1. What do you think of Mandy’s and Tracey’s friendship? How has it evolved throughout the novel?
2. Tracey explains why she hasn’t written about Steve. What is her explanation? Are you surprised?
3. The letters have changed Tracey. In what ways? What happens – as a result – in prison, and what do you think will happen to Tracey in the future?
4. Why does Mandy stop writing?
Question 1
SvaraRaderain the beginning of the book Mandy writes more than Tracey. Mandy was trying to get Tracey to write more about herself and her feelings. You notes that Tracey listen to her because she tells the truth.
We think that the friendship has grow during the book. Tracey needed Mandy because without her she would not be the same "nice" person that we think she is.
/Frida & Terese!
Question 1
SvaraRaderaIt starts out as a bad relation ship because of the lie and it ends with alot of love.
Question 2.
Steve is to violent and she doesen't want Steve to find out that she has written about him.
We talked a bit about this and we're not surprised about this.
Question 3
Tracey has become a more gentle and nice loving person who doesen't care about beeing the alpha female in garret any more.
We think that she will get out of prison sooner then expected because of her good behaviour.
Question 4
We think that Steve found out about her letters to tracy and the things mandy wrote about him in the letters and threathend her.
AÐam, Ellinor & Love
1. It has been better and better trough the book. After that tracey told mandy that she was in jail.
SvaraRadera2. She thinks that he reminds her about her self how she was before she was put into jail. No im not surprised that she was like him before.
3. She has been nicer to other people, I think she will take care of her life after she comes out of prison. So that she not comes back to it.
4. We think that she maybe has been killed by her brother steve. Because he was violence and he just has got a gun in succession from his grandfather.
Mattias and Christoffer
Good work therese and Frida. but it might be a bit to much text :)
SvaraRaderaQuestion 2
SvaraRaderaBecause her father has murdered her mother and hit Tracey and Simon. She don't know if Simon is alive or not. She don't like to think about it and thats why she didn't write about Steve.
We are not surprised about it because she didn't want to tell Mandy about her family, so you just know that something was wrong.
/Frida & Terese
1. It has grown very much since the first letters. They have learn to be more honest and to trust each other. We think they have a very unusual friendship. We see that you can be very good friends altough you never talk or meet each other, they have a strong relationship.
SvaraRadera2. Because she first wants to know how a happy family lives. She thinks there is no problems, she wants to hear about a luckfully life. But when Mandy starts writing about Steve, Tracey doesn't want to listen, read or know about it at all. That's why she ignore to write about him. We both are suprised when we saw no answers or no coments about Steve from Tracey. We think it was mean but then when you find out what Tracey has to say, we understand her.
Jessica and Sandra
In question 2, adam ellinor and love writes about the wrong person.
SvaraRaderaMattias & Christoffer
1. We don't think that it has been a good friendship because of the lies that Tracey made. The relationship were superficial and not honest. Because through half of the novel Tracey was lying about her life. We don't think you can build a friendship on lies.
SvaraRadera2. Because she got flash backs from her owm life, it remind her when her father hit her like Steve hit Mandy sometimes. We are not suprised, we understand that it is hard for Tracey to hear something like she has gone through and want to forget. She already have a lot of problems to deal with and don't want to help Mandy currently.
3. We think that it has calmed Tracey to have a "real" friendship where she can talk about everything. But still it feels like Tracey have gived up the hope of a good life after the prison. She said many times that she is going to die in prison. In the future we think that Tracey will have it hard to let new people in, in her life because she is scared of what will happened to her and the people around her. Are people going to trust her?
4. We think that Steve has killed her, because the letter came back to Tracey and all marked "Return to sender". And Steve has been weird and reading gun magazines and so on.
From Elin R and Maja
1. there friendship gets more deep, and they talk about feelings more and more. except for when they got mad at each other. tracey had no noone except for mandy and at first mandy wrote more about her self, so she wanted tracey to do that to. After she told the truth, she started to talk about her life.
SvaraRadera2. she dose't want do talk about steve because all thats happened on the prison. and that reminds her of herself. we are not surprised
3. she feels like she can trust people, and she gets more confident. she got kinder and think that she would get out of Garret earlier. and then, when she gets out. she can start a new life.
