02.08.10
“The Luckiest Girl In The World” Just Like Any Other Teenager?
I was tired of reading deep books. As a result, I chose this book – “The Luckiest Girl In The World” by Steven Levenkron. However, the novel turned out to be not like any other teenage girls, high school novels. In fact, I find the story to be concise, addicting, and meaningful. I finished the book long before the assigned date; I just couldn’t put the book down.
Judging by its appearance, many may say that this is a book for girls. Let me say this – do not let one’s appearance deceive you. Katie Roskova, the protagonist of this novel, was a high school student whose grades were never below A- and was on her way to become a champion figure skater. It seemed like she was the luckiest girl in the world, Katie was pretty and popular. However, Katie had another side that she had been concealing from the world, a side that she cannot reveal to her friends and family.
I enjoyed reading this book because of reading the resemblance of Katie’s life to the lives of many teenagers, especially teenagers from Asian countries. Although Katie was a successful, good student, that wasn’t a life that she wanted. Katie was a contestant of a champion figure skater because it was her mother’s dream to be a successful figure skater when her mother was young. Katie’s grades were never below A- because she wouldn’t be able to study in her high school with a scholarship if her grades weren’t good.
Similar situations could be found in many families. Parents want their children to learn something, may it be a sport, a foreign language, an instrument, because that was what the parents wanted but couldn’t learn when they were young. They were using their children to complete their unaccomplished dreams. In addition, although Katie had been performing extremely well, she had the pressure of maintaining her grades in order to study in her school. This is also something that is happening in many households – children are asked to have good grades. Yes, as a student, it is our responsible and job to study, but learning then becomes uninteresting anymore! It was a necessity, and we’re learning not for the sake of learning, but the sake of our future and many, to please their parents.
After reading “The Luckiest Girl In The World”, I learned that it is very important to have a balanced life. Although Katie was very successful as a student, but she wasn’t a successful teenager. She was reclusive, she didn’t have any friends because she had to constantly practice for the championship competition. Friends are important, they play a very important role in our lives. If Katie had a friend that she could share her secrets, maybe she wouldn’t had a mental breakdown.
Last but not least, communication is also very important. I think that children should not be afraid to tell their thoughts to their parents, because parents do not always understand the difference between what their children want and what their children need. So, if the parent is doing something wrong without really knowing it, it’s our job as the child to tell them. After all, we meant no harm and our intention was good. Don’t you agree?
