Mukilteo Teens Read 2008
Stuck in Neutral
Kamiak H. S. Events and Information
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Events at Kamiak:
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Did You Know??? |
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Blog: check
the discussion at the bottom of this page, you can
email Mrs. Anderson to share your
thoughts
andersonge@mukilteo.wednet.edu What do you think of the
book? Respond in this blog and some of your comments will be
published on this page. Book Club Discussion:
Author Visit:
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Fiction books by Terry Trueman:
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Questions to think about:
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Reader's Blog-
#1:
Well, I thought
that the ending of the story was pretty bad, I mean, the author was
too scared to finish off the story, either way. His method of ending
is too cliché and unclear.
#2: anyway- I kind
of had a different view of this story. Yes, I can see your side
very easy: how it's kind of cheesy, his ranting, and how there's no
diversity in it, but being my emotional self, I took to the book. I
wonder if the author actually felt like killing his son and
if events in this book (ex: the boys trying to burn Shawn) actually
happened in real life. Like I said in the first email, from the
start, I had empathy and compassion for the dad and Shawn.
Chapter 7-9: Shawn most likely is the only one in his class with his ability to memorize everything because everyone else has coordination and can walk. So I think that the only person that will have Shawn’s gift and not be able to tell anyone would be another person who is trapped inside their own bodies. I think that it is defiantly fear that drives his thinking about death because he has some good things going for him that he doesn’t want to lose. Also, in these Chapters you see a different side of Shawn that is somewhat interesting. First, Shawn starts to talk about “scoring” and things that are a little more indecent than before. It also seems that Shawn doesn’t speak too highly of his other classmates. Considering that a man that has a son in the same situation as Shawn wrote this book, I think it is a little heartless to talk about the kids that way. Even if he is just trying to prove a point I think that there are better ways of going about doing it that the way he describes them. Shawn’s dad is sometimes infuriating in what he says. Like his little speech on cutting the funding for the special education. But I think that in the theme of the book Shawn’s father might be the most important person. Trueman wants us to hate Mr. McDaniel so that we can better understand the errors of the way he thinks. Chapters 13-16: This chapter really delves deep into what life was like before everyone starts to think about death. It starts out in a happier time in Shawn’s life. Shawn and his father go on rides together and Shawn at that time I am sure was having the time of his life. This also makes me think about Shawn’s dad’s impact on the Shawn’s life. Back at the time of the Seattle Science Center Shawn was happy, but the moment Shawn’s father started to think about killing Shawn, Shawn started to get very depressed. Maybe it goes to show that other people really influence your life. In Shawn’s case his father became miserable and it negatively affected his life. I think that Mr. Trueman left the story the way it is so that the reader can do something about it. The truth is that Shawn isn’t the only kid that has to be looked after. There has to be thousands of kids just like Shawn. I personally wouldn’t hurt Shawn if I was his father but I am not. So I will never know if he lives or dies. It all depends on the person that can truly make a difference. Over-all this book was a great read. It made people think which is what I think Trueman wanted. Chapters 10-12: At first when I was reading this book I thought Trueman really hated the idea of ending his child’s pain and though this book would show the horrors of ending a mentally handicapped child’s pain. But, in these chapters it show’s a different side of his writing that is totally unbiased. He reveals Earl Detraux, a man that has apparently killed his child that had a mental disability. The first time you hear of him is from Shawn’s mom and his sister. Cindy starts off by calling him a “monster”, but then it gets to the interview with him and there is a new side to the story. Earl is a plain guy