the help

This is my final post for this semester, but it is not the last time I will be reading this book! I am completely caught up in the plot, and need to read this book in its entirety so I can watch the movie!
These last couple chapters were told by Aibileen and then by Miss. Skeeter.  The main happenings were that Miss Skeeter had posed the idea for her book to Aibileen, without knowing, on the day of her sons death anniversary. Aibileen denies, but after a few days, she agrees to be interviewed on what it is like to work for a white woman in Jackson, Mississippi. There was a lot of drama for Aibileen, because she had been trying to potty train the little girl- whose mama wouldnt show her how it was done- and she showed her herself, in her own bathroom... when the little girl went potty in the garage potty, her mother was horrified and I thought for sure she would have been fired for that. But somehow she was able to keep her job.
Miss Skeeter finally met the boy that her friend was trying to hook her up with, he was a good looking man, but that was all he had going for him. He turned out to be a drunk, and was looking at other women while on the date with her. She did, however, give him a piece of her mind. I thought that scene was pretty funny, because back then, women were not supposed to talk like that, especially to a man!!!

Overall, in this semester of reading, I have read some really good books. I would love to continue reading even after this semester is through! Hopefully I will be able to finish this book over the break that is coming up!

The help

These next two chapters were told from the point of view of Miss Skeeter, a white lady in her early twenties, who just graduated from college and moved back in with her parents on their cotton farm. Skeeter's mother was very unhappy with her because she graduated college with a degree- rather than a husband. Skeeter is not the prettiest girl, right at 6 feet tall and she has wiry hair. She has goals for herself, goals that do not require her to have a husband. She wants to be a writer, and after being hounded by her mother to find a job where she could meet a husband, Skeeter found a job working at a local newspaper- writing a column answering readers questions about cleaning... Naturally, since she doesnt clean at all, she does not know much. But she is willing to meet with a friends maid, Aibileen, and have her answer the questions while Skeeter writes down all of the information and submits it to the paper.
While Skeeter is there talking with Aibileen, she asks her questions about her old maid, the one that raised her, Constantine. Skeeter was told by her mother that while Skeeter was in college, Constantine moved back home to Chicago to be with her sick sister, but Aibileen told a whole different story. After piecing together pieces of the pages, it turns out that Constantine was half white (which was why her eyes were light brown, and she had some patches of skin that were not as dark as others). Her mother was black, but her father was white. He would come spend weekends with her, and all she remembered was his love. Aibileen told Skeeter that her mother had fired Constantine because her daughter came to see her. Her daughter had gotten the white gene from Constantine, and could not stay with Constantine because of it. Aibileen did not want to say much more, but it was enough for Skeeter.
Aibileen and Skeeter also discussed Aibileen's son, who nobody really knew about. He had died 2 years prior, and Aibileen did not want to talk too much about him either. However, she did tell Skeeter that her son wanted to be a writer too.He had written 50 pages already of a book about what it was like to live as a black man working for a white family.  Before he died, he had left his book with a girl he knew, and nobody had seen it since. At the end of the chapter, Skeeter mentions how she cant get this thought out of her head, and it makes me think she is thinking about his book... Guess I will have to see in the next few chapters!!!

The Help

Chapters 3&4 were told by Minnie. She is the outspoken maid. She wound up getting the job that Aibileen had referred her to, but there were some challenges. Ms Cillia was her boss, and was extremely lazy. She laid in bed a majority of the day, and by the looks of her house, she never did any cleaning. Cillia did not know how to cook anything. She had hired Minnie to teach her how to cook, and to clean up the house. Catch? Her husband was not to know. He thought that since she was home during the day with no kids, she should clean the house. She did, however, agree to tell him about it after 4 months of Minnie working there. Minnie was constantly worried that Cillia's husband would come home during the day, although Cillia assured her that he would not. Every day for two weeks, Minnie cleaned every inch of the house; and every day, Cillia would come down to the kitchen for a cooking lesson. She wanted to learn how to cook for her husband properly. Cillia was constantly asking Minnie to not do everything perfectly, becuase she had to make it believable, her husband had to believe that she could have possibly done these things on her own.
One afternoon, Cillia was upstairs as usual, and Minnie was peeling peaches in the sink. She was not paying attention to the gravel driveway. Suddenly she saw him walking up, and Minnie ran to tell Cillia that her husband was home. Minnie ran to the guest bathroom to hide, and was uncertain of what would happen next. This is where the chapters end, and I am anxious to see what happens with Miss Cillia and her husband, if he meets Minnie sooner than anticipated; and if Cillia admits to what is going on- or if she denies and claims Minnie to be a burgler...

