Why do you think Nate chose not to press charges on his dad?

I think that it's hard for any kid to be in that position with one of their parents. Even if one of your parents did something really bad you still love them because they raised you. I think that this is the position that Nate is in. He doesn't particularly like his dad too much but he's not able to press charges on him. If the conditions were different Nate would probably be able to. Such as if he didn't know his dad and they had just met. Then Nate wouldn't have many attachments to him and if he was mean Nate wouldn't love him.

Nate

Nate is the typical boy next door. He's popular at school and everyone seems to like him. He's president of the student council and all around a good guy. But, ruby doesn't think this at first. Her first impression of him is that he tries to hard. Though eventually, Ruby gets to know Nate. He is hiding something and he doesn't want anyone to know. Nate works with his dad for his dad's company. Their company basically does chores for other people, such as, picking up your dry cleaning or walking your dog. Eventually the company starts to go downhill and when this happens Nate's dad gets stressed. He takes out his stress on Nate. The secret that Nate was trying to hide for so long was that his dad beats him. Nate did want help yet he didn't want anyone to know which didn't work out. Eventually Ruby finds out and gets Nate away from his dad for good.

My favorite character

My favorite character in Lock and Key is Ruby. She is also the main character.The book is all about how she changes and I like that. She goes from scared and alone to happy and having a life filled with loving people. No one else in the book is like that. I would like to experience some of what Ruby went through. I would want to know how it fells to go through so many drastically different changes in such a short time. To me Ruby is the best character in the book and I really like her.

What will happen to Nate now that Ruby found out his secret?

Nate's secret was that his dad was abusing him and he didn't tell anyone. When I was still reading the book, I thought that Ruby wouldn't tell anyone and that Nate would stay with his dad. Ruby didn't let that happen. She told her older sister Cora about Nate's dad. Cora let Nate stay in her house and called his mom in Arizona. Nate could have pressed charged on is dad but he decided not to. Though Nate didn't press charges, the people that Nate's dad worked for did. It turned out that he was stealing money from all of them. Nate went to stay with his mom and I realized that this was a good thing. Ruby saw this too even though he had to leave her.

Why did Ruby go back to visit her old house?

I don't think that Ruby should have gone back to her old house. She only went because she thought that there might be a chance that her mom would be back. But, she wasn't. When Ruby went back, she finally realized how much she had changed. Before she left the house she thought she was fine living there. Then after living with her sister in a nice house, she changed. When she went back to her old house she realized how bad the living conditions were. There were drugs and empty beer bottles everywhere. It was infested with bugs and rodents and was a total mess. Once she went she knew that it was a bad idea that she had Nate bring her there. She didn't want him to see her breaking down. Though this did give Nate insight on Ruby's old life.

Why did Ruby's mom keep Ruby away from her older sister?

I don't think Ruby's mom had any right to do this. Cora was trying to get in touch with her sister after she left for college and Ruby wanted to talk to her. But, whenever Cora tried to talk to Ruby their mom would say that Ruby didn't want to speak to Cora. I think she did this because she didn't want to be alone. Ruby's mom knew that if Cora and her sister talked that she would take Ruby away. So to prevent this Ruby's mom never let the two sisters speak. When Ruby found out about this she was really upset. She had thought that Cora was the bad guy because she never tried to contact Ruby. But, really it was Ruby's mom that was the bad guy and that was hard for her.

What do you think the white fish Ruby got for the pond symbolizes to her?

Ruby's brother-in-law built a pond in the backyard of their house. When he was buying the fish he let Ruby pick out one fish to be hers. Ruby picked out a white fish and her brother-in-law made sure not to pick any more white ones. I think that this fish kind of symbolized her. For the Winter all of the fish went down to the bottom of the pond to hide. Ruby thought of this as her because the fish was hiding when her life was turning out to be very difficult. Then, when it became warm again the fish came back up. She then thought this was like her because when it came up her life was getting back to normal and she was finally adjusting to it.

Will Ruby ever take off her key necklace?

I don't think that Ruby will ever be able to take off her necklace. The key on her necklace was the key to her old house that she lived in with her mother. To her this key symbolizes her past which was very important to her. Her past wasn't the best but she learned from it and it helped her. Most people would want to forget their pasts but Ruby didn't. She thought of the necklace as a key into her past which she would always keep because it really changed her.

When do you think Ruby and Nate really connected?

It took a while for Ruby to finally connect with Nate. The day that she connected with him she finally got a hint of what was going on with him and it helped her. They finally connected on Thanksgiving when Ruby went over to Nate's house. Ruby heard Nate's dad yell at him and smash a shelf to the ground. This gave Ruby a clue that there might be something wrong and she wanted to help. Nate tried to push Ruby away but she wouldn't allow that. This definitely helped their relationship grow.

Introduction

I read Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen. Ruby's childhood was never easy while living with her mom and sister. Her mom was a drunk, a drug addict, and often hit her older sister. Things got even harder for Ruby when her sister went off to college and her mom disappeared. She was left alone and finally found and sent to live with her sister who was now successful and happy. Ruby did not want help from anyone and it took her a while to finally accept it. Then, she met Nate, her new next door neighbor. She was put off by him and how much he wanted to help her at first. When she really got to know him she found out that there was a mystery behind him that she wanted to find out. Ruby wanted to help him but it was hard because she could barley accept help herself. I really enjoyed this book and it was a good story of a girl finally finding herself.