The Drummer Boy of Shiloh

I just finished reading the short story "The Drummer Boy of Shiloh" by Ray Bradbury, and I believe that Joby (the main character) changes a lot in this story. At first, Joby feels scared, alone, and useless. He's only the drummer boy, what good could he do in comparison to a soldier?All he had was his drum, he had no one, he ran away from home. And now he has to go and beat his drum for an army unsure of himself.

He keeps on having this attitude until, out comes the general. He is kind of like the hero of the story, the knight in shining armor, saving Joby from bad thoughts. This is where Joby changes dramatically. The general starts talking to Joby after he seees him crying, and he empathized with Joby, saying he cried yesterday too. Then, the general talks about what war really is, and what horrific things actually happen in wars. The general talks about how Joby is the heart of the army and how much the general needs Joby. He sets the pace and that's something the general can't do himself. And Joby finally realizes how important he is. This makes him feel much better and that boy in the start of the book that felt alone, scared, and useless was afterwards a confident, courageous and very usefull man.

I can relate with Joby. I have been playing soccer since I was 3, and I still play it. At first I was a tiny kid and my shirt was down to my ankles, so I was on the floor for almost half of the game. I got so discouraged that I quit soccer. That adventure would've been over as soon as it started. But thanks to me getting taller and some motivational words from my parents I gave it another shot. It was the best decision I have ever made in my life. I have kept playing to this very day, and my soccer team has made it to the 13th best team in the whole country. And all thanks to that little kid who started off with a bad attitude and changed for the best.

Rick Riordan

I just recently finished "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan recently. This is a book in the series The Heroes of Olyumpus, which is the sequel to the Percy Jackson Series. I reread this book to refresh my memory on this series and to be ready for the third book, "The Mark of Athena". I have been anticipated this book greatly.

My favorite author is actually Rick Riordan. I think he is an amazing author. I have a total of 12 books that he has written. This is: "The Percy Jackson Series", "The Heroes of Olympus" (that have been released), "The Kane Chronicles" (that have been released), and a few of "The 39 Clues Series". But I have reread many of these series so that means i have read even more of his books.

It is very hard to explain why I like his writing so much. I think the storyline is amazing, I guess. I also like the way he incorporates education on different cultures mythology, which I love too. But I can't wait until he writes more books because I will read those in an instance. He is one of the writers that makes you get so into their book that you lose track of time, and that is why I like him so much.

The Rise of Nine

I read the book The Rise of Nine by Pittacus Lore this summer. This is the third book of the I am Number Four Series.

This book just came out this summer so I was really excited to read this. Basically, this series is about a race of aliens called the Loric have run off to Earth because their planet (called Lorien)has been destroyed. The problem is, only 20 people of this race have escaped from the war that caused this planet to be destroyed. This war was against the Mogs (another alien race) who have very advanced technology.

So even with the super powers the Loric have (yes, they have super powers called legacies) they are unable to defeat these very advanced aliens and they send these 20 Loric over to Earth to try to overthrow the Mogs in later times. So now these 20 Loric are now living all over the world (and some are dead) trying to survive. They are trying to survive because the Mogs are hunting them now and are planning to destroy the Earth too. Now the Loric must regroup to become stronger and to try to defeat the Mogs and same both Lorien and the Earth.

I, personally, love this book and I would definitly recommend this to anyone who is into aliens and stuff like that.