The Help

I have heard many good things about this book, and was very anxious to begin reading it. Since I like to read for detail and not for speed, I am a quite slow reader. I usually have to check out a book from the library twice just so that I can finish it! This time, I went ahead and made the purchase, figuring I could pass it on to someone else to enjoy when I am finished!
The first 2 chapters is all I have completed thus far. It begins being told by "the help" named Aibileen. She is an older black lady who works for a small southern family. The family consists of one child (toddler years), and parents of whom are in their early twenties. Aibileen's responsibilities are endless. She is a second mother to the child, and still has all of the household duties. The mother stays home all day, but does not do anything except make plans to be with her friends. The main topic being addressed in these chapters is introduced in chapter one; the bathroom. Brunch was being held at the house one day, and Aibileen overheard the ladies discussing where the help uses the bathroom. When it was discovered that she used the guest bathroom, the other ladies were disgusted- knowing that they shared a bathroom with a black lady was completely unacceptable. They convinced the lady, who was supposed to convince her husband to have an extra bathroom built away from the house in the garage- that it would raise the value of their home. The next day the work began on the new bathroom. Since Aibileen was raised to know how to react to being insulted, she didn't bat an eye when she was told to use the outside bathroom from now on.
Aibileen lives outside of town and rides the bus to get home every night. She has a particular friend, Minnie, who is fairly outspoken, and does not take anything from her boss (granted her boss is deaf- so its ok). Her bosses children put her into a home, and that left Minnie out of a job. The children bragged that they had fired her for stealing silver from the house, when she had done no such thing, so finding a new job was near impossible. Aibileen was able to talk with one of her bosses white friends, and told her all about Minnies wonderful skills around the house, especially cooking. Since the lady did not know much about anything, she immediately wanted to hire Minnie.
The next chapter I believe is going to be told by Minnie, so I cant wait to see what happens next!

The Wildflower Quartet, Cathy's Story

The other 3 girls in the stories leading up to Cathy had made reference to her quiet, helpless behavior. All of them questioned what her story could possibly be. The morning of her story, Cathy was not feeling well. She didn't want to go, but she didn't want to let the other girls feel as if they were right. She wanted to show them that she was brave, and that she could face her past. Cathy's mother was extremely over-protective, and her father was absent much of Cathy's childhood. Cathy was heavier than the other girls, and much more enhanced in her chest region. She was very self conscious, and her mother didn't help her to feel any better about her body. Cathy was taught that her body developing so early and rapidly was a bad thing, and she needed to hide it as best she could. When her father noticed that she was developing, he started to come around more often. He made her feel like he was going to look after her, and help her mother to understand her pains, but in acutality, he had just enjoyed seeing her in the nude. She told of having to hide her pains, and  appear happy to everyone around her, no matter what. Her father had decided to "teach" her about the birds and the bees, and how to handle the boys when they try to get what they want, especially if she wants the same things they want. They started out with a few mild(er) "lessons" and for her final one, her dad took her on a trip out of town without her mother. He wound up raping her, and she was told to keep all of the lessons to herself, as he was only helping her to understand. She was naive and thought nothing more of it except feeling dirty. During this trip, he told her not to feel bad about what they were doing, because he was not her real father, they had adopted her as a child. When they returned home, she went into histarics, and wound up falling down the last few stairs and knocking herself out. While she was out of it, she mentioned her lessons to anyone who listened to her, and so they took her to the hospital. She had self-induced amnesia, trying to repress the memory of her lessons with her father, as well as everything else in her life. The doctor hypnotized her, and got her to remember everything, and by the time she returned home, her father was gone. She didn't ask questions about it, because she was raised to never question anything.
After she returned home from her therapy session, she waited a few days before talking to her mother about anything. When she did talk to her, she asked her to explain why she was adopted, and why they got married if they were not in love to begin with. Her mother was reluctant to answer, but did anyways. Cathy was born to her "mother's" mother when she was 45 years old. Her parents did not want another child, and her father had suspiscions that she was not even his. The biological parents had given Cathy to their oldest daughter with a large inheritance if she were married to this man. Technically, Cathy and her mother are step-sisters, but Cathy recognized true feelings in her mother that day, and decided to continue calling her mother. Even though she was not a very good mother, she loved her and only wanted what was best for her.
Overall, this book really captured my attention. I loved how it was told directly by the girls, and their emotions were captured and expressed through their own words. I look forward to reading more books by V.C. Andrews, and already have a new one picked out from our library!

