100 Days of Sunlight-

1. First, what was the genre of each book? Realistic fiction? Fantasy? Historical fiction? Science fiction? Biography? Mystery? Or would you combine two of the words to describe your book.

    I think the genre of 100 Days of Sunlight is romance. The meaning of romance is a novel, movie, or genre of popular fiction in which characters fall in love or begin a romantic relationship. The definition of romance exactly fits this book.

    On page 215, Weston says, “Yo. Get your hands off my girl.” Weston literally said my girl, meaning Tessa Dickinson. My girl means that the girl is yours, and is probably said when that girl is your girlfriend. Therefore, I could sense that a bit of romance is leaking into the story.

    Also, on page 238, Weston says to Tessa when Tessa wore makeup, “You don’t need it, you know. You look beautiful without it. But you look beautiful with it, too. You always look beautiful. Even when you’re crying.” This dialogue made Tessa blush profusely. If somebody says that to me, I would feel sweet but embarrassed too. But only a boy who likes you would notice something as small as wearing makeup and praise it. Now, I could infer that even more romance is seeping into the book.

    Plus, on page 263, Weston told Tessa, “Goodnight, Tessa… I love you.” Then, on 287, Tessa told Weston, “Then there’s no need to be sorry. Because I want you to know that… I love you, too. I love you, Weston. I never thought I would say that, but it’s true. And I need you now more than ever.” Later, when Tessa called Weston, she said again, “ Okay. I love you.”  From these multiple “I love you” words, I can definitely make an inference that there is a lot of romance in the novel. People wouldn’t say I love you that much unless they really love the person. 

    In addition, on page 315, the last page of the book, the author wrote from Tessa’s point of view, “I feel my heart exploding. I feel the space between our faces disappear. We kiss. And it tastes like sunlight.” From this description, I can confirm that the genre of the book is romance. Boys and girls kissing isn’t a normal thing to do in life. They only kiss when they’re really in love. And since on page 267, Weston and Tessa also kissed, it completely proves that they are in love. 

    To wrap up, these are the reasons why I think the genre of the book is romance. Hmm… I wonder if their relationship will turn out as sweet as Romeo & Juliet.

2. Second, write a short summary of each book in complete sentences, in two paragraphs or so. Explain what the book was about. Include the names of the main characters and how they were part of the story. Try to end the summary at a cliffhanger near the end of the book. The cliffhanger will make it more fun to share the summary with your classmates in fall.

    When 16 year old poetry writer Tessa Dickinson lost her eyesight in a car crash for one-hundred days, she thought she had lost everything she owned in the world. Horrified that she can never see again, she treats others like dirt and refuses to acknowledge the truth… until 16 year old Weston Ludovico comes along. Weston is a boy with gray-blue eyes, an optimistic smile… but no legs.

    Weston knows how terrified that Tessa might feel and thinks that he can help Tessa overcome her fears as long as no one ever tells Tessa about his handicap. Tessa, unaware of Weston’s nonexistent legs, treated him with contempt. Weston, who was always treated as a sad story, enjoyed being screamed at and told to go to hell at. But as Weston reached out to Tessa again and again, showing her the path out of the darkness, Tessa grew closer and closer to him and imagined it difficult to live without him. Weston, on the other hand, can’t imagine life without her. 

    Until one day, Tessa’s eyesight returned, and Weston would have to face the most difficult decision in his life — to vanish from Tessa’s world, breaking her heart as well as his, but never get Tessa to know his legs, or overcome his fear of letting Tessa see him, involving a chance of Tessa to lose interest in him.