The Da Vinci Code 200-300

Langdon realizes that they must be holding the Priory keystone. He says that only the leader of the Priory would have access to the keystone, and Sophie says she thinks her grandfather may have been the leader of the Priory. The car stops and Vernet lets them out, but then apologetically pulls a pistol on them. Vernet tells Langdon and Sophie to give him the box. He just heard over the radio that they are wanted for three other murders. Langdon realizes who the three must have been. He hands the box over to Vernet, but he also manages to put a spent shotgun shell into the door. When Vernet tries to shut them into the truck, but can't. Langdon bursts out of the door, takes the box back, and gets back into the truck while Sophie drives away. Vernet then calls the manager of the bank and has him activate the tracking system on the armored truck. Langdon smuggles the cryptex into Teabing’s house and hides it underneath a divan in the sitting room. Langdon says that Sophie doesn’t know the true story of the Grail, and Teabing says he will tell her. Teabing explains that Leonardo Da Vinci thought the New Testament was written by men, not God, and that some gospels had been left out. Teabing shows Sophie a picture of the Da Vinci fresco The Last Supper. There is no chalice or Holy Grail present in the painting, as many people think, but only wine glasses for each person. Teabing says the Holy Grail is not a thing, but a person. Teabing says that the Holy Grail is Mary's body and that the documents prove that everyone in Mary’s blood line is related to Jesus. Collet receives a tip about Langdon’s and Sophie’s location. He gets in his car and heads to Versailles. Langdon tells Teabing that all of the members of the Priory are dead. They guess that the Church itself figured out who the brothers were and killed them. They also surmise that the Church struck because it thought the Priory was planning to release the documents. Teabing, Langdon, and Sophie look at the cryptex. Langdon tries to determine whether part of the box might contain a clue about the password. He finds a small hole in the interior. When he pushes the end of a paper clip through it, the rose falls out of the wood. Behind the rose there are some lines of text. As he is looking at the text, Silas hits him on the head. Silas has Teabing and Sophie at gunpoint. He orders Teabing to hand him the cryptex. Teabing agrees and then slashes Silas with one of his crutches, right on the punishment belt strapped around Silas’s thigh. Silas goes down, and they bind and gag him. Langdon, Teabing, and Sophie fool Collet and the police into going upstairs. Collet goes down to the barn and finds that most of the sports cars are there, except for one of them. On the plane, Langdon and Teabing try and fail to decipher the text on the back of the rose. Sophie takes the text from them and says it is simply written backwards, the way Da Vinci used to write in his notebooks and that it can be read in a mirror. At the airfield, Fache cannot find out who is on Teabing’s plane with him, but he does manage to determine where the plane will land.

Paper Towns 101-200

Margo’s parents are not upset by the fact that she ran away. They always just kind of have seen her as a pain, so they don’t really put a lot of effort into finding her. Quentin knows that if she’s going to be found, he’s going to have to be the one to find her. He knows that when she’s disappeared in the past, she’s left clues to where she was. The window of his room and the window of her room face each other, and he notices a poster on the back of her window shades that has never been there before. Quentin and his friends Ben and Radar go into Margo’s room at look at the poster. It is of Woody Guthrie. After they see the poster, they find a Woody Guthrie record in her room with the song “Walt Whitman’s Niece” circled. After this, they find a Walt Whitman poetry book in her room with a lot of seemingly random things highlighted, one of them being “Unscrew the locks from the doors! / Unscrew the doors themselves from their jambs!” They couldn’t figure out a figurative meaning for any of the highlighted quotes, so they decided to try a literal meaning. They went back to Margo’s house and unscrewed her door from it’s jamb, but found nothing. Then he realized that the clue might be for his door, so he unscrewed his own door and found a piece of paper with an address. The address leads them to an old deserted strip mall near where they live. It’s really creepy in there, and they see some graffiti on the wall that is in Margo’s print that says “You will go to the paper towns and you will never come back.” Q looks up paper towns and discovers that they are subdivisions that were built but nobody ever lived in them. Q starts to think that Margo might be dead. He thinks the Whitman poetry might have been like a suicide note. Q goes back to the mall to see if he can figure out anything new, and he notices a few subtle differences to know that somebody has been there, and he figures it was Margo, so he’s pretty sure now that she’s not dead. He also found many travel books with different things highlighted, so he studies those too, but there are still no solid clues as to where she is.

The Da Vinci Code 100-200

Langdon believes that the Mona Lisa became famous because Da Vinci said it was his masterpiece and carried it everywhere he went. At the museum Langdon and Sophie found blood on the Mona Lisa and on the floor beneath it. Langdon said the message the blood says on the Mona Lisa stands for female worshipping religions in the Catholic religion. Landon is then arrested while Sophie hides behind a bench. Langdon is taken captive by Claude Guorard. Sophie and Langdon escape the museum in her car. While in her car, they try to formulate a plan for sure fire escape. They then go to the station to get tickets for the next train out of Paris. Sophie and Langdon buy two tickets and get in a waiting taxi. Langdon discovers an address written on the back of a key. They head toward that address. Fache tells Collet that the train tickets Sophie bought were probably decoys. He decides to alert Interpol to their flight. Sophie then starts to ask Landon questions while in the taxi. Langdon then tells her of documents that were found in a ruined temple. Since then, the documents have made their way around the globe are now hidden in an unknown place. Langdon tells Sophie that the documents and the secret they corroborate are commonly known as the Holy Grail. Sophie realizes that their cabbie is about to turn them in. Holding him at gunpoint, she forces him out of his cab and makes Langdon take the wheel. Langdon can’t drive a stick shift, but they manage to get away. Sophie takes the wheel, and they continue driving toward the address written on the key. As Langdon looks at the key, he thinks about the equal-armed cross engraved on it. The cross is very similar to the symbol used by the Knights Templar, the guardians of the Holy Grail. Sophie wonders if the key is to the Grail itself, but Langdon thinks it unlikely that Sophie’s grandfather was so high up in the hierarchy of the Priory of Sion that he had access such classified information. They finally reach the address on the back of the key. It is the Depository Bank of Zurich, a Swiss bank. In the Depository Bank of Zurich, Sophie and Langdon use the key to get through security. 

The Always War 100-200

She realizes that she is on a plane with Gideon and they are heading toward enemy territory. She sees all the instruments lighting up as Gideon tries to disable all of the security on all of the plane. Then the plane jolts around and Tessa gets thrown around the inside smacking into everything. Then she flies all the way to the back and hits her head and everything goes dark. She wakes up and Gideon is getting ready to go out of the plane and surrender himself to the enemy for the ones he killed. She then tackles him to the ground and nothing happens. They hear knocking on the closet in the plane and a girl comes out named Dev. They find out they are in the wrong place and that bomber planes are going to drop bombs in their position. They duck for cover and nothing happens. They decide to take off and go towards a friendly base. They are up in the sky and go over the arch that was blown down by friendlies that was one of the enemies most cherished relics. Then something goes wrong with the plane and it starts to go down they crash land somewhere they do not know so Gideon jumps out of the plane and yells he surrenders but nobody was there. They later find out many secrets about the war and how when Gideon flew the plane and bombed the people the reason he did not do it in real life is because the war they fought in happened over 75 years ago. They wanted to keep people at a stand still and from another war breaking out. Everyone is shocked to find out that the whole war is a conspiracy to keep people at bay for bigger plans to take place. After being chased by people and learning the truth they wanted to go home and tell everyone the truth and make sure this comes to light. They find out the computer simulations they flew on were set to the environment of the past and they were not flying anything. The video he saw of the bombing killing everybody was a very old recording and he did not actually do that and everyone in the country is dead and nobody wanted the Americans back home to know. They find out there are bigger plans at bay but they do not know what and that this whole war that was over 75 years ago may start up again and it has only just begun.

Da Vinci Code 1-100

Jacques Saunière is in the Grand Gallery of the Louvre. He pulls a Caravaggio painting off the wall in order to trigger the gallery’s alarm and seal himself inside, away from an albino attacker who is pursuing him. But the protective metal cage does little to stop the man, who pulls a pistol on Saunière and asks him to reveal where “it” is. Saunière at first pretends that he does not know and then gives the albino a fake location. The fake location is a lie that Saunière has carefully rehearsed. Saunière realizes that his three partners are dead, and that if he dies the secret they all shared will die with him. Fache lead Langdon to the Grand Gallery. Langdon knows that the agent is wearing a cross that depicts Jesus and the twelve apostles. Silas arrived at Saint-Sulpace and started to reflect on his past. He left home at a young age after murdering his abusive father and then went to jail. Angirosa saved Silas, giving him that name, and then Silas became Angirosa's right hand man. Fache and Collet continue to try to reach Sophie. An alarm rings, signaling a security breach in the men’s room. The two policemen see on the GPS screen that Langdon has apparently jumped out of the window. Silas enters Saint-Sulpice. Sister Sandrine offers to give him a tour of the church, but he refuses it. He asks her to go back to bed, saying he wants to pray and can show himself around. She agrees, but she is suspicious of him. Hiding in the shadows, she watches him pray, thinking that Silas might be the enemy she was warned about. Langdon tries to decipher Sophie's message and then realizes that it says "Leonardo Da Vinci! The Mona Lisa!”

Paper Towns 1-100

Quentin is a slightly nerdy high school senior who’s not too high up in the high school food chain. However, ever since he was little, he’s been in love with the most popular girl in school, and his next door neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman. One night, she knocks on his window at about midnight dressed in all black and wearing black face paint. She tells him that she’s going on a mission and she’s chosen him to help her out. Even though it’s a school night, he can’t resist. That night, they go around town completing her eleven-part revenge scheme. She gets revenge on her ex-boyfriend Jase for cheating on her. She gets revenge on her ex-best friend Becca for sleeping with Jase. She gets revenge on her “friend” Lacey who’s never been a very good friend. She also tells Quentin that he can choose someone to get revenge on, and he chooses Chuck Parson, a guy who had picked on him for as long as he could remember. After that, they go break in to Sea World just for the fun of it. They have an amazing night together, and Quentin falls even more in love with Margo. Quentin went to school the next day after about only half an hour of sleep, and barely made it through the day awake. Margo, however, didn’t show up at school for the next two or three days. People started to talk, because she was basically the “queen of the school.” She’s the one who kept the bullies in line, and since she was gone, some of the school jerks, like her ex-boyfriend Jase started to terrorize the school. Quentin got them to stop by black-mailing Jase about the night he and Margo got revenge on him. The next morning, when Quentin wakes up, there is a detective in their living room asking questions about Margo because her parents filed a missing person report for her.

