SUICIDE IS A TEENAGE EPIDEMIC

I just copied a part of an article I found on the internet.

The statistics show that suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death among those 15 to 25 years of age and the 6th leading cause of death among those 5 to 14 years of age.
Can you believe that 5 year olds are killing themselves! Are these isolated incidents? No,its estimated that 500,000 teenagers try to kill themselves every year, and about 5000 succeed. That's right up there with cancer and homicide.

Studies have shown that as many as fifty percent of the general public have seriously considered suicide as a solution to our problems.
The danger is when a person thinks about suicide while they have depression - when thoughts have a hard time escaping the entrapment of a clouded brain.




Depression -> Suicide <- Bullying

Chapter 23

Matt goes outside to the Rocky River preserve to forget everything that had happend the last few weeks.
He climbs very high and thinks about killing himself.
He is determined to get to the top of the ravine and to jump down from there.

I liked reading that chapter, because I can understand Matt a bit.
He wants to stopp all the bad stuff that had happend during the last few weeks, and he can't imagine that his life gets better some day.
Many young people kill themselves because of depressions but also because they get teased at school.

Chapter 22

Ugly Girl's mom and sister are still mad with her because of leaving the dance.
Lisa says she hates Ugly Girl and Ugly Girl gets hurt.
But Ugly Girl is very concerned about her sister.
She is scared of her sister going trough the same things which had happend to her at the swim team... and Ugly Girl's mom even makes the things worse.
She doesn't see that Lisa is a CHILD, who shouldn't dieting, but nobody listens to Ugly Girl.

At the end of that chapter Ugly Girl goes outside to the nature preserve to free her mind.

I didn't like reading that chapter because I got a bit agressive because of Ugly Girl's mom.
Why doesn't she see that the ballet puts the bite on her daughter?
SHE IS ONLY TWELVE YEARS OLD!

Chapter 21

Because of the newspaperarticle Matt get insulted by a lot of people at his school.
They tease him and give him names like "fag".
One day he gets walloped at school, too...

I think Matt has to be very strong.
Certainly he feels really bad and flimsy.
But I think the guys who insulted and pick on him enjoyed the feeling of being stronger than him , ...both being psychical and physical stronger than him.

Chapter 20

In that chapter Ugly Girl is reading the newspaper.
There is a article about Matt's parents suing the Rocky River High.
NOW their name is printed. NOW it's not only a rumor. IT'S definitely the truth.
Ugly Girl discusses the story with her dad but they don't agree on that.

I think Ugly Girl is very sad about that and she worrys about Matt.

I hope the Rocky River people will leave the Donaghys alone. THAT'S NOT THEIR BUSINESS!!!!

Chapter 19

THE BREWER TWINS?...
at Rocky River High it's official , the witnesses are the Brewers and nobody can understand why Mr.Parrish had trusted them.
As well there are new rumors making the round at Rocky River High.
The first new rumor is that there is something between Matt and Ursula and the second rumor is that Matt's parents are suing Mr.Parrish and the Brewers.

So Matt takes inadvertend centre stage again. But NOW Ursula and his family are INVOLVED.

I enjoyed reading that chapter, because I like being "a part" of the Rocky River High.

Chapter 18

Chapter 18 is very short but a very important chapter.
Ugly Girl realized that the Brewer twins HAVE TO be the witnesses, because of their behaviour.
She went straight to the twins and asked them and without saying a word she knew that they are guilty.
They tried to defend themselves even they knew that they were lying.

I can't unterstand the whole story anymore.
Who would trust some guys who are known for talking trash?
I think their father is a important character of that story,too, because he always creats a stir.
I don't like the Brewers.

Chapter 17

Matt's family get a letter in which is written: "YOUR NEIGHBOURS ARE NOT SAFE WE ARE NOT GOING TO FORGET."
Not only because of that Matt's mother is very sad.
She is also worried about her man not catching their family's situation.
He isn't at home all the time, and the problems are not real for him.
That are enough reasons for her to leave this place.

