checkouts by: me

Jennifer Sanchez Jacques ½ Res. To. Lit. Checkouts Pages 23-28

Checkouts: by Cynthia Rylant


Love at first sight. Some people believe in it and others don’t. I used to be a non-believer until I read this heart filling novel by Cynthia Rylant called Checkouts. This is about a girl who’s new to a town and falls in love with a bagboy at the grocery store. What I loved was how the book was written, with lots of imagery, suspense, and the plot of the story.

Imagery, is a big part of a story a book should have or I’m not interested, so it’s good this book has a lot. “Only by busting her jar of mayonnaise on the floor, shards of glass and oozing cream decorating the area around hi feet.” (page 25) This quote is extremely important because this is how the girl falls in love with the bagboy. After he breaks her jar of mayonnaise, she loves his clumsiness , and everything about him, from the hair that fell on his face everytime he would reach down to pack her cans, to his brown tattered shoes he wore with no socks. Strange taste in guys don’t you think?But sadly after that lovely day, they didn’t see eachother for another 4 weeks. “Each time she went to the store, her eyes scanned the checkouts at once, her heart in her mouth.”(page 26) I liked how the author used the phrase, “her heart in her mouth” like saying she was going to speak her heart maybe.


Oh my gosh. This story also made me feel like I was watching a suspense movie in my head, on some parts. It had suspense and it made me want to read more. “And when finally they did meet up again, neither offered a clue to the other that he or she, had been the object of their obsessive thought for weeks.” (page 26) This quote really got me suspenseful because I was dying to figure out what was going to happen once they met up again. “It is odd how we sometimes deny ourselves the very pleasure we have longed for and which is finally within reach.” (page 26) This quote matters because when they saw each other again, they pretended like they didn’t even know who each other was. It got me mad too, because if she liked the guy, she could’ve gone over by him and said a hello and picked up his digits. BUT INSTEAD, she didn’t and she didn’t even pay at his cashier stand. She went on the isle over. But not was I only mad at her, I was mad at the bagboy too. WHY THE HECK COULN’T HE STOP HER WHILE SHE WAS HEADING OUT THE STORE?? Well it was their fault that they didn’t say anything to each other. They hated themselves too. Each one regretted not saying anything too each other. But that’s what they get. Trust me the ending will SHOCK you! It had going like, OMG THAT DID NOT JUST HAPPEN.

And now….. for the grand finally……. The ending!!!
“Eventually-in fact, within the week-a kind and intelligent boy who lived very near her beautiful house asked the girl to a movie and she gave up her fancy for the bag boy at the supermarket. And the bag boy himself grew bored with his job that he made a desperate search for something better and ended up in a book store where scores of fascinating girls lingered like honeybees about a hive.” (page 28) Yup. It’s what you’re thinking. They found other people. What a shame, what a shame. But do you know what’s more surprising? Check this quote out. “Some months later the bag boy and the girl with the orange bow again crossed paths, standing in line with their dates at a movie theater, and glancing toward the other, each smiled slightly, then looked away, as strangers on public buses often do, when one is moving off the bus and the other is moving on.” (page 28) Isn’t that just crazy?! They found eachother again, but with different dates. I don’t know if it’s just me, but maybe the girl in the orange bow, or the bag boy could’ve been a little jelous!!


Love at first sight. Some people believe in it and others don’t. I used to be a non-believer until I read this heart filling novel by Cynthia Rylant called Checkouts. This is about a girl who’s new to a town and falls in love with a bagboy at the grocery store. What I loved was how the book was written, with lots of imagery, suspense, and the plot of the story. You should checkout this book for yourself (get it, checkout….. like the title of the novel?)