https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG Mister Death's Blue Eyed Girls By: Mary Downing Hahn, From the Perspective of Nora en-us 2016-11-21 22:48:39 UTC 2017-03-15 10:38:09 UTC hello@padlet.com 19larsene https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139232004 Nora's biggest concern/challenge at the beginning of the story is how she is going to get the cute boy from art class to like her. Don Appleton is on the basketball team, and only goes steady with cheerleaders. Nora dreams of driving through town, "the car radio blasts "Tutti Frutti"" and the wind blows through her hair, and Don tells her how pretty she is and how much he likes her. Unfortunately for her, Don has a girlfriend, and Nora knows she could never compete the way Cheryl or Bobbi Jo would be able to. She just can't understand how the girls do it, how they have all of the boys wrapped around their fingers, and would have definitely went to YouTube to help her solve her problem. I picked this specific video based on her favorite TV show, "I Love Lucy", because she would have appreciated the comedic style of this video and it would have helped her ease her mind of the sadness and stress she has experience from this crush.

Her mindsets and motivations change within the story, and her idea of what she wants in a boy isn't the most popular boy in school who probably(like Miranda) has many girlfriends and isn't the nicest guy anymore. She probably would have continued watching Connor Franta's videos and seen his videos about respecting yourself and his coming out video and realized that love is so much more than how a person looks- it's how they make you feel. Nora was able to discover this on her own by taking time and focusing on more important things and connecting with guys like Charlie and Buddy on an emotional level.]]> 2016-11-21 23:00:43 UTC https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139232004 19larsene https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139233524 This song really represents Nora from the aspect of the change of view she has towards love. The quote comes from the beginning of the story when the friend group is attending an end of the school year party at the local recreation center. Nora's close friend Charlie has become quite fond of her, and she is totally oblivious, despite his frequent calls to the local radio station and dedicating this song to the tall and scrawny Nora. She is too caught up in the fact that Charlie is a little bit shorter than her and she's only got eyes for the unreachable Don, a tall, popular basketball player. As the night goes on and Nora realizes how much fun she's having dancing with Charlie, she develops similar feelings for him that progress over the book. She slowly allows him her heart, maturing and realizing that love comes in all shapes and sizes. ]]> 2016-11-21 23:20:23 UTC https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139233524 19larsene https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139243405 1, 2, 17.) Little Richard is one of Nora's favorite performers, Little Richard's songs and the beginning of the story are full of joy, happiness, and potential, reminding Nora of her close friend Charlie and making her daydream about Don. Later on in the story, his music is a bittersweet reminder of what could have been with Charlie, and reminds her she dodged a bullet with Don, realizing he's not the perfect model she thought he was.
3.) "It's My Party" comes from the perspective of a girl wondering where the love of her life is, finding out that he is with someone else, then realizing that she can do better than him. Similar to how at the beginning of the story, Don is the love of her life, and she is oblivious to any and all other boys, until she realizes that he is somewhat of a jerk with a very specific type, one she isn't able or willing to become, and learns that there is a lot more to love than physical attraction.
4.) "Autumn Leaves" is about turning over a new leaf, and finding a new beginning, similar to how Nora begins the story as an immature teenage girl to a scarred woman, questioning her entire life, maturing, and losing her religion.
5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 16.) These songs are all examples of songs that would be played at those special rec center parties, getting people on the floor and dancing.
13, 14.) These songs are some of the examples Nora uses when she talks about her dreams of slow dancing with Don. These songs went from representing a jealous young girl to a lighter time for Nora. They seem too immature to her now, and just remembers the fun night that led to her close friends' murders.


