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My book is Forever or a Long, Long Time I chose this book because the cover intrigued me. I'm a person who picks books based on the cover. I also read the book summary and it made me want to get the book even more. I thought it was interesting that the little girl couldn't talk normally and that they were orphans trying to find their origin. It was also interesting how the girl called her new Mom "Person" but still calls her New dad "Dad". I found it weird that the siblings didn't think they were born and somehow entered the universe.
Flora- Main character
Julian- Flora's brother
Person/Emily- Flora's mother
Jon/Dad- Flora's father
Elena- Stepsister
Meredith- Elena's Mother (used to be Jon's wife)

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1. According to how Jeannie treats the current kids in her house, what do you think caused Flora and Julian to act the way they do?
Flora has a hard time speaking and I think that is because of the lack of human contact as a child. "'What happens after lunch?'... 'Quiet time,' Jeannie says. 'The younger ones nap. The older ones read books or play quietly in their rooms.'" We can see that the kids didn't spend any time together. Flora must have started not talking. Julian steals food and hides it in his closet and I think it is caused by continuously being hungry at their first foster house. "One dollop of cooked carrots. One dollop of mac and cheese. That doesn't seem like enough for that kid. He looks around six years old...'But... was that enough food?' No. It wasn't." Jeannie gave all the kids such small portions that the kids were always hungry.
2. Why do you think Flora has a hard time remembering things?
I think it is because of how much she has gone through. She's lived in 5 homes, including her current house. For such a young kid it must be hard to understand why she kept on moving around and why no one wanted her. In her mind she probably thinks 'why should I remember these things when they won't matter in the future.'
3. Why does Flora call her current mom 'Person'?
Flora doesn't call her current mom 'mom' because she's had too many moms in the past. "...but in my head I call her my person because there have been too too many mommies..." Another reason is that Flora thinks her mom is her person and a person who will love her forever.

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Flora and Julian remember being in a house of all white, referred to as the "white house". I know this is a flashback because before it said anything about what the siblings did in the white house, Julian said "Tell me your first memory again..." this means this happened a long time ago. "It was a white house. Everything was white. I was standing in a long line, inside a house. And I was small, tiny. It was too bright, so I reached up along the white wall and I turned off the light. I hit the light switch. I was amazed I was tall enough to turn off a light. Then someone started yelling at me. I was scared..." This flashback was put in place because it supports the idea of the siblings believing they were born. This is how far they can remember and they can't remember being born.

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1. pg. 78 "You didn't protect them from the sadness. That sadness lives in them." This is personification because sadness can't actually live in you. It is just referring to the sadness that is natural in the two kids.
2. pg. 121 "Julian breaks his statue pose to glance at me." This is a metaphor because Flora is comparing the way Julian is staying very still with a statue.
3. pg. 171 "I drop into my desk and float to the ceiling." This is a metaphor because she is comparing the way she felt to floating away. The way she felt made her feel miserable.
4. pg. 206 "We're like the other kids who were always bouncing everywhere in Gloria's house." This is a metaphor because Flora is comparing the way the kids were with bouncing. They weren't actually bouncing around but they were rowdy and active.
5. pg. 209 "Happy and Scared are so close together inside me. They press up against each other like two people sharing a bed that's too small." This is a simile because she's comparing her emotions with two people. Her emotions are complex and she can't be happy without being a little scared.

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1. On pg. 104-105 the mood is confusion. On these pages Flora and Julian were telling Person that they weren't born. Their mother was very confused when she heard they thought they weren't born. "'J, baby.' Person sighs. 'You were both born.'" You can tell their mother is confused about why they think that.
2. On pg. 143-149 the mood is happiness. Person is telling the story of how she met Flora and Julian. The three people are all in their happy place. They all can't get enough of that story and they always enjoy it. "'Oh!' Person says. 'OK. It's been awhile since you've asked for this one but you know how I love to tell it...Person still loves the story..."
3. On pg. 216-221 the mood is angry. Flora and Julian visit the house of Marta, one of their past parents, to gather information about where they're from. This scene was anger because the fact that this woman wanted to separate the siblings made Person furious. Marta thought Julian was completely fine meanwhile thought Flora was "disabled". Marta also lost all their information such as their life books. "Person opens her mouth to object. She's getting angry. I'm not used to seeing her angry." Marta says this "'...Well, you see, I didn't realize I would be adopting a disabled child. In fact, I specifically requested healthy children.'" Then Person says "'Flora's not disabled'" seeing her reaction, Person is very offended that this lady called Flora disabled.

