Dear Christine, This summer I read an amazing book, and I think should read it too. It is called Stained, by Jennifer Richard Jacobson. It is a book with a good plot line but it is not so full of action that it takes away from the meaning.

Christelle LaRocque

Ms. Kostecki

Grade 10, Pd. 4

9/13/10

Stained

Dear Christine,

This summer I read an amazing book, and I think should read it too. It is called Stained, by Jennifer Richard Jacobson. It is a book with a good plot line but it is not so full of action that it takes away from the meaning. Jocelyn, the main character, has two boys in her life. And a priest.

One of the qualities of the book that makes it interesting is that Jocelyn’s life is so similar to our own. She grows up being the neighbor of Gabe, a boy who turns into the high school’s “golden boy, an all-star.” Her fate, however, takes her to the fringe of the social rank, partially because she is a shy girl. She only exists in Gabe’s home life. They share a secret friendship that no one else knows about, but Jocelyn always hopes that he will see it as something more. Just like she feels something more for him. She has never felt loved and never thought she would be until a boy named Benny comes to Weaver Falls High. He has only been in New Hampshire since January, but he is Jocelyn’s dream come true. Jocelyn is in love with both boys. I find it confusing, in a good way, that she can love Gabe after how poorly he treats her. It is a mystery, trying to figure out why she cannot see Gabe for the jerk he is. She has Benny, who treats her like the world. Why can she not just give up on getting through to Gabe?

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However, in the spring of 1975, Gabe is suddenly missing. He mysteriously disappears on the brink of his senior year. This event is a surprise to me. Gabe has the life that every teenager dreams of. He is popular, good at sports, and can date any girl he wants. It does not make sense to me why he would just up and leave. This is when Jocelyn’s life begins falling apart, and little does she know, one man is behind it all. A priest. Father Warren, whose hair is turning white, yet holds a popular status among the jocks in Weaver Falls. Benny’s mother is very sick and this has made his Catholicism much stronger. So, God and Father Warren begin pulling Benny away from Jocelyn. Benny has tried to be with Jocelyn without loving her, but it never worked. One of them would always slip and things would go right back to the way they were. I have been through this, so I know when you really love someone, there are no other ways. You cannot go around it. So I must agree, being just friends with the one you love is nearly impossible. So finally, Benny goes to Jocelyn and tells her exactly what is going on. He tells her how closely acquainted he is with Father Warren and how much he asks about Benny’s life and Jocelyn is not very happy to hear it. It breaks her already cracked heart when Benny says, “’I tell him the truth. What do you think I tell him?” “And what does he say?” “He tells me that you are not of God. You are temptation. God has his angels and his demons, and you are a demon, Jocelyn. You are in partnership with the devil”’ (155-156). This is a very sad part in the book. I almost cry when I read it. I would be permanently broken if someone I trusted and loved said that to me. The phrase has true intentions, but it is powerful and cruel. I majorly sympathize for Jocelyn. To hear that the priest has said this about her, to hear that he is pulling Benny away from her for that reason, rips her apart. She has already been having a hard time believing that she is still part of God, that he is still there for her(even though she does not go to church). To hear a man of God say that she is with the devil makes her feel more stained than she thinks possible. It makes her heart feel so unclean that she cannot bear it. And as if things are not bad enough, he tells her that he made a deal with God. That he gave up being with Jocelyn, to save his mother’s life. When I read this part, it makes me want to reach in the book and slap Benny across the face. That is definitely not how you treat the girl who gave her heart to you for the first time, trusting that you would protect it. It reminds me of how mad and broken I had been when guys had broken my heart like that. So now she has lost both of the boys she loves. Benny has been ripped from her and Gabe ran away. She tries to forget about Benny to avoid the hurt it is causing her and focus on the effort to find Gabe. And that is when she finds it. Jocelyn is mad at Father Warren if you did not catch the memo. She was furious to hear words like that come out of his mouth. So under these circumstances, this action does not surprise me. It surprises me because she is shy. So I have to acknowledge her bravery when she makes the decision to confront Father Warren about his comment. She goes to Father Warren’s office, and she sees a photo on his desk. It is the picture from over the doorway of Gabe and his brothers’ hideout in the woods. It has been years since she had been there but wonders if no one has looked for him there. She leaves and heads there right away.

Before I get too carried away and accidentally tell you the ending, I’m going to stop here and let you decide if you want to find out what happens. I hope you take my word and do so. Stained really is an amazing book. I am half way through my third time reading it, and it never gets old. You’ll learn a few life lessons yourself while the characters do. Each page you turn gets more and more exciting in a way that can only be described as emotionally deep. It is a quietly, powerful story, definitely worth reading.

Your Best Friend,

Christelle LaRocque