The Always War 1-100

Tessa a girl from the town of Waterford City a run down town in the U.S. The country is in the middle of a huge war and guy from Waterford was being recognized to today at a ceremony for his courage and bravery in the war. The whole town gathers to see this one person who has brought pride and joy to this run down depressed city. He gets up to the stage and when the general calls him to come forward and receive his medal he stops. He hesitates and says he does not deserve it because he is a coward and he runs off. Tessa chases after him to go see what the problem was and if he was alright and wondered why he stormed off. She found him puking into a trashcan and thinks he is sick but he tells her that he is not. He tells her that he did terrible things and he should not get a medal for it so he went back home. Tessa laid in her bed thinking about what happened today and was mad about it. She then heard tapping on her wall coming from the room next door which was Gideon's room and she figured out he was tapping in morse code. She got out and encyclopedia and figured out he was tapping SOS. She then devised a plan to go see what was wrong with him and if she could do anything to help him. She gathered some flowers to take to him so his mom would not just think she is there for no reason. His mom lets Tessa in and she goes into Gideon's room. She tells him that she heard his SOS and that she was here to help if he needed anything. He asks her if she could bring him a computer and she did but hides it on the way to his room so if anybody was watching they would get suspicious. Gideon takes apart the computer and rewires it so the government cannot trace what he is looking at then hacks it into the data files of the military and pulls up a video. He tells Tessa she does not want to watch it but Tessa insists on it and it was Gideon dropping bombs on a village killing men, women, and children and Tessa gets upset. Gideon tells her that he killed over 1000 people in the war and that he was no war hero he was a cold killer. Tessa storms out upset and runs away. She goes to her room and slams the computer under her bed upset. She runs down the street upset then thinks of this beautiful spider web she saw before the ceremony and runs back to where it is at. She goes there and two kids were fighting and one falls on top of the web and this upsets Tessa she starts beating on the kids and runs away. Now upset with herself she thinks back about the video. She realized that he was looking for something in it and he still had hope of something. She goes to her room to find Gideon escaped from his room by going through Tessa's wall and floor and he painted it and left it unnoticeable when he left. She watched outside in the dark and spots Gideon walking down the street but was being followed by someone so she decides to go help and try to warn him. She gets close but hears Gideon talking to someone making a deal and he tells the stranger he can operate it perfectly fine and Tessa hides inside of something and covers up with a blanket and listens. All of a sudden she feels the floor vibrate underneath of her and feels the object she is in go forward and up into the sky.

13 Little Blue Envelopes Response

Book Title: 13 Little Blue Envelopes
Author: Maureen Johnson
Year of Publication: 2005
Number of Pages: 321
AR Points Awarded: 9.0

Literary Elements
Narrator - It is written from the third person limited viewpoint, with Ginny as the main character. “Ginny wasn’t sure if she believed that there was any more money waiting for her in an ATM.” p. 45
Protagonist - Ginny is a kind of shy and awkward teenage girl who’s not overly confident. She never really had a lot of courage until Aunt Peg got her going on the quest across Europe. She’s really nice and a very intriguing character. “As a rule, Ginny Blackstone tried to go unnoticed...” p. 7
Antagonist - In a way, Ginny is also the antagonist. Sometimes she is so shy and reserved that it actually works against her. It really takes a lot of self-convincing for her to do many of the things in the letters. “Only Aunt Peg could make something like this happen. Not that Ginny hadn’t had to do her part. First, she’d had to convince herself that she could follow what seemed like an obvious flight of insanity from an aunt who wasn’t known for her reliability.” p. 14
Setting - This story takes place in so many places across Europe, it’s impossible to find one setting. It takes place in London, Scotland, Rome, Paris, Amsterdam, Denmark, and Greece. (Amsterdam) “Amsterdam was damp. For a start, the central train station was smack in the middle of some kind of inlet and surrounded by water...A canal even separated it from the busy main road that curved past...From there, countless tiny bridges spanned the canals that spidered out and cut through every street. Plus, it was raining--a slow steady drizzle that she could barely see...” p. 199
Conflict - The conflict is sort of man v. nature, but I’d say it’s more man v. the world. On Ginny’s quest, she’s got to do so many things that are unfamiliar to her, and she’s pretty much on her own. The conflict is simply getting each of the tasks done. “...she thought that this was a perfect Paris night. But she didn’t feel perfect. She felt alone...” p. 170
Theme - Even when everything seems terrible and hopeless, it is up to us to make things good. We need to look for the positives in every adventure. “...understand that the world is not such a bad place....we try for a better future...We make the fields beautiful.” p. 239
Historical Context - Ginny visits a lot of sites and monuments that are historically significant, such as the Vestal Virgins, who were significant in Greek mythology. “My favorite of all the gods and goddesses, believe it or not, was Vesta, the goddess of hearth and home.” p. 123

Reflection
I really liked 13 Little Blue Envelopes. It was easy to read and it was really interesting. I love learning about new places, and the author did a great job of describing all the places Ginny went to. I really identified with the main character, Ginny. She’s just an average teenager who’s not overly confident. She’s just an average girl who’s trying to be happy. It didn’t remind me of any other books specifically, but it was like a lot of books where the main character eventually finds herself and lives happily ever after. It would make a good movie because there would be so many cool settings, and the characters are likable. I would recommend this book to any teenage girl. It didn’t end the way I expected. I was kind of upset when the thirteenth letter got stolen, but I actually kind of like this. Ginny ends up finding out her own meaning for the quest that way.

13 Little Blue Envelopes 301-321

Ginny discovers that the number her Aunt left with the paintings was the number of a famous art dealer. Aunt Peg wanted her paintings auctioned off to make money for Ginny to have. Ginny ended up making over a hundred thousand dollars off of them. She’s pretty sure that this is what the thirteenth letter said to do, though she never did find it. Ginny ends up going back home to her family, and she leaves half of her money for her uncle Richard. She also tells Richard that Aunt Peg was in love with him.

13 Little Blue Envelopes 201-300

Ginny ends up going to stay in a youth hostel, but it was really gross, so she left. She went to a hotel, but the last room had just been rented out. A nice man in the lobby could tell she was really distressed and had no place to stay, so he told her she could stay with his family. She spent the next week with the Knapp family. The mother and father were very detailed and overly energetic, and the daughter, who was about Ginny’s age, was very moody and kept to herself. After about a week, she finally got a “day off” to go to the museum her aunt directed her to talk to Piet about the painting, The Night Watch. Piet didn’t really say anything significant, and Ginny was starting to get disappointed and frustrated with her aunt’s pointless quests. Her next letter tells her to go to Copenhagen, Denmark. There, she meets an artist friend of her aunt’s named Knud. Knud lives in and paints from a house boat. Ginny goes to visit him in it, and she immediately falls asleep. When she wakes up, they’re sailing north watching the sunset. Knud tells her that these sunsets were one of Aunt Peg’s favorite things. Ginny then went to stay in another hostel, and there she met four teenagers from Australia and became friends with them. The next letter from Peg tells her to immediately get on a train and go catch a boat to Greece. Ginny tells her friends about her trip to Greece, and why she has to go, and they all decide they want to go with her. When they got there, she was instructed to open the twelfth letter. This one told her a lot about Aunt Peg’s life. It said that Peg had been in love with Richard and that when he told her he loved her, she freaked out and ran away. The journey Peg had led her on across Europe was the same journey she had taken. It also says that when Peg got really sick, she returned to live with Richard. It also tells her to open the thirteenth letter when she’s ready, because the letter has a very important task in it. Ginny decides she’s going to open it, but she wants a little time first. She and her friends go swimming in the sea in Greece first, but when they get out to read the letter, Ginny discovers all of their bags have been stolen, including the letter. The only things she still has are her passport and ATM card, and she only has forty pounds left in her ATM account. Ginny gets ahold of Richard, and he gets her a plane ticket to London, and when she gets there, he tell her that he and Aunt Peg were married in the last part of her life, so Richard is technically her uncle. When she finds this out, she kind of freaks out and runs away. She goes to see Keith, and he tells her that she needs to go back and talk to Richard. When she does, she goes into her Aunt Peg’s room and looks at her Aunt’s favorite painting. She feels it, and feels a weird lump underneath it, and discovers a key. She thinks the key is to her Aunt’s art studio in Harrod’s. In there, she finds a bunch of paintings her aunt did in the last part of her life along with a phone number for a man named Cecil.

