Summer Reading Project: Stuck in Neutral (Entry 2)

7/6/14

In the book Stuck in Neutral each character is unique and special in their own way. Each character has their own special want and desire. Character Evaluations (wants /desires):

·         Shawn McDaniel- Wants to be like a normal human being, such as being able to communicate, move and  get the same feelings as other humans (same desires as the usual teenage boy)

·          Sydney McDaniel- Wants to end his own son`s life out of love to put him out of his misery and pain

·         Lindy McDaniel- Wants for Shawn to be safe and healthy, but still wants Shawn to not be disabled

·         Cindy McDaniel- Wants for Shawn to be cared for at all times

·         Paul McDaniel- Wants for Shawn to be protected at all times

·         Earl and Colin Detraux- Wants for people to understand why Earl killed his own son Colin, and why it wasn’t a cruel or mean killing in any way, and that it was out of love

A theme I noticed popping up in my book is theme of invisibility and being invisible to others. This popped out to me because Shawn in one section of the book explains how since he has disabilities he then becomes invisible to others, and this makes me wonder as to why we shield out humans with disabilities as to if they aren’t a human, even when they truly are…

My book is structured full of Shawn`s thoughts and dreams because since Shawn can`t communicate with his disabilities it won’t have his dialogue in it, but it does have other people`s dialogue included in the selection.