My mother has been hard of hearing throughout her whole life. Although she is fortunate enough to still have some hearing, she had a lot of trouble with school. She would talk about how the school wouldn't change anything to accommodate for her lack of hearing, This caused her to have a hard time with her education. Not only did I hear all of her school stories, but I also got to see many moments where being hard of hearing affected her life. That's when I realized there is not a lot of representation for people with disabilities in teenage books. The book titled Until Friday Night by Abbi Glines does a great job of showing different aspects of life, and is an excellent book to read. It’s a different type of book than what I expected. There is a lot of representation of different types of people, which leads to the book having a deeper meaning behind it. Lastly, Until Friday Night has a great balance of emotions, which ultimately led me to feel many different ways. 

One of the first things that stuck out to me was how the book wasn’t about the normal high school popular football star dating the pretty cheerleader. It had actual meaning to it; hence, the main character, Maggie, went through a lot of trauma in her past, ultimately making it her choice to become mute. I think this is a great way for kids to understand that everything isn't always perfect and “normal.” Reading about a normal high schooler going through something so unique helped me realize that it's okay to have a different experience than other people. The character's personalities start to show in different ways when the people around them go through something. The book shows how to comfort someone in many different ways to what will benefit them the most. I loved how each character was so different from the other; it gave a lot of diversity to the story. The last reason this book was so different was the plot. There was a great balance between plot twists and just a simple story. Nothing was too major of a change that confused me, but there was enough change that kept me interested throughout the whole book. The most important thing about this book is how it represents different life experiences.

Maggie gets transferred to a new school and the hardest part about it is she’s mute due to her own choice. The kids start to form rumors about why she doesn't talk and they bully her while trying to get her to speak. Maggie’s point of view talks about how hard school is not being able to ask questions or have anyone try to help her at all, and how she feels alone and doesn’t trust anyone. Hearing about her struggles made me want to go inside the book and find a way to help her. It puts into perspective how difficult life can be without anyone that understands. Trauma is something that isn’t very much talked about in books. Until Friday Nights talks about Maggie’s trauma and the ways she dealt with it on her own. It makes the reader feel more comfortable knowing they can beat whatever they’re going through whether they have help from others or not. As the book goes on, Maggie proceeds to get into a relationship with a boy. She learns that eventually, she is going to have to open up to him and explain what went on in her past. After she talks about her past, her boyfriend tells her he doesn't think any differently of her than he did before. The book shows that relationships aren't always going to be perfect, understanding each other and working through it is the best way to stay together. Throughout the book, I started to see a deeper meaning forming.

Maggie talks about how she decided to cope with her past trauma. She did many things wrong but she also did what she had to do to get herself better, even if that meant losing people along the way. At the beginning of the story, she explains she went mute so she couldn't hurt anyone else. Later she starts to realize that going quiet isn't going to help anyone and that if she wants to finally overcome her past she is going to have to speak. In my opinion, this showed the meaning that I can overcome anything with the right mindset. Sometimes focusing on myself is the best thing to do even while knowing that I might lose some people along the way, but if those people leave when I am at my lowest are they the people I want to have by my side? Until Friday Night had me feeling a variety of emotions. 

Even though I felt many different emotions, there was a great balance between all of them. There were a lot of happy feel good moments throughout the book. Seeing the development of characters between the beginning and end of the book put a smile on my face. There are many big milestones that the characters reach throughout the book and it always makes me feel my best watching them do that. Sadness was also a big part of the book. Abbi Glines does a great job of getting the reader to feel exactly what the characters are feeling. At the end of the book, Maggie begins to open up about her past life and I began to understand why she went mute. A big pit formed in the bottom of my stomach as I kept reading about the horrors she went through. With all the emotions that I felt while reading, I believe that one never completely overpowered the others while reading. 

I had a great experience while reading Until Friday Night. The book's uniqueness allowed me to stay interested throughout the whole story. Representation of different types of people was very important and allowed me to see through other perspectives of life. The emotions I felt while reading helped me connect with the characters no matter how they felt. Until Friday Night is a great different book for multiple reasons, it helped me find many ways that helped me be my best self. Growing up seeing how being hard of hearing affected my mom made me realize I am lucky to have all the abilities I do. This book did an amazing job of showing the struggles in various ways. Until Friday Night is a diverse, heartfelt book that made me see the world differently.