Anna Dressed in Blood 213-314

After Anna went outside, Cas realized that she was now free. Anna could leave and do whatever she wanted, but Cas knew she wouldn't. He then went home to see his mom and catch up on some sleep, hoping that he would soon have his athame in his hand again. When he arrived at home he told his mom that he had lost the athame, and she had a disappointed look on her face. She then told Cas that she felt sorry for him and that she knew he would get it back. After he talked to his mom, Cas left and went to find Thomas and Carmel at school to talk to them. He wanted to ask them if they could help him talk to Will and get his athame back. Once he was at school though, he realized that Will and Chance were both gone. They figured that they probably just stayed home and would come to school tomorrow. The next day, Carmel, Thomas, and Cas waited until school started and then went to Will's house, knowing he wouldn't take the athame to school with him. When they went to his house, it appeared no one was home so Thomas and Cas went inside to start looking for the athame. When they got inside, they went upstairs to where they thought Will's room must be. They then went into his room which was pitch black in the dark upstairs. After looking and stumbling around, they realized that it looked like the room had already been gone through. Thomas then turned on the lights and they realized what they were stumbling on were Will's and Chase's bodies lying on the floor. They both had huge bites taken out of them. Cas then knew what had killed them. It was the same ghost that killed his father. He didn't realize why or how it was there, but he knew it was the same ghost and that they had to get out of there. As they ran out screaming, Cas spotted his athame and grabbed it. Once outside, they got in the car with Carmel and headed to Anna's house. Once there, Cas told Anna what had happened and she wanted to help. She then got in the car and her and Cas headed to Cas's, and Carmel and Thomas went elsewhere. When they arrived, Anna couldn't go in because of the spell to keep ghosts out, so Cas went in by himself to explain to his mom what had happened. He went upstairs and found his mom and told her what had happened. She then began freaking out and just wanted to get out of there. She started throwing things in the suit case and then her and Cas both heard a distinct noise. All Cas said was "we have to get out of here." Right after that, the steps from the attic hit the hall upstairs. The ghost, Cas's father's killer, had been in the attic the whole time. Cas and his mom went out slowly and looked at him. He had no eyes, with his eyelids stitched shut, and was mossy with dreadlocks. He explained to Cas that he had been there before they moved in, and that he knew where they were because of the athame. Cas then got furious and lashed out at him. The ghost then threw Cas against a wall, with Anna outside yelling, hoping everything is ok. All of a sudden, Anna blows the door off of the house and is looking the ghost in the eye. He tells her to come in, knowing she can't, but she just tells him to come out there and fight her. He then laughs and disappears. Knowing that Cas doesn't have much time, he gets to Thomas's shop to figure out how to kill the ghost. They then come up with a plan and head to Anna's house, knowing he won't be as powerful on her turf. Cas and Anna while at the house waiting to set up a plan, kiss for a long time, knowing that they love each other. Cas doesn't want to hurt Anna, but knows what he has to do in order to save the ghost from killing him and her. Cas then cuts Anna a little bit, hoping not to hurt her, but knowing it will draw him to the house. Sure enough, he arrives and Cas and him start to fight. Beings Anna is cut, she is weaker, but starts to help Cas when the ghost cracks Cas's ribs by throwing him against the wall. She then gets furious and rises, her dress covered in blood. Anna then punches a whole in the floor, and flames appear. Cas knows what she's going to do and shouts, "Anna, No!" but Anna just looks at him and says "I don't regret this." and drags the ghost into the flames. Then Thomas, Carmel, and Cas's mom run out of the house, dragging Cas with them. The house then caves in and practically disappears with no remains left. Thomas then tells Cas how sorry he is, knowing how him and Anna felt about each other. He even saw how they felt before Cas did. But Cas just looks at the house and says "I wish i could see her one last time." And then everything goes black. Cas then wakes up the next day in a Thomas's shop with everybody around. They are happy to see him awake and Thomas and Carmel want to speak to him alone. They then ask him how he's feeling, but all he can think about is Anna. He then mentions her and Thomas asks " Where do you think she went?" Cas replies, " I dont know, maybe you and Carmel can help me figure it out."

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian 130-230

After getting a letter from his sister after she ran off with another Indian fellow to a different state Junior decided to try out for the basketball team. Coach comes up to him and tells him that if your here to try out then start doing some running and making some shots. After watching junior for a long time he then sees he has much potential to play for this team. Junior was a great shooter and could sink three pointers like his day job. He was not a strong dribbler though and had some trouble over powering and being faster than most of the kids on the team. The coach then put Roger up against Junior to see what he can do. They played one on one for a while Roger easily over powering Arnold but Arnold made a lot of shots on him and even stole the ball once. Coach was impressed and said he would be playing a little varsity. Junior was shocked to hear that he would be playing varsity ball. After some time practicing and going to school he then goes home to find out his grandmother passed away. This upsets Junior more than anything and he starts to realize all of the things that his grandma had taught him and what some of her greatest traits where. He thinks his Grandma's best trait is tolerance and how she put up with everything that happened around her with a smile. At the funeral there were thousands of Indians there who knew his grandma and he realized just how much she meant to not just him but many others and how she traveled everywhere and made so many friends. One person who caught his eye was a white man who was there and looked very rich. At the funeral he tells how he loved the Indian people and collected many things from their culture. He tells a story about a Indian who came to his house and begged for cash for his sister who had cancer and how he would sell him a woman's beaded dancing dress to him. He gave him a thousand dollars for it and sent him on his way because he knew he stole the dress from someone but it was so beautiful that he had to buy it. It kept him up at night knowing that he bought a stolen dress and he then went on his way to return it to the owner. He had asked a expert look at it and he said it was Spokane and was owned by Grandma Spirit who was Junior's grandma. Junior's mom then went up to look at it and tells him its Cherokee and his expert was not an expert and he went on his way. Everybody at the funeral burst out in laughter and laughed the whole funeral. Junior played many basketball games and even played his hometown and it was an intense game. Rowdy played against him and gave Junior a concussion and won the game against them. Later the last game of the season they played them again and Junior gave a interview to a news person and told him how this meant the world to him to win and show everyone he was strong. They go out and play hard and Junior guards rowdy and steals the ball from him and goes and sinks a three pointer on him. This set the whole mood of the game and Junior's team won against them by 40 points and he was so happy until he saw the faces of his fellow Indians. During the summer he stayed in his basement and read comics and watched T.V and still thought Rowdy hated him but then came a knock on the door. It was Rowdy and he tells Junior how he always knew he would leave and was happy for him and pretty much brought their friendship back together. They went out to play some one on one and played all day and all through the night and did not keep score.

Anna Dressed in Blood 114-213

After going home, Cas got cleaned up and went to bed. The next morning, he went to school and talked to Thomas and Carmel during lunch. He told them that he went back to the house, leaving out what all happened, and they couldn't believe that he went back by himself. He then told them, as well as Will, to meet him at Thomas's shop after school. After school they all met there and talked about a plan B. After discussing it with Thomas and Thomas's grandfather, Cas decided he needed a spell in order to kill Anna. He then went home and talked to his mom to see what she thought about it. They talked it over, and Cas asked her if she could get some chicken feet and other things for the spell. Cas then went back to the house. Anna's house. When he got there, he hesitated about going inside, but knew he needed to. When he did, Anna met him at the bottom of the stairs. She asked him what he was doing there and he said he had to talk to her. He wanted to ask her what happened to her so he could find out how she got so much power. Anna almost told him, but something was holding her back. She couldn't let herself tell Cas. She began to tell Cas that her step-father had touched her and she hated him and wanted to leave the house, but couldn't. Cas then had a hunch about what happened but couldn't get it out of her. Anna then began to change, her skin became less pale and her black veins resided into her body. She then began to cry, thinking about how she had died. Cas then reached out and touched her cheek, and just as he did, Carmel came through the door. Right when she did, Anna saw her and turned back into her ghostly self. Cas told Anna that it was ok, but Anna couldn't control herself. She went after Carmel, but Carmel go outside of the house just in time, with Cas following her. She had followed Cas to the house, wanting to know what he was doing. They then rode back to town together, and Carmel kept asking Cas questions, but all he could think about was Anna, and how she had changed. A week later, Cas had gotten everything for the spell, and they went to the shop to practice it. They felt that the chanting and everything was silly, but Cas knew it was his only chance he would have to kill Anna. After practicing, they went to Anna's house. They began the chant outside, in a circle. They had to get Anna inside the circle in order for the spell to work. They then kept the circle, and went inside. Cas was the first to enter, and as he did, Anna told him that she couldn't control herself with the others, but Cas said it would be alright. They then all got inside and Anna was in the middle of the circle. As she was, Cas began to feel the spell working and asked her how she died. She then replayed the scene in all of their minds. It showed how her mother was a witch and how the stepfather had touched her and made Anna want to leave. As she tried, her mother stopped her. Seeing the sick grin of Anna's stepfather made Cas sick. He wanted to reach out and break his neck, but knew he couldn't. As he kept watching, Anna's mother went and grabbed a knife and slit Anna's throat. Cas and the other's watched the blood drip from Anna's neck. Anna was know getting weak and could barely stand. Will then grabbed Cas's athame out of his pocket and went to stab Anna. Cas stopped him though, and Will then ran out of the house with Cas's athame. Cas wanted to chase after him, but knew he had to find the dress that Anna's mother had hidden in the floor. Once he did, he gave it to Anna. She began to become stronger, but as a person. She got up, and her dress was white, not stained with blood. She began walking towards the door, and before going through it, she turned her head, and smiled at Cas.

13 Little Blue Envelopes 101-200

Ginny asks Keith if he wants to go to Scotland with her because that’s where her next note leads her to. He agrees, and kisses her. Ginny is falling big-time for Keith, but she still hasn’t convinced herself that he has the same feelings. Ginny and Keith go to the house of one of Aunt Peg’s artist friends like the note says. She was very eccentric, but Ginny kind of liked her. When they left, Keith told Ginny his story. He used to have a serious girlfriend, and she got pregnant, aborted the baby, and then left him. He also had kind of a rebellious streak and stole some things and was arrested a time or two. He then gives Ginny a tiny Godzilla statuette, and she recognizes it as being from the crazy artist’s house. She gets really upset because he stole, but he doesn’t see that it’s such a big deal. They get in a fight and he storms off. Her next letter tells her to go to Rome, so she has to leave, and she’s afraid she’ll never see Keith again. When she’s in Rome, she’s supposed to go see a monument for the “vestal virgins,” which were one of Aunt Peg’s favorite part of Roman Mythology. When Ginny is at the temple of the vestal virgins, she opens the next letter which tells her to spontaneously ask out a Roman boy on a date. She asks out a cute blonde boy, but he ends up being a creep. He takes her back to his apartment and tries to sleep with her, but she runs out. The next letter from Aunt Peg tells her to go to Paris to the Louvre museum. When she gets there, she opens the next letter, which tells her to find a cafe that Aunt Peg had decorated when she lived in Paris for a while, but it doesn’t give her any directions to the cafe. She eventually finds it though, and when she gets there, to her surprise, Keith is there too. He’s in Paris to do a show, and he found her there. She and Keith hung out all day, and then he took her to visit a Parisian cemetery. They started making out in the cemetery, and were chased out by a cop. Ginny thought it was just the most romantic thing ever, but Keith has to go back to his town, and she’s afraid she won’t get to see him again. Her next letter takes her to Amsterdam where she’s supposed to visit the house of one of Aunt Peg’s friends, but when she gets there, she discovers that someone else has moved into the house.

