The Drummer Boy of Shiloh compared to life

        In the wonderful passage "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" by Ray Bradbury, the protagonist Joby is a fearful boy about to enter war. It also wasn't any war, it was one of the bloodiest battles of the civil war. In the middle of the passage or short story, Joby gets a motivational speech by the General of the army. He motivates him by telling him he is important. By the last part of the short story Joby is motivated and ready to go into war, and I think I know why. I think it was because sometimes it takes a person to give us a little boost on self-esteem or someone to motivate you.

        In the beginning Joby is like any other boy. He has fear of something that he barely knows and is about to clash head on into it. Not only that but he is fourteen! I know I would be scared if I was going to war equipped with nothing but a drum and two drumsticks! Who wouldn't be? Joby of course has a right to be scared.

        I think by the middle of the story while the general is giving the motivational is when Joby is actually starting to feel good about going into battle. The general made sure that he was not going to be afraid by saying things like, "You are the heart of the army" or "we need you." he also told him that if he beats the drum slow then the soldiers heartbeats will be slower and they will be calmer so they will be more focused.

        I think by the end of The Drummer Boy of Shiloh, Joby was motivated. He was ready to go into into war because it says faces his drum upwards toward the sky like he was ready to play the next day.

        I could compare this to life in a way. I could say that when you are feeling upset, mad or even scared, when you talk to somebody you could possibly feel better. If you are feeling upset you can talk and feel better, or someone can talk to you and help you feel a little better if not, a lot.

The 4th of July

        A few days ago I've started the book 4th of July by James Patterson. 4th of July is a mystery book about Boxer, a woman in her twenties trying to find a killer. This book,  I think is interesting because it goes straight to the action. The 1st chapter drives the reader right in to the story with what looked like a kid who committed suicide. They found him in a bathtub filled with water and with a toaster in it. Even though it may sound quite harsh, it made me want to read more.

        So far this book has been action packed and filled with surprises. In most parts of the book it is in 1st person, told by the protagonist and in a couple of other chapters it is told by a narrator. Being that I am in the start of the book I'm not too sure what the main idea of the whole book is yet. From what I read so far I'm predicting that she's going to find the killer. 

         When I stopped reading last Boxer was in a car chase with a black Mercedes who she thought the killer was in, only to find out once the car crashed there were two kids the age of fifteen and thirteen. Boxer felt some sympathy for them and helped them out of the car. Once when she asked the girl for her learners permit the girl pulled out a gun and shot Boxer and her partner. Her partner was unconcious and Boxer got up and told them to put their gun down, but when they said no, Boxer shot them both in the chest, killing one and brutally injuring the other. Once Boxer got out of the hospital she was being sued by the kids parents.

          In conclusion I think 4th of July by James Patterson was interesting because the book is litterally action packed. It is a great mystery book so far and I'm sure i will be finished with this book in time.

The Future of us

        Over the summer I have read a few books. One of these excellent books is The future of us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler. I wanted to respond to this book first because I thought it was the most interesting. In this gripping book about Facebook, two teens from the early nineteen nineties controlled their future. The most interesting distinction from this book and a lot of other books is the way that it was written. In The Future of us, each chapter was written in the perspective of one of two main characters. One chapter may be in the point of view of Josh, and the one right after is in the point of view of Emma. The book Flipped was also written like this.

        In the beginning of the The Future of us, Josh and Emma are neighbors who've been really close since they were babies but they stopped talking to each other when they grew up. Since this book is in the time period of the nineties, they didn't have high tech computers. Josh gives  Emma a present which is a CD-ROM to activate aol. The weird thing about the CD-ROM was that when Emma put the CD into the computer, was when the computer turns on Facebook. Facebook really wasn't invented until 2006! 

        The best part was the middle of the book. In the middle of the book you find out that, not only was it just Facebook, but it was Emma in the future fifteen years from where she was then. When she see's the statuses she writes in the future, she goes to school and slowly changes what her statuses are, meaning she slowly changes the future. The same thing with Josh. He just kept messing with the future, like changing the people he has married over and over.

        The ending was a predictable teen love story ending. It was kind of girly for me but i liked it. Josh and Emma liked each other and held hands at the ending.

        This was one of my favorite books I have read because it was a good mixture of technology and how teens actually think about situations. In conclusion The Future of us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler was a wonderful book and was one of the best books i've read in a while.