Reading the book Queen of Kentucky by Alecia Whitaker really made me realize that the main character, Ricki Jo, is way more relatable than I thought she would turn out to be. You see, the thing is, all she really wants is to be accepted. At her school, by her friends, her parents, everyone. She wanted the life where you never needed to worry about fitting in, because she already had it, and she would do anything to get it. That's understandable. Me, as a middle schooler can completely relate, especially since I'm in the eighth grade. Next year, I am going to go to a school where nobody knows who I am, except for those few people who knew me from somewhere else. While everybody else has known eachother and gone to school with eachother all their lives, I'm the new girl.
It's the exact same think with Ricki Jo, an I can totally understand how she feels. In the book, the meets a boy, David Wolfenbaker, Wolf, and she likes him, a lot. He tells her props about how to fit in when going to the school, what to do and what not to do. Who to hang out with and who not to hang out with, where to sit during lunch. It all counts, and if i were Ricki Jo, it would count to me too, and it probably will next year when I won't have nobody to talk to except for people who aren't in the same classes as I am.
As I got to the middle of the story, Ricki Jo started going way out of her range, being somebody who she would never be if it weren't for the whole wanting to fit in thing. That part if understandable, I guess, but, not really relatable. It does show me that fitting in means a lot more to Ricki Jo than it would to be. if it means going to a party with David Wolfenbaker and alcohol. I would never do that, and I know that. but, it also really shows me what type of person Ricki Jo is. It shows me that even though she is relatable in most ways, she still isn't, and there are still some elements of her personality that are going to take some analyzing. Ricki Jo is just as confusing as understandable, which is another thing we have in common.
I really like how you described this character and talked about the details of your text-to-self connection. It really annoys me when characters in books that I read don't seem real. I like finding a book with characters that have authentic emotions and act like actual people. Your connections were really deep and you explained everything in a way that was very clear and understandable. Good job!
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