13 Little Blue Envelopes 1-100

Ginny becomes the recipient of thirteen little blue envelopes with letters in them from her Aunt Peg. Peg was a very flighty free-spirited lady. She never lived in one place for very long, and she was very artsy and a little odd. Ginny’s mom, Peg’s sister, was also kind of disapproving of her lifestyle. However, Aunt Peg had been dead for three months, so these letters were really odd. The first envelope contained a thousand dollars and instructions for Ginny to buy a plane ticket and go to Europe. When she was on the plane, she was supposed to open envelope number two, which gave her directions to a man’s house and directions of how to get money from one of Peg’s accounts. When Ginny gets to this man’s house, she discovered that Aunt Peg had lived with him for quite a while. The man, Richard, works at a giant department store. He’s not quite as free-spirited and odd as Peg. Ginny is to stay with him while she’s in Europe until the envelopes take her elsewhere. He also has the code Ginny needs to get into the ATM and get money. She then opens envelope three, which instructs her to find a poor artist (whether it be an artist, a musician, an actor, or anything else was up to Ginny) and just randomly give him a lot of money, to sort of help jump-start his career. After a day of searching, she found an actor named Keith who had his own show staring just him. She went and bought every ticket to every one of his shows for the next three nights, which cost her all the money in Peg’s account. This man, Keith, asks Ginny why she bought out all his shows, and then nobody else was able to come to them. She just completely freezes up in front of him and can’t talk, which kind of indicates that she has a crush on him. The next night, they start talking and kind of flirting when Ginny feels awkward, and gives him the rest of the money from Peg’s account, then asks to go home. The next day, Ginny opens envelope four. It tells her to go to this other country to meet one of Aunt Peg’s artist friends. She thinks it’s weird because Keith had told her he’s also going to this other country. She goes to his house, though she’s not entirely sure why. When she gets there, they go out together, and the reader can tell they’re kind of interested in each other.

Girl, Stolen Response

Book Title: Girl, Stolen
Author: April Henry
Year of Publication: 2010
Number of Pages: 213
AR Points Awarded: 7.0

Literary Elements
Narrator - It’s goes back and forth in third-person limited between Cheyenne and Griffin. “For a second, Cheyenne forgot she wasn’t talking to a friend, like Sadie or Kenzie.” p. 59. “Griffin watched his dad’s expression as he listened to the phone ring.” p. 103
Protagonist -  The main protagonist would be Cheyenne. She is kind of small and weak physically, and she’s sick and blind, which makes it even worse. However, she is so strong-spirited. Even being kidnapped, she never loses hope, and she’s always fighting to escape. Griffin could also be considered a protagonist, because he tries to help Cheyenne escape. “And if it seemed like he was going to do something bad,s he wouldn’t go quietly. She would give him the fight of his life.” p. 25
Antagonist - The antagonist in the story is Roy. He’s the one who’s preventing Cheyenne from going back to her family. He’s very rude and extremely greedy, and he’s also a criminal. “‘And we also need to know how much you think your daddy might part with.’ He paused to let that sink in. ‘Here’s a tip. It had better be a lot.’” p. 53
Setting - The story takes place at Roy and Griffin’s house. It’s very gross, rundown, and full of junk, and it’s out in the middle of nowhere. It makes the mood of the story more mysterious and suspenseful, since it decreases Cheyenne’s chances of ever escaping. “They were set well back from the road...The barn was where they did most of their work, but the overflow spilled out onto the lawn. Only it wasn’t really a lawn, just bare patches alternating with weeds...West of the barn was the house. It was a few decades newer than the barn, but it had needed painting ever since Griffin could remember. Now the paint curled up in long, rusty red strips. Behind the house rose forested hills where nobody noticed if you shot a deer--in season or not...the forest was rich green pine and Douglas fir.” p. 33-35
Conflict - There are two main conflicts. One is Cheyenne fighting against her captors to get back home to her family, and the other is Griffin fighting to stand up to his family, even when it’s hard. They’re both man v. man. “She knew it was too much to hope for a pocket-knife, a telephone, a pair of scissors. But even a pen would be good. She might be able to hide a pen and use it later to stab someone.” p. 41. “Griffin realized the only one he trusted to let Cheyenne go was himself. He had to do it, even if it meant risking everything.” p. 151
Theme - The theme of this story is not to judge people right away. Cheyenne assumed Griffin was bad because of his family, but Griffin was actually on her side the whole time. “‘I’m out here trying to help you, not kill you...’ ‘Wait. You came out here to help me? After what I did to you?’” p. 173
Historical Context - This book doesn’t have much for Historical Context. It all takes place in the present. The most “historical context” it has is talking about Griffin and Cheyenne’s pasts. “For the first two months after the accident, Cheyenne was basically in bed.” p. 92

Reflection
I really liked Girl, Stolen. It was a quick read and it was really easy to understand. I like how the author flipped from Cheyenne’s to Griffin’s viewpoint so the reader would be sure to understand that Griffin wasn’t one of the bad guys. I sort of identified with Cheyenne because she’s kind of little and not too strong, but she’s very strong-willed and determined. It reminded me of a book I read a few years ago about a girl who gets kidnapped and abused. I think it would be tough to make a good movie out of it, because it would be tough to show the viewpoints of both Cheyenne and Griffin. I would recommend this book to other girls around my age. It didn’t end who I expected. I expected Cheyenne to realize Griffin was good, and they would kind of become friends. However, the author never says if they become friends. She leaves that kind of hanging for the reader to decide.

Girl, Stolen 201-213

Cheyenne ends up kicking Roy out of the car. Even though she’s blind, she remembers learning to drive when she could still see, so she tries to drive away. She has to go really slow, but she manages to get away from Roy a little bit by feeling whether or not the tires are still on the road. While driving, she grabs Roy’s phone and calls the cops, and they locate her and return her to her family. In the meantime, Griffin learns from TJ that his mom didn’t move to Chicago, Roy killed her one night on accident when they were in a fight. After Griffin is found, he’s moved to Chicago with his mom’s relatives and treated like a delinquent. In the end of the book, he calls Cheyenne just to talk to her.

Anna Dressed in Blood 14-113

The next day, Cas returned the car to it's owner and went home to keep packing. He and his mom, who is a witch, are planning on moving to Canada. Cas got a tip from one of his sources that their is a ghost there that his been killing anybody that comes near her. She was killed on prom night while walking home by somebody that slit her throat. Her name is Anna. Beings she was in a dress that night, and it was covered in blood, they call her Anna Dressed in Blood. Cas's mom knows he does this and respects him for it because his father used to do the same type of work. He was actually killed by a ghost, that he was sent to kill, when Cas was seven. Ever since then, Cas has been killing ghosts. His mom worries about him, but knows he won't stop so she does whatever she can to support him and help him out. Once they had everything packed up, they set off and hit the road for Canada. When they arrived at their new home, Cas's mom sent her cat, Tybalt, into the house first to make sure their were no ghosts in the house. Once the house passed Tybalt's inspection, they started to move things in and Cas's mom sealed the house with some spells and other things that witches possess. The next week, Cas started school. He spent the whole day looking for the certain person that he know he could get answers from. The certain person that he knew would know everybody and would know the most gruesome ghost stories ever told. Finally at lunch, he found her, Caramel. She was the most popular and prettiest girl in school and he knew she could help him get what he wanted. He then went over to talk to her and she invited him to a party. Just as she was doing so, her ex-boyfriend Mike came up and started talking to her, paying no attention to Cas. Cas put his hand out to have Mike shake it, but he just gave a head nod and kept talking to Caramel. Cas knew that this had to be her ex-boyfriend and that he didn't think much of Cas for talking to her. Caramel decided to pick Cas up at eight for the party and then went to class. As Cas was walking home from school, he could feel that somebody was following him. When he turned around he realized it was an old ghost lady. She didn't mean any harm, so he didn't think she was the only one around. He then walked a few more feet and a car came up and stopped beside him. Thomas, a boy about Cas's age that could read minds, hopped out of the car. Right when Cas saw him he knew that the person who gave Cas the tip about Anna had told Thomas too, and Thomas wanted in on the action. Cas however, wanted to do it on his own, and told Thomas this while walking away. Later that night, around eight, Caramel picked Cas up and took him to the party. After being there for awhile, they walked off and Caramel started telling Cas ghost stories. This is what Cas wanted to hear. Finally, she got to the worst one of all, Anna's. Once she began telling it, Mike and two of his buddies, Will and Chase, came up to join Caramel and Cas. They then finished telling Cas the story and asked him if he wanted to see the house. Cas didn't exactly want to go for the first time with them, but he knew they could show him where it was so he went. When they got to the house of Anna, it was as if it had been there for three hundred years with nobody inside. It was old and run down and looked as if it was painted black. Cas then walked up to the house but did not go inside. He did not want to disturb Anna while the others were there. As he turned around and started to walk away though, Mike said they weren't leaving until they went inside. Cas then agreed and went up to the door. Just as he was about to open it, he saw Mike in the reflection of the window, holding a 2x4 and then everything went black. When he awoke, his head was pounding and bleeding severely. He realized that he was now inside the house. Their was no sign of Anna, so he looked around to see if they left him there. He then saw Chase and Mike and Chase looked worried but Mike was laughing, saying he knew he didn't kill him. Caramel was in the background shouting Cas's name to see if he was ok. Cas then hit the ground again, his head causing him to become dizzy. He then looked up towards the stairs, and he saw Anna. She was like nothing he had ever seen before, and she was coming down. Cas couldn't think straight because of his head and couldn't get up. Chase and Mike then saw here and froze. They didn't know what to do. They didn't know whether to go pull Cas out of the house or just leave him and run. Then Anna was right beside Cas. Cas thought this was the end. He thought that he was going to die, and not because the ghost totally defeated him, but because a human did. Anna however stared at Cas for a moment, but then went towards the door. She grabbed Mike and ripped him in half. Then out of nowhere, Thomas came in and grabbed Cas out. When Cas awoke again, he was at Thomas's. They then went to school to talk to Caramel, Mike, and Chase. They all decided that they couldn't tell the true story and that they would figure something out. They decided to meet at a restaurant later that night to dicuss it further. Cas said he had to help his mom with some things right after school, but knew he was going back to get Anna. When he arrived at the house, he went inside. He then saw her, in her white dress, covered in blood. He told her that he was there to kill her and she said he couldn't. She told him that for some reason she spared his life the night before, and that he should go. Cas wouldn't listen though, and knew that he had to get the job done. He sliced at her with his Dad's knife, but she dodged and threw him against the wall. After a few more tries, she threw him outside. He hit the gravel hard. He then decided that pure force wasn't going to work, and that he needed a plan B.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian 30-130

