Choke is a realistic fiction novel by Diana Lopez. Windy is an eight grader and is the main character in the book. Her best friend's name is Elena. But at times, Windy didn't like her because she was a nerd and brought a lot of stuff with her to wherever they went. After spring break, a new girl named Nina came to their school. Nina was a kind, pretty girl that every girl wanted to be like. Eventually, Nina became friends with Windy and Elena who aren't at all popular. They didn't really expect that because they were in the "general public" group and Nina automatically got into the "in-crowd" group (which is really hard to get into). Since Windy didn't like Elena as much, she started to hang out with Nina more often and made more friends. Nina didn't like Elena at all, but she just acted like she did, so that she would be able to become friends with Windy. Later on, the two girls get so close to each other. Nina begins saying that she bets the popular girls don't know what a breath sister is, but Windy doesn't know what it is either. She then finds out that Nina has been playing a game called the "choking" game. It also involves being a breath sister. And then Nina wants Windy to play the game too. But once Windy starts playing the game, she notices that it was a bad game to play, since Nina has gotten into trouble at her other schools. She also notices other weird things, that shouldn't happen.
What I Just Read
In chapter 8, I read that Nina and Windy were at the shopping mall, and putting on make-up in the restroom. That's when Windy finally asked Nina what the choking game was. There were a lot of names for the game such as the knockout game and the flatliner. Since Windy wanted to be Nina's breath sister for life, she decided to play the game. Before she got to play, she had to swear to Nina that she wouldn't tell anyone about the game (since Nina's gotten in trouble for playing it). Windy told Nina to stop so quickly because she couldn't breathe. So then Nina said that she did a great job, but will eventually make it all the way through. Windy was confused on what she meant by "all the way." Nina explains that the whole point of the game is to pass out, and get a high, floaty feeling. After they left the restroom, Windy felt that she had changed and left her old self behind. Once they went outside, Windy's and Nina's parents were supposed to meet each other. But then Nina reminded Windy that she had told her that she was grounded and made an excuse to go help the elders. It surprised me at first because I thought that Nina was just telling lies so that she would end up killing Windy, but she didn't. Then I found out that she has been playing the game with herself, which means she chokes herself when nobody is around.
