Arters AP Literature 2016-17 discussion

What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen is a current, coming of age novel. It is about a teenage girl, Mclean Elizabeth Sweet, who discovers her true self while going through endless amounts of change. Mclean followed her father from town to town after going through the divorce of her parents. As the main character she constantly is stuck between the internal conflict of wanting to forgive her mother versus wanting to let go of the hurt and burden her mother placed on her family. With change Mclean grows up into an independent woman who realizes her self-worth, reinventing herself everytime she moves.
The common theme portrayed throughout ‘What Happened to Goodbye’ is change beyond your control and change within it, along with finding one’s true identity. Mclean changes one too many times for a teenager trying to enjoy high school. Each time she has moved, she has picked a new name and a new personality she would like to be, such as a cheerleader, or an athlete, or even a nerd with names Lizbet, Eliza, Liz, or Beth. In Lakeview though, Mclean is find her true identity along with all the changes she has been through and endless towns she has lived in. Mclean is not the only character who is trying to find themselves. Mclean’s mother, Katherine Hamilton, is another one, who is trying to figure out what it’s like being remarried to a rich college basketball coach. Even her next door neighbor Dave is trying to let go and get away from his reputation of being the brilliant, straight-A student. All these characters within ‘What Happened to Goodbye’ are trying to find their true identities from overcoming what others think of them and from what they think of themselves.
Sarah Dessen, through descriptive detail and short understandable paragraphs, allows the reader to relate easily to Mclean. Mclean can not control that her parents have gotten divorced, however, she does choose to control how she reacts to it: and it is not so good. She cuts her mother out for ruining their family. Sarah Dessen may use divorced parents as another aspect to connect with many of her readers. For a teenage girl trying to find her identity without an adult figure can be tough. Her dad is constantly working and her mother has abandoned her to live with her new husband and adorable 6 year old twins. Mclean has no one to answer her confusing adulthood questions, no one to talk about her teenage hormonal feelings to and no one who can just be there for her when she needs it most.
However, Mclean’s mother has made numerous amount of ways to show her efforts toward Mclean. Mclean refuses to let her mother into her life again. She sees her mother has the bomb that destroyed her family. I think Mclean is struggling to show her emotions and is holding them all in. I personally believe everyone deserves a second chance, no matter how bad they screw up. If Mclean gave her mother a second chance maybe things would be different. Maybe she would have someone to open up to? Maybe she wouldn’t be so confused on who she actually is? Sarah Dessen does an excellent job of showing how Mclean really feels toward her mother. The one thing that confuses me however, is what are Mclean’s fathers, Gus, opinions on her mother. I understand he is not fond of her due to her actions. But he wants his daughter to have a relationship with her mother. So to me, Gus portrays as an understanding person and realizes his daughter needs her mother. Now why can’t Mclean see this as well?
Overall Sarah Dessen has great writing techniques and grasps the idea of connecting her themes and ideas with her readers. She relates common problems teenagers have throughout their life in her stories, such as divorce and change in ‘What Happened to Goodbye’. This book is not a crier, but one most teenagers can identify with.