A lot of Reading :)

Summary:
After Susy finds out her mom is in a coma she starts to reminisce on her past. She remembers her parents divorce, moving to New Mexico, then moving back, and then going to Boarding School. She also found out that her dad had MS and was predicted to die. 
Susy moves, gets accepted to boarding school, kisses her English teacher, and looses her virginity to a married man. In these few pages Susy transitions from this sweet innocent little girl, to a girl that realizes that ever since she was little shes been exposed to sex and drugs. She never knew her mom to stay with one guy; her mom had fiancés, lovers, boyfriends, and the typical "friends". Her mom wasn't the average mom and in turn Susy wasn't the most normal girl. She was far from it; she had to live with a mother who made everything possible about her and had to be the mother for her younger sister. Everyone she met loved her mom; every guy she had a crush on her mom ended up in bed with.   

Pages 41 - 134 

Quote:

"As far as I knew, she would sleep, cut coke, drink, do coke, meet friends for drinks and fight with men." (Sonnenberg 111).

Reaction:

Sonnenberg reveals the hurt that lives within Susy. In the beginning of the memoir Susy has a blind eye towards her mother. She would see her mom doing drugs, fighting with men, she even caught her mom having sex but she didn't see anything of it. Now as I kept reading you can see the shame and hurt in Susy. She doesn't understand why her mother does what she does or why she is how she is. Sonnenberg conveys her feelings as thoughts, she doesn't say anything to her mother until about 130 where they get into a huge argument and say awful things to each other. How could Susy have lived with all that going on at home? How could she handle getting called a b***h or a c**t by her own mother?

Her Last Death: A Quick Turn Around

Summary:

The phone rings and Susanna receives a phone call that shocks her. Her mother is in a coma and is dying. To Susanna, this doesn't mean a lot. Her mother and her never had much of a relationship and had been distant ever since she left. Susanna calls her sister and her sister is going crazy saying shes going to loose her mother; she is frantic. Susanna has to make a decision; to stay or to go. In the process of making her decision she is reminiscing on the fun " adventures " that her mom, Penelope, and her would take. She doesn't go and Penelope simply asks if she thinks that this whole situation is about her and listens no longer.

Pages 1 - 41

Quote:

"It was very sunny, and the hot leaves smelled better than anything I'd smelled before. Everyone was always so happy around my mother, always doing things she suggested" (Sonnenberg, pg 25)

Reaction:

You can feel the hurt in Sonnenberg's words. You are right there next to Susanna and Penelope. Sonnenberg leaves bread crumbs throughout the pages just making you want to read more and more. The author's writing style is so vivid and the word choices are so descriptive you can honestly feel her pain. The quote shows how there is this false representation of Susanna's mom. Everyone was always so happy with her; but Penelope and her were always so confused. They never understood why her mom would date different guys all the time. They never fully got the "why" they were always broke; or why her mom had to steal or why she would lie to get her way. Susanna had to be there for Penelope as the adult figure because her mom never got to be a teenager; Susanna was her support.