He was suspended from school after throwing the book for a week. Junior spent his time in his house helping his mother and one day out of the blue Mr. P shows up at his house. Junior is terrified and wonders what is he doing here. He goes outside and they both sit down on the porch and talk. Mr. P then tells about his times teaching here when he was younger and tells about the horrible things he done to Indian children when he disciplined them. He tells Junior that he deserved to be hit in the face with that book and that he knows he did not do it on purpose. Mr. P starts to break down and cry and tells him how all of the older Indians on the reservation have lost hope and have given up on life. He tells Junior that he needs to leave the reservation any way possible or he will die here. He needed to go find a place where hope still existed so he could have a better life than all of his relatives. After all of that Junior goes to his mother and father and tells them he wants to enroll to Reardan's School, an all white school in a nice farm town about 20 miles from the reservation. His parent's are very skeptical at first but agree to take him there and enroll him the next day. The majority of the reservation is outraged and look at Junior as a traitor. He goes to tell his body Rowdy about what he is going to go do. Rowdy gets really mad and punched Junior in the face and runs away mad at Junior. The next day his dad takes him to school and wishes him luck. He goes into the school and everybody is looking at him funny. He goes to the office to find out where his class was and the lady told him and was really nice about it. He gets there and a girl in front of him turns around and asks him his name and he tells her and she tells him that her name is Penelope. Many called him names and made fun of them. Couple days later a big kid named Roger insulted Junior with a very racist insult and Junior finally had a enough and punched him in the face and dropped him. Blood running out of his nose he did not get up and punch him back just told him he was crazy and ran off. Junior totally confused showed up the next when his dad's friend gave him a ride to school on his bike. He gets there and notices everyone is giving him a lot more respect except Penelope who still does not know if he exists. Halloween roles around and Junior goes as a hobo because he does not really have a lot of nice clothes so he thought he would fit the part well. Penelope goes as a hobo too and they talk and agree that they are going to ask for spare change when they go tricker treating and give it to the poor. Junior is jumped though and the money taken from him and Penelope feels bad for him. He goes through some weeks of school and one day goes to the bathroom and when he finishes he can hear someone puking in the bathroom and learns its Penelope and that she is Bulimic and how she is very alone. They hang out with each other a lot and become a item. This makes Junior happy and starts to feel a lot of self worth. He tries to talk to Rowdy but he still feels that he still hates him and this makes him sad. He then is asked to go to a dance with Penelope and so he wears his dad's suit from the 1970s and everybody loves it. He dances with Penelope all night and she loves it. After the dance Roger asks him and Penelope if they wanted to go to a Pancake place somewhere. Junior worried because he does not have a lot of money goes anyway because he knows Penelope wants to go. They eat and he goes to the bathroom because he is scared because he does not have money and does not want Penelope to find out and not like him. Roger comes in and asks him if anything is wrong and he tells him that he lost his wallet and Roger gives him 40 bucks and tells him its alright. Astonished he pays for the meal and goes back. Penelope asks Junior if he is poor and he says yes but Penelope is not embarrassed and likes him even more. Junior feels on top of the world right now.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian 1-30

Junior is a boy who was born with many problems. He was born with to much fluids inside of his head so the doctors had to cut the top of his head open and take out all of the fluid. They told his mom that he probably would not survive and if he did he would be a vegetable. He survived and he is not a vegetable, but many problems came from the surgery. He has terrible seizures that appear about once or twice a week. His eyes are messed up, one is near sighted while the other one is farsighted. His head and feet were not proportional to his body. Junior also had a lisp when he spoke and stuttered terribly. All of these problems made him have a really rough childhood. He was picked on and bullied a lot by other people on the reservation. The only friend he seemed to have was his dog Oscar. One day though he got really sick and his dad seen the only way to make it so it would not suffer anymore was to shoot it. He hated being poor and not being able to keep his only friend. He did make a friend though his buddy he called Rowdy because he always seemed to be fighting. He fought everything that made him mad because he had a really bad temper. One night they both decide to go to a Pow Wow where there was singing and dancing. They get there and Rowdy trips and hits a van and gets really mad and starts beating up the van and destroys it. Junior runs away and runs into the Andruss Triplets who picked on him and beat him up. Rowdy hears about it and shaves off their eyebrows and hair when they where passed out drunk. The next step in Rowdy and Junior's life where to go to high school. They go to their first day and meet Mr. P their geometry teacher, which Junior was really excited about because he loves angles and sides. He learns though that their text books are almost as old as his mother and gets really mad and throws it into Mr. P's face. 

The Eleventh Plague 210-280

He returns back to the barn to find it engulfed in flames. Stephen scatters to find Jenny in the flaming mass. He enters the barn and the inside was falling apart and smoke filled the whole building. He covered his mouth and nose and went to search for Jenny. He finds her under some fallen wood that is still burning. He tries to pick it up but it burns his hands so then he tries again and moves it off of her. He loads her up on his shoulder and carries her out through the fire and smoke. She wakes up and tells them that she did not recognize the people that did this. Stephen then goes back into the fire to grab some things. He reaches for his grandfathers rifle but the barrel and metal was way to hot so he sees Jenny's sketch pad and grabs it and makes a run for it. He jumps through the walls and wakes up and attends to Jenny's wounds she got from the burning log. They then move back to town and find a huge commotion going about. He goes in talks to Marcus and Violet who tell him that they are going to war with Fort Leonard and that they should go to a safe place. Violet tells them they need to go to the old casino outside of town. They make their way down there and get their things settled in. They talk about all of the things going on around them and how they could fix it. Then while sitting inside around the fire he notices it starts to snow outside. He goes out into the snow and walks a little ways admiring all the sights around him. He then returns to find Violet trying to sneak into the the Casino and she went there to tell Stephen that his dad had passed away. He is sad and goes to his dad at Violet's house and grabs him to go bury him. He digs him a grave in the ice cold ground and struggles for hours. Jenny comes to help and they finish the hole together and bury his dad. He covers it and returns back to the Casino. One night Jenny and Stephen hear something outside of the casino so they wait and listen and go see what it was. Two men in all black and with rifles are scouting the area. They follow them to a whole group of Slavers that they thought must of been sent by Fort Leonard to take out Settler's Landing. They go to warn the people of the slavers that where about to take over but learn that it was them that hired them to take care of Fort Leonard. Outraged he tells them of the bad things that could happen to their town and how they are not better than the people that came before them. Some people agree but Caleb who was in charge still wanted to go through with the plan. Jackson joins with Stephen and Jenny to go slow down the movements of the slavers. He notices the man with the scar that he and his dad saw in their first encounter with the slavers. Jenny runs in the middle of camp yelling Japanese nonsense and during that Stephen made a run for a bag full of grenades and threw them and blew up the whole camp setting fire to a lot of the stuff and disabling one of the two jeeps. They return to town to find a whole war was being fought. The town turned on the slavers and were fighting them. Stephen helps Violet patch some people up and sees Will Henry on the ground bloody and dying. This makes him sad even though he hated Will. He then finds Marcus and friends pinned down in a ditch taking fire from the front he tells them they are pinned down and they need to flank the enemy. He sees the other jeep in the woods and he planned on getting it. Stephen, Jenny, and Jackson go back to Henry's farm to release the animals as a distraction. Everybody runs off leaving a couple trampled but the man on the scar still remained on the jeep. Stephen chokes him out for awhile but the he gets choked out and before he passed out he heard a bang. When he woke up he saw Jackson's rifle by his body. They go back into the town and the people ran off all of the slavers. They put out all the fires they could that had engulfed much of the town from the fight. Couple months later he Stephen spends his time helping the young ones learn in school on the weekends due to Mr. Tuttles injuries from the fight. He teaches a girl not to be shy around others when she reads out loud. Stephen then talks to Jenny who got enough money for a horse and rifle and tells her he wants to go with her traveling. He packs his stuff and gets ready when he looks back at all of the things he was leaving. Jenny tells him to stay and help the community because he fought for this place so now it is his home. Stephen then entertained the new thought in his head....a home

Girl, Stolen 101-200

Griffin’s dad, Roy, called the cops and told them that he had Cheyenne held hostage, and he would only return her for five million dollars. Even though Cheyenne’s dad is the president of Nike, she still knows her parents don’t have that kind of money, so she’s worried that she’ll never get to go home. Cheyenne told Griffin that she lost her sight by getting hit by a car when she was younger, and that same accident killed her real mom. Cheyenne realizes that they might not ever let her go. They might just get the money and then kill her so she can’t turn them in to the police. Griffin is starting to become protective of Cheyenne, and he tells her he’ll make sure she gets back to her parents. One day, Griffin is making lunch for himself, Cheyenne, and TJ (a guy that works for his dad), and TJ goes into Cheyenne’s room and tries to rape her. Griffin comes in and saves her just in time, and when he does, Cheyenne leans into him and starts crying. When her head is against him, she notices a giant scar across his neck and chest. He tells her that he got this scar when he was younger. His dad was making meth, and when it was cooking, some of it spilled onto him. Cheyenne knew that she wasn’t with the best people, but she didn’t realized that they made drugs. Griffin also tells Cheyenne that his mom left his dad shortly after that and moved to Chicago to be with her family. That night, Cheyenne decides she needs to escape. She sneaks out of her room at two in the morning, but before she leaves, she hits Griffin over the head with a wrench to knock him out so he can’t follow her. When she hit him, he quit moving and breathing, and she thought she killed him. She ran out of the house, and somehow made friends with their evil dog, Duke. She used Duke to help lead her through the forest, but he heard an animal moving, and he ran away. Shortly after that, Cheyenne heard a person in the trees, and she thought she was dead for sure. It ended up being Griffin, and he saved her life. He tried to lead her toward a road so she could escape. He had been good the whole time, and Cheyenne felt bad for not trusting him and almost killing him. He stepped in a hole and broke his ankle, so he couldn’t go on with Cheyenne. He sent her to the road so someone would find her, and said only then should she send crews back to find him. TJ and Jimbo (guys that work for Roy) are also walking through the forest, and they see Griffin lying there hurt. They figure out that he helped Cheyenne to escape, and they’re going to shoot him. However, they end up getting mad at each other, and TJ ended up shooting Jimbo and leaving. Cheyenne walks toward the road, and a cop finds her, so she thinks she’s okay. However, the cop ends up being Roy tricking her. He takes her in his pickup to drive her somewhere to kill her. She takes his gun and shoots him, but she can’t tell where she shot him or how bad it was, but she knows he’s still alive.

