Fangirl Summary

I am reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell and I am on page 231. This book is about a young girl named Cather trying to navigate her way through college life. Cather is afraid to go to college because her father will be alone. When her father does not have someone to watch over him, he can easily let his mental illness take over. Another problem Cather faces is that she constantly compares herself to her twin, Wren. The reader sees how this behavior affects her social life. Cather has been writing fanfiction about her favorite childhood book series, Simon Snow, for years. To her they are not just books, they are a better reality. Due to the great success of her fanfiction and her love of writing, Cath decides to major in English. The reader follows

In this journal, I will be questioning and predicting.
I have two predictions. My first prediction is that Cath will not reconcile with her mother. When Cath’s mother left, Cath took over the matriarchal position in the house. As a result of taking over this position, aspects of Cath’s childhood were taken away from her. Cath took care of her father, and she began to watch for the telltale signs that his bipolar disorder was influencing him. Cath learned to cook so that her father would not have to pick up fast food every day. Cath also stayed in while Wren went out and enjoyed her childhood. Another reason Cath will not reconcile with her mother is that she does not cope well with abandonment. When Wren abandons Cath to meet new people, Cath begins to isolate herself in her room. When Cath’s writing partner takes the short story that they had been working on together and claims it as his own, she stops writing outside of fanfiction. The reader begins to see how Cath being abandoned leads her to doubt herself

I suspect that one reason Wren may not want to visit her father over the weekend is that sh is trying to leave her pre-college life behind. An example of this is how she wants to get a dorm room without her sister, Cath. Wren says that they have shared a room for 18 years and that college is the time for meeting new people. She is roommates with another girl named Courtney, and Cath becomes roommates with a girl named Reagan. Since Wren is not living with Cath anymore, they do not write Simon Snow fanfiction together anymore. Writing fanfiction is a substantial part of Cath’s life. When Wren decides to discontinue their writing partnership, Cath feels abandoned. Another manner in which Wren is trying to leave her pre-college life behind is by reinventing herself. Before college Wren cut her hair into a pixie cut as a way to distance herself from Cath. She also begins dieting, and she begins to disassociate herself with Cath. The reader is beginning to see a theme of Wren leaving her hometown and anything that reminds her of it, including Cath. Wren’s growing drinking problem could be a factor in why she does not want to visit her father. One of the first times the reader is exposed to Wren’s drinking is when she drunkenly texts Cath, ‘911’. Cath rushes over with her friend, Levi. When she arrives at the bar, Wren tells her that the text is meant for Courtney. The guy that Courtney likes is at the bar, and that is an emergency