Shawn even describes him as looking like a “next-door neighbor.” He then goes on to account how he couldn’t stand to see his child in pain and how he ended his suffering with the thought that it wasn’t the end, but only the beginning of his child’s journey. Chapter 4-6: When I look back on a memory I can make out a fussy image of an event that I can remember. But, since is different for Shawn, with his photographic memory, maybe it gets to the point where he can move about inside his memories and that might be exactly what is happening in his seizers. The mind truly is an amazing thing and I think it must be one of the greatest gifts in the world to be able to use it like Shawn does. Also, the author gives you a glimpse at the attitude of Shawn’s father in chapter 4. It was after Shawn’s dad through the ice tea at the birds when he says, “My God, Shawn, you’ll never be safe…. Maybe you’d be better off if I ended your pain?” That was hard to hear as a reader because we know that Shawn really is just like everyone else but no one else knows about it. The Question on uncontrollable seizers is hard to answer. Whenever I see someone in pain I would, of course, like to help them. But no matter how much you want to help, an uncontrollable seizer is uncontrollable so there isn’t much you can do. Making them comfortable is about the best I can think of. But no matter what I don’t think I should have control over whether or not someone dies lives or dies. Also I don’t think I could ever bring myself to kill someone unless it is absolutely necessary. In Shawn’s condition I would probably want to live until the end of my days because I would be able to do anything I wanted for that amount of time in a seizer. But, I can also see that I would worry my parent and that would make me a little sad but I don’t think I would ever wish for death. If I had a defenseless little brother being threatened I would defiantly go to his rescue. But, I doubt I would ever lose my self-conscience enough to burn two other kids alive. Then again, I have never had a brother like Shawn so I never really know what I would do. In a country as great as the United States of America the conflict of deciding whether to follow the law or what you think is morally correct is usually never an issue. But, I think that any law that goes against the moral justice of the people shouldn’t be followed. Costello: I think that Shawn's father thinks that Shawn's life is nothing but pain. He believes that Shawn isn't really conscious of what happens around him and every movement he makes is just a reaction, like blinking and swallowing. He doesn't know that Shawn is conscious and is aware of his surrounding and is constantly thinking. All Shawn's father thinks he knows is that Shawn goes through pain whenever his seizures happen. In the book Stuck in Neutral Shawn’s family shows so much love since many people are helping him and don’t mind that he is different. His brother and sister are the strongest people who love him. In the story his sister was able to teach him so he could understand what is going on around him even though she didn’t realize it. His brother is able to protect Shawn. Once incident occurred when Shawn was sitting outside a group of boys came to burn him but his brother was able to come and protect him. They said that if there dad was trying to kill Shawn they would have to go through both of them. The weakest love within his family would be his father. Although he does everything he can to protect him he believes that killing him would be better so Shawn would stop suffering. To Shawn the seizures would be able to let him feel. Since cerebral palsy paralyzes his ability to move, the chance to move around in his seizures makes him happy. If I were in his position I would feel the same way since I can’t do anything else. Since people only have one life would it really be better to end it quickly rather then letting them leave feeling pain if it makes them stay longer?
I think that Shawn’s father believes Shawn is suffering for being the way he is. He seems to think that Shawn really doesn’t have any idea what’s going on and that he would be happier dead than alive. His father seems to believe that Shawn is an imbecile and wouldn’t know the difference if he were alive or not because he can’t think for himself. It’s really sad but his father truly doesn’t know any different. He has no right to kill his son but in his opinion, he would be better off dead since he is just a burden to the family.
