THE SECRET JOURNAL
COLTON
OF
BRETT
AUTHOR
Kay Lynn Mangum
•She is the youngest of four children.
•Kay Lynn holds an associates degree from Dixie Junior College,
and a bachelors degree in English literature with an emphasis in
creative writing from Southern Utah University.
•She currently works as a legal assistant, but hopes to be able to
write full time in the near future. She fell in love with writing
stories in elementary and has always dreamed of seeing her
stories in print! She loves interviewing people for her books and
traveling to the places she wants to set her stories in.
•The Secret Journal of Brett Colton, her first novel, began as a
short story she created at age 16 for a high school writing contest
sponsored by The Salt Lake Tribune.
www.KayLynnMangumNovels.co
OTHER NOVELS BY
KAY LYNN MANGUM…
www.KayLynnMangumNovels.co
PROTAGONIST:
KATHY COLTON
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Kathy Colton Is the protagonist in this book. She is a 16-year-old
high school sophomore who has spent her entire young life
resenting her older brother Brett who died when she was two.
Kathy knows nothing about him but the everyday stories she
hears about him, even though he is dead, he still remains the
topic of discussion in her house. She doesn’t see what’s so great
about him until she finds his journal on the night of her sixteenth
birthday. She finds out the journal was written especially for her
from a brother who loved her so much.
With all the drama going on about the journal, she still has to
deal with dumb football jocks falling in love with her, snobby exgirlfriends looking for revenge, and her family who just doesn’t
understand her.
ANTAGONIST:
THE COLTON FAMILY

Kathy’s family is the Antagonist in this book. They don’t
understand why she is always complaining about them for talking
about Brett so much.
Colton Family
Mrs. Colton
Mr. Colton
Alex (Brother)
Sam (Sister)
FAVORITE CHARACTER:
JASON WEST


Jason is the dreamy star quarterback that every girl at Central
High is in love with but can’t seem to charm Kathy Colton with
his strikingly good looks and football status.
When he shows her he really is smart and not like the other
football jockeys in class, they really get to know each other and
are both falling for each other.
(Photo from ClipArt)
LEAST FAVORITE CHARACTER:
ANGELA
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
Angela is Jason’s girlfriend who can’t stand the fact that
him and Kathy are spending so much time together, even if
it’s just tutoring. She is SO JEALOUS of Kathy!
She’s your typical Barbie who every girl envies but at the
same time can’t stand. She looks good with Jason the
handsome football player, but she’s not who Jason wants in
the end.
(Photo from ClipArt)
EXPOSITION


In this story, Kathy Colton (the protagonist) is entering
into a new world, high school. She is not exactly popular
and the only reason people know her is because of her last
name. Her older brother Brett Colton died at age 17 from
Leukemia and was the star quarterback at Central High
Kathy realizes high school isn’t that bad when she begins
to fall for the last person she thought she would fall for,
Jason West..
RISING ACTION
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

The rising action is when Kathy is forced to tutor Jason
West in honors English.
She is sick of hearing about her brother Brett constantly
and freaks out at her family because she has had enough,
Brett never cared about her, so why should she care about
him?
When Jason asks her to the homecoming dance, which is
also the day of her sixteenth birthday, during one of their
tutoring sessions, she is so happy until she finds out he
asked someone else.
CLIMAX


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On the night of her sixteenth birthday, after the homecoming
dance, Kathy’s mom gives her a letter that she’s held on to for the
past 14 years, a letter from her dead son Brett to his baby sister
Kathy.
Kathy opens the letter and becomes speechless, her dead brother
had planned this all along and even gave her a key to a box
downstairs where it held something that was sure to change
Kathy’s life forever, his journal.
The journal entries are all written “Dear Kitty” which is what he
called Kathy when she was as baby, and Kathy realizes how much
he loved her and how precious she was to his life. She is
overwhelmed with emotions.
Jason West proves he is falling for her when he asks Kathy to the
Christmas dance and she gladly accepts. They had an amazing
time and Kathy couldn’t help but think how much she liked Jason
and couldn’t believe this was happening to a girl like her. They
share their first kiss at the Christmas dance and the sparks begin
to fly, she knew she was falling head over heels for this boy.
FALLING ACTION
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Kathy’s family doesn’t like how close she and Jason have been
getting and tell Kathy he is using their tutoring sessions as a
time to preach his religion to her.
Kathy finds out in Brett’s journal that he wanted to join the
Mormon religion when he was sick and dying from cancer, but
his parents thought he was crazy. Kathy has so many
questions and is confused.
When Jason breaks up with his girlfriend Angela because he
is in love with Kathy, Angela tells Kathy that she’ll never be
good enough for Jason. And that Jason only likes Kathy
because he feels sorry for her. She says that Jason likes
preaching his religion to anyone who will listen, especially
naive girls like Kathy.
Kathy finds herself questioning Jason’s intentions with her
and starts wondering if what everyone is saying is true. She is
feeling lost and turns to Brett’s journal for help and an escape
from everything going on around her.
JOURNAL ENTRY FROM BRETT~

Dear Kitty,
When I first accepted I was sick, I knew I’d reach a turning
point, because I knew my life would never be the same again. I
wasn’t able to choose to have leukemia any more than I was
allowed to prepare for it. I knew I could either give up or else I
could try to make sense of it and make the most of the time I
had left. You were the one who pointed me in the right
direction, who made me want to change my mind and choose
to make the most of the time I had left. I’m grateful that at
least I’d been given some time. People in fatal car accidents
aren’t given any warning at all. At least I’ve been warned. I’ve
been given the chance to say goodbye…
RESOLUTION


Brett’s journal that has helped her so much with school,
boys, her family, and her entire outlook on life, eventually
comes to an end. Kathy can’t decide if she if it leaves her
empty or happy inside. But she knows one thing for sure,
Brett loved her more than anything and she loved him
back.
She shows her family Brett’s journal and they don’t know
how to react. They are so thankful Kathy is sharing this
with them, especially her mom. They end up accepting
Jason as Kathy’s boyfriend and realize what a nice young
man he is.
SETTING
This story takes place in Centerville, Utah where
Kathy lives, and she attends school at Central High
School.
 The time period took place in the late nineties.
 Kathy Colton was sixteen-years-old.

