Meaningful Moments in Mockingbird

          I am reading the book Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine. It is about a girl named Caitlin who has Asperger's syndrome. She has trouble understanding emotions, feelings, and relating to others. She is also obsessed with words and reading dictionaries. Recently her brother Devon, who she admired and looked up to greatly, was shot and killed in a school shooting. After her brother's death, Caitlin and her father struggle to find closure. There are many meaningful moments in Mockingbird that make it a powerful and very interesting story.
             One of the most meaningful moments to me is when Caitlin goes inside Devon's wooden chest, which he was working on for a boy scout project before he was shot. On the day that Devon was killed, Caitlin's dad put a sheet over the unfinished chest, as if he never wanted to be reminded that Devon would never be able to finish it. One afternoon after school, Caitlin comes home and goes inside the chest and starts to remember being at the hospital and the doctors telling her dad and her that they tried to save Devon but they couldn't start his heart up again. While she's in the chest, Caitlin starts to flop her arms and legs, screaming "Dev-on, Dev-on", as if she was his heart inside his chest, and as if there was still a heartbeat inside of it. I think Caitlin was trying to keep Devon alive, as if there was hope that he would still be there for her. This was a very sad scene, because at the end Caitlin comes out of the chest to face reality that Devon is never coming back.  
              Another meaningful moment in Mockingbird is when Caitlin meets Michael, a first-grader, whose mother was killed in the same tragic school shooting as her brother. Caitlin sees Michael by himself on a bench, looking sad. She then goes to him and introduces herself and offers a gummy worm to him. After this, Michael feels happy, and gratefully accepts the candy. They both talk to each other about finding closure and become friends. I think this is good, because now Caitlin has someone to talk to and, especially, to relate to.   
             A third very meaningful and powerful moment in the book is when Caitlin and her dad start to work on Devon's unfinished chest. Caitlin thinks that this will help her and her father finally find closure. This is also the time when she and her dad start talking, working together and connecting for the first time in the book. I think the reason Caitlin wants to finish the chest is because she wants to do it for Devon. She knew how much finishing the chest and moving on to the next boy scout level meant to him, so she didn't want the project to be forgotten even though Devon was dead. Devon always made everything make sense to Caitlin, and was such a role model to her, so by completing the chest Caitlin is doing something for her brother, as if to thank him.    
              In conclusion, Mockingbird is a really good book with some heavy and deep moments that I think are very important to the storyline. The author, Kathryn Erskine, said in the Author's Note that she wrote this book after the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007. Now that I'm reading this book, I understand more about what a truly horrible thing it is to lose someone you love in a shooting. One day you're with them, and the next day they're gone. Caitlin is a strong character, and even though she has Asperger's, she still expresses grief and missing her brother like anybody else.