In Whirligig by Paul Fleischman, the protagonist is struggling to fit in and is constantly searching for the right way to present himself. In order to do so, Brent decides to go to a party, streaming to impress his classmates, but everything crumbles when, after a drink and public humiliation, he gets into his car and becomes the culprit of an accident. Luckily, Brent undergoes only a mild concussion, but sadly also takes the life of an innocent girl, Lea. To repay her parents, he takes a Greyhound to the 4 corners of the United States to plant whirligigs in recognition of her.

The theme statement, “One can cause great grief if not considering his/her actions”, associates to one of the four main themes of this book; inter-connectedness. It shows how almost every action made, even by people with no big intentions, can lead to something much more significant. For example, Brent might have never gotten into a car, drunk, taking Lea’s life, if it wasn’t for Jonathan, who neglected to tell him about the themed party, or Brianna, who treated him poorly, causing his temper. This shows how even though Jonathan and Brianna may not know Lea, they are still very much connected in the way that they all had something to do with her death. The quote from Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, “Everything we did – good, bad, and indifferent – sent a wave rolling out of sight,” is a good example of what inter-connectedness means – all of our actions have consequences.

Another connection I made was when the unnamed Puerto Rican immigrant gets a change of perspective from Brent’s whirligig by the sea; “People are always in a group. Like that little wooden marching band… If the people in a group get along, maybe they could make good music instead of arguing”. This shows how after seeing the marching band (built by Brent), the immigrant realized that there isn’t always war and fighting, we can still find peace, even in the worst times. In this part of the story, Lea isn’t only connected to Brent, Brianna, and Jonathan, but the immigrant as well, helping me answer the EQ question; “How does the influence of others impact our own lives?”