Afterparty
Anna Redisch Stampler
Summary
Emma is moved off to California due to a job change of her fathers, after the death of her mother. Her father wont even say her mothers name out loud. Now she is torn from her friends and love ones comfort to go to Cali. That means she also has to change schools, meaning new people. On her first day of her new school she is introduced to who would become her best friend Siobhan and the schools mean girls. Siobhan stuck up for her creating the start of a toxic friendship. See Emma was a good girl, always doing what she is told, and Siobhan the complete opposite, a rebel who makes up her own rules. Slowly Emma changes into a carbon copy of Siobhan. Emma starts going to parties, sneaking out, disobeying her father, and skipping her shifts at the local food bank to hang out with her new boyfriend. She wants to live life on the edge like Siobhan, with that leaving her nickname "Emma the good" behind. She skips classes and disrespects her father. Siobhan creates a list of things Emma must do to prepare her for the famous party "After-party" at the end of the year. The list takes Emma on a crazy ride pushing her to do things she never though she would from vandalism to trying various drugs and drinking. She works her way up from small house parties to the huge party she waits all year for. When she finally makes it to the party Siobhan is already there being the wild party girl she is. Emma and Siobhan get into a fight at all places on the roof top. Siobhan tries to drag Emma off resulting in Siobhan falling off the slippery roof. Emma's boyfriend see's what happens and once they here the sirens tells her to run. A couple days after the party Emma visits Siobhan in the hospital and they officially end their friendship. Through out the book Siobhan takes Emma through so messed up situations and it gets to much for her. At the end of the book Emma rekindles her relationship with her father and becomes closer with her boyfriend. She starts slowly getting her old life back, going to the food bank regularly to volunteer, and getting her grades up, leaving Siobhan and her partying behind.
Characters
Emma: She is a cookie cutter daughter, a dads dream, but a wild friends worst nightmare. She gets good grades and has never been to a party in her life. She has recently lost her mom and it was tough on her and she starts kinda giving up on life. But in the end she realizes the party life isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Dylan: He is Emma's best friend and better yet boyfriend. He looks out for Emma through out the book without trying to control her. Emma's father at the beginning is not found of him, but he starts to grow on him. Her father see's that Dylan is good for Emma and that Dylan only wants whats best for her.
Siobhan: She is Emma's best friend throughout most of the story, but also a horrible influence on her. She is ignored by her high maintenance mother at home and tries to drown out the neglect with boys and partying. She never thinks that she is in the wrong and doesn't care whose feelings she hurts during her actions even if they could potentially hurt her own.
Dylan: He is Emma's best friend and better yet boyfriend. He looks out for Emma through out the book without trying to control her. Emma's father at the beginning is not found of him, but he starts to grow on him. Her father see's that Dylan is good for Emma and that Dylan only wants whats best for her.
Siobhan: She is Emma's best friend throughout most of the story, but also a horrible influence on her. She is ignored by her high maintenance mother at home and tries to drown out the neglect with boys and partying. She never thinks that she is in the wrong and doesn't care whose feelings she hurts during her actions even if they could potentially hurt her own.
Quote
Emma thought "Was there supposed to be a moment of blinding clarity when the path through the thicket appeared, brightly illuminated, and Good, Bad, and Morally Neutral all sorted themselves out, slightly messy but completely unambiguous, like egg yolk and egg white and shell? If so, I missed it." (Anne). This quote shows significance to the story because it shows that she is realizing that she has changed and is not who she used to be.
Theme
The theme of the book is loss of innocense. Emma had a good life going for her, but she decided to give it up for parties and a life like her friend Siobhan's. She had a loving dad and was a very educated girl. She was respectful and caring of people. All that changed though when she started going to parties and hanging out with Siobhan. The decisions she made changed her character and life drastically, but finally at the end of the story she found out that the life she once lived was ten times better than the one that Siobhan is living.