Matt's mother feels worse every day. The same as Matt, his mother friends are not her friends anymore.
So she is ALL alone.

I liked reading that chapter, but it made me sad a bit.

Chapter 16

Ugly Girl went to the "Sunday matinee" at Lincoln Center with her mom and her younger sister.
But after 5 minutes into the dance she knew that she had to escape.
She knew that her mom and her sister would be very disappointed but she went outside.
Ugly Girl went for a walk in NYC.
As she walked past a park she thought she would see Matt with another girl and her heart started beating.
Sure, it wasn't Matt, but as you can see, her beating heart has to mean something.

In that chapter I get known something about Ugly Girl's past, too.
In 8th grate she went to the school shwimm team every week.
During that time she started thinking that she is ugly and fettish and because some older boys teased her (called her "thunder thighs") she left the team.
I think she stared withdrewing from everything.

At the end of that chapter she saw a few women who looked like her, that means they looked different to the others.
She felt good because of that.

I liked that chapter, but it's a bit too long.

Chapter 15

In that chapter Matt writes another e-mail to Ugly Girl , and he doesn't send it again.
He writes just what he is thinking, and it seems like he realizes that he got a crash on Ugly Girl.
I think he is scared of his feelings or just confused.
He should tell her what he is feeling and thinking...

It seems like Matt wants to be more like Ugly Girl.
He says, that he is NOT "depressed", that he is just seeing the truth now.
He wishes Ursula to be his friend, because she is special.

Chapter 14

It's just another Nothing-Day for Matt.
Mr. Steiner, one of Matt's teachers, tells him, that they can't print his columm "Just for the Record" in the paper. (Matt is a important member of the Rocky River Run, the "schoolpaper".)
He can't understand that decision, but he has to.
At the end he resigns from the "Rocky River Run".

Matt is not himself anymore.
His behaviour reminds me of Ugly Girl.
Matt isn't the "good American boy". He changed.
He had written "Just for the Record" to express how it felt, but to be funny about it, too.
[It's "just" a comical letter of resignation written by an individual you realise, gradually, is "resignung" from life: he's about to be given a lethal injection for the crime of being mistaken for a "famous and glamorous serial killer".]

I can understand Matt's behaviour in every situation. I think I would act like he did.
I think that Matt has a reason for massacre as many people as he could now.



Not his columm was printed in the paper, but a text about Matt Donaghy has resigned the vice presidency of the junior class.
Because of everything that had happend since the "bombstory" he gets the attitude of having a stone heart that won't break again and he acts like that, too.
He even starts hating his partens because he had heard what the were saying.
They say that he isn't himself, that he's depressed, rude....
I think in real his parents worry about their son and his change.

Chapter 13

Mr. Bernhardt, one of Matt's teachers is talking to him, because he wants to resign his vice presidency of the junior class.

I think Matt is getting older every day.
He realizes that something like being the vice president isn't important for the rest of his live.

Chapter 12

Mr. Parrish thanked Ugly Girl with a very positive report on her participation for being a witness.
He askes her about Matt, and she says, that she is not a friend of him...
Later that day she is at the cafeteria with some of her friends, and she ignores Matt again.
But she can't hide that something "is wrong" with her.

I think she can't fight against falling in love with him. It's great :D , I want them to be in a couple.

Chapter 11

Matt writes an e-mail to Ugly Girl.
He asks her about the things that happend at school (like she's not talking to him...)
He writes just "something", not really important things.
BUT he doesn't send it, he deletes the e-mail.

I think he is still depressed.
He says that february sucks and that every day is a "nothing day".
I think he feels like that - like february - black/gray, ugly snow, cold, rainy....
I think he's scared of falling in love with Ugly Girl.

Chapter 10

It's February now.
Ugly Girl is at school and Matt trys to talk to her, but she goes out of his way everytime.
Normally she isn't shy. Ugly Girl isn't shy.

