Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer

        I am currently reading the book Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer. It is about Jenna, who changes from a complex teenager to a loyal woman. She goes through a time in her life where she finds her own way of things. But her drastic  change happened very slowly learning from her parents and exploring her childhood. 

        Jenna's whole life changes. She goes from an unsure teenager to a strong woman. Her alcoholic father has left her mom and younger sister. She learns from what not to do from that. In the beginning of the book, Jenna runs into him unexpectedly, as he was drunk. But then she becomes very caring towards her father. Jenna is always concerned about her father’s actions. Many people might think this is a horrible decision considering the fact that he has left his family and he is a alcoholic. Not to mention, owes a lot of money to people and whenever they called, he made Jenna pick up and tell them loads of lies. However, Jenna tried hard to look past all of this. She tried to look at how he had great business skills. Jenna wanted to love him because he was still her father. There is even a time when Jenna isn’t home and her dad keeps calling her mom and sister late at night while he is drunk; Jenna’s mom changes their phone number. Jenna tries to argue and says he doesn’t mean the things he does. I think there is a secret part of Jenna's heart where she stores her father's memories. However, Jenna at the end of the book, makes a very indifferent choice. She found her father driving, without knowing that he was drunk. Then, when she gets in the car, she finds out that he was drunk. He drives without caution, and then she takes the handle and stops the car. However, a cop was near the incident. When the cop finds out what happen, they take matters into their own hands and takes her father away. She ends up dashing home to take a shower. She tried so hard to accept her dad, but when things got out of hand, she realized that it all needed to be washed away.  The whole incident with her dad was the turing point where she grows into a loyal woman.

        This really shows the bright side of all her struggles. Jenna went through so much and that was what made her who she was. It could have been that part of her that made her father hold her back, but eventfully, she got over it.