Dear Mr. Trueman, I like how you discuss the concept of death in your book, Stuck in Neutral. I agree with Shawn; the scariest thing about death to me is just not knowing what comes next. I'm not a particularly religious person, so I'm not sure if I believe in heaven and hell. If there really is some sort of life after death. Or if it's just like what you described in the scene with the dog; is death really just nothingness. I can't even call it a "big" nothingness, because if it really is nothing than no adjectives like big can adequately describe it. I can’t make it sound poetic or anything and say an ‘empty abyss of nothing’ like some people like to do, because there is no abyss. You just cease to exist, like you were never here in the first place. Or maybe it’s as Shawn says at the end. Maybe it is just flying free forever. I still find that concept pretty hard to grasp, partially because I can’t really grasp the concept of being “free”. Just as Shawn is trapped inside his body, I don’t believe that anyone in life is ever truly free. I think everyone is trapped, chained, or enslaved in some way or another. So I don’t think anyone could really understand what to “fly free forever” really means until they’ve actually experienced it for themselves (as Shawn claims to have). But even so, that takes us back to the question of is there really some sort of life after death? Or, is to fly free just simply to exist. To be apart of everything and at the same time to be detached. Not quite like how Shawn is after a seizure when he’s left his body. More like, the state you’re in in that split second, as you’re waking up, after your dream has just ended but right before you regain consciousness. You’re in a state of being but not really aware of anything. Or maybe you’re reborn after you die. Maybe as an insect or a tiger or another person. Or maybe death is something totally different entirely. Maybe death is different for different people, maybe everyone creates their own ‘after death’ experience (or non-experience) based on their own personal beliefs. Or maybe it all just comes down to do people really have souls to experience life after or death or “flying free forever” or rebirth, or are people merely just a combination of organic chemical compounds, in which case when you die all your cells die too and so it is just a nothingness. Maybe there’s some kind of supernatural higher being that dictates these things and maybe there isn’t. I guess what I’m trying to say is I just don’t know. No one knows. And no matter what people try to tell us no one will ever really know until it becomes too late to share that knowledge with other living beings. In that case, I guess it all comes down to belief. But I’m not really sure what I believe in either. I suppose I could do what a lot of other people do and just choose the scenario that sounds the most convenient to me, but in my opinion none of those scenarios sound all that appealing. I guess the one thing they all have in common, though, is the fact that if they’re truly what happens after death, then they’re entirely inescapable. Whether it happens tonight by means of suffocation by a pillow by another’s hand, or in four years at the bottom of a river by your own hand, or in fifty years lying in bed by no one’s hand. Even if modern science finds new ways to prolong it, there will still never be a way to avoid it. In that sense, because death (and what happens afterwards) is completely and one hundred percent inevitable and inescapable, maybe there isn’t even such a thing as being truly “free” in death either. Perhaps humanity has created a word, a concept which’s meaning doesn’t really exist in reality and is utterly impossible to achieve, even with the help of a higher being. Maybe Shawn, in his false reality, is the only person ever to have really achieved this “freedom”. In which case his death would only block that freedom from ever coming to him again and merely entrap him further. In short I don’t understand death. And I never will in my life. It’s a mystery. And to me, that right there is the scariest part. But I think that what Shawn, I, and many other people can agree on is the fact that no one will ever understand death until they’ve experienced it for themselves. Until then, it will always remain just another question without an answer.
What do you think Shawn’s father believes about Shawn and his life?
The end of the novel made you think and was very confusing. I personally think that Shawn’s father is trying to do the “right” thing, by killing Shawn. He thinks that Shawn is in massive amounts of pain and out of love he tries to set him free of that. He repeatedly says it’s because I love you, and I really do love you. That to me seems that he is trying to reassure himself that it is the right thing to do. I personally think it is the wrong choice, but that is how I think the story would have concluded
The part in the
book that confused me the most was when Shawn's father and his
sister went on that talk show to talk about the man who murdered his
two year old son. Shawn's father threw out random questions to prove
his point and he was taking up most of the talk time and not letting
his daughter have a say in it. I think Shawn is a very misunderstood person that hasn’t had the chance to express himself fully and live the way he wants to. I also think that Shawn is one of the smartest kids in his age, because in the book it says he can remember everything, kind of like an elephant. Shawn can think perfectly fine and has boyish thoughts like anyone else but his real problem is that he can’t really function; he can’t do anything by himself most of the time, like when he goes to the bathroom and his reflexes. I think that anyone else who looks at him for the first time would just think that he is another retard roaming the streets in his wheelchair. People would probably feel bad for him and make fun of him as well, but they don’t know that Shawn can think perfectly and is actually smart. The only reason why I think people misunderstand him and stuff is because I know what he is thinking and I can know how he is feeling but others wont until they read this book.
