Tragedy Strikes Local Family

Author's Note: In this piece I attempted to show my skill of character developent and how Mia's opinion changed from the beginning to the end of the book with the influence of her boyfriend, Adam.  I showed this by using a newspaper article.  I also included an extra paragraph relating Mia to a character in another book in order to meet the requirements of the advanced column.

Cassie Doubek
December 18, 2010

The Hamms, a local family, car was thrown into a ditch in a tragic accident on Turnberry Dr. right outside town, yesterday morning Insiders say an unidentified man’s car slipped on the ice and crashed into the Hamm’s car causing them to skid off the road in the ditch. Bill Hamm, 42, and his wife Stephanie Hamm, 40, were reportedly killed on the spot. Their daughter, Mia Hamm, 17, and their son, Teddy Hamm, 7, were rushed to the hospital in grave condition.

Teddy Hamm reportedly died in the hospital 2 hours later and Mia Hamm had fallen into a coma. A nurse to the now orphan girl told reporters, “It’s all up to her now. She decides if she stays or goes, but right now it isn’t looking so good. All of her family is dead, she probably doesn’t want to live anymore. She think she has nothing else to live for.” An insider, who was recognized to be Mia’s grandfather added a follow up statement, “I understand if Mia wants to go. If she does stay awake we all know her life will never be the same. I will learn to accept the fact that she wanted to be with them, if that is in fact what she wants.”  Her close friend, Kim Schein, seems to have a different opinion, “I just wanted to let Mia know, she still has family. If she wakes up, she’ll still have people there for her.”


Mia’s condition slowly seemed to be increasing until Kim was reported to be bringing in Mia’s boyfriend, singer of the local band “Shooting Star,” Adam Martin to visit her. Inside sources say he paid Mia a visit that was cut short by the hospital staff. Immediately following the little encounter, her condition spiked which immediately resulted in another operation. Yet Adam, was spotted visiting his girlfriend again. No one knows quite what he said to her in there, but it was enough to wake her up, to change her mind. When asked about it he simply said, “I told her to stay.” Heather Wellington, a nurse and close friend of the family told the press, “I bet she'll be a stronger person because of what she's lost today. I have a feeling that once you live through something like this, you become a little bit invincible.” (Pg 122)

How Mia Relates To a Character in Another Book

In the book Bloom, by Alison Noel, the main character Riley Bloom was also in a car accident. Although Mia ended up living though, Riley wasn’t as lucky. The only person who survived the accident, in RIley’s case, was her older sister, Ever. At first Riley was angry, who wouldn’t be? Her mom, dad, and dog had all moved on, accepted their deaths, and “crossed over,” as it is referred to as in the book. Riley, though, feels as if she has to help her sister and be there for her. Many ghosts come looking for her, trying to convince her to join the rest of her family, but she is stubborn. Until, her sister, who had developed the ability to actually see her, convinces her otherwise. This scenario is much like the situation in Gayle Forman’s If I Stay because at first Mia is convinced to die, until a very special person in her life (Adam) influences her to change her decision much like Ever influenced Riley to make the other choice in the main conflict.