I can't understand her.
Doesn't she like him or is she "just" shy?
I mean why doesn't she talk to him?
Maybe she is scared of falling in love with him.
I think she acts very stupid.

Chapter 9

Now the "bombstory" is in the papers, too.
So everyone who hasn't seen it on TV will know it now...
Matt gets even more depressed every day. His friends say, that they aren't allowed to write him or don't want to write him.
He spends much time with his dog outside and thinks about running away and changing his life.
But he is not the type for making such big decisions or changes like that. He knows that he is not alone, and that his friends, for example Ugly Girl, will help him.
But, thanks god, Matt is allowed to go back to school on Monday.
So he's offical NOT A TERRORIST!

I liked reading that chapter, because I wanted to know how the story continues.
I think Matt starts realizing, that his friends are not "real friends".
I would get depressed, too,...
But maybe he needs something like that for "getting older".

Chapter 8

Although her mother had forbidden Ugly Girl to talk to Mr. Parrish (her mother said she is too impetuous and careless and that this is her life and not just some whim and that it will jeopardise her college application...), Ugly Girl goes to his office to tell him everything.
Also she tells him, that a friend of her had seen it,too, and that she could be a witness as well.
(Ugly Girl had to persuade her friend's mother that she is allowed to talk to Mr. Parrish, but she managed that,too.)
Friday afternoon the Inky Black mood was away.

I think Ugly Girl is very helpful if she knows that she is helping "the right one" and that she is doing "the right".
Probably she would kill herself before she would lie.
She just hates those people who say nothing and just pretend like nothing had happend.

Chapter 7

NOW its official. Matt is not arrested but he's suspended from school for three days minimum.

At home Matt is very disappointed of his friends, because none of them had answered his mails or had even called him.
Matt is/was popular at his school, but he never had "real" friends... friends who are by your side when you need them.
His friends were only with him because he was popular, or because his look just fits in that group.
He feels very weak and furious about the things that had happend and behaves like someone else.


Unexpectedly he gets an e-mail from Ursula Riggs (Ugly Girl).
He calls her and she tells him, that she is going to tell Mr. Parrish the truth, that she is going to be a witness for him.

I really enjoyed reading that chapter because it is the truth.
Almost everybody knows the situation Matt is in. I mean, that everybody is leaving you, your friends don't like you anymore because they think that you did something bad....
It's interesting to follow Ugly Girl's and Matt's first steps to get known eachother.
Hopefully they became friends at the end.

Chapter 6

At the beginning of that chapter Ugly Girl is watching the local news, WWRR, on TV.
A female reporter tells the rumours about the bomb threat at Rocky River High and says that this has not been confirmed.
So, not only the Rocky River High is talking about that (and probably about Matt) but also the whole town.
Ugly Girl doesn't want her mother to know what is going on there, because she is not in mood to talk to her.
Like almost always Ugly Girl has Inky Black in her head and she thinks it would go away by leaving the team, but it doesn't.
She gets even more "pissed" that evening because of her mom and her younger sister, Lisa.
Both of them feel guilty because they weren't at Ugly Girl's basketballmatch like everytime and want to apologize for that.

It almost seems like Ugly Girl is envious of her younger sister, even if she can't stand "prissy little ballerinas".
Besides she is very scared of her father leaving the family, because she kind of knows what will happen if he does. (Her friend Bonnie almost killed herself because her father had left the family.)


Because her mother saw the report about the Rocky River High on TV, too, Ugly Girl has to explain what happend and who the guy is who wants to kill everybody and so on...
She tells her that everything is not true, and that she KNOWS it.
After that she writes an e-mail to Matt, even though her mom had indirectly forbidden her, because she knows that she is a witness who knows the truth.



I liked reading that chapter because now I'm sure that something is wrong with that family.
Not only because Ugly Girl's sister or because the relationship between Ugly Girl and her parents is disturbed...
I think the relationship between her mom and her dad is disturbed, too, because her dad isn't at home all the time and her mom sits at home, alone.

