DJ Scharton Essay, Research Paper

The Falcon

This book is written in the perspective of a teenagers life. The writers name is Luke

Carver and he is seventeen years old. Luke starts the story off by writing ?Man, is this lame

or what? A seventeen year old guy writing a journal.? (pg3) Luke then starts explaining how

he was supposed to be writing in his journal over Christmas vacation but he procrastinated

as usual. It?s now the day before school starts and he only has half a page written. Luke

starts writing about his girlfriend Megan and how beautiful she is. Then he goes into

explaining how the tri-meet is coming up this Saturday. It takes Luke awhile to get used to

the idea of writing a journal but when he does it starts getting interesting.

Luke tells about one time that he and his friend Hutch went to top-o-the-world(this is

like a lookout spot where you can see for miles). When they got up there Hutch says, ?It?d

be pretty cool to climb down there huh?? (pg. 49) Luke then said, ?Wanna do it?? (pg. 50)

Hutch then mentioned that Luke?s mom kind of made him promise to look out for him. After

Luke heard that he got angry and their was no talking him out of climbing down. When they

were both done climbing down hutch walked the path to the top and Luke climbed the way

he got down.

One night Hutch spent the night at Luke?s and they were sitting watching television

and talking. As they were talking Luke asked Hutch if he wanted to visit Lenny, party, and

find some girls. They got to Lenny?s but he said he couldn?t go to the party because he had a

ten-page paper that was due the next day. So they left and went to the party. After awhile of

standing around someone yelled out, ?Hey, I haven?t seen you around before.? This person

introduced herself as Sherry Keeler and introduced her friend Kate Samuels to Hutch. The

only one not drinking was Luke because he had to drive home. Luke and Sherry went back

to her room to go have sex and when they got there Luke started thinking twice and said,

?Thanks anyway, but I can?t do this,? (pg. 77) and he ran out to go find Hutch. He found

Hutch and told him that it was time to leave. On the drive home Hutch was so drunk that he

puked all over Luke?s dad?s car and passed out.

Luke was home one day and decided to take a walk with his dog Daisy. Before he

knew it he had walked to what was now his ex-girlfriend Megan?s house, which was three

miles away from his house. When he looked closer at her house he noticed that Megan was

outside on her horse and one of his friends, Tony was also on a horse right next to her. At

about this time Daisy jumped away from Luke and went to Megan. When Daisy got there

Megan saw here and said, ?I wonder where Luke is, because it?s not like Daisy to run off

unless Luke is coming this way. Come on Daisy, Let?s go find Luke.?(pg. 116) After they

had walked far enough away from Luke he decided to climb up the mountain instead of

taking the trail. When he was about half way up he was trying to hold on when a chunk of

ice fell from somewhere above and pierced into his right eye. When this happened he thought

?NO! Not again!? Megan and Tony found him finally and brought him up by tying a rope to

him and pulling him up with the horses.

The falcon was the first book that I?ve that was written in a journal-form. I don?t

necessarily know if this was the best way to tell the story, but it works. I would have rather

read it in a third-person form. The authors intent to tell what happened to Luke when he was

younger could have been told at the beginning of the story instead of the end. I didn?t like it

that Luke would give clues of something happening when he was younger and then cross it

off right before he got to the part I wanted to know. But I look at it this way, If it wasn?t for

this I probably wouldn?t have finished the book. It made me want to know what happened.

The book is written very well. It sounds like a teenager wrote it instead of an adult. I

liked the fact that the author knows how teenagers feel. Most adults forget what it feels like

to be a teenager.

The author does seem fair about what she writes. She writes about both sides of

being a teenager. She also writes about being mature and in control.

My over-all opinion of the book is fair. It teaches some lessons and has morals also. I

would recommend giving the book a chance, I did.

Biography

MLA format: Koller, Jackie French.The Falcon.New York: New York.1998.