The Wildflower Quartet, Jade

Jade's story really got my attention, and I couldnt put down the book until I was finished. She was also raised in a very rich family, her parents going through a divorce. She was 16 or 17 years old. She was put in the middle of all of their fighting, and was dealing with her own emotional problems from it. She was raised in a "bubble" as she called it, and she never thought anything bad could happen to her. Both of her parents faught over custody, as if she were some prize trophy, and yet neither one of them really wanted her to begin with. She was a major burden to both of them financially, and she took a lot from their careers. She eventually found her way onto the internet and joined some chatrooms. She made a friend with a boy who claimed Jade decided to run awaay. She had finances from a checking account that her parents set up to make her more independent. She withdrew money from the account and got on the first flight to Los Angeles where the boy supposedly lived. Upon arriving, she met the boys father. They spoke for a few minutes, waiting for the boy to return home from the store with his brother. The dad gave her a tour of the house, and eventually brought her to the boys room to wait for him. He wound up locking her in. He came back a short while later, and she passed out. When she woke, she was nude, but not molested. She was tied to the bed, and had no clothing what so ever (to keep her from running away). She was there for a day or so, only untied from her feet when she was going to eat. The dad treated her as if she was someone who had left him and was coming back to him. He wanted to keep her forever. When she was eating, she untied her other hand, and tied it loosely so that she would be able to escape. He came back and tied her back to the bed. After he left, she untied herself and waited for him to be quiet in the house or even leave. She grabbed the blanket from the bed and wrapped herself in it. She managed to somehow unlock the door, and found her bag of clothes close by. She put on clothes quickly and headed down the 3 flights of stairs, never knowing when she would run into him. She found him asleep in the living room. She could not escape from the front door because it was a lock that needed a key to open, he kept it in his pocket. After further investigation, the windows did not open wide enough for her to fit through, and the other doors needed the key as well. She found the grandfather clock and discovered that she was able to fit behind it and hide. She knocked on the front door and ran to hide. After doing this twice, the dad got up to answer the door. He heard something that he thought was upstairs, and went up to check. He forgot to lock the front door, and she ran out as soon as he was out of eye shot. She ran to the closest restaurant, and called a taxi to take her to the airport. She flew home, and realized nobody even knew she was gone. She told her parents she was sick so she didnt go to the honors society banquet. She listened to her parents argue and blame eachother for her not going, and was so upset by it that she screamed about her incident and that she could have been killed and ran out. Her parents tried to get information about it, but she wouldnt give any. She was still in the middle of their fights, but at least now they were trying to deal with their problems without her in the room. She gave an update for her life, saying that the judge questioned her about her life, her parents, and if she wanted to be with either one of them. She had no preference, but hoped that her answers to his questions werent the deciding factor for the judges decision. She didnt want to disappoint either of her parents. Eventually it was decided that she would have split custody wtih both parents, and her life was beginning to settle (as much as it could).
I really enjoyed reading about Jade's story, when she spoke, it was as if she was trying to release herself from her past, and it seemed to be working.

The Wildflower Quartet, Star's story- completed

Star had a pretty rough life to this point. After she was forced to live with her grandmother, she and her brother were finally given a chance to be children. Her grandmother put them both in school, and they were adjusting to their new lives. They were never really good at school, and she made sure to mention that it never did get any better, despite their change in lifestyles. Star finally met a boy when she was 16, and it was someone that she could completely relate to. He had a very similar life to what she had grown up in. He held back a lot of his past, but what he did let out was that his dad had killed his mother in a drunk driving accident when he was very young. He was released to care for their son, and became a heavy alcoholic to cover up his hurt from the death of his wife. The result of this was severe beatings to his son. His mother left an inheritence to him- and made sure that his father would not be able to touch it. Star spent an evening at his house one night, and described how it was unkept- and how it looked like nobody in the home knew how to take care of it. He made dinner for them both, and they retreated to his bedroom before his father and girlfriend showed up drunk. When it was time for Star to leave, his dad was home harassing them both. Steve argued back, but showed no signs that an argument like this was anything new for him. He promised to meet Star at the locker in the morning, but did not show. She went to check on him after school, and found that his dad had left a large bruise on his face. She blamed herself for his pain, and they went inside. They wound up having sex that day, and she hurried to leave before his dad came home again. She was completely in love with him. He promised to meet her the next morning, and he did not show. Since he had the bruise on his face, she figured that maybe he was worried he would be picked on for it. The following day when he did not show, she went to his counselor at the school. She expressed her concerns about what had been happening, and he informed her that he had been a domestic violence victim a couple nights prior, and was in a coma at the hospital. Star went, and stayed by his side (pretending to be his sister). Eventually, he passed. She was mortified. They were planning their lives together, and his father killed him. She was oblivious to the world around her, and wound up walking into the middle of a busy highway. She almost got hit by passing cars, but hospital staff was able to get her. She hadnt seen him since, because everyone thought it was a bad idea for her to attend any funeral, or to see his grave.
When it was time for her to leave the therapy session, she asked her grandmother to take her to his grave the next morning so that she could say goodbye to him. She wanted to move on.

