Response To 'Between Us' By Clare Atkins

The novel Between Us could have an emotional response from readers, my response to one specific character and events in the novel. The novel Between Us, by Clare Atkins, is about a friendship develop between two very different teenagers, Ana, and Jono. Ana is an Iranian Asylums Seeker who attends a high school during the day. Jono is a Vietnamese-Australian boy who is a music-loving skater who has a difficult time of things. My response to one of the characters, Jono, is that I can relate to him in many ways, including, cultural struggles, uses friends as a distraction from problems and struggles with people leaving.

One of my emotions al response to Jono is cultural struggles. At the beginning of the novel, we learn that Jono doesn’t see

We can see at the start of the novel that Jono is seen as rebellious and only hangs out with his friends to escape that fact that he is depressed, reading Jono’s part at the start of the novel reminded me of when I was going through a depressive state of my life and instead of healing and focusing on myself, I hung out with my friends and mucking around with friends. Reading the development of Jono shows that finding that one person can change everything and how it impacts you in a good and positive way. I also related to in the novel is how Jono’s depression affected his relationship with his father and affects Jono himself “Black and endless, I force myself to stand and start the day.” On page 6, by using figurative language, diction and inner thoughts and feelings it shows his depression and how he doesn’t feel anything. This quote stuck out to me because I remember when I was going through something, I was always struggle getting out of bed and getting ready for school. I am much better now and I’m happy that I got out of this dark era of mine. My personal response to Jono using his friends and a distraction and escape from his problems show how he didn’t have anyone to help him heal and focus on