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If you liked Stuck in Neutral, you may like these books:
Costello 7. What do you think Shawn's father will do? I actually have NO idea what he will do. The author probably think it is clever for him to leave it up to the reader to decide, but as a reader who was well drawn to this book, it left me extremely frustrated. It really can go both ways, and I honestly think it was an extremely BAD way to end the novel. Now that I'm done, I don't want to think anymore, and I don't care anymore what Shawn's father will do. Reconsidering to change the ending and lengthening out the ending part of the novel in an emotional way will probably give a sentimental attachment to the novel, which it almost did for me. But besides the ending, the concept and the idea that the author thought of was phenomenal. 3. I believe that none of these descriptions of neutral, that it means disconnected, inert, or without distinctive characteristics, are an accurate description of Shawn. But I do think that neutral is the word the world around Shawn describes him. And since the book is exploring the idea of what could possibly be going on in Shawn's mind, unknown to the outside world, the word neutral is a great word to be used in the title. It shows that the world is actually ignorant of what kind of person Shawn is, they think that he is truly incapable of anything worthwhile. But, actually, Shawn is incredibly talented in both him memory and his knowledge of how people work by being able to just watch people function without any distractions because they eventually begin to ignore him. The reader starts out with the knowledge that Shawn has Cerebral Palsy and immediately assumes, as all people do, that Shawn is just as his dad describes him, a vegetable. But as the story goes along the reader, led by the story, progresses to the belief that maybe disabled people are actually incredible human beings, just as everyone else is in their own way.
What do you think
Shawn’s father believes about Shawn and his life?
Shawn’s father seems to be an extremely troubled individual judging from what he has said in the novel. Numerous times he spoke of “ending Shawn’s pain” and has an apparent fascination with a father who murdered his mentally disabled son out of sympathy. To me this indicates that Sydney intends to “euthanize” Shawn since Shawn has no way of communicating that he is in fact sentient. Judging from what I have previously mentioned as evidence, I am almost certain that Sydney is going to kill Shawn. An ending to the book would have been better in my opinion than this cliffhanger, but hey, it still works.
Question 4: Think about Shawn's family. What role does each of them play? Who has the strongest relationship with Shawn? The weakest?
In my opinion, Shawn has the strongest relationship with his sister. She plays with him a lot, and unintentionally teaches him reading, and other skills. I think the weakest relationship is either with his mother or father, because as much as they love him, they are very hurt seeing Shawn in his condition, so they ignore him occasionally. His parents do their basic share of looking out for him, but they don’t take much time to understand him, especially when his mother dresses him, in clothes he hates.
Whether or not you have a disability, we all need to rely on someone or something to just get you through your life, or even through the day. It can be something simple as just the air you breathe and the food you eat to when we rely on people to listen to our problems or help us through our troubles.
As for Shawn in Stuck in Neutral, he actually does have a disability and does need to rely on many people to help him get through his day. Because of his CP, he can't really move or talk on his own, and he has his family assist him in many things.
Though I'm not like Shawn, I do need people in my life to help me in some things, because I know I can't do everything on my own. Even though I usually think of myself as an independent person, and I do think that I can take care of myself, I still rely on my friends and family for support. I need my family to support and take car of me, because I'm the youngest of the family. Sometimes it seems like I'm always on my own and doing what I want, but my family is always there and they've always helped me in so many ways, even when I don't think that they've really "been there." My friends, especially, have been the greatest stepping stones in my life. It's amazing how much they've impacted your life, and how much they are willing to help you in so many ways, where it's something really small or really big.
I think most of us think of ourselves as independent people who don't really need other people to take care of us. At least that's what I used to think of myself, because I thought I could make my own choices and decisions. But like Shawn, who can't even do anything for himself, we all really need people in our lives to just guide us and lead us.