Anna Dressed in Blood 1-13

Cas Lowood is out on the road in a 1969 camaro he borrowed from a retired colonel he was working for. He picks up a hitchhiker on the road and is taking him toward the bridge. He wonders how people always pick this guy up and can't tell he's dead. His pale skin and smell should give it away alone. They make small talk and then when theyre about to the bridge, the guy yanks the wheel to take the car off of the road. Cas then grabs a knife and slits his throat, while trying to stop the car. Once the car is stopped, he inspects it for damage. The tired are still smoking, and he knows he only has three days left before he moves, and he's going to have to spend at least one putting new tires on this car. Or not even take it back until he gets new tires on.

Outpost 231-317

While looking for Fade, Deuce and Stalker and Gary and his partner all ran into a group of Freaks. While Stalker and Gary were fighting them off, Gary grabbed Deuce and put his gun to her head while dragging her back into the woods. Deuce knew this was going to happen beings they had confrontations at the outpost, but she didn't know when. Well now was the time, and she was ready for it. She knew Gary had underestimated her strength, and she used this to her benefit. While he was trying to get her to do stuff with him, she threw him on the ground and killed him instantly. She then ran back to help Stalker and Gary's partner fight off the Freaks. When she arrived all of the Freaks were dead, as well as Gary's partner, and Stalker was injured. His leg was wounded, but he could still walk. Deuce and Stalker then followed the trail the rest of the way until they found where the Freaks had taken Fade. It was a village of about 1000 Freaks, but luckily they were sleeping. Deuce then saw where she figured Fade would be. Their was a huge pin that the Freaks had kept many humans in and Deuce went for it. She knew Stalker couldn't keep up, so he stayed back watching and waiting for her to return. After looking for a little while, she found Fade. He was hardly recognizable after he had been beaten, but she knew it was him. Fade couldn't believe Deuce was there, and was slow at recognizing her, but Deuce knew they couldn't wait for him to completely come to and so she helped him up and they both go out of there, back to Stalker, and on their way back to the outpost. When they arrived at the outpost, Deuce reported to Longshot what they had seen and he knew that they had to get back to Salvation as soon as possible. Deuce then wanted to go help Fade, but after everything that had happened to him, he didn't want anything to do with any contact. This hurt Decue greatly, but she knew she just needed to give him time. Once the crops were ready for harvest, the growers worked as hard as they could for two days to get all of the crops harvested and loaded onto wagons. Once the last load was ready, everyone took off back to Salvation, Deuce knowing this was when the Freaks were going to attack. Just as she had guessed, they did. Many of the growers and guards died, leaving only Stalker, Fade, Duece, Tegan and two others left to return to Salvation. Deuce had seen Longshot stay out there, fighting off the Freaks, knowing he was going to die, but saving Deuce as well as few others. A few days later, Deuce was invited to the mayor's house. She didn't know what for, but she found out right when she got there. Longshot had left Duece his house and all of his possessions inside of it. Deuce then went over there and looked at the house. It was a simple house, but she knew he had put alot of work into it, building all of his own furniture and everything. When she went upstairs, she began to cry. She knew she would cry someday for him, and this was the day. He had loved Deuce like his own daughter and she missed him dearly. Once she was done crying, she finished looking at the house. She then found Longshot's traveler's maps from all of his journeys in between settlements. Deuce knew that Longshot wanted her to have these for a special reason. Deuce then left and went back home. The next day, Deuce went to find Fade. It wasn't a surprise to her that he didn't want to see her, considering how much he went through, but she put that aside and began talking to him anyway. She then gave Fade the keys to Longshot's house and told him that the house was now his. She knew he hated living with the guy he lived with, and just wanted to be happy. She could tell he was very thankful, but he didn't say much. She then left and went to see how the walls were holding up against the Freaks. Their were many out there, and she didn't know how long Salvation was going to last. They hadn't breached the walls yet, but she was afraid it was going to happen soon. As she was there, the mayor's wife came and started a huge protest against Deuce saying how she was the cause of all of this because she was a woman doing a man's work. Many of the women agreed with the mayor's wife, and Deuce knew what she had to do. She then went to the mayor and talked to him about it. She told him that she was going to leave and use Longshot's maps in order to find other Salvations and hopefully bring word of how they were doing. Stalker and Tegan both agreed to go with and then she went and saw Fade. She wasn't going to ask him to go beings he hadn't wanted to be with her, so she went just to say bye. After she did, and as she was walking away, Fade yelled to her and asked her why she didn't ask him. She didn't know how he had found out, but realized the word probably traveled quickly. She then explained the situation and so did he, and then he decided to go. This thrilled Deuce to know end. She knew that she still had to give him a bit more time, but she was just happy to have her "boy" back. They then all went to the Oaks's to say goodbye, and then to the mayor's house. Their was an underground tunnel there to get out of the backside of Salvation that hadn't been used in over 50 years. They figured though, that this was the best chance to escape and get away from the Freaks to start their journey. Deuce didn't know what was going to happen, but all she knew was that she was with her three partners and that they were ready to fight in order to Survive and protect their home, Salvation.

The Eleventh Plague 110-210

After the fight Mr. Tuttle comes and breaks up a potential fight. Will then tells Mr. Tuttle that he brought a knife to school and he takes it from him. Mr. Tuttle dismisses all the boys except for Stephen and tells him he has a nice knife. He tells him that there are many punishments he can do to him but the worst one being kick him and his dad out of town if he needs to. He lets him off with a warning and tells him not to bring the knife back to school or he will be suspended. Angered by this he goes home and sulk by his father who is still in a coma. Violet then comes in and he tells her what happened at school. She tells him that he should go play baseball with Jackson and his friends. He tells her no because it seems pointless to do something like that in a time like this. He then finds himself going down to the baseball field to watch, he saw no harm in doing that. He watches the game for a little while watching remembering all of the things his dad told him about the baseball games he used to go too. Then Jackson comes to Stephen's side and tells him he should join in on the game. First he declines and says no then Jackson tells him having a little fun is going to end the world. He then joins the game is up immediately to bat. He is worried because he has never played this game before but knows all the rules of the game and how it is played. First pitch flies by him before he even realizes it and is strike one. He then posts himself up and when the next pitch is thrown it is like everything slows down in time and as the white ball headed toward him he took one mighty swing and hit with a satisfying crack against the bat. He watched it fly then was reminded by his fellow teammates to run to the first base. He sprints toward first and sees that they are still chasing the ball and he runs toward second and slides in there. Then one of the kids drops the ball and so he steals third then runs for home he leaps up into the air and lands on the ground tagged but with his hand on the plate he was safe and scored them a point. The game went on tell dark and Stephen did not do as good as hit first time up to bat. They go by the river and drink and talk about their lives before they made it to Settlers Landing. They then return home and get some rest. Couple days later before they go into School he sees Jenny sitting up in the courtyard up against a tree sketching on her note pad. He talks to her when Will and his gang of goons show up to meet them both. Jenny starts a fight with the boys and Stephen joins in after minutes of fighting it was broken up by Mr. Tuttle. He tells Stephen and Jenny to come in for a detention. Their punishment is to copy three chapters from a history book. Stephen and Jenny pass notes to each other and Stephen was mad at Jenny then she said something to him that made him think twice about if he wrote or if she did. She then walks out of the room and Mr. Tuttle tells Stephen about the good he can do in life if he studies so he gives him some extra books to study on. He then returns back home and hears all the bad stories about how they could get kicked out. He then decides to leave and grabs his things and goes off into the woods. He finds a barn which is where Jenny stays. They talk for a while and decide to get a little revenge on the Henrys. They open up all of their farm animal pins and throw fireworks in there and run away after they cause a stampede. They return back to the barn and Stephen and Jenny start making out. The next morning he decides to go back and get the books that Mr. Tuttle gave him and tells Jenny when his dad wakes up she can join them on their journeys. He returns to town to find out nobody is home and are having a meeting about making an army. He learns from Marcus that after they threw the fireworks they thought the people at Fort Leonard did it so they went their shot two of the guards and destroyed a food storage building. He may have started something way worse than just a practical joke.

Girl, Stolen 1-100

Cheyenne Wilder was taking a nap in the car while her step-mom Danielle went in to the store to fill a prescription. The prescription was for Cheyenne because she had just been diagnosed with pneumonia. As soon as Danielle went inside, somebody got in to the front seat of the car and started driving away. Cheyenne is blind, so she couldn’t see who got in the car, but she immediately knows it’s not Danielle. She tries to fight off the car thief, but she can’t, and she ends up being taken by him. The boy stealing the car, Griffin, is a teenager like Cheyenne. He takes her to his house, where he lives with his dad and his dad’s two employees. His dad runs an illegal business selling stolen cars and parts. Griffin’s actually a really nice kid, but his dad is really mean and abusive to him. He wanted to steal the car to show that he could do something right, but it turned out badly when he noticed Cheyenne in the back seat. When they learn that Cheyenne is the daughter of a millionaire, Griffin’s dad wants to try to get ransom money for her. Cheyenne is trying to plot a way to escape, but it’s tough since she can’t see anything. She doesn’t trust Griffin’s dad at all, but she’s not quite sure how she feels about Griffin. He kidnapped her, so she’s obviously not too fond of him, but she senses that he may not be as bad as she first thought. Griffin likes Cheyenne, but he’s torn between trying to help her escape and continuing to hold her hostage to make his dad happy.

