Below is a free essay on "Lock And Key" from Anti Essays, your source for free research papers, essays, and term paper examples.
Sarah Dessen, a New York Times best-selling author, has received numerous awards for her young adult novels. Her plots usually involve young love, friendship and/or family. Other books written by Sarah include Just Listen, Someone Like You, The Truth About Forever and Dreamland. Dessen cleverly incorporates the title into each story. For example, in Lock and Key, the main character Ruby, always wears a key necklace. She also throws characters and settings from all of her different books into each other nonchalantly. Dessen has a unique style which makes her such a great author.
When opening the book to the first page, there is a scene that will occur later in the book. Already, two characters are introduced in that preview and it makes the reader intrigued and curious. When reading more, one learns Ruby, the protagonist, is forced to move in with her older sister Cora and Cora’s fiancé Jamie after the landlords discover Ruby’s secret. She has to adapt to a completely different lifestyle, going from being independent and living in a poor town to having a real family in a wealthy area. The first night, she tries to sneak out of the home, but is stopped by her neighbor Nate. He is a large component to Ruby’s transition, and the main reason why she stays.
During her transition from living alone to her new living arrangement with Cora, she was very hesitant and uncomfortable about the situation. However, Cora and Jamie did the best they could to make her very welcomed by offering her support and love. A major event is when Ruby had a project where she had to define the word family. With Ruby’s childhood, family was clearly not her area of expertise. In the end, she realized everyone’s family is different, not one family is perfect and there is no one set definition. “Family isn’t something that’s supposed to be