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Transcript

The Dangerous Art of Blending In

By Angelo Surmelis

By Lane Coffin

The Dangerous Art of Blending In

Angelo Surmelis

The Book

Online Summary

Online Summary

Evan Pano

http://www.slowlyboiledfrog.com/2017/05/nc-gay-teen-couple-will-be-featured-on.html

Evan Pano is a seventeen-year-old who doesn't know where he fits in. His strict immigrant Greek mother refuses to see him as anything but a disappointment. His quiet, workaholic father is a staunch believer in avoiding any kind of conflict. And his best friend, Henry, has somehow become distractingly attractive over the summer. Tired, isolated, scared--Evan finds that his only escape is to draw in an abandoned monastery that feels as lonely as he is. And yes, he kissed one guy over the summer. Henry, who's now proving to be interested in being more than friends. And it's Henry, who makes him believe that he deserves more than his mother's hard words and terrifying abuse. But as things with Henry heat up, and his mother's abuse escalates, Evan has to decide how to find his voice in a world where he has survived so long by being silent

http://www.myaspergerschild.com/2014/09/depression-in-young-people-with.html

Voula

The Anti-Hero in this book is Evans mother Voula. She is the protagonist because she does not accept Evan for who he is and is holding him back. Not only does she mentally abuse him, she physically abuses him too. Voula is also very bi-polar. One minute she is doing okay then the next minute she is going crazy and yelling and hitting Evan. Voula was raised in a very strick Greek family. This means that she only likes private Greek school, Greek foods, and the parents have to chose everything for the child and the child has no opion.

Voula

https://thumbs.dreamstime.com/b/mother-being-physically-abusive-towards-son-home-63069832.jpg

“Over the years, I’ve given them roles to play. The statue with the outstretched hands has a very noble face. He looks strong. I always thought of him as the one who would find a way to lead me out. Out of this town. This life. I’m still waiting” Page 52

“Using whatever willpower I can grab onto, I pull away and say, ‘No. This isn’t what you want. What I want.’ The truth is, it’s exactly what I want but I’m so scared of wanting it and even more scared of actually having it.” Page 101

“The person who was supposed to love me the hardest--the most unconditionally--has always wanted me gone. No matter how hard I tried to be perfect. Now, this boy--who knows all my imperfections and has seen all my hurt laid bare--wants me to stay.” Page 211

Quotes

Contral Conflict

http://www.livemaguk.com/mental-health-young-people/

The central conflict is Evans mother, Voula, which is a very religious Greek name. Voula has always look upon Evan nothing more than a disappointment and that really affected Evans mental state of being. Not only was Evan depressed most of his life but he couldn’t do what made him happy, the only thing that did make him happy was writing in his journal.

Central Conflict

http://www.tommynelson.com/helping-children-learn-how-to-deal-with-disappointment/

Theme

The theme of the book is love, acceptance, and happiness. We have these themes because Evan and Henry find love, there is acceptance because Evans father acceptance him for who he is and Henry also acceptance him. There is happiness because we Evan and Henry both not only try to find happiness in each other but in there lives. Evan has a very difficult time finding happiness in his life because the one thing that makes him happy is Henry and his mother forbids Evan from seeing Henry.

Theme

My Personal Take

My personal take from this book is to do what makes you happy. We can go through life trying to make other people happy and live our lives never being happy, and we shouldn’t live like that. I will personally being doing what makes me happy because isn’t that what we all want? And like Evan he couldn’t find happiness in his life until he was with Henry, and Henry helped him realize that he wanted to be happy and that he didn’t need to conform to his mothers expectations that he never met. I recently took a class by Arizona State University that was all about happiness. Happiness has a lot of definitions, these definitions are different to other people because everyone has different ways to become happy. Evans way to be happy was to be with Henry, and trying to please his mother was a way to not be happy. That’s why by the end of the book Evans moves out of the house and him and his mother never speak again.

Personal Take

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