]]> 2016-11-22 01:30:19 UTC https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139243405 19larsene https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139247870 While Nora attends most parties with her close friends, she is definitely NOT a fan. From prior experiences, it has become habit for her to go into the girls' bathroom of the recreation center and cry during all of the couple/slow dance songs because she is always left behind while her friends flirt it up and dance with the boys. She can always appreciate the forty-fives Gary brings for dancing, full of Nora's favorites(playlist below). 
Nora is also very artistic. Besides the fact that her crush Don is in it, art is by far her favorite class. She wants to go to art school after high school, and is very interested poetry. 

Her perspective of these favorite things change throughout the story, being manipulated by her maturing self.

(Below is an example of dance moves that may have been done or seen as "scandalous" in 1955 at their rec center dances)]]> 2016-11-22 02:22:52 UTC https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139247870 19larsene https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139248119 Nora's just finishing her junior year of high school, and everything is perfect. Sure, Don Appleton doesn't see her as anymore than a kid, but she has the whole summer to look forward to. That is until 2 of her closest friends are shot and killed on their way to school, sending Nora's reality into a tailspin. She learns quickly that she needs to grow up, and that the biggest problems in life aren't boys, but that life is precious and unpredictable, not to be wasted or expended. An important lesson on how your actions can come back and bite you just as quickly as a gunshot(or twelve), "Mister Death's Blue Eyed Girls" is a thrilling mystery that makes you ask yourself, "if my life ended tomorrow, would I be content in how I left it?"

I really enjoyed the realistic fiction aspect of this story, especially since it represented multiple perspectives, Nora's, Buddy's, and Mister Death's(the killer's). The story is based off of a true story(newspaper article at the bottom), and the author of the book includes a chilling afterword of her real life experience, explaining that while the characters and personal storylines are somewhat fabricated for literal purposes, the events of the characters Cheryl Miller(Nancy Marie Shomette, 16) and Bobbi Jo Boyd's(Michael Ann Ryan, 14) deaths are eerily accurate. 

Below are examples in the form of music and videos that I believe best represent what Nora would be looking into online, from poetry to relationship advice.]]> 2016-11-22 02:26:38 UTC https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139248119 19larsene https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139250068 2016-11-22 02:53:29 UTC https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139250068 19larsene https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139333938 A slumber did my spirit seal;
I had no human fears:
She seem'd a thing that could not feel
The touch of earthly years.
No motion has she now no force;
She neither hears nor sees;
Roll'd round in earth's diurnal course,
With rocks, and stones, and trees.
- Lucy, William Wordsworth 

This poem is very important to Nora, who originally came across it in her research for an English project. She wrote it in her diary so she could read it whenever she wanted, and the significance changed for her throughout the story.

In the beginning, it is just a poem that she found interesting for reasons she could not put her finger on, and kept it with her for the possibility of needing it in the future. Throughout the book, it morphs with her religion, the "with rocks, and stones, and trees" part being reference multiple times as her religion begins to change as she starts to question her faith in God. ]]> 2016-11-22 13:15:53 UTC https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139333938 19larsene https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139387699 This coming of age story is full of important life lessons, the primary lessons being:
- Love comes in all shapes and sizes, and is not solely based on physical attributes
- Life is full of twists and turns that can end at any moment, so follow the path most desirable 
- Religion and faith can be questioned, let your heart answer these questions, do not pretend to believe something you can't put your heart into]]> 2016-11-22 15:39:50 UTC https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139387699 19larsene https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139391248
At the beginning of the story, Nora is strictly Catholic. She even speaks of praying to God and begging her father to be Catholic so he can go to heaven with her, her mother, and her brother.

After the deaths of Cheryl and Bobbi Jo, she completely loses faith in God, questioning why he would let such a thing happen.

Something that really grabs my attention is that while she decides she doesn't believe in God she questions whether she will go to hell or if she is a sinner because of her thoughts. She is stuck in the routine from the past and can't break fully free throughout the book. 


]]> 2016-11-22 15:49:46 UTC https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/139391248 19larsene https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/145291748 2017-01-04 15:47:55 UTC https://padlet.com/19larsene/Nora_MDBEG/wish/145291748