The Wildflower Quartet, Star's story

So over the past couple nights, I was able to complete the first 5 chapters of Star's story. Star is much different from Misty, she is black, and is being raised by her grandmother in a poor part of town (Misty was very rich). Star was raised in a home where it was normal for her mom to go out drinking, and leave her in charge of her brother for hours. After many issues with her moms drinking, her dad left them all- never to return. This made her moms drinking even worse, and  Star made more frequent trips to see her grandmother. Star's mom and her (new) step-dad decided to take a trip for a weekend without the kids and left them with their grandmother, while they were gone they were evicted from their apartment. Her mother knew what was going to happen, and decided to leave the kids with their grandma, and left things that way. I left off here, to wonder what kinds of trouble Star got into, because she had mentioned that the therapy was court ordered, and the state payed for it... I don't really like Star's story all that much, there is a lot of child abuse involved, and it is really depressing, where Misty's story was depressing, but it still had humor in it.

The Wildflower Quartet, Misty...

I finished reading Misty's story. It was interesting, so it held my attention all the way until the end! Her story was more or less the same type of happenings throughout, but with a few twists and turns to mix things up a little. She liked to make observations about the other girls and how they react to her story, and she appears to think that everyone is relating to her in one way or another. Her story ends with how she got placed in therapy- she ran away from home with a new boyfriend, and got caught shortly after he robbed a convenience store (she was oblivious to it until after they got pulled over). She was placed in therapy to deal with the painful happenings of the divorce, so she can go on to be a more balanced person.
I am really looking forward to seeing how the next girl, Star's story goes!

The Wildflower Quartet

"The Wildflower Quartet, V.C. Andrews, 1999.

I haven't read a V.C. Andrews book in a really long time, so this week I decided to pick one up and give it a shot. I remember the mystery and suspense in the stories, and always wanting to read more, and from what I have read so far, the feeling is still the same!
The story begins being told by a girl named Misty. Her parents are divorcing, and she is stuck in the middle. She has been seeing a therapist, and is being put in a group setting where 4 girls meet and discuss their lives- kind of like having someone to relate to.
Misty is the first one to tell her story, and tells of how her parents lived, how they treated her, differences that she has noticed in herself and her home, and how these things made her feel. She draws a lot of emotion out of the girls she is telling her story to, whether it be sadness, or anger, even some laughter. Misty notices the subtle changes in people demeanors, and describes them in detail.
The last chapter I completed, Misty had been dating a boy from her school, a boy who said his parents were divorced too. He was proper, said all the right things, and was very rich. But when she finally gave in to his "needs", he turned on her. She was not experienced enough, and he made sure she knew it. She found out the following day that his parents were not even divorced, and he had been lying to her about it all. I am really looking forward to reading more of Misty's story, and even into the other girls stories as well!

Time Log Sheet

Below are the hours that I read for my blog:
October 8, 2011: 8:30PM-9:00PM
October 9, 2011: 2:00PM-3:45PM
                           Total for week: 1 hour, 45 minutes
                           5 Chapters
October 12, 2011: 9:00PM-11:00PM
                           Total for the week: 2 hours
                           3 chapters
October 18, 2011: 9:00PM-9:45PM
October 20, 2011: 9:30PM-11:00PM
                          Total for the week: 2 hours
                          5 Chapters
October 28, 2011: 7:30AM-9:00AM
                          Total for the week: 1 hour, 30 minutes
                          3 Chapters
November 5, 2011: 9:00PM-1:00AM
                          Total for the week: 4 hours
                          7 Chapters
November 12, 2011: 8:00PM-12:00AM
                          Total for the week: 4 hours
                          9 Chapters
November 16, 2011: 9:00PM-11:00PM
                         Total for the week: 2 hours
                         2 chapters
November 23, 2011: 9:00PM-10:30PM
                         Total for the week: 1 hour, 30 minutes
                         __ chapters
November 30, 2011: 9:00PM-10:30PM
                        Total for the week: 1 hour, 30 minutes
                        __ chapters
December 5, 2011: 9:00PM-11:00PM
                        Total for the week: 1 hour, 30 minutes
                        __ chapters