scattering pus and blood, creating a wound that had taken weeks to heal, a scab that had been picked continually despite all the admonitions to leave it alone, that such picking would leave a permanent blemish. There it was..." (344).

4.) " 'Look after your sister,' her father had said. 'One day your mother and I will be gone, and you'll be all you have.' It hadn't worked out that way" (356).

5.) "Kay brightened and began to tell him in great detail about both her daughter and son, while Infante listened and nodded, helping himself to more pierogies. What was the big deal? The brunette would keep" (364).

__** Person C: Questions: **__ 1.) What do you think was the purpose of visiting Stan Dunham? Did the visit prove to be helpful?

2.) Why do you think Heather (Sunny) tried running away before meeting her mother?

3.) If it were not for Miriam, do you think the detectives would ever solve the mystery? Why or why not?

4.) In the beginning of Chapter 41, Sunny talks about her real mother. How does Sunny know that she was adopted?

5.) Would you change the ending of the book or do you feel it serves as a sufficient resolution?

__** Person D: Summarizer **__ After we took out our hot chocolate, munchkins, and bagels, it was time to discuss our final book club. We first began with the quotes that Halley had prepared for us. One of the quotes that Miriam had said was surprising because it didn’t sound like Miriam at all. Throughout the entire book Miriam had lost hope and faith because she never believed in finding her children again. However, when Miriam found out that her daughter could still be alive, she immediately regained her hope that she had lost years ago. Miriam, in our minds, was the one who solved the whole mystery. Even though the detectives had been working on this case for around 15 years, Miriam was the one who figured out it was Sunny; not Heather. The detectives were very oblivious to the clues that were hinting it was Sunny and not Heather. For example, Sunny never mentioned the part about the man grabbing her arm because it never happened to her; it happened to Heather. We then discussed the Tony situation. We thought it was horrible how Tony’s father kidnapped both girls, then killed Heather, and finally raped Sunny every night. The parents would hear Tony raping Sunny every night and they wouldn’t do anything about. We all knew that it would be horrible if Stan turned Tony in because Tony is his own son, but we just can’t believe how wrong it was for Stan to not to anything about the killing, abusing, and raping. Halley brought up how Sunny basically killed Heather, because she left her alone with Tony. She barely even knew Tony and thought of Tony as a creep. In the end, we basically though the ending was a huge twist that no one thought of. I exceptionally liked the ending because it was very un-predictable. We all agreed that if the book had a bad ending, it would just completely ruin the book. The ending of the book is so important to the book entirely. If the ending is horrible, than the book is very disappointing. As well, the entire book was just leading up the to the end. The climax was towards the end of the book which made the entire book very suspenseful. The ending was very drawn-out. The author would stress points that didn’t need to be stressed, but then didn’t stress out the important things. We really didn’t like the book as much as we thought we would. We loved the story line but the way the author wrote it just made it confusing. We can’t wait for the next book club.