Blog post #2

We all tend to judge each other. It's not so visible at first, but we grow opinions based on what people told us or on  what we see at first glance. In Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan Lily leaves a red notebook on her favorite bookshelf at Barnes and Nobles, Dash is the first person to pick up her book and actually read it. This started the dares as well as stories and personal things about each other that they would send back and forth through this book. They would leave the book all over New York City. Things started to escalate, and Dash and Lily got really close through the book. Though they got close through a book they don't know everything about each other, or so they think they do. When Dash and Lily meet each other Dash is quick to judge because of Lily's actions. When meeting someone we tend to have a first impression of them, but that doesn't necessarily represent who that person is.

     In the beginning if the book when Dash picks up the book he reads Lily's dares and the note the left behind Lily seems a bit more confined and awkward, and in reality she more confident and outgoing because she's very cheerful and doesn't really care about other people's opinion. In the red notebook Lily says “If you ask Mark any questions about me he will not pass you the note. So no questions”, Lily seems more awkward here, but in reality she's like a unicorn full of light. “I love Christmas...the lights, the cheer, the big family gatherings, the cookies…”. Lily seems like a complicated person because she acts like two different people. People might find this weird but that's what makes Lily more interesting. Lily is someone who has more than one face, there's more than what meets the eye. This doesn't necessarily mean Lily’s true self is either in a notebook or how she is with her friends, it just means Lily is multi-faceted, she has many sides or faces to her.

      Dash is also like Lily. He acts differently in the book rather than with other people. In the book Dash seems like an open person and someone who's out of the box or thinks outside the box. In Dash and Lily's book of dares Dash says “My name is a connector of words...the truth is, I’d love to remain if only a little longer”. Lily doesn't know Dash's name because he never mentioned it in the book, so when he asked him what his name is he said this. Instead of straight out telling Lily  name she used a riddle. With people Dash acts “normal” “Really he said,...I'm not guessing.” Lily and Dash are similar. There's more than one side to them. At first he seems like Lily, someone who is confined. Dash has a complex personality because these not just one but many sides.

     When Dash and Lily meet face to face for the first time they were both shocked, but Dash was quick to judge. Dash judged so quickly because Lily was drunk. “‘Dash?’ he asked confused. This boy Dash, apparently looked at me strangely. ‘Is that our red notebook over there?’ he asked me…. ‘Your name is Dash?’” (Lily's perspective). “‘What a wasted girl. What a wasted hope....the whole thing was silly”. When Dash saw Lily drunk it changed his view on her because it's not of what he had originally thought of Lily. Around the end of the book both Dash and Lily get into jail and stay there for a while, and when they get out they separate but Lily put the red notebook into his pocket. Dash says “sly girl, she slipped me back the notebook”. Though Dash wanted to stop the notebook letters and dares, Lily wasn't done. I think Lily didn't stop because that was just one part of her that Dash saw, it wasn't who she was at her best. Lily was able to prove that when she was in the jail cell. I don't think Dash wanted to stop with the dares, it was just how she was at that point that changed him.

     I hope people can learn that we all shouldn't be quick to judge. Dash and Lily both had many sides of themselves, but when Dash first saw Lily he did judge based on what he saw. When the two of them were in a cell they got to know each other a bit more, and Dashed realized that Lily is not the type of person to get drunk all the time. People have different faces, but judging by one doesn't help.