The Drummer Boy of Shiloh

"The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" by Ray Bradbury is about a boy who is in the Vietnam War. This is his first time in war. Throughout the story, there are many meaningful lines. In my opinion, I think the line "After that he turned the drum on its side, where its great lunar face peered at him whenever he opened his eyes", is one of the most important in the story. In the time of war, nothing seems to stay put. For example, "A moth brushed his face, but it was peach blossom. A peach blossom flicked him, but it was a moth. Nothing stayed put. Nothing had a name. Nothing was as it once was." This tells us that nothing in Joby's time of war stayed the same. So the drum, his drum was the only constant in his life. It says that the drum's lunar face peers at him whenever he opens his eyes. Saying that, the drum is always there with him. It gives him a feeling of a bit secure knowing that he has one familiar thing to hang on to.

Relating to the knowing of hanging onto one familiar thing, I know a few stories. I remember the day I transferred to a new school. You know why I transferred? Because I was smart. Haha. But back to the story. I was new. I had no friends. Everything seemed so foreign. New faces and new teachers. No offense, but I felt like I was the only Chinese person there. It's scary to be in a place where no is like you. I didn't really know what to do. The familiar thing that keep me going was not really that familiar. It was actually my teacher. Yea, I know I don't really know her, but I felt like the teacher was my guide throughout the year. And she was. Many and plenty times she helped me out.

Really, to sum up, even in lonely new times, you'll always find some familiarity hanging around somewhere. :)))

Because I am Furniture

 "Because I Am Furniture" by Thalia Chaltas, a book in verse, is mainly regarding the point of view of a teenage girl, Anke. She is observing how her father is being abusive towards her siblings and not her. Throughout the book, she finds herself through volleyball. She learns to stand up to her father and in the end, the feeling of fear is lifted off everybody her house.

The title, "Because I Am Furniture" is sort of the main theme of the book. I say this because Anke is invisible to her father and because she seems like a ghost, she's able to overcome her 'quietness' and tell her father off. I see this happening when she first begins her volleyball lessons.On page 49, when she learns to shout "MY BALL" she realizes that she has a voice. This is her turning point. This is where she starts to understand her role. It's almost like when a child have learned how to write a full sentence. They get really excited and they start to feel many emotions.  Anke, when she 'hears' voice, the hair on her arm stood up and felt like they were going to go on fire. Her lungs were calming the expanding space in her body. She, suddenly, felt, ALIVE! I can sort of relate to this feeling. When I received my bike on my eighth birthday, I frustrated because I didn't know how to ride it. I began teaching myself. I used gates to steady myself. I need this many, many times over the next 3 years. And one day, my dad took me to the park. When I got on that bike, I rode. I FREAKING rode the bike. I felt like all my hard work finally paid off.

When Anke begins to realize that she has voice, other things start to happen. Her 'supposedly best friend' Angie is under the spell of Anke's father, (he is apparently very, very handsome). When Anke catches her father about to rape Angie, she realizes that he has gone to far. Anke's father has put a weight on the members of the family, that nobody wants to say anything. For example, on page 146, when Anke's brother, Darren comes into the kitchen with black eyes, it's obvious that his father did that to him during their 'talks', he doesn't say a thing. The fact that Anke's father has done so much damage to the family, they are too sacred to say anything. This is true because when Anke's mother sees her husband doing abusive actions, she doesn't do anything to stop it. His actions has put the family in sacred and frighten mode.

I am sort of, no, GLAD, that Anke stood her to her father, even though he broke her leg. He had got arrested and now the rest of the family is relieved. For example on page 328, when her mom tells Anke that she threw her father out, she pulled a petal of the rose she was holding. I think that petal she ripped out represented the father. All the petals on the rose represent a family and because she finally kicked her out, that one petal is out of their lives. Everybody is now so glad that he's gone. I think they'll grow closer and depend on one another then keep their secrets to themselves.

The Ruby Key

I've recently over the summer finished a book called "The Ruby Key" by Holly Lisle. So this is part of my response but not entirely, so just like ignore this part.

In a world where humans and nightlings never encounter one and another, an evil human, Caer Banris has made a deal with the nightlings' kailord(who's like their king), Letrin Trikantis. With that, a journey is set out for Genna and Dan to seal their deal and save their people in the village before it's too late. Throughout the book, I see many issues that can be related to the real world.

One issue I see in the book is the relationship between communities. In the real world, a business relationship is developed between two countries. For example, the United States exports and imports to India. In return, India does the same. In the book, on a certain day of a year, humans would give offers to the nightlings, but they must do this by sunset. During the night, the nightlings would come out of their forest homes, take these offerings, and then leave the humans things in return. This is almost like a business relationship. The humans give the nightlings something and the nightlings give something back in return. 

Another issue is secruity and safety. In the book, when Genna and her friend begin their first offering of the life, the adults let them go first so that they can  return home first. They do this because they know that nightlings prefer children over adults, meaning that nightlings like to "kidnap" children. In the real world, parents would protect children first. They'd put their children first then their own life.

In addition, some people want to change their status. When I'm talking about status, I mean like either their wealth or the position in government. In the book, Caer Banris made a deal with Kailord, Letrin because he wants to live forever. In order to earn his eternity, he must do a list of things, which also include to marry and sacrifice the children( meaning Genna's mom is the woman he 'wishes' to marry). In real life, people are trying to become a higher status than they already are, are either becoming 'famous' or doing something really MIND-BLOWING!

Even though the book and the real world are completely different worlds, one which is where humankind is about to disappear, and one's reality, there are many similarities.  And I think I'm done.