One thing that
confused me was that Shawn's father only wanted to put Shawn out of
his pain, but he couldn't tell whether Shawn was even in pain at
all. The only thing he had to go on was that Shawn was having
seizures and that the doctors said that Shawn was most likely
unconscious to the world around him. I don't think it's right for
the father to just think he can try to kill off his own son when he
doesn't even know for sure whether Shawn is conscious of the world
around him or not.
I predict that Shawn's father will end up killing Shawn because he has had strong feelings about ending his son's pain throughout the book. Shawn has cerebral palsy, which means he can't control his muscles. The numerous seizures and sitting in a wheelchair all day look like Shawn is suffering in Shawn's dad's eyes, when Shawn really enjoys the feeling of the seizures and gets to observe many interesting things while sitting in his wheelchair. Also, Earl Detraux interests Shawn's dad very much, and he agrees with Earl's belief that killing his son Colin was right and not murde
I think that since Shawn's dad only sees his seizures and his inability to function from an alien perspective, he believes that Shawn in suffering every moment of his life. I don't think he wants to kill Shawn solely out of spite or embarrassment, but because he believes it would be the best thing for him. If his dad could understand Shawn's life and what he can do, he wouldn't be lobbying for the euthanasia of the "uneducable"
Since the introduction of the paranormal aspect of this book (Shawn's nighttime visit to his father) my belief is that Shawn's Father will not euthanize him. Because Shawn's Father remembers the dream, he has a stronger likelihood to hold out hope that Shawn is aware, and not kill him.
My only commentary on this is that while we know Shawn is capable of perceiving all around him and were he not neuromuscular impaired he would be a normal kid, his father has no way of knowing that Shawn is an individual both cursed and gifted. Without a radical new surgery Shawn will never truly be able to live, in the traditional sense, which in itself is not bad, but he will also never be able to communicate his understanding or awareness, and so his Father, who by virtue of being ignorant of this fact, is not a bad guy for wishing to kill his son. An interesting point is also brought up by this novel. If Shawn truly was brain-dead, and was not conscious of any pain, then the argument for ending his pain is no longer valid. Because Shawn is in no pain that he can perceive, and he shows no out ward sign of pain, his Father really has no argument for killing him.
#3 The word neutral in an obvious sense means Shawn cannot move or do anything for himself. Similar to how a car is in neutral, the car isn't doing any work, and if it happens to move, it is as a result of a push, or a hill or something uncontrollable. Shawn in also disconnected from the people in his life, he cannot communicate with them, although they can communicate with him, it isn't normal communication.
The relationship between Shawn's brother Paul and his Father is also stuck in neutral. These two don't understand each other and will not move on from the past. With two contradicting opinions and a problem to face, the tension between the two tightens and it is a battle to whomever can defend (or opposite) Shawn better. On this note, I agree with Paul, with his defensive love for his brother that he wont let anyone hurt Shawn. Although he might not know, he is demonstrating how much he really loves his brother, which means more to Shawn than he knows.
I strongly dislike the ending of this book because it leaves us on a cliff not knowing what will happen next. When the WHOLE book leads up to this conclusion, (from the very front cover!) and then there is no resolution... it is once again a neutral conclusion. I think in this sense the author was playing it safe, writing an ending for anyone and everyone, nothing morally questionable or unacceptable, nothing happy and fulfilling. Just and empty neutral space.
After reading
Stuck in Neutral, I didn't like the ending. Personally, I like
answered questions. I felt like after building all this tension
throughout the book, the author just left it, as if he did not want
to finish his essay or something. It felt like an essay without a
conclusion. I also didn't like how Paul entered the story abruptly
and just as abruptly, he was not a part of it at all. I really liked
Paul's character traits, such as how he cared for Shawn but at the
same time, not wanting to break his "coolness", but he just left as
quickly as he entered. However, I liked the author's look on how
kids with cerebral palsy may look at life. When other kids look at
retards (in the nicest way possible), we often believe that they
have no thought and that they don't understand, which is exactly the
way other people thought of Shawn in the book. It was interesting to
see that maybe they also have thought too.
