Over the Rainbow

My free choice book is “Please Don’t Die,” by Lurlene McDaniel. It takes place at the Jenny House, which is a place where children and teens that are facing medical challenges can stay for the summer. The story focuses on four girls who are put into the same room at the Jenny House. There is Katie, who has received a heart transplant and is the oldest. She is like the “big sister” to the other girls. Then there’s Amanda who has leukemia, Chelsea, who is a candidate for a heart transplant, and Lacey who is diabetic. Throughout the book you watch as the four girls face challenges, discover new things, and bond with each other. This is shown through the symbol of a rainbow and sunset, which runs through the story. The rainbow and sunset are shown as something not only beautiful, but as an escape, a dream place, and a sign that life goes on.

In the beginning of the book, Amanda takes Lacey, Chelsea, and Katie to a place she finds in the woods. They decide that this place would be their own secret place that no one else knows about. While they are sitting there, the girls see a magnificent sunset. During that magical moment, in a place all their own, the setting sun brings them closer together and touches each of them. It’s special because all of the girls feel they may never be able to share a moment with each other like that again. The sunset is so beautiful they get lost in it, and forget about their problems. After they see the sunset, things change between the girls. None of them never really say anything about it, but you can just tell. It is an unspeakable bond they share. Though they are all different in age, personality, looks, and medical conditions, they are all able to share something. They all know how it feels to be stuck in a hospital. They all know what it’s like to be a little “different” from everyone else and share similar struggles. They are able to relate to one another on a level that no one else can, not even their parents or their friends back home. Whenever they are feeling down or just want to be with each other, they can escape to their special place and just watch the sunset. For that moment in time, the world seems majestic and so much bigger then their problems. Their sadness melts away and turns into a feeling of awe and hope.

Towards the middle of the book, Amanda’s leukemia returns and she has to go to the hospital. The three other girls go to visit her. As they ride in the car, Katie gazes out the window and wishes that they could be heading to somewhere over the rainbow, instead of the reality of hospitals and doctors. The rainbow is a dream place for the girls, a place where no one hurts, where they can live “normally”, and don’t have any restrictions that hold them back.

As the book comes to a close, Amanda’s leukemia worsens. She is put into isolation, surrounded by white walls and tubes sprawling from her body. You can almost go insane there. While she’s in the hospital she receives a gift: a mobile of the sun, the moon, the stars, and a rainbow. The vision of the rainbow on the mobile is what Amanda uses to escape and forget the pain she’s in. Watching the mobile, her imagination runs wild to the dream place, where she can fly over the rainbow. Amanda’s pain is finally gone as she reaches the rainbow. The three other girls go to their special place because they are feeling down from the loss of their good friend. As they look up to the sky, they see a rainbow shimmering across the sky. Right then, they can feel Amanda looking at them and realize that Amanda has found her place over the rainbow.

Throughout my book the theme of the rainbow and sunset run through the story. Both the sunset and the rainbow are beautiful, shared experiences that the girls are able to lose themselves in and escape their problems. The sunset is a powerful symbol because it brings the four girls together and leads to their unspeakable bond. The theme of the rainbow that streams through the story shows us that life goes on. The rainbow also symbolizes the beauty of life and that after you die, there’s something even more beautiful waiting for you!