Shift

The book I read was "Shift" by Em Bailey. I think that the theme for "Shift" would be don't judge someone before you get to know them. I think this would be the theme because in the story the main character Olive quickly judged the new girl Miranda by what she heard around the school. She noticed many strange things about her and considered her a "shapeshifter" after something she read on a website. Olive thought how Miranda killed her parents because that is what everyone was saying. According to the book it says "I don't know what I thought a possible parent murderer would look like, but it certainly wasn't this thin, pale creature, trailing along behind Mrs. Deans. I leant closer to the window, wanting a clearer view." This explains how Olive thought Miranda really did murder her parents. She heard rumors all over the school that she assumed that Miranda really did kill her parents which was why she didn't have parents. Olive didn't know anything about Miranda until she found out the truth.

     There is also another piece of evidence from the book to support my theme. In the book it says "Because if that was true - if she had murdered her parents after all - what else might be? Miranda's expression didn't change. 'I remember the accident,' she said. 'Even though I was only two. We'd just driven past a playground with a slide shaped like an elephant. I was desperate to play on it but my parents wouldn't stop. I screamed and screamed. I felt so angry, strapped in my car seat like that - and I wanted to hurt them. I remember willing the car to stop, willing it with all my might. And then it did stop..... By crashing into a tree.' Miranda's face was grey. 'They both died instantly." This explains how Olive quickly judged Miranda that she murdered her parents when she didn't really do anything. Her parents died in a car accident all along and Olive quickly judged her before she even got to hear the true story. So that is why I think that this is the theme.