4. we think steve found out about the letters and saw what mandy wrote about him. and he got angry and pulled the tricker against her because he was crazy
simon & daniel.k
1. Since Tracy told the truth abut her life and her problems it's only been getting better and better. The letters has been very personally and they told stuff that you only tell someone you trust very well. They even told each other that they're best friends.
SvaraRadera2. Tracy doesn't write about Steve because Tracy's dad hit her and her family and she's tired of hearing about violence and stuff that tears familys apart. She wanted to read about a normaly family. We are not suprised because she has had a very hard childhood.
3. Since Tracy started to write to Mandy she has behaved a lot better in the prison. She wrote in a letter that she needed to get letters from Mandy so she could tell her when she was beeing an asshole. Tracy got more and more emotional and talked about her feelings and what happend to her family. We think when Mandy stopped writing to Tracy she went back to her old herself and started to get in problems and fights. We think that after she get out of the prison she will start looking for lowmoney jobs and maybe she'll get one but she will always have her youth in the prison on her mind.
4. We think that she was hit by her brother Steve and maybe she thought that this was enough and she fled her family and maybe moved in to some relative and forgot to take with the adress to the prison where Tracy was in.
Av Henrik och Daniel
1. At first they didn't know eachother very much but they were very open and talked about what they did during the days they were writing. But when Mandy found out that Trasy was in prison they started to talk about more private thing and secrets. In the end they talked very open and were very honest to eachother and Tracy started talking about her pass.
SvaraRadera2. Her explanation is that she is kind of embarrassed and she was scared what Mandy would think about him. And at the begining they didn't talk about so many personal things in their families and so on.
3. Tracy becomes more honest and thinks more about her life and what she's going to do about it. She quits in " Mad unit " but in the end when Mandy stops writing back to her she returns to " Mad unit " again. They also say that she can't go back to A block. So Tracy were calm and nice when Mandy were writing to her and when she stopped, she turned crazy. We think Tracy is going to stay in prison for a few more years and we don't think her life is going to be better.
4. In one of her last letters to Tracy she tells her that she's scared of her brother because he has got a gun and he doesn't got a license for it she also tells Tracy that her brother got more agressive. 1 alternative of the end is that Mandy got shot by her brother because Tracy asked her to write something so she knew Mandy was alive and another alternative is that she got creeped out by Tracy and Tracys background so she could't handle the truth anymore.
By: Martin H, Gustaf F and Alexander H
1)
SvaraRaderaFrom being just regular penpals they kind of become best friends and tells each other almost everything. For example Mandy will tell her how its like living in garret and how her family was.
Tracy will tell her how her life is, her best friends,her lovelife and about her family.'
2)
First when Tracey started writing ads she was hoping to get to talk with someone that has a great family because it facinated her. When Mandy started talking about Steve, Tracet got more curious but when she got more information about it she felt sick. It reminded her of her family, the violence and all that.
3)
Well Mandy got sick and was sent to med unit.In med unit they took another step, they talkd on the telephone and they both thought it was very exciting.
4)
We think that Mandy's brother Steve killed her because the dreams that Tracey had, it´s obvious that it´s a sign. Steve said to Mandy how the parties are going to be a rage and ´Mandy said that he was cleaning his gun so we think he was planning a massacre and he killed Mandy too.
//valon eldar mommo mahad
1.first they were good friends because they thougt they were honest to eachother but when Mandy realised that Tracy had lied to her all the time she couldn´t really trust her and the friendship started to fall apart. but Mandy tried hard to keep the letters going so she push her to wright back and be honest to Mandy. Because of that they become more and more friends and in the end they become best friends because they were honest to eachother and could talk about anything.
SvaraRadera2.Tracy whanted to be a part of a "normal" family and she tought that Mandy had a normal family and a normal life without any problems. But when Mandy told her about her problems with her brother she realised that nothing is perfect. Because of that she doesn´t whanted to ask about it because then she get more problems to think about. Mandy tought that Tracy only talk about herself all the time. But so was not the case. Mandy missunderstod that part.
No we´re not suprised. if you had many problems you don´t whant to be a part of other peoples problems as well.