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1. Contractually- Agreeing on a contract or a deal. pg. 9
"...teachers who are contractually obligated to love you."
It says the teachers are obligated to love you which means they are more than happy to love you. I thought it might mean that the teachers have agreed to love you.
2. Lung Gates (mentally)- They help you speak and make up words. (used throughout the book)
According to many parts of the books, lung gates help people speak. Dr. Fredrick said Flora's lung gates didn't develop properly so she has a hard time talking.

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Where does the author drop the reader? Is it a good opening?
The author drops is first in a scene where the kids were looking at the class pet. Flora was saying how she was the tallest one in class so she has to be in the back. Therefore, she is always unable to see. I think it is an interesting opening because it begins so suddenly. Reading the summary of the book we might think the book will start off with her backstory or something of the sort, but the author surprises us with something that isn't as serious.

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Important Dialogue between the Characters

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Important Dialogue between the Characters

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1. In chapter 14, Flora just fought with Elena, and her family is having a meeting with Meredith. This is important because it helps build the story. In the fight between Flora and Elena, Elena was laughing at Julian because of his bad habit of hiding food in his closet. Flora and Elena stole all the food he saved up so it made Flora feel so bad. Flora could tell Elena's laugh was making fun of Julian and she was furious. She couldn't control her anger so she punched Elena. The family meeting shows the sibling rivalry in the household and how biased the parents are. Even though Elena was lying, Meredith still believed her because she is her daughter.
2. In chapter 17, Flora and Juliana are going back to their past homes and recount their steps. The first house they went to was Gloria's house. The kids remembered fragments of the house like there were always a lot of children, there were a lot of dogs, and how loud the house was, but with that information, they don't remember being there themselves. It was important because all the memories of being in that house flooded back into their heads. The kids also realized how much Gloria loved them and all the other children. The talk with Gloria made them feel better about themselves.
3. In chapter 20, Flora and Julian are going to the third house of their trip. This house was owned by Vanessa and Margie. Flora and Julian remember there were two moms, two GOOD moms. Like what happened in Gloria's house, all the good memories flood back and Flora remembers how beautiful this family was. The mothers told about the fun things they did in the past. Later we are told that the siblings left not because it was their own fault but it was because of other reasons. One reason we were told is the siblings were sharing a bedroom at the time and that was not allowed. The other reason seemed to be because of discrimination (they are both moms). After the siblings left, the two women separated. This was a very important trip because this was the best home the kids ever lived in. Both parents loved them equally and treated them well. It helped Flora talk more and Julian to stop lying.

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Forever or a Long, Long Time is about how childhood trauma can impact how someone acts and thinks but there is always someone that loves and wants to support you.

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1. In chapter 23, Dad and Elena came to surprise them at the hotel. The next morning they went to the beach and they were happy. Even though Flora hasn't apologized to Elena yet, Elena says Flora did better, Flora said "Divorce sucks".  In the text it said Flora noticed there were strangers looking at them while the family played with half smiles. The people looked at them and thought: family. This event was important because the fact that Flora finally feels like her family was hers. She felt like a normal kid for once.
2. In chapter 24, Flora and Julian visit their last house. The lady that owned the house was named Jeannie. This was the White house in the sibling's memories. Jeannie was very strict with everything and says her house was an "emergency house" where she kept children when the state couldn't find anywhere else for these little kids. The lady fed the kids how much they could fit in their hands! The entire family felt something was off about this woman's treatment towards these little children. After showing the information about Flora and Julian, they found out there still isn't information about where they actually came here. This was an important event because this is the end of the journey of Flora and Julian finding out if they were ever born.
3. In chapter 25, Flora and Julian just saw their information about how they got to that house. It said they were dropped to the house at 3:00 in the morning. Even though they still didn't find everything they were looking for, Flora accepted it. She saw the picture of her and her brother when they first arrived at the house and both the kids were dressed nicely and had toys in their hands. Flora wanted to see it as whoever had them at the very beginning give them all these things, this means she was born. This is a very important event because the book was revolving around the theory that Flora and her brother weren't ever born and in this chapter she finally knew she was born to a mother.