Status Updates From My Chemical Mountain

Identity is surfacing as a theme topic as the protagonist, Jason, questions and confirms who he is in relation to those around him while the action continues to rise.

The rising action has finally taken a turn for the intriguing. The key to making this exciting in this book seems to be leaving enough questions in the readers’ minds at once that it becomes hard to predict what may come next.

I am noticing how Vacco, the author, is developing events in a predictable way to support the rising action toward a climax where the lead characters, the narrator Jason and his two best friends, will likely end up in a major confrontation with the chemical company that is destroying their town's environment and people. What will that big event look like?

Setting: Why does the author choose such negative imagery as she creates an understanding of the world for the reader in the first four chapters of this book?

Fast-paced to start, the first 2 chapters quickly get readers acquainted with the protagonist, Jason, and the people closest to him. His world so far seems to be a sad place due to environmental abuse where he struggles with just being a kid and having fun for the summer.