5. I think that Shawn's father thinks that Shawn is struggling with his disabilities. Shawn likes the fact that he is disabled. But his father, on the other hand doesn't like seeing him the way he is. I think Shawn's father doesn't care about Shawn being disabled but the fact that when he has a seizure its pain in his heart and any parent would probably see that their child is hurting. So for that reason I believe that Shawn believing his father is wanting to "take him out" isn't because he doesn't love him, I think it’s to put him out off his agony so that he won't have to endure "pain" anymore.
5. I think Shawn’s father thinks that Shawn is suffering from his disability so he wants to put Shawn out of the misery he thinks Shawn is in. If Sydney (Shawn’s father) actually thinks that his son is miserable, then he will most likely kill his son, thinking that he is helping him rather than murdering him. Sydney says that he loves his son and when he is interviewing Earl Detraux, it is apparent that Sydney believes Detraux was correct for what he did, and even Sydney’s daughter is scared for Shawn. I think that in the end, Sydney will kill Shawn because he thinks it will be for the bette
Stuck in Neutral was to me, an effective piece of work. Primarily because of the impact of Shawn's thoughts. I like how I could see into the thoughts, ideas, and insights he had about the things occurring around him, showing that people with conditions like Shawn's cerebral palsy have thoughts and brain activity as well. Most people when first looking at a person with a disorder, condition, or retard-like characteristics think to avoid them because they're "crazy". But the love and affection showed in the Stuck in Neutral by Shawn's family would hopefully promote more care and affection towards them. The idea that Shawn's father wants to kill him to "stop the pain" also took me by surprise. At first I thought, what a cruel father, how inhumane... having ideas of killing his own son. I then read the next surprising chunk that stated his justification - because of the pain for his father for watching the pain from Shawn's seizures. I also liked how Shawn related the accident with the dog to his own life and then related it to his father. Speaking of relations, i could also relate Shawn to myself. We both depend on the family for support, protection, shelter, food, etc.... We both pack our feelings and thoughts into our head and keep them to ourselves, but with one exception - Shawn's inability to move a muscle. The title is catchy. At first I thought it was someone stuck in the middle of a situation, perhaps a family argument. I was caught off guard when I found out it was actually Shawn with cerebral palsy, and "Neutral" actually meant that Shawn was really unable to do anything. This book was excellent. I liked the new view of the book and it was something I have never read before.
for some reason i would view shawn as a jerk from his describtion, maybe it is because the story is so raw of his bare emotions but i feel society does not view him the way i do(or at least the way i have heard from his descriptions), society pitys him constantly because they do not know who he really is. i did not enjoy his pure train of thought because it most consisted of girls and i am a girl myself, but that may just be the way the mind of a 14 year old boy works. i did enjoy learning the view of someone suffering from C.P. but other then that i felt the book was to straight forward and it kinda scared me.
I asked my friend,
"What in this book going to be about?" She had read it already and
decided to tell me what was so obvious to her. "It's about a boy
with cerebral palsy." I just looked at her and thought "why are we
reading this?" And then we began to read. I got pulled into the book
and the fiction within the pages intrigued me. Was this based on
real events? How horrible it would be to live in a body that doesn't
respond. I'm so used to be able to do everything that I think of
doing. What if, one day, I woke up and couldn't get out of bed? And
I couldn't control anything? I'd be miserable and my family would
have to deal with so much. They wouldn't even know that I'm in
there, trying so hard to communicate. And I would be considered
retarded just because I couldn't communicate with the outside world.
