Michelle+Smith

= // Keeper of the Night // = __ **Plot Summary:** __ The book, //Keeper of the Night, // a young adult fiction, by Kimberly Willis Holt is about a young girl and her family who have to deal with the death of their mother. The story takes place in Malesso, Guam. In the story Isabel, the main character, struggles to keep her family together after her mother, Erlinda, committed suicide. Isabel, her sister Olivia, her brother Frank and her father (who they call Tata) move to live with Minerva (Tata's sister) in Tammuning after Tata claimed he saw the mothers ghost in the home. After several months of miserably living away from their lives, they finally move back to Malesso. Once they return home the family starts falling apart. No one acts normal anymore. Frank no longer plays the Ukulele like his mother taught him too and he's always angry and Isabel catches him carving into his bedroom wall. Tata leaves the house to fish all day and he now sleeps in the exact spot where his wifes body was found. Olivia starts wetting the bed and has terrible nightmares every single night. And Isabel goes into a depressed confused state, wondering why her mother committed suicide, wasn't she happy?

__**About The Author:**__ Kimberly Willis Holt never grew up in one spot. She was born on September 9th, 1960 moving all over and traveling due to her father being in the navy. She lived in many areas including Guam, where the story takes place. She has also lived in France and Louisiana. Kimberly had never thought about writing being her career until the seventh grade when she joined a creative writing class and was encouraged by her teacher. However, Kimberly did always have a passion for creating stories. After graduating from college she had not yet started to pursue a writing career. Instead, she was involved with interior decorating, marketing and radio news. Finally, she decided to start writing. Her first written book was //My Louisiana Sky.// Today, Kimberly is happily married and she has one daughter, Shannon. She now lives in Amarillo, Texas with her family continuing her writing career.

__**Social Issue Relevance:**__ **News Article: [|Depression and Suicide-Breaking the Link] ** ====In the book Kimberly wrote "She left no note, said no good-byes, gave no last hugs or kisses. Only the empty bottle of sleeping pills that had rolled under her bed proved that she'd meant to leave" (page 3). This line tells the reader that the mother had committed suicide, which is a very common issue in the real world today. In the United States there are over 34,000 deaths due to suicide every year and every 15 minutes, someone takes his own life. It's sometimes hard to tell why people take their own lives but two of leading causes are depression and mental disorders. People can be helped if they are suicidal; they just need the right care and attention. **For more information on suicide, click here**: [|Suicide] ==== ====**Sources:** [|Suicide statistics] ====

====**__About the Reader:__** I'm Michelle Smith. I was born in Gahanna, Ohio and have lived here my entire life. I am 15 years old and am a freshman at Gahanna Lincoln High School. Before high school i attended Middle School East sixth through eighth grade. In middle school i joined band, and I have been playing the Clarinet for four years. Outside of school i have passion for animals and nature.====



**__Dramatization:__** If the //Keeper of the Night// were to become a movie, I would choose Selena Gomez to be the actress for Isabel because she looks like the part and has already been in several other movies. To play the role of Frank (the sad, depressed young brother of Isabel) I would choose Jake T. Austin becuase I imagine Frank looking similar to him. For Isabel's younger sister, Olivia, i would choose Abigail Breslin becasue she's a younger actress like Olivia would be.

__**Other Works by Kimberly Holt:**__
 * //Piper Reed Gets A Job//
 * //Piper Reed The Great Gypsy//
 * //Piper Reed Navy Brat//
 * //Skinny Brown Dog//
 * //Part Of Me//
 * //Waiting For Gregory//
 * //Dancing in Cadillac Light//
 * //When Zachary Beaver Came To Town//
 * //Mister And Me//
 * //My Louisiana Sky//