Breakdown of All These Things I've Done by Gabrielle Zevin

ONE Sentence summary:  A deceased mob bosses’ teenage daughter struggles with coming of age while taking care of her siblings and living up to her family’s expectations regarding “the business.”

TWO Things I would have done differently: I would have explained why society is the way it is in the novel.  I also would have taken out some of the colloquialisms

THREE Titles that if you liked...you will like this:
Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin
American Girl by Meg Cabot
Novels by Sara Dessen (Just Listen, Lock and Key)

FOUR Reasons to care:
1.) It's a novel about organized crime and the effects on society.
2.) Zevin is a young writer writing about young people.
3.) One of the characters is…different. How we treat people is important.
4.) Nothing is more important than family.

FIVE Facts about the author:
1.) Zevin graduated from Harvard in 2000. (Where I Found It)
2.) She doesn’t have a facebook because she is shy and doesn’t immediately know what she thinks about things. (Where I Found It)
3.) Zevin also writes screenplays. (Where I Found It)
4.) She’s young. She started writing at 25 and is now only 34.

SIX Emotions I felt while reading:
Amused, concerned, curious, interested, worried, sympathetic

SEVEN Thoughts:
1.) Why are people so easily bribed?
2.) How easy is it to corrupt people?
3.) Why are teenage boys so stupid?
4.) How bad are correctional institutes?
5.) What is the effect of sibling relationships?
6.) What is the role of friends in life?
7.) Where do you draw the line with what you will do for family?

EIGHT Buzzwords:
Heartbreak, boys, chocolate, illegal, crime, mob, love, friendship

NINE Plot device/writing techniques/tools/tricks:
1.) Colloquial writing style
2.) Memories, flashbacks, thought processes
3.) Mystery elements
4.) First person point of view
5.) Asides to the reading/breaking fourth wall
6.) Suspense
7.) Returning/repeating advice from father
8.) Foreshadowing
9.) Accessible content for all readers

TEN Point plot summary:
1.) We meet several different characters, including Annie’s boyfriend, Gable, and her best friend, Scarlet.
2.) Gable tries to get Annie to sleep with him; she distracts him with the illegal chocolate her family makes and they break up shortly after this incident.
3.) Scarlet informs Annie about the arrival of the DA’s son, Win, whom she finds incredibly attractive and convinces to hang with her and Annie at a club.
4.) Win falls for Annie, who has no time for boys because she is too busy taking care of her siblings and her ailing grandmother.
5.) Gable makes trouble for Annie, and she gives him contraband chocolate to make him go away.
6.) Annie gradually grows closer to Win and finds out the chocolate she gave to Gable was poisoned.
7.) She is accused of attempted murder and sent to a correctional institute.
8.) Win’s father gets Annie out of the jail and tells her to stay away from his son. She tries and fails.
9.) Annie’s grandmother passes away. Catastrophes occur within in the family and the only solution is a secret mission during prom.
10.) Find out if the mission was successful!