3. we think that the letters have changed her and helped her to open her eyes and see that she isn´t alone to have problems. What she tought was perfectin the begining turned out to be nothing like that. She begin to be nicer in the prison and started to help out.Tracy even learn that she can trust other people. We think that she maybe don´t lie for someone she don´t know in the future and that she might trust more people in the future.
4.We think that she got worried and a little bit afraid of Tracy when she told about her father.
It got to much for Mandy to hear. She realised that Tracy had to big problems for Mandy to handle. // Rebecka and Emma
We agreed with Elin and Maja about their answers especially on the last question.
SvaraRaderaDaniel H and Henrik
Very good job everyone , we are impressed :)
SvaraRadera/eldar valon mommo mahad
1. We think that it's quite different than other types of friendships, because it all started over a letter and grow bigger and bigger.After a while they started to trust each other and began to write more about private things, things they don't tell to just anyone. It's safe to write to someone you don't know and probably never will met. They say in the book that if we meet, we must start a new friendship, and that friendship will not be like the one over letter. In the beginning Tracey and Mandy write more unpersonal stuff and by the time they start to tell how it really is in their lifes. That their lifes are not "sunny" all the time. so in the end they really trust and love each other and value their friendship high.
SvaraRadera2.Why Tracey didn't want to write about Steve, was because when she put an ad in, she wanted to hear about how it is in the "real" world outside Garrett, how it is in a ordinary family. When Mandy started to tell about Steve and how violent he is and so on, Tracey hated to hear about it because Mandy started to sound like Tracey or anybody ells in Garrett and Tracey didn't want that. "Twenty-four hours a day is enough". We're not surprised. we understand that Tracey is sick of hearing about violent and problems, and she wants to know if there is a normal, happy family out there, and that the family is not like the one she grew up in. A lot of problems and other things. She could never feel safe and "problemless".
3.When Mandy knows how Traceys life is and Tracey finally starts to open up herself and write about how it is in Garrett and so on, she started to be a little bit nicer by the time she writes about her life. She said herself that "and I'm scared I'm getting softer the more I write to you" (p.68). Tracey knows that the one who answer her letter, cares about her and wants to know more, and she is not here in Garrett. Tracey doesn't need to show herself "hard and without any feelings" which she does inside the "walls". The letters has changed Tracey in a good way, she starts to know that she doesn't have to be "cold and hard" all the time, it's ok to show feelings. And she also gets to know how it is when somebody cares about you, and stand by your side. That is getting Tracey more softer. In the future we think that Tracey will change her life, she won't do anything bad again and she will show other people that she can be good. She is not a bad person.
4. Because the letters don't come to her. She doesn't get them.
By Erika N and Nathalie N Sp1a
Question 3
SvaraRaderaShe was angry and sad in the prison before, but now she didn't care about the other, e.g. Anita. She has found out why she want to live.
We don't think she will trust anybody else in the future because she has oppened herself to Mandy and suddently she doesn't get any answers back.
/Frida & Terese
Good job Love but you could had written a bit more on the second question. Tell more about Tracey's view of it.
SvaraRadera//valon eldar mommo mahad
We agree with Beckys answer on question 2. "That there is not a perfect life, and Tracey realize it later". We think that it was good writing.
SvaraRaderaBy erika och Nathalie sp1a
Question 4
SvaraRaderaWe think Mandy stops wrinting because Steve has murdered her:'(
/Frida & Terese!
3. She has become a nicer person since Mandy and herself become penpals. But from the beginning we think, that the prison made her more mean, selfish and lonley. Mandy helps her to be a better person. But then when Mandy stops writing Tracey becomes more like she was in the beginning but even more lonley. We think that they maybe will never hear from each other again. Tracey is going to get more desperate in the future, in a bad way.
SvaraRadera4. We think the way Mandy stops writing is strange. We divine something very bad. The way Mandy talks about Steve and what he's doing, makes us think that she maybe is dead. You never know, but that's the way we interpret it.
Jessica and Sandra
We don't agree with they who think that Mandy get scared to write back to Tracey, we think Steve has murdered her!
SvaraRadera/Frida & Terese!