Everyone is taught from a very young age to love who they are and be proud of it in every way. However, society has a slightly different outlook on life: Love who you are and be proud of it in every way, as long as you’re normal and stick to the status quo. It’s like society has a set of rules that are never mentioned but everyone knows when one of these “rules” has been broken. Race plays a big factor in the rules. If you’re Black, you are a thief and you sell drugs. If you’re Hispanic, you build houses. If you’re Middle Eastern, you plan to commit suicide by bombing an important building. Then comes gender: Women stay home or work petty jobs, while the men work as CEOs and in factories. You cannot stray off of these paths that society has etched in stone. You must fit into your stereotype. And God forbid you to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or what have you. There’s just no tolerance for the people who break these rules. They are not acceptable! We don’t know it, but society rules us in every way to try and make us feel the same way that it does.
In the book Shine by Lauren Myracle, seventeen-year-old Patrick Truman was beaten by a bat, tied to a guardrail of a fuel dispenser and had a gasoline pump duct taped in his mouth. The words “Suck this, faggot” were written on his bare chest with his own blood. This happened in the small town of Black Creek, North Carolina in the early hours of a Sunday morning. This was presumably a hate crime, due to the harsh words scrawled on Patrick’s chest. Now, one of Patrick’s friends, Cat, must find out who did this, since the local Sheriff is likely not to pursue the case because of Patrick’s preference.
Shine is an amazing book filled with excitement and suspense. The book starts off a bit slow, but once you get into it a bit, it gets interesting and you’ll dread having to stop reading and close the book to continue with your life. Myracle is very descriptive in her writing and knows how to draw, and keep, your attention. Because of this, I loved this book and I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read.
A strong theme in the book is the intolerance of homosexuality. In the beginning of the book, Patrick is supposedly beaten because he is openly gay in a small town that wasn’t very tolerant to homosexuality. The fact that Patrick and another boy, Beef, have to keep it a secret that they are dating because they are afraid of the slander they’ll face builds up to the theme. Beef also has to keep it a secret because his father, Roy, is an abusive drunk of a parent who doesn’t have a problem beating and cursing his two kids out. If his father knew that Beef was gay, he’d probably try to “beat the boy until he was straight again.”
Tolerance for homosexuality is different in every place that you go these days. For example, if this supposed hate crime happened in Los Angeles, California, one of the leading states with activists for gay rights, and also a much bigger town, the media coverage would be all over this case. The gay rights groups would keep pushing for the case to be solved quickly instead of letting it die down in the small town of Black Creek, North Carolina.
Cat is the main character of the book, it is told through her thoughts and actions. Cat used to be an outgoing and friendly girl up until the summer of eighth grade. One of the older guys, Tommy, who she’d always had a small crush on, tried to take things a bit too far for her liking. He tried to put his hands, and other parts, where they had no business going and wouldn’t take Cat’s “NO” for an answer. It changed her. She became standoffish and didn’t talk to anyone. She dropped all of her friends, even her closest friend Patrick, and became somewhat of a shadow. She disliked talking to people and was often curt when she was forced to speak. Cat was forced to emerge from the shadows to find out who had beat up her former best friend. In the process of two weeks and a half, Cat turned back into her old self. She even gained more confidence and bravery than she had had before. Another character to change throughout the book was Beef. He was once a good and kind boy who always stood up for those who needed it. He was kind to Patrick and would always tell the others in his crew to knock off the joking that they’d do about Patrick being gay. He started to fall in love with Patrick and Patrick fell for him too; all of this was done secretly ofcourse. But Beef started to try new things, new things like meth. He got addicted to it and he couldn’t control his anger. His anger often turned violent, which lead to the biggest mistake of his life: the beating of Patrick. Patrick was only trying to help him and tell him that what he was doing was wrong and it was ruining him. Beef didn’t want to hear it so he got a bat and started bashing Patrick’s head in. He realized what he’d done only after it was too late. Out of embarrassment and panic, he made up a hate crime scene to steer any suspicion away from him. In the end, Beef was a manic who couldn’t control his actions, which lead to his death.
The book is written in a timeline type of way, it has titles like, “Tuesday: One week later.” This adds to the diary type of vibe that you get from reading the book. This makes the book more understandable to the reader so they can keep up with the time spans of the events taking place.
Myracle, Lauren. “Shine.” 2011. Page 48. “Maybe, maybe, maybe, and if wishes were horses, I’d gallop straight to Sheriff Doyle and hand over Patrick’s attacker.” Myracle uses lots of similes to describe the main characters thoughts.
