The Visibles

I am reading The Visibles by Sara Shepard. Summer Davis is a friendless girl who's mother left her and her family. Ever since then, Summer has had many problems. The cause of Summer's problems were because her mom left Summer and her family when she needed her the most. Summer was 11. She was just about to hit her teen years.

One problem is that Summer's father went into depression. The hospital had a nurse to take care of her dad. But since Summer's dad distrusted the nurse, so it was up to Summer to take care of her father by herself. But Summer has enough things on her mind. She's 18, she needs to worry about college and concentrate on her school work. Summer was offered a fellowship in Ireland for her junior-level genetics at school. But Summer decided not to take it because she knew she was needed at home to take care of her dad. I sort of hate Summer for giving up this really good opportunity for her career to take care of her father. But I know that I would have done the same thing for my dad.

Another problem is loneliness. Summer has no friends! Even the blurb describes her as a loner. When I read that, I felt bad for her. Summer is so shy and too independent. But I can relate to her because I am also shy and I don't make friends very easily unless people approach me first. Summer doesn't even try though, which frustrates me. I wish she would just try harder. Summer really needs a friend that she can trust and rely on. She needs someone who she can bounce ideas off and share advice with. She is under so much stress because of her dad's depression. Summer did have one friend though. Her name was Claire. But after Claire moved to France and came back, they became very distant. Claire is a popular girl and she hangs out with her own crowd.

Research shows that many kids go through many stages of emotions when their parents divorce or separate. Which Summer does go through. Though I'm not one of them, there are many people that go through these issues everyday. But I can still relate to Summer in different ways like friendships and family issues.