The Postmistress Response

Book Title: The Postmistress
Author: Sarah Blake
Year of Publication: 2010
Number of Pages: 352
AR Points Awarded: No quiz

Literary Elements
Narrator - Third person omniscient. It goes from many different view points, including Iris’s, Emma’s, Dr. Fitch’s, Frankie’s, and Harry’s. “Frankie took one step forward with a scream...” p. 178 “In the snow, Emma thought, looking out at the afternoon disappearing in the gently falling white, nothing terrible could happen.” p. 140
Protagonist - There are different protagonists depending on what part of the story we’re in, because it switches view points. Emma, Iris, and Frankie are all protagonists. Emma is very quiet, shy, and easily upset, and Iris and Frankie are very bold and independent. “Emma reached and switched on the light without breathing, and then stood directly in front of the radio, her arms crossed over her chest, her heart pounding.” p. 159
Antagonist - In this story, the antagonist is not a person, but the war. The war kills many people, including Dr. Fitch, and traumatizes many lives. “...a war knocks down the regular, steady life we set up...” p. 75
Setting - For Emma and Iris, the story takes place in Franklin, Massachusetts. For Frankie and Dr. Fitch, it takes place overseas in various places in Europe, but mostly London. “And bombs were falling on Coventry, London, and Kent. Sleek metal pellets shaped like the blunt-tipped ends of pencils aimed down upon hedgerow and thatch.”  p. 11. “The bait at the end of the sandy hook sticking fifty-odd miles into the Atlantic, the town of Franklin waves slyly back at the shore. The first thing one loses there is a sense of direction. Ringed by the yellow-white sand dunes and water on all sides, North and South seem to switch points on the compass, and the sky is no help. It is a place swollen by fish and the smell of fish, of cod oil, of the broken spars of whale bones and masts spat back from the sea onto the broad swath of beaches behind the town.” p. 18 The mood in Franklin is kind of cool and misty like the beaches and sea. The mood in England is very intense, which is emphasized by the war going on there.
Conflict - The main conflict for most of the characters is just the war, which is external. They all are fighting against it in their own way. It’s affected all of their lives in a huge way. “The scraps added up to a terrible time for the Jews, any man at home could see...But war was terrible. God knows, war was hell. And what were we supposed to do about it?” p. 37
Theme - The theme of this story is that sometimes times get tough, but people can do things about it to try to help. If nobody tries to help, nothing will change. It’s up to us to shape our world, but we need to do it together. “Here--she turned and looked across the lawns to Emma’s house. Here we are. Here we all are.” p. 350
Historical Context - The whole novel is historically significant, because it takes place in the 1940s during World War II. “Now the talk was of a German invasion. Would England stand?” “Buchenwald was as yet only a town in Germany, where sunlight splattered the trees. Auschwitz. Bergen-Belsen. Simply foreign names.” p. 12

Reflection
The Postmistress was not one of the books I’ve ever read. It was a little slow, and kind of confusing. Throughout the course of the book, it went from the point of view of probably five or six characters, which got way too confusing. I had a hard time keeping the characters straight. I sort of identified with Emma because she’s sort of a perfectionist, but she’s way more timid than I am. It didn’t really remind me of anything else I’ve read. I do think it would make a better movie than a book, because it would be way easier to keep the characters straight with a visual representation. I would probably mostly recommend the book to older people. I think my grandmas may enjoy it because they’d be able to identify with the time more. It did not end the way I expected. Harry dying was very unexpected for me, and I also didn’t expect Frankie’s tapes to ever be heard by anyone but her and Otto.

The Eleventh Plague 10-110

After a day of traveling Stephen and his dad ran into a big bloch way down range of their position. His dad grabs the rifle and looks through the scope and sees that is a crashed plane. They move in closer to see if anything was left over for them to salvage. They look at the plane and his dad points out that is a B-20 bomber and must of crashed after the war sometime. They enter the bomb bay and find most of everything was salvaged. Stephen's dad finds a old rusted locker though that has not been open. Stephen and him tug on it pulling the door free and find a blanket worth keeping and a giant can of pears inside. They debate whether to eat it or save it for later and trade it. They eat the whole can clean and sit for awhile savoring the memory. Then as they get ready to leave his Dad spots a vehicle approaching toward their position so they hide the mule behind the plane and make their way deep into the pitch dark bomb bay to hide from them. Two men get out of the Humvee with a woman and her child and right away Stephen recognizes who they are and they are slavers. They make a fire in the  bomb bay out of the rain that is falling outside. They pass around bottles of whiskey and eventually pass out from being drunk. They see this as an opportunity to make their escape but Stephen's dad is angered by the slavers and wants to free the woman and child.  He reaches for the man's keys off his belt but awakens one of them and he starts shooting at them. They run away from them taking their jeep but are taken out of it and get in a fist fight with the men and then Stephen runs away and his dad follows behind him but his dad falls down a deep cliff into a river. Stephen jumps in after him and rescues him and brings him to shore. He is unconscious but breathing. He sits by his side waiting for him to wake up and builds a fire and goes out to find their mule they had but it was gone. He makes his way back to find some people at his campsite with his dad. He had the rifle and he takes a shot at one of them and nicks his side. He is then knocked out by one of them and awakens with all of them around them. He learns they are friendly and want to help them. With his dad still unconscious he takes their help and follows them to the town they are from. He arrives and everything looks so fresh and new and he feels a weird feeling here. They take his dad to the doctor in town named Violet. He sits with him never leaving his side but then decides to go out and see what this place has to offer. He meets some boys his age their and hangs out with them sometimes. He decides to work in the fields with Jackson for something to do while his dad was in a coma. He then meets a girl when he was checking out the school. Her name is Jenny. Stephen then decides to go to school the next day and gets in a fight with the kid he took a shot at and was threatened to be expelled from the whole town. This is the last thing he needs right now, more enemies.

The Postmistress 334-352

Emma learns that her husband died overseas. She realizes that she’s known all along, and she just didn’t want to admit it to herself. Iris gave her the letter that Dr. Fitch had wanted her to have if he ever died, so she kind of gets closure too. After watching for months, Harry finally sees German submarines coming into their harbor. When he sees them, he just drops dead. Iris is really upset, because they were engaged. Frankie’s tapes that she recorded overseas end up being played for all to hear.

Outpost 31-130

Deuce went and visited Longshot at the wall to talk to him and see if she could help at some time during the day. Longshot told her that she would possibly be able to, but she would have to prove herself, not only to him, but to the other guards. He told her that she would have to wait until the growing season, and she could go out on patrols with the growers and protect them. She then decided to go and ask Fade to see if he wanted to join her and Stalker on the patrols. When she arrived, he was grooming an animal and was surprised to see her. She was extremely happy that she was able to be with him and ask him to join the patrols. After talking to him for a little while, she finally asked and Fade said yes. This excited her more than anything had since she had been in Salvation, she knew that she wanted to be with Fade. She could never stop thinking about him. The next week, Deuce went to prove herself with Fade and Stalker at her side. Fade still didn't want to talk to Stalker because of the past, but he tolerated him just enough to be able to be with Deuce. When they arrived, they talked to Longshot and he decided he would give her a chance to prove herself against another guard. Deuce then picked out a guard that was laughing because he didn't think a girl could beat any guy. To his surprise however, Deuce had him on the ground in a matter of seconds. She was then worthy of going with the growers and protecting them. After that, Stalker had left and she asked Fade if he had to leave right away. He said that he could probably stay around for awhile, and this made Deuce glow with happiness. They then walked to her house and went around back and sat on the swing set. Deuce knew something had been wrong with Fade since they arrived at Salvation, and finally worked up the courage to ask. The whole time Fade had thought that her and Stalker were "together" because they had been spending so much time together, and this made him very upset. Deuce then explained to him that they were only friends and that she never felt the way about Stalker that she had felt for Fade. They then kissed and were both amazed. Neither one of them wanted to pull away, but Deuce finally did and they were both shaking with excitement. Fade then told Deuce that he wanted it to be known that they were together. Deuce was fine with this, and gave Fade exclusive "kissing rights" that no one else could have. After Fade left, Deuce went inside and went to bed. She felt that beings her and Fade were now together, that she should lock her window so stalker could not get in. She knew this would disappoint him, but she didn't want to give him the wrong impression, and was afraid she already had. The next week, they went out on patrol. It felt amazing for Deuce that she could fight side by side with Fade again. It had been so long since she had actually fought that she was getting tired as the Freaks attacked. She was afraid that she was getting soft, and knew that she had to train more. Especially with the way the Freaks attacked. Longshot said there were more in this one patrol than there usually are the whole time during the growing season. They had lost 4 guards and 2 growers in the attack, but pressed on to plant the seed, and then returned home. When they got back, Momma Oaks and her husband, Edmund, were there to see if Deuce was ok. Deuce felt bad though that no one was there for Fade, so she invited him over for supper. He then came over and ate with them and they talked for awhile, talking about his family that he had before the enclave and Salvation, and both his and Deuce's past. After Momma Oaks and Edmund went to bed, Fade stayed for awhile longer talking to Deuce. After he left, Deuce went to bed, but left her window unlocked, feeling that she owed Stalker and explanation. Beings he really liked Deuce, he was saddened by the news that she didn't want him like she wanted Fade. He told her that she was going to break Fade because he was softer than both her and Stalker. At first Deuce thought this wasn't going to happen, but then it scared her a bit and she second guessed herself. The next week, they went out on another patrol. Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.

The Postmistress 234-333

When Dr. Fitch died, Frankie found a letter on him that he was intending to send to Emma, and she felt it was her duty to make sure it got to Emma. Frankie started to become too emotionally exhausted by her job. She couldn’t handle hearing all the people’s stories and then not knowing how she ended. So, she went to the United States to Franklin, Massachusetts. Some of the people there know her from her radio shows. She plays some of the tapes she recorded for one man, and he even hears his wife’s voice on it to know that she’s alive. Frankie meets Iris, Emma, Harry, and the other people of the town. When she meets Emma, she knows she should relay the letter, but for some reason, she can’t. She just gets nervous every time she thinks about it. Emma’s about eight months pregnant now, and she still hopes and prays that her husband is alive even though she hasn’t heard from him in months, and Frankie doesn’t want to ruin that hope. Iris feels the same way. She received a letter telling Emma that her husband had died, but she never delivers it to Emma.