Chapter 5

In this Chapter Matt is interrogated by the detectives.
Matt and the detectives went to Mr.Parrish's office (Rocky River High's director) and
Matt told them, that the whole story about the bomb is a big missunderstanding.
He almost got in trouble again because of his big mouth, because he thinks, that the whole story is very funny. (Except of him being in prison with one leg.)
He tried to explain them, that he was "just" joking, and that everybody who knows him, could tell them, that he's telling the truth and that he's NOT guilty.
After a long time at Mr.Parrish's office they took him to the Rocky River police headquarter where he had to tell the whole story again.


The biggest question in that chapter is, who the witnesses are!
Matt is a guy who is joking all time, because he has a talent for making people laugh and everybody knows that he has a big mouth.
Only people who wanted to harm his reputation could be the witnesses.
But nobody hates Matt Donaghy. There's no reason to hate him.

I liked that chapter, but it was a bit too long.
I'm curious what will happen next

Chapter 4

This is a really short chapter, something like a hook to make the reader to read on.
It's the continuation of the talk which Matt has with the strangers.
The strangers are Rocky River detectives.
The dialogue of them is very short, but the strangers make sure, that they think, that Matt has done something bad.

I liked reading that chapter very much, because it made me read on.

Chapter 3

This chapter starts with a detailed report of Ugly Girl's feelings and thoughts after the basketballmatch.
She is very disappointed of herself because of losing the match and she is scared of her parents feeling ashamed because of her.
As she walks outside the gym one of her "friends", Bonnie, tells her the story of the bomb.
After listening to all presumptions about Matt Donaghy she says directly, that she doesn't believe any of these.
Nobody says a word about the match after hearing of "the bomb".

In that chapter I get known Ugly Girl a bit more.
The relationship to her parents seems to be disturbed, because her younger sister, Lisa, is "the perfect" child, a "girly-girl", and Ugly Girl is not.
Her parents pay all attention to the things which her younger sister does and they don't care about the things what Ugly Girl does.
I think it's strange that she seems to be the only person who knows Matt good enough to know, that he wouldn't want to blow up the school.
But I think that's the life at school.
Pupils say a lot of things only to make the normal schoollife a bit more interesting and they don't care about the feelings of anybody or about the truth of the story. Pupils care about anything and that's a big problem at all schools.


After reading the 3 chapter Ugly Girl get's more important to me.
It's great and interesting to get the feeling of being in her head.

Chapter 2

In chapter 2 you get to know another important character, named Ugly Girl (Ursula Riggs).
Ugly Girl is the person who is telling the story, so that chapter is told by a first-person-narrator.
She is one of the best athletes at Rocky River High but she doesnt has many friends, because she is not a tipical "girly-girl".
In that chapter her basketballteam loses an important game because she misses the foul shot.
Except of the fact that she, one of the best athletes at Rocky River Highschool, misses the foul shot the worst thing for her is that all other people might think that she has lost the game for Rocky River on purpose.






It seems like she has a personality disorder because she NEVER says something positive about herself, except of being tall and her athletic career.
When she was younger she cared a lot about the things other people were saying about her and that is a reason for her to build something like a wall around herself to be selfconfident.
I don't like that chapter that much, because Ugly Girl isn't that interesting.
But I hope that will change in the following chapters.

Chapter 1

Matt Donaghy, a quite popular student of Rocky River High School in Westchester County,is known at school for being brainy and a comic character.
During fifth period two strangers in dark suits, white shirts and plain neckties came for Matt.
He didn't know what they wanted with him, but he had to go with them outside the classroom.

This chapter is told by a third-person-narrator who knows a lot about Matt feelings.


After reading the first chapter I really wanted to read on, because it was very exciting.
I wanted to know what the strangers want with Matt and if he had done something "bad", because he is shown as a nice character who cares for example a lot about his family. I couldn't imagine that he has done something bad.
The first thought which came to my mind was, that there HAS to be a big missunderstanding.