THEME ONE: FAMILY
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In this book, Brett Colton is dying from leukemia and he knows
he doesn’t have much time to live but he wants to spend the time
he has left with his family, especially his baby sister Kitty.
His family doesn’t know the right words to say to him, they don’t
want to accept the fact that he is going to die.
His mom is always worrying and fussing over him when he is sick
and he just wants her to relax and let him enjoy his last couple
months.
His dad isn’t around a lot because he is always working extra
hours at the office to pay for Brett’s medical bills.
Brett needs his family more than anything at this point In his
life, they are all he has and he reaches out to them in the most
emotional moments.
THEME TWO: DEATH
Kathy and the rest of her family have to deal with the death of
Brett and it is very hard on all of them. They each handle his
death in their own personal way.
Mrs. Colton- She was extremely upset to lose a child and keeps him
in her memories all the time. She is always bringing up Brett like
he were still around. She wears a locket around her neck with a
picture of him inside.
Mr. Colton- He is having a hard time expressing his emotions from
losing Brett, he knows he has to be strong for the whole family
but it’s killing him inside. He buries himself in work to forget
about the pain.
Baby Kathy “Kitty”- After Brett dies, she can’t sleep at night and
fusses whenever anyone tries to comfort her. She knows her big
brother Brett is gone and she makes her parents put her to sleep
in Brett’s room everynight.
Alex & Sam- It is very hard on them to lose a sibling, they
eventually go on with their lives but they are emotionally torn
from the whole thing.
THEME THREE: LOVE
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The amount of love that Brett has for his little sister is so
immense that it is almost indescribable.
He spends every second of everyday he has left with his baby
sister, she gives him a reason to keep living.
He knows she loves him too when her first words aren’t
“Mama” or “Dada”, instead Kitty’s first words are “Bet”.
She sleeps with Brett every night listening to the Beatles ‘Rubber
Soul’ album with her tiny bear that Brett gave her for Christmas.
RATING

I rated this book a
10
because it
was such a good
story plot and
definitely one of
the best books
I’ve ever read. I
loved this book
and couldn’t put it
down!
(Photo from ClipArt)
SOCIAL ISSUE:
LEUKEMIA
 Leukemia: cancer of the blood or bone marrow characterized by
abnormal proliferation of white blood cells, also know as leukocytes.
How to understand Leukemia a little better
-In a person with leukemia, the bone marrow makes abnormal white blood
cells. The abnormal cells are leukemia cells.
- Unlike normal blood cells, leukemia cells don't die when they should. They
may crowd out normal white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. This
makes it hard for normal blood cells to do their work.
http://www.medicinenet.com/leukemia/article.htm
SONG
Rascall
Flatts- Skin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhnU9IYTD9c
THERE ARE FOUR MAIN TYPES OF
LEUKEMIA:

Chronic lymphocytic Leukemia
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Chronic myeloid Leukemia
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Acute lymphocytic Leukemia
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Acute myeloid Leukemia
Chronic: gets worse slowly, mostly found in older
people
Acute: gets worse quickly, mostly found in children
http://www.medicinenet.com/leukemia/page2.htm
TREATMENT #1
CHEMOTHERAPY
1. Chemotherapy: the use of drugs or chemicals, often
in combinations, to kill or damage cancer cells in the
body.
*Chemotherapy’s main goal is to target the
cancer cells and destroy them completely, the
drugs do affect the normal cells as well, this
causes certain side affects.
The main side effects include:
- Hair loss
- Vomiting/Nausea
- Fatigue
http://www.medicinenet.com/leukemia/page4.htm
TREATMENT #2
RADIATION THERAPY
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Radiation Therapy(radiotherapy): works by
damaging the genetic material (DNA) within cells, which
prevents the cells from growing and reproducing.
External beam radiation: A focused beam of radiation is
delivered outside the body by a machine called a "linear
accelerator" or "linac." The linear accelerator can move around
the body to deliver radiation from various angles.
Radio immunotherapy: a radioactive molecule is attached to
a monoclonal antibody to target certain types of cancer cells.
*Radiation Therapy, either alone or with chemotherapy, is used as a
conditioning treatment to prepare a patient for a blood or marrow stem
cell transplant.
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/leukemia/page7_em.htm
TREATMENT #3
STEM CELL TRANSPLANT
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There are two major types of stem cell transplants:
Autologous Transplant: uses the patients own
marrow. This marrow is collected while the patient is in
remission, and may be treated with chemotherapy agents
or monoclonal antibodies before being given back.
Allogenic Transplant: uses the marrow from a donor.
The donor usually has to be a brother or sister with the
same tissue type. If a sibling is not available, a search of
the National Marrow Donor Program can search for a
matched unrelated donor.
*Stem cell transplantation procedures continue to be
improved as treatment options for patients with
Leukemia.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stem-cell-transplant/MY00089
YOU-TUBE VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17sIyLOm0Xc