Sunday at Tiffany's by James Patterson -- A Book Review

Janet: I really did not like this book. I thought the whole thing was a little ridiculous...I guess I wasn't expecting her to end up with Michael. I think that she should have figured things out for herself and maybe Michael would come into her life again to help her see that she could find someone better on her own. It was creepy to me that she knew this guy when she was nine. I know that I was supposed to get caught up in the romance of it all, but I just thought it was weird. So, overall, I did not enjoy it much.

Lisa: This book is Drop Dead Fred meets City of Angels. You have a little girl with an imaginary friend whom she is suppose to forget all about, but doesn’t. Then in-between “jobs” he’s in New York to help her once again. I don’t ever remember having an imaginary friend, but if we go by what these authors are saying we wouldn’t remember would we? Of course that’s just stupid because the parents would remember and then tell them, as they got older. I’m being a bit technical I know! Overall I think it was an average book. It was a nice easy read and it entertained me for the time.

Stacy: All in all I thought it was a decent book, I probably wouldn't read it again, however it was good for what it was. It was a quick read and it kept me entertained. I did think that there was a bit of a creepy factor that he was her imaginary friend...I'm not sure why.


Q & A:
1.Michael says that the role of an imaginary friend is to make children feel less alone and to help them find their place in the world. Do you think imaginary friends help children deal with their lives or keep them from dealing with life head on? In what other ways do we use our imagination to cope with life or hide from it?

Janet- Being honest, I think imaginary friends are ridiculous. But PJ had a 'little PJ' that would just appear wherever he wanted him. I thought that was cute and I liked that he was using his imagination, but that was it. I definitely think that using your imagination to get you though tough times can take on many different forms. I know that if you can control your thoughts, you can control a bit of every situation. Like when I was in labor, I counted. I imagined the numbers as I said them and it had a calming effect on the hardest physical times of my life.
Lisa- I think it keeps them from dealing with life head on. Instead of having a real friend at school that she could confide in she had to make one up. Of course this books wants you to believe that they aren’t imaginary at all, but invisible friends. Daydreaming is another way people cope or hide from life.
Stacy- I think without our imaginations we would be lost. Imaginary friends only help kids; they have friends to fit their needs.

2.When Michael leaves Jane on her ninth birthday, Jane is devastated and says, "I'll never forget you Michael, no matter what." Do you think there is one perfect love for each of us? How influenced are we by portrayals of love and love affairs in the media, movies, and on television?

J- I do not believe that there is one perfect person out there for each of us. I do think that your choices in your life can help define who the person you are with will be. I believe that there can be a connection between two people that can be unexplainable. I also think that sometimes, even said connection or even love, is not enough to hold two people together. I think all of the outside sources in our lives can give us a skewed idea on love. I think true love is wonderful but it takes sacrifice and compromise (but not too many!), which much of the media leaves out.
L- I don’t believe in a perfect anything. Nothing is perfect. When I was younger I used to think that there was one person for everyone. I was also a pessimist and believed whenever I heard of a young boy dying on the news that he was probably my one. I know a bit morbid as well huh? I think personality-wise people can match in so many different ways. It’s all about choice. I think the media and such give us the impression that everyone cheats and has affairs and so on. I don’t believe it’s as commonplace as that although I don’t doubt it happening.
S- I don't think that there is one love for everyone; I think that there are many different kinds of love for everyone. Yes it would be everyone's dream to just be able to see someone and know that that was his or her perfect person, but that's not how life works.

3. Jane's play Thank Heaven, is based on her childhood friendship with Michael. Would you have an interest in seeing the play? Do you prefer the play's ending where Michael leaves Jane on her ninth birthday or do you prefer the book's ending where Jane and Michael meet again as adults?

J- I think that I like the plays ending. Obviously there would be no story if it did, but I think Jane needed to figure things out on her own.
L- It is hard to say really. In the scene where she buys herself a diamond ring is suppose to show that she’s an independent women (Destiny’s Child song playin’ right now!) but to me this is a contradiction to the whole story. She needed him to feel whole. I think if you can’t be happy with yourself your chances of ever being happy are slim.
S- I would see the play, I am a theatre person and I think that ending the play where he leaves and doesn't come back brings some emotion to it. It really makes the audience feel something. As a movie though you would need him to come back, because viewers would suggest that. That's the difference in movies and plays.

4. Michael gives up has immortality to be with Jane. Do you think he could have made another choice? Do you support his decision? If you had been presented with a similar situation, what would you have done to be with the one you loved?

J- I think Michael's decision was out of his hands and I would do anything, realistically, to be with the one I love.
L- I don’t think he knew he was making a choice. He was slowly falling in love and it happened. I don’t believe love is enough. Michael’s “life” concerns so many other people that if it were a conscience decision I would object. As for what would you have done to be with the one you loved…is moving to England mean anything?
S- I think that you only have one life to live and if you can't be with the one you think you are meant to be with then what is there to live for. Mine as well give it a shot right?

5. Michael takes Jane to Nantucket because he doesn't want to waist a minute of the time they have together. Michael says, "Is it so difficult to imagine or believe that a man and a woman can find happiness together for a little while, which, after all, is all that we have?" Is this the moral of the story for you? If not, what is?

J- I do think that it is the morale of the story - to cherish the moments you have together.
L- I never believed Jane was supposed to die. It was all the sudden thrown in and thought it a bit odd that he would have thought that when his job is to help kids deal with things that are wrong in their life; in Jane’s case a neglectful parent. Life is short. I think the moral of the story for me is that love can be found in unexpected places or that friends make the best lovers or something like that ;0)
S- I do not think this is the moral of the book, I am not sure what it, but I don't think it's that just because it is suggested. I will have to get back to you.