Myracle, Lauren. “Shine.” 2011. Page 107. “You thinks meth heads have been stealing her checks?” Since the characters lived in the country, they talked with a certain slang and bad grammar.
Myracle, Lauren. “Shine.” 2011. Page 197. “Patrick probably had blisters erupting around his mouth, that was one thing I read on the medical sites I pulled up.” This is one of the few times Myracle uses inverted syntax in the novel.
The cause of Patrick’s beating was because of his over concern of this boyfriend, Beef. Patrick kept bugging Beef about his addiction and how it was changing him. Beef felt like Patrick was trying to tell him what to do because Patrick wouldn’t let up. Beef was high at the time and there was a nearby bat, and that’s how Patrick ended up near death. The effect of Patrick’s beating was Cat coming out of her shell again in order to solve the case of her best friend.
The cause of Cat’s two years of silent depression was caused by Tommy sexual attack against her. She didn’t want to talk to anyone and she cut off all of her friends that she’d made as she grew up. The effect Tommy had on her was apparent; she didn’t know how to handle any interaction with people of any sort.
The cause of Beef’s death was meth. He was high when he climbed Suicide Rock with Robert, with the intent of throwing him over the ledge because Robert threatened to tell about Beef’s deed. Cat intervened and ended up saving Robert, but Beef was accidentally forced over the edge during a battle he had with Cat’s brother, Christian. Beef was using his gun to try and kill both Cat and Robert and Christian stepped in to save them at the expense of Beef’s life. Beef’s death affected all of the characters. Patrick, after waking up from a coma, was shocked to hear about his lover’s death. Of course the whole entire town was affected by the death of who they thought was a good kid with a good heart.
“Myracle has created a beautifully-drawn community, one that acts as a mirror for human prejudices and imperfections.” – Letcher, Mark. “Original Review” www.goodreads.com. February 27, 2013. I absolutely agree with Mark; Myracle made you think and take a good look at yourself to see that you aren’t flawless and make mistakes too.
“[Myracle’s] descriptions of the town and surrounding county are fantastic, and as always,” Another point that I strongly agree with Mark about. Myracle uses paragraphs to perfectly describe something as simple as a house. It made picturing the book in your head all the more easier.
“Smart, fearless, and compassionate, this is an unforgettable work from a beloved author.” This is my exact opinion of the book. Myracle put her all into writing this book and I could tell.
You should read Shine because it will have your heart pumping, your teeth clenching and your fists balling. You will not want to put the book down because you’ll be so determined to get to the climax of the book. I recommend this book to any and every one.
In the book Shine by Lauren Myracle, seventeen-year-old Patrick Truman was beaten by a bat, tied to a guardrail of a fuel dispenser and had a gasoline pump duct taped in his mouth. The words “Suck this, faggot” were written on his bare chest with his own blood. This happened in the small town of Black Creek, North Carolina in the early hours of a Sunday morning. This was presumably a hate crime, due to the harsh words scrawled on Patrick’s chest. Now, one of Patrick’s friends, Cat, must find out who did this, since the local Sheriff is likely not to pursue the case because of Patrick’s preference.
Shine is an amazing book filled with excitement and suspense. The book starts off a bit slow, but once you get into it a bit, it gets interesting and you’ll dread having to stop reading and close the book to continue with your life. Myracle is very descriptive in her writing and knows how to draw, and keep, your attention. Because of this, I loved this book and I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read.
A strong theme in the book is the intolerance of homosexuality. In the beginning of the book, Patrick is supposedly beaten because he is openly gay in a small town that wasn’t very tolerant to homosexuality. The fact that Patrick and another boy, Beef, have to keep it a secret that they are dating because they are afraid of the slander they’ll face builds up to the theme. Beef also has to keep it a secret because his father, Roy, is an abusive drunk of a parent who doesn’t have a problem beating and cursing his two kids out. If his father knew that Beef was gay, he’d probably try to “beat the boy until he was straight again.”
Tolerance for homosexuality is different in every place that you go these days. For example, if this supposed hate crime happened in Los Angeles, California, one of the leading states with activists for gay rights, and also a much bigger town, the media coverage would be all over this case. The gay rights groups would keep pushing for the case to be solved quickly instead of letting it die down in the small town of Black Creek, North Carolina.