I would describe Shawn as a challenged boy who thinks about life and is very intuitive. I think society views Shawn lacking the ability to feel and understand when in reality he understands every word said around him. If there were a way for Shawn to convey his thoughts then the world would see the ablility of the challenged people. He has a lot of thoughts to offer on people's problems. When he listens in on his family's conversations he seems to understand exactly the problem. Although I feel this book lacks some reality, because aren't there ways for the physically challenged to type so that their thoughts are verbalized?
In my life, I have to depend on many people. I depend on my parents to drive me places and provide me with life necessities such as paying the taxes and food. Another example is on my baseball team I pitch and when I pitch I have eight other players that I depend on to make outs on defense. I count on the people I do to help me out with things that I am unable to do such as driving. Shawn depends on his parents, mainly his mother, and other caretakers in his life. Without people to depend on, no one in the world would be able to survive and live life to the fullest.
5. What do you
think Shawn's father believes about Shawn and his life?
7.What do you think
Shawn's father will do?
1. Knowing Shawn, I would describe him as a very observant person. Shawn does not have the ability to look around at different things and talk so all he can do is observe and learn. I believe that I view Shawn more as a person than society because reading this book makes me understand that people like Shawn are not weird but people with a better understanding. As much as Shawn lacks the ability to look at different points of view, he is able to be patient, because he has no other choice. He being patient allows him to hear what everyone has to say and be able to analyze what they say. He can than know that the best thing to do is in each situation. The only problem is, he can not relay the information to other people. This is why I believe that Shawn is a smarter person than the average human being. This is also why I believe that I know Shawn better than the society.
Other than that, I have to say that I have enjoyed this novel and love how I get a chance to see through the eyes of someone with cerebral palsy. I have always said something to people who make fun of people with cerebral palsy but after reading this novel, I have much more respect for them and I am going to take the extra time and effort that it takes to help the people with cerebral palsy and any other physically/mentally challenged peopl
7. What do you
think Shawn's father will do?
7. What do you think Shawn's father will do??
Answer: I think that Shawns father will not kill Shawn because he loves his child. Even though Shwan is handycaped. Because Shawn and his father is getting numerous amounts of media attention meaning that he has alot to deal with. My ending thoughts of this book Shawn will not be killed, but leaves my mind to wondering about really what could happen.
Dear Mr. Trueman,
The fifth question in the phamplet asks what i believe Shawns father thinks about Shawns life. I think that Shawns father believes he is in pain and might be better off put out of his misery. His father loves him so much he doesn't want to see hime "suffer" any longer. I dont understand why the father left and came back. If he left once and couldn't handle his son, then what made him think he would be able to the second time around and want to come back. The father keeps talking about killing Shawn and in the end he has a pillow in his hand. I will never know if Shawns father kills him or not but i think he does because he doesn't know that Shawn is not in pain and actually loves his seizures. Overall I really liked this book, when i was done my whole family is now reading it just because of my reaction at the end and not liking the ending. I like to know an ending and I didn't like the cliffhanger. Im really glad your comming to Kamiak and im excited to hear about what you have to say about it.
Shawn's father, Sydney E. McDaniel, assumes Shawn has no consciousness of his surroundings, but ironically, he does. I learned about the possible development of physically disabled kids. And if "abled"-people wake from their arrogance and excuses of neglecting the disabled (human beings as well), then perhaps, there would be a better world for all. We should make sure that the "Humane" thing to do is not to comfort them by their death. Comfort and death is oxymoronic..especially without their consent. Your novel has brought me to think about several important moral issues, and I am struggling for the right answer. One thing I believe is that the wonders of the human brain cannot be analyzed thoroughly understood scientifically because one's feelings and characteristic involves family, friends, their environment, and such. This book was interesting book in the beginning because it was a new topic I've read. As the book was moving with the plot, I thought the story was getting repetitive. It was same story how Shawn loves his family but can't communicate and he doesn't want to die. Also, I really couldn't understand Shawn because he seemed too happy for his condition. If I was in his life, I would probably get really depressed. One point I got frustrated at one plot when few bad kids were going to burn Shawn. When they were mocking Shawn, he was just laughing inside. It was good thing that Paul beat up those kid, but I couldn't understand how Shawn wasn't mad as Paul. I didn't really like Sydney E. McDaniel because it seems like he was in more pain than Shawn, and it seemed like killing Shawn would make go away his pain. Other family members were dealing with the same thing, and it make look Sydney McDaniel just a coward. Killing Shawn because of love just seemed like an excuse.
