Skeleton Creek

Ryan and Sarah are characterized to create a juxtaposition, or comparison, between the two hybrid forms of media in the vook: print and digital technology. Their friendship demonstrates that despite their differences, these forms may work together and complement each other in the same way as the characters who embrace their individual forms of storytelling so emphatically.

Ryan’s love of writing makes him a representation of the print form. Early in the novel he notes that despite the danger, he will “write or die trying” (5). This demonstrates Ryan’s dedication to recording the story. His journal appears in a traditional format; he writes everything by hand in a notebook that he hides under his mattress and other places throughout the novel. At the same time, he is unafraid and even eager to access his computer and other digital media as a “link to something not boring, not dull, not dreary” (23). Notably, Ryan attributes this to Sarah, who is “constantly making videos, posting them, and asking [Ryan] to take notice” (23). They contrast and complement each other to tell a hybrid story.