Cat is the main character of the book, it is told through her thoughts and actions. Cat used to be an outgoing and friendly girl up until the summer of eighth grade. One of the older guys, Tommy, who she’d always had a small crush on, tried to take things a bit too far for her liking. He tried to put his hands, and other parts, where they had no business going and wouldn’t take Cat’s “NO” for an answer. It changed her. She became standoffish and didn’t talk to anyone. She dropped all of her friends, even her closest friend Patrick, and became somewhat of a shadow. She disliked talking to people and was often curt when she was forced to speak. Cat was forced to emerge from the shadows to find out who had beat up her former best friend. In the process of two weeks and a half, Cat turned back into her old self. She even gained more confidence and bravery than she had had before. Another character to change throughout the book was Beef. He was once a good and kind boy who always stood up for those who needed it. He was kind to Patrick and would always tell the others in his crew to knock off the joking that they’d do about Patrick being gay. He started to fall in love with Patrick and Patrick fell for him too; all of this was done secretly ofcourse. But Beef started to try new things, new things like meth. He got addicted to it and he couldn’t control his anger. His anger often turned violent, which lead to the biggest mistake of his life: the beating of Patrick. Patrick was only trying to help him and tell him that what he was doing was wrong and it was ruining him. Beef didn’t want to hear it so he got a bat and started bashing Patrick’s head in. He realized what he’d done only after it was too late. Out of embarrassment and panic, he made up a hate crime scene to steer any suspicion away from him. In the end, Beef was a manic who couldn’t control his actions, which lead to his death.
The book is written in a timeline type of way, it has titles like, “Tuesday: One week later.” This adds to the diary type of vibe that you get from reading the book. This makes the book more understandable to the reader so they can keep up with the time spans of the events taking place.
Myracle, Lauren. “Shine.” 2011. Page 48. “Maybe, maybe, maybe, and if wishes were horses, I’d gallop straight to Sheriff Doyle and hand over Patrick’s attacker.” Myracle uses lots of similes to describe the main characters thoughts.
Myracle, Lauren. “Shine.” 2011. Page 107. “You thinks meth heads have been stealing her checks?” Since the characters lived in the country, they talked with a certain slang and bad grammar.
Myracle, Lauren. “Shine.” 2011. Page 197. “Patrick probably had blisters erupting around his mouth, that was one thing I read on the medical sites I pulled up.” This is one of the few times Myracle uses inverted syntax in the novel.
The cause of Patrick’s beating was because of his over concern of this boyfriend, Beef. Patrick kept bugging Beef about his addiction and how it was changing him. Beef felt like Patrick was trying to tell him what to do because Patrick wouldn’t let up. Beef was high at the time and there was a nearby bat, and that’s how Patrick ended up near death. The effect of Patrick’s beating was Cat coming out of her shell again in order to solve the case of her best friend.
The cause of Cat’s two years of silent depression was caused by Tommy sexual attack against her. She didn’t want to talk to anyone and she cut off all of her friends that she’d made as she grew up. The effect Tommy had on her was apparent; she didn’t know how to handle any interaction with people of any sort.
The cause of Beef’s death was meth. He was high when he climbed Suicide Rock with Robert, with the intent of throwing him over the ledge because Robert threatened to tell about Beef’s deed. Cat intervened and ended up saving Robert, but Beef was accidentally forced over the edge during a battle he had with Cat’s brother, Christian. Beef was using his gun to try and kill both Cat and Robert and Christian stepped in to save them at the expense of Beef’s life. Beef’s death affected all of the characters. Patrick, after waking up from a coma, was shocked to hear about his lover’s death. Of course the whole entire town was affected by the death of who they thought was a good kid with a good heart.
“Myracle has created a beautifully-drawn community, one that acts as a mirror for human prejudices and imperfections.” – Letcher, Mark. “Original Review” www.goodreads.com. February 27, 2013. I absolutely agree with Mark; Myracle made you think and take a good look at yourself to see that you aren’t flawless and make mistakes too.
“[Myracle’s] descriptions of the town and surrounding county are fantastic, and as always,” Another point that I strongly agree with Mark about. Myracle uses paragraphs to perfectly describe something as simple as a house. It made picturing the book in your head all the more easier.
“Smart, fearless, and compassionate, this is an unforgettable work from a beloved author.” This is my exact opinion of the book. Myracle put her all into writing this book and I could tell.
You should read Shine because it will have your heart pumping, your teeth clenching and your fists balling. You will not want to put the book down because you’ll be so determined to get to the climax of the book. I recommend this book to any and every one.
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