The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

Suzy hoped Franny would recognize the message and that they could repair their friendship. Franny had once told Suzy to send her a message if she ever began acting like the pretty girls. Suzy made frozen discs of urine that she slipped into Franny’s locker on the last day of school. Suzy was hurt by Franny’s hatefulness but didn’t retaliate until after a class trip where Franny not only let a boy she liked kill a frog but also spat on Suzy - apparently on a dare from the other students. Franny began ignoring Suzy after Suzy embarrassed her in front of her new friends. Suzy didn’t understand Franny’s new priorities. Franny began hanging out with the popular girls and worrying about hair, clothes and boys.

In middle school everything seemed to change. The two girls had been inseparable from the time they met as five year olds. She sought closure not only for her loss of her friend to death but also because their friendship had been such a mess when Franny died. Suzy had more than one reason for wanting to find out how exactly Franny had died. She hoped he’d be able to help her pin down the cause of Franny’s death. Suzy planned a trip to Australia to visit Jamie. Jamie Seymour, a man she considered to be a jellyfish expert especially since he had once been stung by an Irukandji jellyfish. In order to prove her point, Suzy located Dr. Suzy set about to prove that Franny’s death had been the result of a jellyfish sting. It was believed that deaths attributed to other causes might even have been caused by these organisms. The stings of these jellyfish were so powerful that many had died because of them. During a class trip to an aquarium Suzy learned about the Irukandji jellyfish. She wanted a concrete reason to explain why her friend had died. When Suzy Swanson learned her best friend Franny Jackson had died while swimming in the ocean Suzy was not happy with her mother’s explanation that sometimes things just happened. Through the course of her journey, Suzy learned a good deal about jellyfish along with the finality of death. In hopes of redeeming herself, Suzy set about to prove that her friend’s death had been caused by a jellyfish. After Franny died of drowning during a beach vacation Suzy grieved not only because she missed her friend but also because their relationship did not end the way it should have. When she saw her best friend turning into one of the pretty girls they’d always made fun of Suzy knew she had to send her friend a message. Middle school can be hard, especially if you’re struggling with the death of your best friend like Suzy Swanson was in the novel “The Thing About Jellyfish” by Ali Benjamin.

The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin