small and....

I've just finished reading a book called, "Other Words for Love" by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal. Seventeen year old Ari is a fantastic artist. But her best friend, Summer is constantly belittling Ari. This I think is what makes Ari stick in the background; meaning she can't stick up for herself.

One of the lines that show how Summer belittles Ari is on page 183, " 'Oh my God you're kidding me,' ." Summer is referring to Ari's boyfriend who apparently is a "hunk". She says this because she doesn't think that Ari can have a guy like him. She thinks that she is better than Ari and she's the only one that can have a gorgeous guy while Ari can just observe her love life. This makes me think that Summer is just a selfish person. She has no respect for her best friend, which makes me think why is Ari best friends with her when she doesn't have a voice in defending herself. Ari in response thinks , " She meant that Blake was filet mignon and I was Spam, and those two things couldn't possibly go together." She knows what her "friend" means, but she doesn't have the guts to tell her. This is what makes Ari small and scared to speak out.

Another line that I find interesting, which I can't seem to find, but has a lot of meaning: Summer and Ari start to argue. This where Ari realizes that she can have more than one friend, not just Summer. This is where she realizes even though she has drifted apart from Summer, Summer has still stayed by her side. This is where Ari finds her true self. She leaves Summer and finds Leigh and comforts her. This is where she realizes that she has not had a voice in her friendship with Summer. I'm really happy for Ari at that moment but what comes after is kind of "mean". She decides to spend some time with Summer and another time with Leigh. I find this mean because Ari is trying not to confront the problem. She's just trying to hide it so everything feels like normal. I feel like this has made her even more small because she's hiding her friends. She doesn't want to confront her fears, fearing that one day the friends will collide and go away.

After reading the book, I felt like Ari has gone through a significant change from the beginning and end. At the end, she stays friends with Leigh. Even though Summer is gone, she left Ari knowing that she has changed and she is not the same girl who flirts with guys and writes their names down in her dairy. Ari has taught me a lot and I hope her "story" sticks with me when I go off to college.