Dear Mr. Trueman, After reading your novel, Stuck in Neutral, I think that the ending was a huge cliffhanger. I don't know if it was a great idea. I was just wondering why you chose to end it without a full conclusion? My email address is... Thank you! I really enjoyed reading your book.
After Shawn has a seizure at the end of the book, I think that his father will let him live instead of murdering him. After seeing the public's reaction to Mr. Detreux, Shawn's father would not kill Shawn. He could not risk going to jail, and he would lose all of the fame gained from his poem. Other than the unresolved ending, I enjoyed reading your novela, and look forward to meeting you.
As I read this book, I attempted to picture myself in Shawn’s situation, which was really depressing. It reminded me of some sort of bad dream. I suppose it would be different for him because he didn’t know what it would be like to have a normal relationship, communicate, and really experience life. I couldn’t really identify with the character that well, and to tell you the truth, I don’t like him. He was a complete pervert and really was not so nice to other people in his class who were just like him. These feelings and opinions could have only developed because no one ever really taught him to be respectful, how to talk to/about women, and how to be truly sympathetic of peers. In some ways, this portrayal of Shawn’s personality might open some people’s minds to the idea of compassion towards the physically and mentally disabled.
On the subject of the term “neutral”, the story seemed to be there. All the events seemed to lead to nothing. Everything was just thinking back and the character development seemed to be coasting along with it. Also, Shawn is unable to move physically, and in some ways, emotionally. I thought it was really clever the way the title tied in with the story.
I really was pretty outraged by the “theopathic” outlook. God doesn’t make things like cp happen, it’s human genetics. That could have been left out or tuned down a bit because it seemed to be one of the primary points in some severely biased college editorial reflecting on a plane crash. When someone knows they’re to blame and they won’t take responsibility, they blame a “God” that they probably don’t even really believe in. It should definitely be a defining factor, but it seems to be on every page. If the author wants to get something off his chest about religion, he should write poetry or something where people go who actually want to hear people whine about their problems and opinions they can’t back up with any concrete evidence.
Overall, I was disappointed by the way the author handled a book with so much potential, that had so much going for it in the beginning, then just started to flop like a slowly dying rhinoceros, making as much obnoxious, pointless, god-hating noise as possible before it’s anti-climactic, emotionless death, dragging down all who read with it into a spiraling black tornado of depression.
Shawn is a misunderstood teen being that he acts as immature and lazy healthy teenage boys but lacks the ability to communicate his thoughts, feelings, or general needs.
With others causing his society to view him as a "vegetable". Someone in capable of This is an odd situation because of Shawn's inability to interact doing anything for himself from telling his family that he loves them to swatting a fly off of him. It is because of this, society has no idea who the real Shawn is.
In fact, in many ways Sydney is the only one to have it right on. While, even though Lindy, Cindy, and Paul love their brother, they all have given up in many ways and even said that Shawn can't actually understand what people around Shawn are saying.
Sydney, meanwhile, has some selfish and not fully baked reasons for killing Shawn, but the largest reason, the only reason we hear Sydney say over and over again, is what if Shawn can hear and understand everything that people are saying? What if he's more than a vegetable and is struggling, wishing to communicate with others? And if he is more than just a vegetable, why should he have to suffer? If this was really what Sydney was thinking, he may have had it more right on than anybody else but he was only too right and didn't quite understand that Shawn wasn't in as much pain as his father thought.
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