Outside Reading- Week 7- Post B

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

Section 7: Pages 334-371

Reaction: Anticipating since the beginning of the book what was on the disc Just Listen that Owen made for Annabel, I was ecstatic when in pages 339-340 Annabel finally listened to it as I was curious as to why that was the title of the book. Expecting some weird “spiritual” music full of pig calls or something odd like that, I was shocked, as was Annabel, when I found out that the CD was actually blank. Confused at first, I soon realized how genius this idea was. Many times before, Owen had mentioned that silence to him was “so freaking loud”. I had not really understood why though until Annabel understood why and sort of explained it to the reader. When she listened to the CD, she finally realized that the voice inside her head, the one constantly begging for her attention, was not Will Cash’s but her own. It was trying to tell her that it needed to be let out. The next day, when it was released, it seized to exist. The next time I am going through a difficult situation, I want to try this technique. I will go into a dark quiet corner of my house, put on a pair of earmuffs, and just listen; listen to that voice inside my head and I will get through anything. On the whole, this book taught me a lot about self-actualization; the things that are most common knowledge are often also the most forgotten. I would recommend this book to everyone looking for some good life lessons learned. I am glad this was the book at the bookstore that caught my attention.