Letter to Michael from Nothing to Lose by Alex Flinn

703 Churchville Rd.
Bel Air, MD 21014
7 September 2010

Dear Michael,

My name is Kaley M., I’m a freshman at the John Carroll School, and I live in Forest Hill, MD.. Over the summer, I read about your struggle with your home life and your life traveling with the carnival. While you were traveling with the carnival during your summer, I was traveling too. I went to Washington D.C. with my best friend for a week on a trip with a group called People to People World Leadership Forum. I also visited my family up in Massachusetts, went down to the Outer Banks in North Carolina, and stayed in my family’s beach house for a week in Bethany Beach. I didn’t go to any carnivals, or Florida, but I did go to Cedar Point, Ohio, and rode all of the roller coasters there at the roller coaster capital of America, Cedar Point. It is home to some of the biggest, fastest, longest, tallest, unique, and extreme roller coasters in the world.

While reading Nothing to Lose, I really admired how protective you were of your mother. It did surprise me that it was you who killed Walter, but I was relieved when it was ruled as justifiable homicide. I was as frustrated as you were when no one would listen and help you and your mother get away from Walter. Although I don’t think running away from home was the best way to react to your situation, it did make for a good storyline.

Alex Flinn’s writing style seemed to me that the words were coming from her heart, and that she actually felt all the pain, sadness, joy, and other emotions that the characters felt. The only thing I didn’t like about her writing was that I don’t think she portrayed your mother as the strong, independent character you describe her as. I think that you as a character had very raw emotions that were described in a way that would make it easy for readers to understand what you were feeling as, for example, you recounted what really happened on the night of Walter’s death.

I was wondering, what happened between you and Kirstie? The ending of the book kind of trails off and doesn’t leave enough detail as to if you two ever contacted each other again. Also, I was curious as to what your friendship is like with Julian ever since his stepmother helped you win the case against killing Walter.

I think that Nothing to Lose has definitely left me more aware of domestic violence. Even though I realized before reading the book that it is a serious issue, I think that now it will hold a higher significance in my head after reading about your ordeal.

I hope that you and Kirstie talk again soon, and I wish you and your mom the best. I hope that the two of you can go back to living like you were before Walter came along.

Sincerely,
Kaley M