Independent Reading: Getting the Girl. Entry 2

Part 2 - Fire

Summary (Chapter 12 – 25 [P. 107 – 209])

            Over the next six months, Dini dates Lester and stops talking to Sherman, who halts his investigation and focuses on his cooking. However, one day in April, Sherman stumbles upon Anna Nicholson’s, a fellow ninth grader’s, picture in the washroom, marked with a D. Feeling that the defilers have gone too far, Sherman jumps back on the case. Fired up to investigate again, Sherman borrows a detective guide book, Learn To Be a P.I., from Vanessa and begins his surveillance. Meeting again with Ed the Head, Sherman is suggested to look into the lacrosse team, which harbours the most rumours concerning defiled girls.

            Soon after, he confronts Lester, who denies knowing Anna and warns him to stay away from Dini. Pressed on with determination, Sherman decides to trail the other members of the lacrosse team. Early in his surveillance, Sherman’s bike gets stolen, and he meets Vargo and Clarissa, two of the three Trophy Wives from his school. They are impressed by Sherman’s bravery in investigating Defiling, and work to help him gather evidence. However, in a cascade of events, Sherman cross-dresses to sneak out and is subsequently ambushed by an unknown person. Afterwards, he is saved by Rick and Ashton and retreats for the day.

Analytical Paragraph

            Throughout Getting the Girl, food appears frequently as a reoccurring motif. The food that Sherman cooks during his foods class represents his condition at school. This is illustrated when he says ‘omelets may be the most stressful meal’ (Juby 43), after discussing some difficult topics with Vanessa while cooking. In addition, as previously mentioned, Sherman sees food as a medium of expression. Following his misadventure with the Trophy Wives, Sherman consults Fred for support. He watches Fred prepare an exquisite, wholesome meal, and compares it to his own failures, becoming emotional in his reflection. Through the motif of food, Susan Juby has introduced a new perspective on life in the story.

Interactive Response

            Being at the center of the story, Sherman dispenses his views of the world around him, and after considering several of those views, I can see many similarities in our characters. Perhaps the main connection is our interpretation about food and how it is like an extended metaphor of life. The multi-faceted high school that Sherman attends is likened the very school that I attend. But beyond that, new concepts that are introduced intrigue me, such the Trophy Wives, who are three exceedingly famous and equally beautiful senior girls that play a mysterious background role in the plot. With each account that Sherman narrates, he reflects his interactions and observation through his amusing personality.