The Eleventh Plague 1-10

Stephen sat there staring at his Grandpas dead body as his dad dug a hole to bury him. Many feelings overcame him remembering how his grandpa was. He was strict and would slap him if he did anything wrong and taught him everything he needed to know. Finally they dug the whole and Stephen and his dad started lowering him into the hole debating whether or not to take his gold Marine Corp ring. They buried him and left his ring on him. They woke up the next morning and got everything ready and moved out toward a place that was not defined. Stephen reads his Lord of the Rings book that he found in a ruined walmart. His dad tells him about the war that had started because some American students got captured in a place they should not of been and since there was so many other problems that was finally the clicking thing to the destruction in America now.

Outpost 230-320

As time went on at the outpost outside of Salvation, many things progressed as the growing season went on and Deuce was starting to feel apart of the guards and was feeling full of purpose. The threat of the Freak village still lingered throughout Deuce, Fade, Stalker, and Longshot's head but he decided to wait it out and see what happens. Just as it seems everything is going perfect, disaster strikes the camp. One morning they wake up and get ready for the day and Deuce notices that Fade is nowhere to be found. She shrugs it off thinking he must be talking to someone or doing some business then a hour goes by and she starts to get worried. She goes into his and Frank Wilson's tent and nobody is present. All their things are scattered about and her heart sunk when she saw on the sheets of his bed blood. Fade and Frank where knocked unconscious and taken away to the Freak village. She rushes to Longshot telling him the news he is very upset by it but does not have the men to spare to send out. He tells Deuce that if she assembled a team she can go, so she talks to everyone in the camp and manages to get Stalker, Ellis, and Gary Miles. Gary Miles was the man who gave her the creeps and was sure that he wanted to harm her but she needed all the help she can get. Stalker used his honed tracking skills to figure out where they went from the tent. He picks up a trail and they start off into the woods. They follow it for a long time into the woods and they start coming across the warning signs they saw before. They are for sure they are nearing the freak village. They are jumped by freaks and Stalker and Ellis fight them off, but Gary Miles takes Deuce far away from the fight. The perfect time to hurt her when she was not ready. She had her on the ground with his gun pointed at her telling her all the things he was going to do to her. Not knowing that Deuce was a much better fighter than him, she was not worried. When he put his gun down she kicked the back of his knee out breaking it then putting a knife into his chest killing him. She returns to Stalker who was wounded trying to find her. They lost Ellis in the fight but decided to carry on. They made it outside the freak village and they where all sleeping. She decided to sneak into the village and Stalker would stay up on the hill and watch. She made it their and found Fade battered and beaten the worst she has ever seen. He screamed when she touched him and the freaks started to wake. She told him that he has to get up and run and cut him lose they both ran away from the freaks and got away. They walked far enough away and made a fire and tended to Fade's wounds she tried to comfort him but he would not let her he did not want her to touch him and this made Deuce feel very sad. They make it back and Fade and Stalker go back to the town for medical attention. She thought being away and healing Fade would feel better. Then one day out on the field the freaks assembled in a huge mass and attacked. They retreated back to the outpost fighting many off as they could and in the process Longshot gave his life protecting the others into the outpost. Devastated Deuce and the two other survivors go back into Salvation and the mass of freaks lingered outside waiting. She goes to see Fade and he is still very distant and wants Deuce to leave him alone. Heartbroken she continues on and goes to Bigwater the mayor of the town and tells him of the threat. He tells Deuce that Longshot made a will and gave Deuce his old house with all of his belongings. She goes in and finds the maps of all of his trade routes he used to run and decided she needed help from another settlement. She gives Fade the house so he can be alone and he is thankful. She goes to Bigwater explaining that she needs to go find help from another settlement so they can help with the freak problem and he agrees seeing how bad it has got. She then goes and says goodbye to everyone. Little does she know when she tells Stalker and Tegan goodbye they joined her. Last she went to say goodbye to Fade he asks her if she is still his partner and she says yes and he then wants to go with her too. With the team together they head to Bigwaters and they get all of their gear. He shows them the secret underground tunnel to the outside of Salvation and they enter it to start their journey to look for another settlement for help. The future of Salvation lay in their hands.

Outpost 1-30

Deuce is living in Salvation and attending school with all of the other kids in the settlement. She is still living with Mrs. Oaks, but Tegan, Fade, and Stalker are living with other people. Tegan is living with Doc and helps him with surgery, cleaning tools and what not. Fade is living with a rancher and helps him take care of animals. Stalker is living with a blacksmith and helps him make weapons and ammo out of metal. They all attend school during the day, and help out the people they live with afterwards. Deuce and Stalker sneak out of the house at night and practice their fighting moves because they aren't permitted to do them within Salvation. One night, they sneaked out and went up to the wall and helped Longshot look for Freaks. There were about ten of them out there during the time they were there, trying to draw Longshot and other guards away from the wall. Two of the Freaks then crept up and Longshot shot one of them, and the other one looked up at him with a sad look in his eyes. Deuce always knew how they looked when one was shot, but she saw a different look in the Freak's eyes, a look of sadness. Duece and Stalker then went back to their homes and went to bed. The next day, they went to school. Deuce and Stalker mostly just spend time together because Fade and Tegan don't pay much attention to them. The only time Fade talks to Deuce is when other kids are making fun of her for being different, but then Deuce just walks away, not knowing what to say to Fade. She just thinks that he's happy with the way his life is now. As for Tegan, she waves at Deuce, but they haven't talked much. During school, Deuce can't concentrate much, always thinking about the enclave where she had come from. All she wants is for school to be out, which it will be in a couple weeks. After school, Deuce went home and asked Momma Oaks if she could go visit Tegan. Momma Oaks said she could so she headed to the doctor's office. When she arrived she saw Tegan was there, and went in to talk to her. She talked to her for awhile, and found out that Tegan was happier with other people than with Deuce because Deuce reminded her of the past, which she did not want to remember. Although this hurt Deuce dearly, she knew that it would just take time, and that if it made Deuce happy, she would have to keep her distance for awhile.

The Postmistress 134-233

Iris and Harry took their relationship a step further and slept with each other. He starts watching the ocean for a German invasion. She continues to deliver the post, and part of this job includes receiving telegrams. Emma is nervous for every telegram because she’s really nervous about her husband.
Emma continues to go to the post office to visit Iris often. She is constantly nervous that her husband is going to die. She writes a letter to him every single day and receives a letter from him every day as well. She knows as long as that is going on, he is okay.
Frankie continues to report the news from overseas. She met a very nice man from America one night when hiding out from a bomb. She sort of liked him, and they left the shelter together, and he got hit by a taxi and died instantly. The reader learns that this man is Emma’s husband, Dr. Will Fitch. She then gets a new assignment from her boss to figure out who is fleeing Germany, and why, and that will be her next news story. She goes to the train station and boards a train and begins interviewing everyone about why they’re leaving Germany. Many of them are going to America or other countries to get away from hard times. One specific man left because he was a Jew, and he was going to get persecuted for that. Frankie begins growing really close with a lot of these people and stories, and she has a hard time keeping her news reports strictly “news” and free of emotion.

The Eleventh Plague 207-278

After knowing that everybody in Settler's Landing was going to fight the people of Fort Leonard, Stephen and Jenny decided to leave for awhile and try to decide what they wanted to do. Violet then came and found them in an old abandoned casino and told them that she wanted them to come back with her even if it was just for a little while. When they went back, Stephen and Jenny went into the woods back behind the house, hoping not to be seen by the others of Settler's Landing. As they did, they noticed that their were some people camped out back there that they had never seen before. At first, they thought they were people from Fort Leonard or ex-military. Thinking this, they went back to Marcus and Violet's and at dinner with them. At the dinner table Stephen decided to talk to them about it and tell them what him and Jenny saw. When Stephen told them about the people, they didn't seem surprised. Stephen then realized that the Henry's had hired them, and also that they weren't ex-military, they were slavers. The Henry's were going to sell all of the people of Fort Leonard to the slavers and possibly even the people of Settler's Landing. Stephen and Jenny then decided to take things into their own hands. They sneaked over to the slaver's camp and plotted what to do. Seeing some grenades hanging by a jeep, they both got an idea. While Jenny distracted them, Stephen was going to go for the grenades. As she did this, Stephen realized he had a very short time before the slavers would go after her and possibly kill her. He ran and grabbed the grenades as Jenny was running into the middle of the camp distracting most of the slavers. One slaver however, wasn't distracted and started chasing Stephen with his jeep. Stephen then recognized the slaver, it was the same one that had run him and his did out of the plane and had almost killed them. Although Stephen froze for a moment, he thought quickly and pulled a pin out a grenade and threw it in the camp, blowing up most of the slavers small camp. As Jenny and Stephen out maneuvered the slavers, they ran into Jackson. As they did, they kept running until they came to the rest of the people of Settler's Landing who were fighting off many slavers. Jenny, Jackson, and Stephen decided to help out and kill as many as they could. Stephen then went after the one he knew who was on the back of a jeep on a machine gun turret. He ran at him and speared him, recieving a blow to the stomach. Somehow, Stephen got on top of the slaver and started to choke him, but he wasn't going to give up quickly. He then wrapped his hands around Stephen's neck and Stephen slowly drifted away. He awoke to the feeling of being dragged on his back. He didn't know who it was at first, but then realized it was Jackson. Jackson had killed the slaver and saved Stephen. They then realized that all of the people of Settler's Landing had killed all of the slavers, but were fighting fires that had started. Stephen, Jackson, and Jenny started running to help, but were then stopped by people of Fort Leonard who were armed and ready to kill. Stephen however talked to them and stalled them until people from Settler's Landing came to back them up. When they arrived, led by Marcus, they all agreed to put their weapons down. They then talked it out and told them exactly what had happened. After they talked it out, the people of Fort Leonard decided to help the people of Settler's Landing put out the fires. Stephen, Jackson, and Jenny turned towards Settler's Landing and began walking, hoping that their would be a place left for them to live.